0:00:03.020,0:00:04.938
Joy: Hello everybody and welcome to

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Living your Values Series with

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Lauren Singer and Rob Greenfield today.

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Round of applause for these two,

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they are really incredible.

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[Applause]

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Joy: Lauren is the founder and CEO

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of Package Free, so this

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literally came from her brain.

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Thank you, guys, for joining us here.

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We are Zero Waste Lifestyle.

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We will help you live your life more [br]sustainably.

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On that vein, Rob is also leading the [br]way,

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showing us all how to live more [br]sustainably,

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more just, and be better people, in [br]general.

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We are really excited for your [br]conversation.

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Afterwards, everything is 30% off.

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Thank you guys so much for being here.

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Rob: Cool.

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Lauren: Thanks Joy.

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We have done a lot of events and talks [br]here.

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The last one that we did,

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I did something different.

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First, I was wondering if people would [br]respond to it

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in a way that would make them feel[br]uncomfortable,

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but I later I learned it was actually [br]quite nice.

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So you will have to bear with me.

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It was in honor of one of our vendors and

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one of my best friends who passed,

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a month ago, Vanessa Blake.

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Her and her two children

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were tragically killed in a

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car accident in California.

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She made a the Becky Boo Deodorant.

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There might be a few left here.

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What I did was take a moment

0:01:17.376,0:01:19.986
of silence, for all of us, to take a [br]second

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to think about someone that we love.

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If you were with your family for[br]the holidays,

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maybe you thought things that you

0:01:25.682,0:01:27.113
do not love about your family.

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Sometimes, our family does that to us.

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But, I think it is important,

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especially during the holidays,

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during the stress of work....

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If anyone works in retail or e-commerce,

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or anything, you might be really [br]overwhelmed.

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So I think that just to take a moment

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to think about something beautiful

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that happened today,

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and think about someone,

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and send love to someone you

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do not get to see all the time, but

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you care about deeply, so

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if we could just close our eyes

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and take a quick second.

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Lauren: Thank you [loud bang]

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That was perfect timing.

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Lauren: So Rob.

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Rob: So Lauren.

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Rob and I met, how many years ago now?

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Rob: 3 years and 2 months

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Lauren: 3 years and 2 months ago.

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I do not know how you remember that.

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That is amazing.

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I met you 3 years, 2 months ago,

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but I knew about you earlier,

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because before I even started my first [br]company,

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The Simply Co, I had read an article

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about you, that was something along

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the lines of 'I did not shower for

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a year - these are the lessons I learned',

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and, after reading about this,

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I thought, "Woah, this guy is

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amazing, and interesting."

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How do you not shower?

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I started reading, and I learned

0:03:04.581,0:03:08.456
that you did not not bathe, but you swam

0:03:08.456,0:03:10.508
in rivers, and you let the earth

0:03:10.664,0:03:12.592
take care of your personal hygiene.

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I actually thought it was beautiful

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and I found myself

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being incredibly envious of

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this year that you had

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to celebrate nature, and how

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amazing it can feel by just

0:03:21.838,0:03:22.926
connecting with it.

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Then we connected for the first time...

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Was the first time in person when you

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came to my house?

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Was that it? Had we met before then?

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Rob: I think it was then, 2016

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Lauren: 2016. And, we had the most

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amzing time, which we will get into

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later, but, before any of that,

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before we get into all the fun we had [br]when we connected,

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I wanted you to give a brief synopsis

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of who you are, your background,

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and what led you to start all of

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your adventures.

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Rob: Sure.

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I also want to tell about how I [br]learned about Lauren.

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I was sitting at home

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and my best friend Dane sent me a

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message and he said...

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It was a Mindbodygreen story

0:04:14.973,0:04:16.883
about how all your trash at that time

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fit into a jar, for maybe two years

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(at that time?) - it was a while ago.

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My friend Dane said, "This girl sounds

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a lot like you." [laughter]

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It was around the same time that I

0:04:28.667,0:04:30.346
did the story, Lessons Learned from

0:04:30.346,0:04:31.554
a Year Without Showering.

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He sent that over and said,

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"You two sound exactly alike.

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It is nice to be back.

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I just finished my year of growing and

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foraging all my food and this is my first [br]beer.

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So cheers to being here with all of you.

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Everyone: Cheers!

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It is from Toast, which is an awesome

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company that makes it out

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of wasted bread, so cheers.

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Cheers everybody!

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Lauren: I will let you savor that.

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Rob: mmm I forgot how it tasted.

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Lauren: Tell us about where you are from.

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What was your childhood like?

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Rob: I grew up in Northern Wisconsin.

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I grew up in a small town, Ashland.

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Population: 8,620.

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My passion as a kid was catching frogs

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and turtles, and going out fishing.

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All I wanted to do was be outside.

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Even when I was not outside,

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I was reading National Geographic.

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I was basically yearning to see the world.

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I read books like Dr Seuss.

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I just wanted to go to these far off [br]places, like Fiji.

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I always had a deep desire to learn all [br]the animals.

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That was my childhood.

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The other central theme of my childhood

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was that we were very low income.

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It was my mom, me, and three siblings

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in a two-bedroom house where the paint was[br]chipping off.

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We had an old rusty car.

0:06:07.890,0:06:09.724
Basically, my whole childhood,

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I was embarrassed about being poor.

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I was living most of my childhood like [br]it was a lie.

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I did not want people to know who I [br]really was.

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I think that was what led me to the next

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years where my goal was to be

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a millionaire by the time I was 30.

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I just really wanted to fit in with the

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American dream: to have nice things

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to be able to impress people.

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And, not just to impress people,

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but also just to fit in, and also just [br]not be different.

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That is, I guess, how I would sum up

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the beginning of my life.

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Then, in 2011, was when I woke up.

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I realized that everything I was doing -

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the food I was eating, the car the I was[br]driving,

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the garbage that I was making -

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was destroying everything I loved as [br]a kid.

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Lauren: Can you talk about what sparked[br]that?

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Your life now, is quite the contrast

0:07:04.886,0:07:06.849
from being a millionaire at 30.

0:07:06.849,0:07:08.857
What was the moment?

0:07:08.857,0:07:11.119
Was there a singular moment or event

0:07:11.119,0:07:13.742
or anything that made you change

0:07:13.742,0:07:15.513
the trajectory of your life?

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Rob: Yes, it changed pretty drastically

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because my goal was to be a millionaire.

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Now my goal is to never have more

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than $15,000 of possessions and [br]money, total.

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Right now, everything I own is in

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a backpack right back there.

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I have about $6000 to my name.

