Intro to BLOG

Today is number one writing this blog.  I am going to keep it simple so that I actually enter a post every day or so.  I recently spent a week in CasCais, Portugal with my brother and family.  They are hard core zero waste folks.  There goal is to create no more than a gallon of trash to throw away every week.  They have two kids 9 & 7 and a dog.  Their zero waste lifestyle looked very time consuming to me.  My sister-in-law was away for most of the week at a zero waste conference in Krakow, Poland.   My brother makes all the dog food and freezes it, they make laundry soap, dish soap and toothpaste.  They use bar soap only, including for shampooing their hair.  Everything is stored in glass jars that had been previously used.  There is very little food waste.  They reuse trash for picking up dog poop and they burn what they can in their wood stove.  They don't buy any boxed quick meals or even cereal. They eat a lot of fresh fruit, veggies and fish.  My sister-in-law crochets dog toys with jute and she is working on crocheting a dog bed.  She also patches the kids clothes until they are absolutely to small to wear or threadbare. They also do not have a car.  They ride bikes or walk to get around.  It all seemed very labor intensive to me, however  I came home from the trip and decided while I could not eradicate my life suddenly to be like theirs, I could take baby steps towards zero waste.  So, this is my story as I explore Zero Waste.