Year 05

My name is Trisha, and I live in a small town in the Columbia River Gorge, in Oregon. I’m a reporter – primarily a features writer (I like to call it “puppies and unicorns”) – for our town’s one and only newspaper.

The Walker Four: Eric, Abby, Trisha and Johanna.

The Walker Four: Eric, Abby, Trisha and Johanna, on vacation last summer.

Now, about my project: I’ve been dabbling in zero waste for a couple of years, but I’ve been pretty lazy about it. Or maybe not so much lazy as easily distracted and frustrated – in our neck of the woods, package-free items are sparse, and some of what is available has been vetoed by the family or is too expensive to really be an option.

But is it that our choices really are sparse, or is it that I’m not very observant? What would happen if we buckled down and tried to live a zero waste lifestyle?

So that’s what we’re going to find out: What is possible in a small town and with a family. I’m hoping to discover that zero waste (or near zero waste … minimal waste? light waste? … because I’m not sure “zero waste” actually exists) is not only attainable for the four us, but also sustainable.

My goal is to simply explore the possibilities and report what I learn, and I’m excited to get to share this with The Simple Year community – and look forward to learning from you as well, no matter where we are on our personal journeys.

My journey started HERE.

And ended HERE.