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So, it is opposite of being a [br]millionaire, sort of.

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Actually, the opposite would be being

0:07:37.333,0:07:40.977
extremely in debt - I am not in debt.

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What was the question again?

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Lauren: Was there a moment that sparked?

0:07:48.937,0:07:50.406
What was your lightbulb?

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Rob: For me, I started to watch a lot of

0:07:53.075,0:07:54.983
documentaries and read a lot of books.

0:07:54.983,0:07:56.619
"Fooding" was one of the earliest

0:07:56.619,0:07:58.070
documentaries that I watched.

0:07:58.070,0:07:59.827
Zeitgeist was another early one.

0:08:01.829,0:08:03.731
I read a lot of books; Michael Pollan

0:08:03.731,0:08:05.530
was an early wake-up.

0:08:05.530,0:08:06.264
Lauren: Me too.

0:08:06.264,0:08:09.837
Rob: I just realized that my life

0:08:09.837,0:08:11.715
was a couple of things.

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It was a lie that had been sold to me by

0:08:14.361,0:08:17.001
corporate America, that most of the

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things I was doing was because I had

0:08:20.289,0:08:23.242
bought their advertizing.

0:08:23.242,0:08:26.269
For example, early on, Old Spice [br]deodorant....

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I realized humans have existed for

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millions of years without Old Spice.

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Could I possibly need Old Spice to fit [br]into society?

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Do I actually need these things?

0:08:37.210,0:08:40.684
All the chemicals I was putting on my [br]body and in my food,

0:08:40.684,0:08:44.509
all the ways I was spewing chemicals

0:08:44.509,0:08:46.099
and toxins into the world.

0:08:48.384,0:08:50.282
[I was] also realizing that my actions

0:08:50.282,0:08:51.856
were not in line with my beliefs.

0:08:51.856,0:08:53.577
I always considered myself

0:08:53.577,0:08:55.917
environmentally friendly because [br]I recycled;

0:08:58.830,0:09:00.606
I had energy efficient bulbs;

0:09:02.452,0:09:04.751
I turned off the water when I was [br]not using it.

0:09:04.763,0:09:06.825
My mom had taught me the basic things.

0:09:07.189,0:09:10.084
I always considered myself [br]environmentally friendly,

0:09:10.084,0:09:13.553
but then I realized that actually 99%

0:09:13.553,0:09:16.162
of what I was doing was [br]environmentally destructive.

0:09:16.162,0:09:19.602
Almost nothing I was doing, [br]nothing at all,

0:09:19.602,0:09:22.294
was really environmentally friendly

0:09:22.294,0:09:26.207
because I just bought into [br]American consumerism.

0:09:26.207,0:09:28.078
Lauren: What were the first steps you

0:09:28.078,0:09:29.963
started to take when you realized that

0:09:30.202,0:09:32.164
your values were not in alignment with

0:09:32.400,0:09:33.707
your day to day actions?

0:09:33.956,0:09:36.261
Rob: I just realized that we are talking

0:09:36.261,0:09:38.816
exactly about the title of this talk.

0:09:38.932,0:09:40.188
[Laughter.]

0:09:40.188,0:09:41.718
Lauren: I am happy we got there.

0:09:43.344,0:09:45.308
What were the first things that you did,

0:09:45.308,0:09:47.087
because I think for a lot of people,

0:09:47.087,0:09:49.032
they realize, maybe I am not living

0:09:49.032,0:09:51.470
aligned with my values, but what can [br]I do?

0:09:51.470,0:09:52.519
I am just one person.

0:09:52.519,0:09:53.994
I think what you really embody

0:09:53.994,0:09:57.228
is doing something and 'really' doing [br]something.

0:09:57.228,0:09:59.022
What were the first steps you took

0:09:59.022,0:10:01.748
to start to align with what you cared [br]about?

0:10:02.765,0:10:06.496
Rob: My thing was that I wanted to

0:10:06.496,0:10:08.710
drastically and radically transform

0:10:08.710,0:10:11.794
my life fairly quickly, but I also knew

0:10:11.794,0:10:13.453
I could not do it overnight.

0:10:13.453,0:10:15.924
I am generally pretty logical and [br]rational,

0:10:16.161,0:10:18.373
and I was deep in the system.

0:10:18.373,0:10:19.982
I had 7 credit cards.

0:10:19.982,0:10:23.652
I had a card that had 30 or so different [br]bills.

0:10:23.652,0:10:24.848
I had debt.

0:10:25.440,0:10:27.504
I had a 3-bedroom apartment that I rented.

0:10:27.504,0:10:29.323
I was in the system.

0:10:29.323,0:10:30.426
Not as much as others -

0:10:30.426,0:10:32.797
I did not have a mortgage, for example.

0:10:33.716,0:10:35.971
I wanted to radically transform my life,

0:10:35.971,0:10:38.973
but I knew that it would take some time.

0:10:39.522,0:10:44.211
What I did was made a list of a hundred

0:10:44.473,0:10:46.264
ways I wanted to change.

0:10:46.264,0:10:48.277
My goal was that I was going to check off

0:10:48.277,0:10:50.691
one positive thing per week, or better.

0:10:50.691,0:10:54.811
As far as the first things, I have a [br]visual,

0:10:54.811,0:10:57.455
I remember taking everything toxic

0:10:57.455,0:10:59.225
out of my bathroom and putting

0:10:59.225,0:11:00.895
it on the curb, and then saying....

0:11:00.895,0:11:02.635
That was the Story of Stuff,

0:11:02.635,0:11:04.650
one of my earliest wake-ups.

0:11:04.650,0:11:06.775
There is also the Story of Cosmetics

0:11:06.775,0:11:08.384
in another video they put out.

0:11:08.384,0:11:10.894
I remember just putting all that out [br]on the curb,

0:11:10.894,0:11:12.867
and saying, I am either going to 'not'

0:11:12.867,0:11:14.608
replace them because maybe I do not

0:11:14.608,0:11:16.437
need them at all, or if I am going to

0:11:16.437,0:11:17.888
bring something into my house,

0:11:17.888,0:11:19.187
it is going to be something

0:11:19.187,0:11:22.179
that makes sense to put on my body.

0:11:22.179,0:11:24.494
That was a really early one.

0:11:24.494,0:11:27.335
I was also dating someone who was

0:11:27.335,0:11:29.278
practicing traditional Chinese medicine,

0:11:29.278,0:11:31.317
accupuncture, massage therapy and

0:11:31.317,0:11:33.705
herbalism, at the time, so that was

0:11:33.705,0:11:36.100
another reason that I started there.

