In the TV series 「Downton Abbey」, Lady Mary said to her newspaper-tycoon beau regarding the paintings in a house they then intended to buy as their wedding house(they didn’t end up getting married for Mary’s heart was still on Matthew), 「Your lot buys things and my lot inherits them.」 Without a slight trace of contempt in her tone, she laid out the stark difference between the old rich and the new rich: the rising power class through industrialization acquires value while the peerage keeps and passes on value through the family line. Claiming to be contemporary stylish middle-class, we behave nothing like the old rich - we buy things , we go through them quickly and toss the remnants to the dump in a matter of days, we hang on to nearly nothing for life for the next generation. Such a pattern of usage doesn’t just apply to consumables like tissue or wrappings , but even for machines, equipments, furniture, clothes that used to last much longer yet get replaced once a few years(or months, in the case of clothes).
著名英國劇集《唐頓莊園》裡，伯爵家大小姐瑪麗對自己的報業大亨未婚夫就新房（他們後來取消了婚約）裡的藝術品發出了如下評論：」你的階級買畫，我的階級繼承畫。「她的語氣冷靜平和，並沒有絲毫居高臨下，卻一語道盡了當時世家和新貴之間的本質區別：工業化中暴發的階級花錢來獲得價值而貴族們保存傳承價值。如今我們這群自稱當代中產階級的」新貴「們，自然和舊時代世家們的做法大相逕庭：我們買買買，很快就更新換代，短時間就拋卻大量廢棄物；我們極少會長久甚至終生保存一件物品傳給後代。如此的」惜物「模式不僅存在於紙巾、包裝等消耗品上，甚至電器、工具、家具、衣服等以往被認為是穩固資產的物品也會在幾年間全部換新（衣服的話，幾個月就會更新一次）。
The problem is, once trashed after an ephemeral life of use, the refuse made primarily of non-decomposable materials, stays almost forever in the ecosystem, damaging the earth in ways we don’t like to notice until we are forced to. Every year 8 million metric tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean and then in the stomach of wild sea animals. Plastic powders are even now detected in human blood-transferred via the food chain and water contamination, or we simply bit those plastics off when eating with plastic wares. All these reports have begun to raise awareness and I ,out of all people, should have paid more attention for I am an environmental major. However for years, I was only one poor victim of the consumerism waves, 「upgrading」 myself by getting new things and better things while trashing out the old unwanted ones and the wraps of the wanted ones so frequently my conscience grew numb.
問題在於：短暫使用之後被丟棄的這些」廢棄物「，或者」垃圾「——如今它們絕大多數由不可降解材料製成-——幾乎永遠存留在生態系統中，始終在破壞著地球的環境，而我們一直選擇忽視，直到撞了南牆。要知道每年有8百萬噸塑料垃圾進入海洋，最終進入海洋動物的腹中。人類的血液裡也已經檢測到了塑料顆粒- 多半是通過食物鏈的轉移、水汙染以及我們自己使用塑料餐具時吃進去的。所有這些報導都漸漸引起了人們的注意，包括我。但我注意的遠遠不夠，因為我自己是個環境工程師，本該身體力行。事實上，我多年來是消費主義的擁簇，總是不斷用購買更新更好的商品來填補生活的空白，升級自己精緻的豬豬女孩生活，與此同時以驚人的速率在丟棄各種不想要、舊了的物品以及購物帶來的各種包裝，直到良心已經麻木。
I have tried everything, almost everything, to lesson my guilt: I separate my trash into required categories, I recycle some bottles and ..well, not much else. Still in the grip of consumerism, the pitiful effort in recycling or classification does nothing to outstrip my rate of waste generation, until one day the breaking point: I saw a merge between the anti-consumerism movement and the Zero-Waste Life movement.
