My Zero Waste Road Trip

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 49

My Zero Waste Roadtrip

In E5 I gave an introduction to the concepts of zero waste by talking about 12 Steps to a Zero Waste Lifestyle. Proponents of zero waste admit that it is impossible to generate absolutely no waste. While we can reduce our household waste to almost nothing, we cannot control the production of the products that we use everyday.  

That being said, in true form to how I like to be, I am not going to teach something that I do not practice myself. That is why I examine my own life on a regular basis and make sure I am practicing what I teach. Consequently, I put myself to the test. I went on a road trip and decided to see if I could do this without producing any waste. 

To learn what I did, then listen to this episode about My Zero Waste Road Trip. 

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E49 which is called My Zero Waste Road Trip. 

Now before we get started here, there are several other episodes that could be piggybacked onto this one. 

E3 How Much Should One Person Be Allowed to Use

E14 The New Self Sufficiency-Doing Without

E21 Is Sustainable Air Travel an Illusion? 

As well as others. But these episodes will help you to get the full picture of what I am talking about here. 

Now as I said before, zero waste is the gold standard. But we all know that it is truly impossible to produce absolutely no waste. This is because some sort of waste is connected to every single thing we do in our lives. But everyone can participate on some level and we can get as close to zero waste as possible and along the way do as little damage to the environment as possible.

That being said reducing your waste looks a little different for everyone. It truly depends on your lifestyle. For example, those that live the urban life will likely have more choices as far as purchasing bulk products or locating retailers willing to full up personal containers. Those living in rural areas have more possibilities for production of food at home such as a garden or having small farm animals such as chickens. 

But before I outline my recent zero waste road trip, I just want to do a quick over view of the basic concepts of zero waste. Then I will put my road trip under the microscope and see just how I measure up to the standard. 

Bea Johnson, who is an activist and writer, wrote a book called Zero Waste Home. In her book she shares the five principles of zero waste, which I think gives many people a good foundation.  So, I have to give her full credit for these 5 principles. So, here we go. 

1. Refuse what you don’t need. This prevents you from accumulating unwanted items. Things such as junk mail, plastic cups, plastic straws, etc

2. Reduce what you do use. In the end, this means less waste overall. 

3. Reuse whatever you can. Fix something instead of throwing it away. If you no longer need it, give it to someone else. Consider buying second hand items. And purchase items that can be used over and over instead of purchasing disposable items. 

4. Recycle what you can’t refuse or reduce. By recycling, you prevent resources from going into the stream of waste. Just keep in mind that some items cannot be recycled at all. These are items to avoid. 

5. Compost what is left over. Food waste and other compostable items take up at least 25% of the space in the landfill.  So, compost whatever you can. 

So, now that we have covered all of that, let’s get to my road trip, the small challenges I had, and what I did to overcome that. Now it has been a couple of years since I’ve done any traveling for work. With the pandemic and all, I have stayed pretty close to home for the last year and a half.  But, I was presented with this opportunity to work in a hospital in Arizona that I worked with off and on for at least 15 years.  

In the past what I’ve typically done is put together some basic snacks, take a water bottle, and when I would stop for gas, I would take advantage of whatever fast food was available. That would include purchasing soda in plastic bottles, gatorade in plastic bottles, and even bags of chips in a plastic bag.  But this time I was determined not to do that.  

So the first thing I did was purchase a large bag of almonds at a warehouse store along with a large bag of apples.  I then purchased some tortillas, some onions, peppers, and a whole chicken.  I cut up the chicken and processed it in a pressure cooker because it will cook in about 20 minutes. I use the pressure cooker frequently because I cook food quickly and I use very little energy to do so. Then I debone the chicken, chopped the meat and store it in a reusable silicone food storage bag. I also took along some chopped tomatoes and chopped lettuce. 

So, my road snacks consisted of simple chicken wraps, slices of apple, and almonds. When I stopped for gas the first time, I decided I wanted a coke to go along with my chicken wraps. I carry a 22 oz insulted stainless steel mug since I can refill it for less money and not purchase anything that is packaged in plastic.  I filled my huge cup with ice and purchased a fountain drink. I got back on the road and once I finished eating, I rinsed off the left over ice with water and then dumped the ice in the small cooler that was sitting on my seat.  

My first stop: zero waste.

My second stop was in Gallop, NM. Since I had worked half a day in a hospital that morning, I got a late start so I had to stop for the night and stay in a hotel.  It was really just a basic hotel room in a place right off the interstate.  I ate a chicken wrap with some water and went straight to bed having already but put and awake for 17 hours that day.  