0:11:36.100,0:11:39.736
Then food. At the time, I went to Walmart

0:11:40.187,0:11:42.302
for all of my food.

0:11:42.388,0:11:45.413
They always ship around the country,[br]around the world.

0:11:45.413,0:11:49.108
It is all in plastic, and then in two [br]plastic bags.

0:11:49.363,0:11:51.839
I quickly stopped going to Walmart.

0:11:51.939,0:11:53.685
Then I went to Trader Joe's,

0:11:53.685,0:11:55.478
I realized that is a scam,

0:11:55.478,0:11:58.808
as far as thinking it is environmentally [br]friendly.

0:11:58.808,0:12:01.155
Then transitioning to eating more

0:12:01.155,0:12:02.966
at local farmer's market.

0:12:02.966,0:12:05.742
Another one was riding my bike a lot more.

0:12:05.871,0:12:07.568
I had a beach cruiser at the time.

0:12:07.568,0:12:10.136
So I decided I was going to get a bike

0:12:10.136,0:12:12.705
that I could get some distance on.

0:12:13.454,0:12:15.476
Lauren: Where were you living at the [br]time?

0:12:15.476,0:12:17.181
Rob: That was San Diego.

0:12:17.181,0:12:19.215
So, I stopped driving my car as much.

0:12:20.505,0:12:24.543
Also, slowly but surely got rid of my [br]garbage can.

0:12:24.543,0:12:25.988
That was a big goal of mine,

0:12:25.988,0:12:27.864
to not have garbage cans in the house.

0:12:27.864,0:12:28.669
Lauren: Yes!

0:12:28.669,0:12:30.634
Which, back then seemed radical,

0:12:30.634,0:12:32.868
but over time, it is just normal.

0:12:32.868,0:12:35.046
Lauren: Let me talk about that a little [br]bit.

0:12:35.046,0:12:36.259
The word radical.

0:12:36.528,0:12:38.847
I think there are not many people

0:12:38.847,0:12:40.528
who would disagree that the things

0:12:40.528,0:12:43.105
you do a quite radical, quite extremist.

0:12:43.105,0:12:45.726
I have gotten that myself about going[br]zero waste.

0:12:45.726,0:12:48.609
You go all the way, you never half-do[br]anything.

0:12:48.869,0:12:52.323
Do have a reason for why you tackle these

0:12:52.558,0:12:56.155
projects or these goals in the way that[br]you do?

0:12:56.155,0:12:57.936
Can you speak to some of the projects

0:12:57.936,0:12:59.420
that you have done in the past,

0:12:59.420,0:13:01.689
from not showering to what you have just

0:13:01.689,0:13:04.113
embarked on, have just completed.

0:13:04.462,0:13:07.579
Rob: I do radical things for a few[br]reasons.

0:13:07.828,0:13:10.396
1. because I have always been a radical[br]human being.

0:13:10.396,0:13:11.544
It is just the reality.

0:13:11.544,0:13:13.779
It is deep inside my bones.

0:13:13.779,0:13:16.165
Before, I was radically stupid.

0:13:16.165,0:13:19.068
I liked to do stupid things that

0:13:19.068,0:13:21.971
would get people's attention.

0:13:21.971,0:13:26.152
In college, running into a fence as hard

0:13:26.152,0:13:28.284
as I could and seeing if I could [br]break it.

0:13:28.284,0:13:30.813
You know, really stupid things [br]when I was drinking.

0:13:32.193,0:13:35.632
I have always liked to test the limits.

0:13:35.632,0:13:40.775
Now I choose to test purposeful limits.

0:13:43.175,0:13:45.067
There is the reality that I just like

0:13:45.067,0:13:47.697
to do extreme things and to test things.

0:13:47.697,0:13:52.958
The other thing is that I realized at that[br]time,

0:13:52.958,0:13:54.791
not only did I want to change my life,

0:13:54.791,0:13:56.646
but I wanted to give people the

0:13:56.646,0:13:58.227
opportunity to change their life.

0:13:58.227,0:14:00.449
I was always decent about not wanting to

0:14:00.449,0:14:02.494
tell anybody what to do,

0:14:02.494,0:14:04.106
but just to give an alternative.

0:14:06.336,0:14:08.171
In a half hour news segment,

0:14:08.171,0:14:11.097
there are 18 short segments,

0:14:11.097,0:14:13.311
and 15 of them are negative,

0:14:13.311,0:14:14.786
and only 3 are positive.

0:14:14.786,0:14:17.331
Between that are commercials telling you

0:14:17.331,0:14:19.466
that if you want to be happy or healthy,

0:14:19.466,0:14:20.852
you need to buy things.

0:14:20.852,0:14:23.017
I just wanted to put out another [br]narrative

0:14:23.017,0:14:24.604
and give people another option.

0:14:24.604,0:14:29.995
It was that. I wanted to show people [br]another way.

0:14:29.995,0:14:32.046
And of course, I had to compete

0:14:32.046,0:14:35.226
with mainstream media.

0:14:35.226,0:14:38.001
I had to do things that would actually

0:14:38.001,0:14:40.032
get my message out there.

0:14:40.032,0:14:41.623
If I just did a little bit.

0:14:41.623,0:14:43.897
If I did things in a really moderate way,

0:14:43.897,0:14:47.184
like starting to shop at the farmer's[br]market.

0:14:47.184,0:14:48.658
Lauren: I shower once a week.

0:14:48.658,0:14:50.540
Rob: Yeah, that would not be on ...

0:14:50.540,0:14:52.849
Rob and Lauren: mainstream media

0:14:52.849,0:14:55.232
Rob: So that was the strategic aspect [br]of it.

0:14:55.232,0:14:57.733
The other big part of it was....

0:14:57.733,0:15:00.921
You have been called, like you said,

0:15:00.921,0:15:03.054
extreme, and people generally

0:15:03.054,0:15:04.692
consider me extreme.

0:15:04.692,0:15:07.847
I consider myself extreme, but the [br]reality is,

0:15:07.847,0:15:10.187
I am actually not extreme.

0:15:10.187,0:15:12.024
The only reason that I am extreme

0:15:12.024,0:15:15.246
is because I am being compared to what is

0:15:15.246,0:15:18.454
already an extreme society.

0:15:18.454,0:15:21.285
The United States has 5% of the world's[br]population,

0:15:21.285,0:15:23.638
but uses 25% of the world's resources.

0:15:23.638,0:15:26.291
That by definition, is extreme.

0:15:26.291,0:15:29.107
Not even close to the whole world could [br]do that.