為了減輕良心上的壓力，我還是嘗試了各種辦法的—算是各種辦法吧：我也垃圾分類，我會回收一些塑料玻璃瓶等。。咦？也就是這些了。由於還是始終被抓在消費主義的手心裡，我的那點可憐的努力根本不足以抵消我產生垃圾的速率。直到有一天我終於忍受不了了，並且看見一道天光：要想零垃圾，必須反消費主義。
My parents have always advocated frugality, a virtue traditionally more praiseworthy in the east than the west where I lived for a long time, yet with the emerging economic status of China, the younger generations including myself have yet experienced enough what bigger income can add to our life to consider the accumulation of wealth and making legacies. Although the American life style of spending on credit gets it share of scolding here, China is catching up in the same direction : the young people burn out their incomes before the next pay day - a phenomenon called monthly-burnout; some of us borrow heavily from Huabei for consumables like a coach bag or an iPhone. E-commerce, much more prevailing in China than the whole in average, fills the country with disposable package materials at a faster rate than everywhere else thanks to the large population and the popularity of such a business mode.
我的爸媽從來都是踐行節儉的，節儉在東方是美德、還是美德之源頭，儉以養德嘛。這相對我生活過很多年的西方而言更是如此。隨著中國國力增強，年輕人們還沒有品嘗夠提高了的收入能給生活增添多少物質的樂趣，自然就顧不上考慮財富存儲，傳承價值等長遠的事情。儘管我們對美國的提前消費毫不客氣地批評，但中國的消費模式卻一往無前地朝著同一個方向奔去。年輕人常常在下一個工資日之前就花光了上月的進帳 - 此為典型的月光現象。還有很多人從花唄上借貸來購買一些這個時代的消耗品 - 名牌包包，或者蘋果手機。電商在中國比世界其它地方更為發達，於是由於中國人口巨大和電商盛行我們以世界第一的速率產生各種商品包裝材料廢棄物。
E-commerce’s strongest pull for me is its convenience, at selection, during purchases and eventually at the point of getting them into my hands. Maybe the only nuisance of the process lies in the last step: receiving the package and tearing it open and worrying about how to dispose quite a bundle of plastic, foam and carton. I even started to have my meals this way - through some app like Meituan or AreYouHungry, a ready meal can come hot and yummy to my doorstep without me lifting a finger, well, maybe lifting a finger to order the food is still necessary. 30 to 40 yuan a couple of days spent on packaged and delivered meals are not what started to pain me over time but seeing myself producing plastic-container trash un-reusable and un-recyclable at a such a rapid rate. It all hit me at once: this has long been a repulsion I imposed on myself and it is time to stop.
對我來說，網購最大的吸引力自然在於其便利性：不論是選貨、下單還是最終拿到貨，整個過程都比傳統購物快捷許多。也許唯一的麻煩就在於最後拿到快遞的那個時刻：我們得籤收、拆開層層疊疊的包裝並發愁怎麼樣處理一大堆的塑料、泡沫的紙盒。因為方便，我甚至把外賣變成了常規的飲食方式：什麼都不用做，除了輕輕動動手指下單就有熱騰騰香氣四溢的餐盒送到我門上。平均每日花費在外賣上的幾十元並不是引起我心痛的原因 - 每天都不得不扔出去的塑料餐盒才讓我漸漸有了生理性厭惡。這種厭惡深埋已久，終於爆發了出來，讓我瞬間醒悟：這一切該終止了。
So I did. Meituan deliveries is the first to go and Taobao app has fallen all the way to the bottom. Yes, the key to Zero Waste, as I see it, is anti-consumerism particularly in this e-commerce environment for only when we cut down the coming-in packages, we could avoid being swamped by recycling, reusing and repurposing tasks. No amount of composting plus recycling could compete with the current daily volume of consumption.
