About

The question I ask myself most often these days, is why it took me so long to wake up.

You know, to realize that the pork chop or medium rare steak on your plate was once a living, breathing, and tortured animal. To make the connection that “mmm, bacon” means the death and pain of a cute pig. And come on, pigs are damn cute. To realize that meat, milk and eggs are not even healthy. For the light bulb of clarity to go on, and you suddenly see that living a sustainable/green/eco- conscious life isn’t reserved only for saving the rain forests and taking down big oil companies. It’s not something that only those crazy vegetarians care about, or what we so easily refer to as the hippies or tree-huggers.  It’s something we can actually do, all of us, day to day, in small ways.

Going Vegan:

My vegan journey started in 2014, April, if I’m not mistaken. Me and my partner had been toying around with the idea of eating less meat. The meatless Monday craze that took South Africa by storm. And, because we realized we couldn’t judge people who torture, kill and hunt animals, while chomping down on a juicy steak. So research was done, articles were read, and videos were watched.

The plan was to fade meat out gradually (OF COURSE we’d still eat eggs and milk, you need the protein after all!) but then I saw Paul McCarthy’s Glass Walls:

I decided “Fuck That Shit!” Those industries shall no longer be supported. That being said, I’m not perfect. I slip up. Be it intentionally, or thinking something is vegan, when it’s not. But I’m making a conscious effort.

Going Zero Waste:

A couple of months ago, I read about this chick who hasn’t made any trash in 2 years. It’s sounded magical, awesome, and something that someone like me would never be able to achieve. I mean, HOW DOES SHE DO IT! I read it, admired her, and got on with my life, filling one garbage bag after another, week in and week out.

I saw the article again more recently, paid closer attention, did some research, started reading her blog, Trash Is For Tossers, found so many other useful sites, and would you know? It’s actually do-able!

So, I’m not living completely Zero Waste yet. In fact, I’ve started this week. I’m doing research as I go, I’m planning, I’m figuring this out. Therefore, I’ve decided to document my journey, and to share what I’ve learnt as I go along.

 

My name is Cheryl, I’m from Johannesburg, South Africa. For the first time ever, I actually feel like there’s a purpose to this thing called life. There’s hope for our planet and for our future, if we all wake up, and realize what we’re doing. To our bodies, our health, to other sentient beings, and to the earth. To realize that we all can, and MUST, change our habits.

I’m giving myself a year to go from throwing out  3 black bags filled with trash, waste and products that can’t decompose (A WEEK!) to living completely waste free.

Welcome to my journey.

Some useful places to start:

The Flaming Vegan
Vegangela
Choose Veg
Peta
Gruenish
Treading My Own Path
Going Zero Waste
Zero Waste Home

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