0:15:29.107,0:15:34.038
What I am, is I am the counter balance to

0:15:34.038,0:15:36.565
extreme western consumerism.

0:15:36.565,0:15:39.437
I only have to go to these extremes

0:15:39.437,0:15:42.237
because the extreme is already there.

0:15:42.237,0:15:46.510
Lauren: Can you speak to some of the

0:15:46.510,0:15:51.260
headlines that you created, some of the

0:15:51.260,0:15:52.593
things you have taken on.

0:15:52.593,0:15:55.217
We spoke about the 'I have not showered [br]in a year -

0:15:55.217,0:15:56.830
these are the lessons I learned.'

0:15:56.830,0:15:59.304
Talk about some of the lessons you [br]learned,

0:15:59.304,0:16:02.269
from Trash Me, growing all your own[br]food.

0:16:02.269,0:16:04.204
I am really curious becuase we have not

0:16:04.204,0:16:06.044
caught up in a while, so this is more

0:16:06.044,0:16:08.949
or me than it is for all of you.

0:16:08.949,0:16:10.918
Rob: Well, my first project was to bike

0:16:10.918,0:16:13.069
accross the United States, and try to

0:16:13.069,0:16:15.119
have no negative environmental [br]impact.

0:16:15.119,0:16:17.885
That meant setting basic ground

0:16:17.885,0:16:20.328
rules for all the key aspects of

0:16:20.328,0:16:22.220
sustainable living, the things that we

0:16:22.220,0:16:23.872
deal with every single day.

0:16:23.872,0:16:25.664
I consider those to be food, water,

0:16:25.664,0:16:27.298
energy, waste, and transportion.

0:16:27.298,0:16:29.388
These are things that every single one[br]of us

0:16:29.388,0:16:30.921
deals with every single day

0:16:30.921,0:16:32.395
whether we realize it or not.

0:16:32.395,0:16:34.644
For example, for waste, every piece [br]of garbage

0:16:34.644,0:16:36.508
that I created, I had to carry across

0:16:36.508,0:16:38.177
the United States with me.

0:16:38.177,0:16:40.682
If I had a candy bar in San Francisco,

0:16:40.682,0:16:43.214
then I had to bike with that plastic

0:16:43.214,0:16:45.016
all the way to Vermont.

0:16:45.016,0:16:48.139
On that trip, I made just 2 pounds

0:16:48.139,0:16:50.536
of trash in 104 days, which is what

0:16:50.536,0:16:52.414
the average person in the United States

0:16:52.414,0:16:54.722
makes by about 1 or 2 in the afternoon

0:16:54.722,0:16:55.853
on any given day.

0:16:55.853,0:16:58.366
On that trip, I was doing extreme things

0:16:58.366,0:17:03.675
about food, water, energy, waste,[br]transportation.

0:17:03.675,0:17:05.305
That was my first project.

0:17:05.305,0:17:09.247
The other one was Trash Me,

0:17:09.247,0:17:11.180
which was right here in New York City.

0:17:11.180,0:17:14.324
That was a month of living like the [br]average American.

0:17:14.324,0:17:17.535
Putting all ethics and morals aside [br]for the month,

0:17:17.535,0:17:21.211
and eating, consuming like the average [br]person.

0:17:21.211,0:17:24.193
But I had to wear every piece of trash[br]that I created.

0:17:24.359,0:17:27.127
Lauren: Did everybody see that? Yeah?

0:17:27.127,0:17:29.487
We had it here for a little while.

0:17:29.487,0:17:31.040
It was awesome!

0:17:31.040,0:17:32.216
Rob: Good

0:17:32.216,0:17:33.960
Lauren: How did you feel after that?

0:17:33.960,0:17:35.732
What was the lesson that you learned?

0:17:35.732,0:17:41.377
Rob: It is interesting, in a way I felt [br]better.

0:17:41.377,0:17:43.714
I have to say, it was the most enjoyable

0:17:43.714,0:17:46.031
month in my entire life.

0:17:46.031,0:17:48.642
Not because I was consuming,

0:17:48.642,0:17:51.310
but just because it worked so well.

0:17:51.310,0:17:54.055
Everywhere I went for the whole month

0:17:54.055,0:17:55.798
in New York city, I was being chased

0:17:55.798,0:17:57.479
down the streets by people saying,

0:17:57.479,0:18:00.354
"It is the trash man!" People were [br]excited.

0:18:00.354,0:18:05.623
What fulfils me, is seeing people's

0:18:05.623,0:18:08.096
wheels turning inside their head.

0:18:08.096,0:18:09.845
People would walk up to me.

0:18:09.845,0:18:11.769
It is the opposite of all of your trash

0:18:11.769,0:18:12.948
fitting into your jar.

0:18:12.948,0:18:15.407
I always try to find visual ways to help

0:18:15.407,0:18:17.606
people understand important issues.

0:18:17.606,0:18:20.817
The idea was that I wanted people

0:18:20.817,0:18:23.301
to look at me, and see themselves,

0:18:23.301,0:18:26.140
without me having to tell them [br]anything.

0:18:26.140,0:18:27.836
Without me having to tell anyone

0:18:27.836,0:18:29.643
that they are doing anything wrong.

0:18:29.643,0:18:31.428
Because I do not necessarily believe

0:18:31.428,0:18:33.059
in wrong or right anyway.

0:18:33.059,0:18:38.459
... not have to tell anybody anything.

0:18:38.459,0:18:40.447
What would happen, is people would

0:18:40.447,0:18:41.908
walk up to me in the street.

0:18:41.908,0:18:45.003
They would say, "What are you doing?"

0:18:45.003,0:18:46.519
I would say, "I am just living

0:18:46.519,0:18:48.358
like the average American for a month,

0:18:48.358,0:18:49.886
and I am wearing all my trash."

0:18:49.886,0:18:51.719
They would just look at me.

0:18:51.719,0:18:53.377
Sometimes they would actually say,

0:18:53.377,0:18:55.579
"Oh, that is me."

0:18:55.579,0:18:57.781
Sometimes you would see them [br]realize it.

0:18:57.781,0:18:59.790
Other times they would actually say it.

0:18:59.790,0:19:04.249
I try to do things in a way that are

0:19:04.249,0:19:09.491
in people's faces, without "being [br]in their face".

0:19:09.491,0:19:11.398
Lauren: I think it was a really amazing

0:19:11.398,0:19:13.337
project for me, because my whole life is

0:19:13.337,0:19:15.286
focused around talking about trash

0:19:15.286,0:19:17.055
and how not to make so much trash.