於是我就對自己的生活方式喊了急停。首先將」美團「和」餓了麼「置之高閣，」淘寶「、」京東「也進了冷宮。零垃圾生活方式的關鍵在於反消費主義，在於精準消費從而反浪費：在這個電商時代，如果不大幅度削減網購商品、甚至消費本身，再多的垃圾分類和回收也杯水車薪，垃圾循環永遠趕不上垃圾製造的速率。
Thus far it has been seven full days since I started this personal movement at my house. Of course my family are instantly on-board since they are all spendthrift people in the first place ( I being the anomaly). In fact they are overjoyed since they never see the point in my obsession with delivered restaurant food not just on account of its expenses but out of sanitary and health concerns. Finally I am on the same page with them, albeit out of an other-than-saving-every-penny angle, and that filial harmony feels great. What is more awesome is of course this inner peace thanks to a long-time-coming congruence between what I believe in and what I manage to practice day in and day out.
至今我開始這項生活改革已經。。整整七天。當然了我的家人一開始就大力支持，因為他們一直都是節儉風。豈止是支持，他們簡直是興高採烈：因為他們一直不太理解為什麼我那麼著迷於吃外賣，而外賣的衛生與健康問題令人堪憂（塑料盒裝熱食），更不用說花費巨大。我終於和他們殊途同歸，這種家庭和諧感覺十分好。更妙的是，我終於能找到內心的安寧：我信仰的可持續發展的理念和我每天的個人生活終於是一致的了。我不再是個表裡不一的偽善者。
The results would also include obviously a much lighter credit-card or Huabei bill, and uncannily, less time spent on the whole shebang of shopping affairs. I saved time and money, amazing. I used to think money is for buying time, which is why I liked delivered food so much cause it spared me from cooking and why I liked shopping on Taobao because I didn’t have to walk around the local malls to pick up what I want. But the overboard convenience actually reinforced some deep-seated shopaholic momentums and I end up hoarding a bigger load of things than I can handle. Time wasted. Money, you don’t say, wasted.
其它的成功包括減負的帳單部門 - 花唄或者信用卡數字攀升大大減慢，並且還因無需花大量時間網購而省出了多少愜意時光。省時間省錢，妙啊。我一向執念於花錢是為了買回時光，這也是為什麼我喜歡吃外賣因為它幫我省了做飯的時間；這也是我為什麼喜歡網購-因為它幫我省了去商店購物的時間。但是過度的方便催生了購物狂的節奏，於是我被淹沒於太多的物品無法一一利用還得花時間去檢索與收納的泥沼。雙重浪費。
But it is not all on the bright side. I have to give up a lot of dietary supplements I considered necessary to my health, because they come in heavy wraps and there is no way I can convince the sellers to do environmental-friendly overhaul to their logistics. So bye, the bulk of my anti-aging products, my beauty items. Coincidentally, though, I discovered that sweating from workout works wonders to my skin, an effect all my expensive nutrition supplements or skincare products failed to achieve. Oh well, it looks like I don’t have to sacrifice for the cause that much after all.
不過這項運動並不全是明亮的一面。我確實得做出犧牲，放棄我曾經無比依賴的各種食補產品，以及護膚秘鑰產品，因為既然我沒法說服我心愛的賣家們把他們的包裝和物流全換成環保型材料。那麼，我的抗衰老膠囊們，我的排毒酵素們，我的大牌面霜們，再見了。不過，我很偶然地發現，一場暴汗的鍛鍊能解決很多兩千塊錢面霜和精華無法解決的皮膚問題。那麼還有什麼好說？這個犧牲原來並不大。
And you wonder how much plastic trash I have produced over this week? Look below and mind you: all of them come from vestige of historical consumption(things bought before my movement started . There probably won’t be any more purchase of their kind, well, at least I will cut them down to an absolute minimum)
你不好奇我這七天內製造了究竟多少塑料垃圾麼？看下圖。不過要提醒你的是，這些都是歷史遺留問題 - 是我的零垃圾生活念頭興起前就買好、從而不得不慢慢用完的產品造成的垃圾。不過，就像小時候齲齒之後我再也不想吃糖了一樣，我如今已經不再受這些」買買買「的誘惑了。
More insights, methods of this journey will follow.
更多的零垃圾生活秘訣請繼續關注。