When I got up the next morning, I walked in the bathroom to take a shower. It was of course the typical hotel bathroom. Small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and soap all packaged in disposable plastic containers. But I brought along home made soap and homemade shampoo bars. The shampoo bar lathers up quiet nicely and has olive oil in it so I can lather my face and use it as shaving cream. Consequently I no longer purchase shaving cream in disposable metal cans. And I brought along my safety razor that I purchased a year ago. Since I use that I no longer have to purchase plastic disposable razors. 

Shower and shave out of the way, I wanted some coffee.  Since the rooms are equipped with small Kurig-type coffee pots, with everything packaged in plastic of course, I decided to take advantage of the coffee in the lobby. I took my reusable, microwave and dishwasher safe traveling coffee mug with me. Just as I am about to fill it with coffee the guy at the front desk yells at me and says “I am sorry sir but you are not allowed to use personal cups. It is hotel policy due to COVID.” 

So I stand there for a minute or two watching everyone else in the lobby touch the same handle on the same coffee dispenser without any sanitation between people. So much for COVID precautions. Yet I am not allowed to use a personal cup. So, I walked over and picked up a styrofoam coffee cup and went over to the front desk.  I held up my reusable mug and said, “I have had this mug for several years. It is reusable. The material it is made of is recyclable. This is a good way to prevent garbage from going to the landfill.” Then I held up the styrofoam cup and said, “So you want me to use this styrofoam cup which will go to the landfill and take over 500 years to degrade IF it ever degrades at all. 

Everyone in the lobby is now looking at me. The guy behind the front desk is looking at me as it he wanted to murder me on the spot. I am not sure if he in fact had murderous intentions or if that was his typical delirious facial expression after having worked an over night shift at the front desk.  But obviously he was not going to budge. Instead of challenging his authority any further, I went to my truck and retrieved my portable traveling coffee press, returned to my room and heated water and made my own coffee.  

My second stop: zero waste

My next stop was at my final destination. It was at a nice hotel and each room had a good sized refrigerator, a microwave, and of course the kurig-style coffee pot.  To my surprise, this hotel actually had refillable pump dispensers for soap, shampoo, and conditioner.  So that at least prevented a large amount of waste. 

The next morning, I did use the hotel supplies for a shower since that was zero waste. But when it came to coffee I heated water and used my own coffee press. Since the hotel offers a hot breakfast every morning, I went down to the kitchen area to get breakfast. It of course was no surprise to me that everything was served on disposable plates and everyone used disposable plastics utensils.  

So, I returned to my room and retrieved my camping plate and dinnerware, which I keep in my truck all the time. To my pleasant surprise the hotel staff allowed me to use them, as well as my own personal coffee mug. Once finished, I returned to my room to wash my dishes. This was to be my morning routine in order to not produce any waste. 

In addition to my travel dishes I also carry a two burner table top electric cooker and a camping cookware set so that if I get stuck in a hotel room I can at least prepare simple meals instead of eating restaurant food.  

I was in this hotel for one week and then I moved into an apartment that is actually above the clinic. And to my surprise the clinic break room area has a full kitchen set up so I was able to cook for myself as if I were at home.  

Once moved into the apartment, I went to the supermarket and purchased meat, veggies, rice, beans, eggs, fruit,  some of the local salsa, and corn tortilla chips. I shopped with reusable bags and mesh reusable produce bags. The eggs were in a carton that could be recycled. However, since I did not bring along enough silicone reusable bags I did have to purchase plastic zip lock freezer bags for storage of fresh fruit and veggies. And of course the meat I purchased was wrapped in plastic on top of a styrofoam tray. The salsa I purchased was in a plastic container and the tortilla chips were also in a plastic bag. In this respect, I was responsible for generating some waste.

But I should tell you that when I use plastic zip locks for food storage I use and abuse them until they are completely worthless before I dispose of them. So that means I wash, rinse, dry them and store them in my cabinet until I need them again.  But I am also committed to not purchasing any more of them unless I have no choice. And I am slowly changing over to the silicon reusable bags.

While I was working at the clinic, there was a luncheon with a representative of a veterinary supply company.  They supplied lunch and of course everything was brought in disposable containers, complete with paper plates and plastic utensils. In this case I once again avoided producing any waste by using my own plates and dinnerware that could be washed and reused.   