0:19:17.055,0:19:19.844
Actually feeling the weight of your

0:19:19.844,0:19:22.631
completed suit was unbelievable.

0:19:22.631,0:19:25.967
This suit was really heavy; we needed

0:19:25.967,0:19:28.803
three people to carry it up the stairs.

0:19:28.803,0:19:31.738
The day we installed it, I think I fell [br]4 times.

0:19:31.738,0:19:33.605
It was unbelievable.

0:19:33.605,0:19:37.126
You truly do not realize the sheer volume

0:19:37.126,0:19:41.116
of the sh*t that people create every [br]single day.

0:19:41.116,0:19:44.621
I think it was a really important [br]project for me.

0:19:44.621,0:19:47.748
I am sure it was for so many other people.

0:19:47.748,0:19:50.169
The next project after that was what?

0:19:50.169,0:19:55.775
Rob: Another project that I just finished

0:19:55.775,0:19:58.034
was a year of growing and foraging all [br]my food.

0:19:58.034,0:20:00.370
For one year, no grocery stores, no [br]restaurants,

0:20:00.370,0:20:02.601
no drink at a bar, nothing packaged,

0:20:02.601,0:20:05.350
nothing processed, nothing shipped[br]long distances,

0:20:05.350,0:20:10.239
no beer, no even going to the package-free

0:20:10.239,0:20:12.946
shop to get my food, or even the farmer's [br]market.

0:20:12.946,0:20:15.488
Everything I ate for the year was either

0:20:15.488,0:20:19.479
from my gardens, or that I went out and

0:20:19.479,0:20:21.828
foraged, whether it was out in the

0:20:21.828,0:20:24.284
countryside, or right in the cities that [br]I was in.

0:20:24.284,0:20:26.011
Lauren: Where was this taking place?

0:20:26.011,0:20:27.623
Rob: That was in Orlando Florida.

0:20:27.623,0:20:29.932
That is where I have lived for the last 2 [br]years.

0:20:29.932,0:20:31.047
Lauren: How was that,

0:20:31.047,0:20:32.863
foraging for food in Orlando Florida?

0:20:32.863,0:20:34.526
When I think of Orlando, Florida,

0:20:34.526,0:20:35.890
and I think of Disneyworld.

0:20:35.890,0:20:38.272
I think of Universal Studios,

0:20:38.272,0:20:40.067
and maybe cotton candy,

0:20:40.067,0:20:41.991
but I definitely do not think of

0:20:41.991,0:20:44.999
sustenance for a year and half of life.

0:20:44.999,0:20:46.548
So what were the types of things

0:20:46.548,0:20:48.627
that you found there?

0:20:48.627,0:20:53.709
Rob: Generally, we think of what we know.

0:20:53.709,0:20:58.517
If we are not thinking of what might

0:20:58.517,0:21:00.491
be edible around us, then we will walk

0:21:00.491,0:21:02.526
past those things our entire life without

0:21:02.526,0:21:04.170
ever thinking about it.

0:21:04.170,0:21:06.648
The amazing thing is,

0:21:06.648,0:21:08.720
food is growing everywhere,

0:21:08.720,0:21:10.508
even in New York city.

0:21:10.508,0:21:14.398
I was here 3 years ago. I was in a park.

0:21:14.398,0:21:16.126
I saw this guy, just picking things

0:21:16.126,0:21:17.640
out of a tree and eating them.

0:21:17.640,0:21:18.973
I said "What are you doing?"

0:21:18.973,0:21:21.195
He said, "These are cherries and [br]mulberries."

0:21:21.195,0:21:23.256
At the time, I did not know what they [br]were.

0:21:23.256,0:21:24.467
Lauren: Surinam cherries?

0:21:24.467,0:21:26.468
Those are my favorite things in the world.

0:21:26.468,0:21:28.689
Rob: Oh really? These were just little

0:21:28.689,0:21:30.644
pin cherries, or black cherries.

0:21:30.644,0:21:33.737
There is food growing all over New York [br]City.

0:21:33.737,0:21:35.496
It is basically growing everywhere.

0:21:35.496,0:21:39.381
But what I did in Orlando was I

0:21:39.381,0:21:40.970
turned front yards into gardens.

0:21:40.970,0:21:43.171
When I landed in Orlando, I had no land.

0:21:43.171,0:21:45.983
I did not have a place to stay yet.

0:21:45.983,0:21:49.413
I found someone, and they let me

0:21:49.413,0:21:50.805
stay in their guest bedroom.

0:21:50.805,0:21:52.721
I turned their front yard into a garden.

0:21:52.721,0:21:54.382
Then I turned 6 yards into gardens

0:21:54.382,0:21:55.631
while I was there.

0:21:55.631,0:21:58.304
That is where I got all my food that [br]I grew.

0:21:58.304,0:22:00.620
Just front yards that you could walk by.

0:22:00.665,0:22:03.967
Anybody could pick from them.

0:22:03.967,0:22:05.761
There was no fence or anything.

0:22:05.761,0:22:07.512
Lauren: Who were the types of people

0:22:07.512,0:22:09.617
that opened up their homes, their [br]property,

0:22:09.617,0:22:12.060
their possessions to you, so you could [br]subsist?

0:22:12.060,0:22:14.327
Rob: Mostly people who watched me [br]on YouTube.

0:22:14.327,0:22:16.510
Lauren: Wow, and how did you find them?

0:22:16.510,0:22:17.818
Did you do a call for them

0:22:17.818,0:22:20.408
before you started off on this journey?

0:22:20.408,0:22:23.823
Community is so important, right?

0:22:23.823,0:22:26.896
And for you, it is a major part of how [br]you live.

0:22:26.896,0:22:29.131
So how are you finding and connecting

0:22:29.131,0:22:30.473
with these amazing people?

0:22:30.473,0:22:32.806
Rob: That was partially a joke, because

0:22:32.806,0:22:35.912
a lot of the people I ended up doing

0:22:35.912,0:22:38.408
things with had never heard of me.

0:22:38.408,0:22:40.659
I am just some crazy guy who wants

0:22:40.659,0:22:42.204
to build a garden.

0:22:42.204,0:22:44.256
Sometimes, they would think

0:22:44.256,0:22:47.813
"That sounds good, but you are barefoot.."

0:22:47.813,0:22:50.289
and "I am not sure about this guy."

0:22:50.289,0:22:51.993
I am not usually wearing a shirt.

0:22:51.993,0:22:53.663
I am wearing short shorts around.

0:22:53.663,0:22:56.120
They are thinking, "I am not sure about [br]this guy."

