Ran out of toothpaste? Make your own.
That’s what Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin did when the environmentally conscious couple committed to reduce their waste over a yearlong period.
Rustemeyer and Baldwin were among a group of guest speakers who gathered at Millennium Place on Thursday evening (Feb. 17) to inspire about 55 Whistlerites to reduce their carbon footprint.
The event was held to launch the new iShift Citizen program, presented by the municipality and the Whistler Centre for Sustainability. The program intends to get groups of six to 10 residents of Whistler together to discuss ways to make personal changes in their lives — with a goal to improve the conditions of the environment over the course of six months.
There is no interference in the groups from iShift organizers, only positive support, said Nicolette Richer, the municipality’s environmental coordinator.
She encouraged groups to “get together for a beer or on the ski hill,” once a month to discuss solutions and changes they can implement in order to tackle an issue because “change isn’t easy to do alone,” she said.
The presenters were meant to inspire those who have decided to take part in the iShift Citizen program and provide ideas for starting points to make environmental change happen.
“These are all ordinary people — the only thing that's different from you is that they took that first step, then another one,” Richer said about the inspirational speakers.
The event host, CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence, said iShift is a “positive community event all about ordinary people taking action to overcome barriers in one’s life.”
Rustemeyer and Baldwin shared with the crowd the trailer from their award-winning documentary film, The Clean Bin Project, and funny stories of their quest to compete against each other to see who could produce the least amount of waste over one year.
“We’re just a couple of people that had a crazy idea,” Baldwin said.
As the Clean Bin Project progressed, the couple became neurotic with noticing needless waste. Baldwin said he paid more attention to a lone plastic fork on the ground and its unnecessary use than a constantly overflowing public garbage can near his home.
Matt Hill, co-founder of Run for One Planet, also found himself focusing on the absurdity of using small wasteful products, like a plastic water bottle. He and his partner, Stephanie Tait, ran 17,700 kilometres across North America in just over one year and spoke to 35,000 children in order to motivate people and elicit attention to growing environmental concerns.
“I was over the moon when I was told this (iShift Citizen) was going happening in Whistler because Whistler has something special going on,” Hill said to the crowd. ?
“You have thrown a pebble into the pond,” Hill said about the contagious nature of inspiring environmental change. Baldwin agreed and said that the Clean Bin Project created a ripple effect and people around him started sharing their ideas and acts of zero waste.
“We became the waste judges,” Rustemeyer joked.
Other ideas included bringing your own to-go container everywhere with you, taking responsibility of all your garbage, not buying material goods, living off the grid, recycling, taking the bus and living in affordable housing.
“It is just as easy to recycle as it is to throw something in the garbage,” Rustemeyer said.
Baldwin warned the crowd that if they choose to make their own products for their iShift action to make sure they mark them clearly and keep them separated. He accidentally ate some homemade deodorant, thinking it was toothpaste.
Life after the project has Rustemeyer and Baldwin maintaining a minimum waste lifestyle, and yes, the couple still uses the homemade toothpaste and deodorant — though it is probably more clearly labeled now.
