Recently my lovely sister, her husband, and my adorable and spunky 3-year old nephew came to stay with my husband and I. My sister has been supportive of my move to a zero waste lifestyle, and has followed me on my journey through reading my blog and newsletter. But she hasn’t stayed with us since we’ve moved towards a more sustainable lifestyle, and when her family came to visit, reality set in for me. How do I have houseguests who aren’t zero waste, live in my zero waste home?
My sister and her family, hereafter referred to as The Gang, stayed for a week. In that time, I learned several important lessons about communicating and responding to houseguests who don’t fit perfectly with your lifestyle.
- Be flexible. In an ideal world, houseguests wouldn’t bring any extra waste into my home. But that simply isn’t realistic. Waste that I wasn’t used to seeing in my own home, such as diapers, began to pile into my small trash can. Though it is my house, I learned quickly that I had to be okay with The Gang bringing in/creating waste that I wasn’t used to seeing. I wasn’t about to ask my guests to switch over to cloth diapers just to accommodate my needs. They were so considerate in other ways, permitting myself to be okay with additional waste in my home was something I had to become comfortable with.
- Having houseguests is a perfect time to educate others about sustainable living. My sister and her family shop at their local Co-Op or farmers market, but often purchase foods wrapped in plastic and/or use the provided plastic produce bags. During her visit, she spent an afternoon grocery shopping with me and I really looked at this outing as an opportunity to share my knowledge with her. We planned out our menu to prevent any food waste, collected all of the necessary jars and reusable bags, and set out to a local Co-Op. While grocery shopping, she learned how to tare a jar, the benefits of shopping the bulk section for products we only wanted a little of (like decaf coffee, something we don’t typically have in our house but wanted to have available for The Gang), and how to look for items in glass or paper instead of plastic. I think we both had a lot of fun doing this grocery shopping trip together.
- Set them up for success. Remember that some people are going to be totally unfamiliar with the zero waste lifestyle. Do your best to help them assimilate with the proper tools. When The Gang arrived, I had a bamboo cutlery set for each of them as a welcome present. They were excited about their zero waste gift and we broke them in right away with a picnic at a local park. And when they sat down for their first meal at my house, each person received a cloth napkin for their stay. This really started the trip off right.
- Take the time to explain your waste collection systems to your guests. Remember that separating waste into a compost bin, recycling bin, and Terracycle container might be foreign to your houseguests. Take the the time to explain your various waste steam collection systems in your home. Show them where your bins are located, what goes where, explain to them why you separate your waste, and make sure they know that you are available to answer any questions – they will have them!
I hope these tips help you next time you have guests in your zero waste home!