Since I have been to this community off and on for many years, I do have friends in the area. I did met up with  a few different friends and go out to dinner a couple of times.  Depending on where we went out to eat, I either ordered appropriate portions so I had no left overs or I took my own to go container so I avoided using a styrofoam box. 

Toward the end of the trip, I of course had to make plans for my drive back to Colorado. But this time I was going to leave really early in the morning so that I could drive straight through and avoid a hotel stay. I had some meat left over so I chopped it, marinaded it and cooked it with veggies and some rice. That was to be my road food. I also still had some chips and salsa left over. Since I had a small cooler that sits on my seat, I partially filled that with ice from the clinic freezer. If I wanted a cold drink or soda, I could fill my stainless steel cup with ice, drink soda from a can and then recycle the can.  

So, let’s compare my road trip to the principles of zero waste and see how I measured up. 

The first two principles: Refuse what you don’t need and reduce what you do use.  

On my trip, I refused to purchase any drinks in plastic cups. I used my stainless steel insulated cup for all drinks. I also did not purchase any fast food. Instead I prepared my own road snacks which consisted of homemade chicken wraps, nuts, chopped fresh veggies, or sliced fresh fruit.  

In the hotels, I refused to use styrofoam cups or their kurig-style coffee makers. I used my own coffee press instead. I also refused to use disposable plates and plastic forks and spoons.  Instead I used my camping plates and dinnerware. The same was true for the luncheon at the clinic.  One of the two times I did go out for dinner with friends, I took my own to go container to avoid using a styrofoam box. 

The next principle: reuse whatever you can.

I was of course reusing my camping plates and dinnerware. But I also saved and reused my plastic zip lock bags. But in this respect I failed because these bags will ultimately be wasted and will take 100s of years to decompose. I also failed to bring enough reusable silicon food storage bags so I could avoid producing this amount of waste. 

Next principle: Recycle what you cannot refuse or reuse. 

In this respect, the only drinks I purchased were in aluminum cans. So at the end of the day, those cans got recycled.

And the last principle: Compost what is left over.  

Since I cooked with mostly fresh ingredients, I had practically zero food waste.  What trimmings from the vegetables that were not edible, I placed in a compost bin.  Once again, zero waste. 

Now the areas where I failed.

I purchased plastic zip lock bags. 

I purchased meat packaged in plastic wrap on a styrofoam tray.

I purchased salsa and tortilla chips both of which were packaged in plastic. 

But one thing to consider, just remember that it is likely impossible to never produce any waste. What it important is that you recognize what you are doing and constantly make efforts to reduce the waste that you do produce. 

Okay, what I really wanted to point out is this episode is the basic principle of zero waste and how that works. Some of the reasoning behind zero waste is that if you refuse to purchase items in wasteful packaging, then the demand for those items will decline. If you refuse to purchase items in single use plastic, then you reduce the amount of plastic garbage. If you simply streamline the things you purchase for your home then you are also streamlining your life. And these principles go back to some previous episodes of course. But ultimately, our choices drive the marketplace and therefore our choices can be a powerful force in making sustainable changes.  

So, as you can plainly see from my example here I am not perfect and neither are my efforts. But there were also multiples instances during my trip where I refused to use disposable items. I got around this by purchasing camp ware that I use for travel and it stays in my truck all the time.  My camping cookware set was $30, my reusable microwave safe travel mug was $12, my travel coffee press was $20 but I purchase that 10 years ago and still use it. My stainless steel travel cup was $15. 

Believe it or not, I have a small bag of supplies that stay in my truck all the time. It seems to be that more and more places are allowing the use of personal cups and other supplies. For example, one hospital that I was in the other day had a company come in with a portable coffee stand just as a gesture of staff appreciation.  I was standing there with my travel mug and the guy asked me if I wanted coffee in my reusable cup.  

But, just be prepared to be met with some resistance occasionally, such as the guy at the hotel in New Mexico. And always remember that you can simply refuse and find an alternative that produces zero waste. 

Also, in the transcript for this episode I do have a link to a great article I found that I think is well worth the read.  The article is called The 5 Principles of Zero Waste and How to Start in Your Own Home.  This article provides a lot of detail and also it has a list of zero waste alternatives to common things we all use.  

I want to close this episode with a quote from Will Rogers. He said, “Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement.”

Obviously we do not live in a perfect world. Obviously our world is in it’s present condition due to bad judgement. Just remember that preventing one piece of trash from going to the landfill will not save the planet. But a lifetime of sustainable habits will. So, use better judgement and make better choices. 

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.