0:22:56.120,0:22:57.647
Lauren: Did some people like it?

0:22:57.647,0:22:59.493
Rob: Some people do, enough people do.

0:22:59.493,0:23:00.820
There are 7 billion people,

0:23:00.820,0:23:02.588
so you do not need to please everyone

0:23:02.588,0:23:04.502
to have plenty of people on your side.

0:23:04.502,0:23:08.493
Some of it was through,

0:23:08.493,0:23:12.583
these days I think the word is [br]Social Capital.

0:23:12.583,0:23:17.255
Some people base their life around having

0:23:17.255,0:23:20.188
enough money to get everything they need.

0:23:20.188,0:23:21.513
That is what I used to do.

0:23:21.513,0:23:23.336
I used to design my life around having

0:23:23.336,0:23:25.119
enough money so that I would be able

0:23:25.119,0:23:27.306
to buy whatever experience

0:23:27.306,0:23:29.603
or product, or even sometimes

0:23:29.603,0:23:31.271
friendship that I might have wanted

0:23:31.271,0:23:33.549
through my material possessions and the

0:23:33.549,0:23:35.837
experiences I could give or share with[br]them.

0:23:35.837,0:23:39.324
Today, instead of it being through money,

0:23:39.324,0:23:42.538
I look at it through the reality that

0:23:42.538,0:23:45.160
we live in a time where together we can

0:23:45.160,0:23:46.907
pretty much meet all of each other's

0:23:46.907,0:23:48.484
needs outside of the globalized,

0:23:48.484,0:23:50.417
industrialized systems.

0:23:50.417,0:23:53.080
We live in a very privileged time

0:23:53.080,0:23:56.049
where just with this group together,

0:23:56.049,0:23:58.096
if we just came up with all of our [br]skills,

0:23:58.096,0:24:00.569
we could pretty much work together

0:24:00.569,0:24:02.955
to accomplish most of what we need to.

0:24:02.955,0:24:04.358
So I look at that.

0:24:04.358,0:24:06.445
I try to bring that together.

0:24:06.445,0:24:07.600
It is always about

0:24:07.600,0:24:10.815
What do you want in life that you do [br]not have?

0:24:10.815,0:24:12.955
What do I want in life that I do not [br]have?

0:24:12.955,0:24:15.959
For some people, that is a blank lawn [br]with grass.

0:24:15.959,0:24:17.470
And they want food.

0:24:17.470,0:24:19.992
I do not have a lawn, but I know how to [br]grow food.

0:24:19.992,0:24:22.810
So we can combine our resources

0:24:22.810,0:24:26.117
to create what we both want.

0:24:26.117,0:24:30.468
Lauren: That is so beautiful. Okay.

0:24:30.468,0:24:35.608
Where does your tiny house come in?

0:24:35.608,0:24:38.131
Was that before growing your own food?

0:24:38.131,0:24:39.637
Rob: When I lived in San Diego,

0:24:39.637,0:24:41.500
I lived in a 50 foot/square tiny house.

0:24:41.500,0:24:43.074
Lauren: that you built yourself?

0:24:43.074,0:24:46.014
Rob: That was the one I bought on [br]Craigslist for $950.

0:24:46.014,0:24:47.852
I call it a tiny house,

0:24:47.852,0:24:51.520
but it was basically a glorified dog [br]house,

0:24:51.520,0:24:54.277
or a kid's playpen on wheels.

0:24:54.277,0:24:56.345
It was basically a box, but it was

0:24:56.345,0:24:58.414
designed to look really nice.

0:24:58.414,0:25:00.320
Not a cardboard box, a wood box,

0:25:00.320,0:25:02.550
that had nice lines that made it

0:25:02.550,0:25:03.860
look like a little cabin.

0:25:03.860,0:25:08.323
I bought that for $950 and lived off grid [br]in San Diego.

0:25:08.323,0:25:11.027
That was 2015-2016.

0:25:11.027,0:25:13.732
When I lived in Orlando, I built

0:25:13.732,0:25:16.214
a tiny house out of 99% second-hand

0:25:16.214,0:25:20.184
materials for about $1300

0:25:20.184,0:25:21.555
Lauren: Where did you find

0:25:21.555,0:25:22.911
everything for that house?

0:25:22.911,0:25:25.058
Rob: It was mostly left-over materials

0:25:25.058,0:25:26.513
from construction projects,

0:25:26.513,0:25:29.276
the two-by-fours, the plywood and all [br]that.

0:25:29.276,0:25:31.576
Lauren: How did you know how to [br]build a house?

0:25:31.611,0:25:32.474
Rob: I did not.

0:25:32.474,0:25:35.315
I met a guy who knows how to build a [br]house.

0:25:35.315,0:25:37.317
Lauren: How did you meet said guy?

0:25:37.317,0:25:41.782
Rob: He was the husband of someone

0:25:41.782,0:25:44.336
who had been doing photography for

0:25:44.336,0:25:48.046
me for the past few years who liked my

0:25:48.046,0:25:50.152
work and had been following me.

0:25:50.152,0:25:52.118
Somehow she wrapped him into building

0:25:52.118,0:25:54.206
my house for me. [br]Lauren: That is amazing!

0:25:54.206,0:25:56.943
There was him.... without him it would [br]not have worked.

0:25:56.943,0:25:58.144
He was a carpenter.

0:25:58.144,0:26:01.684
But 40 different people came together

0:26:01.684,0:26:02.837
and built the house.

0:26:02.837,0:26:07.537
I am saying 'house' but it looks like a [br]shed.

0:26:07.537,0:26:10.516
10ft by 10ft, very simple.

0:26:10.516,0:26:14.039
I am very much a person who

0:26:14.039,0:26:16.398
does not practice altruism in any way.

0:26:16.398,0:26:18.132
Some people look at what I am doing

0:26:18.132,0:26:20.089
and might think of it as altruistic.

0:26:20.089,0:26:24.067
But it is not that, it is 'how can we meet

0:26:24.067,0:26:25.260
each other's needs'.

0:26:25.260,0:26:26.653
These 40 people who came out

0:26:26.653,0:26:28.385
to volunteer to build my tiny house,

0:26:28.385,0:26:30.092
none of them were there,

0:26:30.092,0:26:32.142
for the most part, because they thought,

0:26:32.142,0:26:33.872
"Let us help Rob out."

0:26:33.872,0:26:35.670
They were there because they were

0:26:35.670,0:26:36.979
interested in tiny houses.

0:26:36.979,0:26:39.412
It was an opportunity to learn about [br]tiny houses.

