The stress-free guide to zero-waste living with Anita Vandyke

Our guest on the podcast this week is Anita Van Dyke: zero waste activist, literal rocket scientist, medical student, author and all-round breath of fresh air. Anita brings a new, more practical perspective to the zero waste lifestyle, and in this episode she and Brooke talk about her journey to living a zero waste life, the impact of her cultural and familial upbringing, tips for helping people get started and so much more.

Anita talks about her life a few years ago, as a self-described ‘maximalist’, and how she went from working in corporate engineering at the height of her career to being burnt out, and having to quit her job and step back for six months to think about what she wanted in life. She talks about her cultural background, as her parents immigrated to Australia from China during the communist regime, and how this informed both her value of money, power and status in her early 20s and her work ethic, but also how her upbringing cemented her understanding of living minimally. She talks about her discovery of this very podcast during that six month break, and how this, combined with other resources, volunteering, meditating and economic necessity started her on the journey of simplifying her life and decreasing her waste.

Now Anita is studying medicine and has just written a book, called ‘A Zero Waste Life: In 30 Days’. Her scientific background means her approach to zero waste living is incredibly practical, with a creative, problem-solving bent to help you make small changes in your everyday life. Her focus is accessibility, and Brooke loved her three-tiered approach to any issue: dipping your toe in, living low waste and living zero waste.

This podcast is full of so many nuggets of wisdom and great ideas for approaching a slower, more simple life. Start where you are, take stock, ask for help and stick to the 80/20 rule are just some of our main takeaways. What about you? Be sure to share your favourite bits with us on Instagram and Facebook. To read more about the episode and Anita, as well as to heck out her book, head over to http://slowyourhome.com/244for all the links and resources mentioned, as well as the full blog post.

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