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Anita Vandyke: A Zero Waste Life (Paperback, 2019, Penguin Random House Australia) 4 stars

A useful start to the Zero Waste Lifestyle with a few caveats.

4 stars

What is evident from the start is the author, Anita Vandyke, took their time in laying out the chapters in book. There are 30 mini chapters, which gradually get more complex. I feel breaking down the chapters avoids making irrational decision and the sense of feeling overwhelmed.

It is worth mentioning that a good 30 day holiday might be the best time to complete these stages. While some require minimal changes to routines, some include decluttering which might take a considerable amount of time.

I also appreciate the diverse range of topics covered such as food waste, composting, decluttering, zero waste shopping and reflecting on the progress half way through. The idea is by making changes and following them for 30 days, they should be engrained and we are more likely to accept and follow them. As someone who focuses on environmentalism some of the statistics and suggestions were not new however, I did learn some ideas I could implement moving forward.

Sadly I despite the organised structure some chapters could have linked better. One example was decluttering where she advised tops could go to thrift/charity shops amongst other suggestions. Yet later in the book she recommended clothes could be used as scrap material for cloths etc. I also would have liked to have seen varied levels of support for some days, such as the no buy period. Personally I was not keen on her "Noah's Ark" method to what items are required however others may.