0:26:39.412,0:26:42.041
They wanted to meet like-minded people.

0:26:42.041,0:26:47.057
They wanted to make some friends,

0:26:47.057,0:26:51.027
or just have a new experience.

0:26:51.027,0:26:56.287
By making building my house a community[br]event,

0:26:56.287,0:26:59.017
everyone who came out got to benefit [br]from that.

0:26:59.017,0:27:00.716
At the same time, of course,

0:27:00.716,0:27:02.495
I got to benefit cause they helped

0:27:02.495,0:27:03.787
me put together my house.

0:27:03.787,0:27:07.039
I also just want to say I did a lot of it.

0:27:07.039,0:27:09.672
It is not like people just came up and [br]built my house.

0:27:09.672,0:27:11.632
Lauren: as you drank a beer and watched.

0:27:11.632,0:27:12.561
Rob: I slaved away.

0:27:12.561,0:27:15.680
It took 250 hours to build.

0:27:15.680,0:27:17.201
It was a lot of work.

0:27:17.201,0:27:20.002
Lauren: You were not always living there[br]alone.

0:27:20.709,0:27:22.185
Rob: Last time you and I met,

0:27:22.185,0:27:24.538
I was living with my partner Sheryl at [br]the time.

0:27:24.538,0:27:26.889
We were building that tiny house [br]together.

0:27:27.469,0:27:30.148
But it took me too long, so she left.

0:27:30.148,0:27:34.168
Laughter

0:27:34.168,0:27:35.711
It did take me too long.

0:27:35.711,0:27:37.321
That is not why she left.

0:27:37.321,0:27:40.047
It worked out great because

0:27:40.047,0:27:43.326
had we finished the tiny house ....

0:27:43.326,0:27:47.806
We were together for 4 years.

0:27:47.806,0:27:49.814
We spent a beautiful 4 years together.

0:27:49.814,0:27:51.642
It was actually 8, because we were

0:27:51.642,0:27:56.090
involved for 4 years before that 4 years

0:27:56.090,0:27:59.202
that we were actually in a partnership.

0:27:59.202,0:28:04.963
We always had the belief that if

0:28:04.963,0:28:07.462
our relationship does not serve

0:28:07.462,0:28:09.962
the individual to their best interests,

0:28:09.962,0:28:12.182
and the partnership to the best interest,

0:28:12.182,0:28:14.106
then there is absolutely nothing wrong

0:28:14.106,0:28:17.632
with letting those paths go in two [br]different directions.

0:28:17.632,0:28:20.106
We were at a point where there were

0:28:20.106,0:28:23.395
things that she wanted in life

0:28:23.395,0:28:24.739
that were different than me.

0:28:24.739,0:28:26.335
And [some] that I wanted in life

0:28:26.335,0:28:27.747
that were different than her.

0:28:27.747,0:28:29.847
We decided that we were not going to be

0:28:29.847,0:28:33.049
together anymore in a partnership.

0:28:33.049,0:28:36.317
But she is still, I guess my best friend

0:28:36.317,0:28:39.315
in the world, maybe top 3 best friends.

0:28:40.595,0:28:43.446
Timing-wise it worked out great though,

0:28:43.446,0:28:46.217
because had we built the house,

0:28:46.217,0:28:48.637
then we would have been in a tricky [br]situation,

0:28:48.637,0:28:51.121
because we would have had that tiny [br]house together.

0:28:51.121,0:28:53.114
She basically left 3 weeks

0:28:53.114,0:28:55.928
before I started building it.

0:28:55.928,0:28:57.856
Lauren: Can you talk about what it was

0:28:57.856,0:29:00.141
like being in a relationship.

0:29:00.141,0:29:02.384
Going through all of the different

0:29:02.384,0:29:03.922
journeys that you went through.

0:29:03.922,0:29:05.429
Because I know for myself,

0:29:05.429,0:29:08.384
I have been living a zero-waste lifestyle [br]for 8 years.

0:29:08.384,0:29:10.345
I have been so lucky to have incredible

0:29:10.345,0:29:12.319
partners that, throughout the journey,

0:29:12.319,0:29:15.232
have supported me in very different[br]and important ways.

0:29:15.232,0:29:18.085
From being counterparts to what I was [br]doing,

0:29:18.085,0:29:20.876
to being people that were absorbing what

0:29:20.876,0:29:23.509
I was doing and incorporating it into [br]their own lives.

0:29:23.509,0:29:25.310
It is a beautiful dance when you

0:29:25.310,0:29:26.320
are in a partnership.

0:29:26.320,0:29:28.256
A lot of people have come to me.

0:29:28.256,0:29:29.981
Maybe they have come to you, saying,

0:29:29.981,0:29:31.251
"I am in this partnership.

0:29:31.251,0:29:32.252
I have these values.

0:29:32.252,0:29:34.433
My partner does not share those values."

0:29:34.433,0:29:36.172
Do you have instances where you

0:29:36.172,0:29:38.944
experienced that in your partnership?

0:29:38.944,0:29:40.780
What advice would you give to someone

0:29:40.780,0:29:42.734
who, for instance, wants to reduce their

0:29:42.734,0:29:44.644
waste, or wants to grow their own food,

0:29:44.644,0:29:46.602
but maybe their partner, family or their

0:29:46.602,0:29:49.153
friends, do not align with it?

0:29:49.153,0:29:51.543
Rob: Well, a couple of things.

0:29:51.543,0:29:54.480
I would say that one thing people

0:29:54.480,0:29:56.877
are very afraid to do is leave behind

0:29:56.877,0:29:59.957
relationships that are not right.

0:29:59.957,0:30:04.597
For example, my dad, unfortunately was not

0:30:04.597,0:30:07.606
a good person to have in my life for a [br]while.

0:30:07.606,0:30:11.203
He was extremely negative and paranoid [br]about things.

0:30:11.203,0:30:13.913
He was as unsupportive as it could get.

0:30:13.913,0:30:15.802
Always telling me not to do almost

0:30:15.802,0:30:17.500
everything that I was trying to do.

0:30:17.500,0:30:20.905
After years of trying, I eventually said [br]to him,

0:30:20.905,0:30:27.831
-after many pleadings of "Let us make

0:30:27.831,0:30:29.535
things work",- eventually, I said,

0:30:29.535,0:30:32.013
"OK then, we can not be friends anymore.

0:30:32.013,0:30:33.870
We can not hang out anymore.

0:30:33.870,0:30:37.179
For two years, he was not a part of my [br]life.

0:30:37.179,0:30:40.718
I had to block his number because

0:30:40.718,0:30:43.582
it was a toxic relationship.

