After so many years of striving for Zero Waste (over 20 years now), I find that I still need inspiration and often need zero waste solutions for daily tasks. Where I find many of my inspirations and creative solutions is by looking into the past. I find that a trip to the library, used book store and antique stores, I can find solutions for things people now use disposable or plastic for. I look for vintage housekeeping books, cookbooks, magazines and in the kitchen and household section of an antique mall for the ways generations before me lived. These resources are full of ideas and guides for Zero Waste living. I have my grandmothers “Modern Home Cook Book” from 1938 which has preserving, cheese making and cleaning recipes. This book makes no references to plastic wrap, aluminum foil or even a store bought convenience food on any of its pages. It is possible to live without many of the conveniences we have in our lives today, we just have to look for the answers in the past to find some of them.