0:30:43.582,0:30:46.378
Then, after two years,

0:30:46.378,0:30:50.921
I do not remember how it happened.

0:30:50.921,0:30:52.870
I started to talk to him again.

0:30:52.870,0:30:54.197
And it worked out.

0:30:54.197,0:30:56.523
We have a much better relationship.

0:30:56.523,0:31:00.498
Obviously, that is a complicated thing,

0:31:00.498,0:31:02.734
but one of the main things is,

0:31:02.734,0:31:05.545
if a relationship is not providing

0:31:05.545,0:31:07.464
true value for two people,

0:31:07.464,0:31:08.884
then I think that we need to

0:31:08.884,0:31:10.973
be able to walk away from that.

0:31:10.973,0:31:12.704
Especially if it is a really toxic

0:31:12.704,0:31:14.692
relationship, or an abusive relationship,

0:31:14.692,0:31:15.808
or something like that.

0:31:15.808,0:31:18.195
Now, in scenarios where it is not that.

0:31:18.195,0:31:19.912
It is just a matter of friendship.

0:31:19.912,0:31:21.807
One of the easiest things is

0:31:21.807,0:31:25.049
just accepting them for who they are.

0:31:25.049,0:31:28.718
Ideally, they can accept you for who you[br]are as well,

0:31:28.718,0:31:31.923
but acceptance starts with ourselves.

0:31:31.923,0:31:33.693
We can not control anyone else.

0:31:33.693,0:31:37.873
In the past, I focused on people around[br]me.

0:31:37.873,0:31:45.072
Like Sheryl's mom; When I was around[br]Sheryl's family,

0:31:45.072,0:31:47.674
I remember being uneasy, because I

0:31:47.674,0:31:49.727
wanted them to do zero-waste type things.

0:31:49.727,0:31:52.678
Even around my aunt Louise, I remember,

0:31:52.678,0:31:54.836
we would go grocery shopping together.

0:31:54.836,0:31:57.075
She would use double plastic bags.

0:31:57.075,0:31:59.868
If you are watching, Louise, hello, I love[br]you.

0:31:59.868,0:32:01.306
Lauren: Me too.

0:32:01.306,0:32:08.180
Rob: There was a toxicity in my [br]relationships

0:32:08.180,0:32:09.924
because there was an uneasiness.

0:32:09.924,0:32:11.636
They might be nervous around me,

0:32:11.636,0:32:14.483
wondering if I was going to berate them[br]a little bit.

0:32:14.483,0:32:17.166
Or I would be uneasy because I wanted

0:32:17.172,0:32:19.077
to say something, but was holding back.

0:32:19.077,0:32:22.002
There was a time, maybe 3 years ago.

0:32:22.002,0:32:25.168
I just said, 'Look, there are 7 billion [br]people on Earth.

0:32:25.168,0:32:27.326
It does not matter to me if my mom,

0:32:27.326,0:32:30.076
or my sister, or my friends change,

0:32:30.076,0:32:32.972
because there are literally tens of [br]millions

0:32:32.972,0:32:35.316
of people right now, who want to change.

0:32:35.316,0:32:36.964
This room is an example of that.

0:32:36.964,0:32:39.035
The fact that Package-Free is so [br]successful

0:32:39.035,0:32:40.320
is an example of that.

0:32:40.320,0:32:42.012
There are millions of people around

0:32:42.012,0:32:43.471
the world who want to change.

0:32:43.471,0:32:45.492
So what I decided to do, is put my energy

0:32:45.492,0:32:47.050
into people who are right there,

0:32:47.050,0:32:48.692
who want the help.

0:32:48.692,0:32:51.375
Not put 10 times more energy into people

0:32:51.375,0:32:54.090
who do not want your energy.

0:32:54.090,0:32:56.980
The amazing thing that happens is

0:32:56.980,0:32:58.948
that when you put your energy into people

0:32:58.948,0:33:00.977
who do not really want it, you are sapped,

0:33:00.977,0:33:02.762
and you lose energy.

0:33:02.762,0:33:04.953
When you put energy into people who want[br]it,

0:33:04.953,0:33:07.467
it actually increases your energy.

0:33:07.467,0:33:09.745
So by giving up the desire to affect any

0:33:09.745,0:33:12.187
one individual person, that is what allows

0:33:12.187,0:33:14.271
me to walk around completely carefree.

0:33:14.271,0:33:16.850
It does not matter what any individual [br]does,

0:33:16.850,0:33:20.654
as long as overall, my actions are helping

0:33:20.654,0:33:24.618
move people into the direction.

0:33:24.618,0:33:26.757
Lauren: That is so inspiring.

0:33:26.757,0:33:28.498
One of my favorite quotes ever is

0:33:28.498,0:33:30.997
"When you are no longer able to change[br]a situation,

0:33:30.997,0:33:32.861
Your challenge is to change yourself."

0:33:32.861,0:33:34.112
I think you embody that.

0:33:34.112,0:33:37.538
Instead of trying to change a whole [br]system,

0:33:37.538,0:33:39.918
you have embodied the values that you[br]believe in.

0:33:39.918,0:33:41.958
As such, you have influenced and inspired

0:33:41.958,0:33:45.441
so many people to take on the challenge

0:33:45.441,0:33:47.632
of thinking about other ways they can [br]live.

0:33:47.632,0:33:49.716
I think you have inspired so many people.

0:33:49.716,0:33:51.196
I am definitely one of them.

0:33:51.196,0:33:52.888
When we met - I want to talk about

0:33:52.888,0:33:55.007
what we did when we were together for the

0:33:55.007,0:33:57.573
first time, because it was so amazing for[br]me.

0:33:57.573,0:34:02.124
I grew up with a single mother.

0:34:02.124,0:34:07.621
She was raising me, and a child with[br]special needs.

0:34:07.621,0:34:09.657
It was a really hard time for her.

0:34:09.657,0:34:11.016
We did a lot of things.

0:34:11.016,0:34:13.757
Furniture, she would find in the trash.

0:34:13.757,0:34:17.481
You introduced me to the concept of [br]dumpster diving.

0:34:17.481,0:34:23.057
The first time that we ever did it was[br]electrifying.

0:34:23.449,0:34:27.270
As someone like you, who loves thrills,

0:34:27.270,0:34:30.903
loves excitement, loves the rebellious[br]things,

0:34:30.903,0:34:34.259
dumpster diving was the coolest shit ever.

0:34:34.259,0:34:37.656
You felt like you were doing something

0:34:37.656,0:34:39.358
so dangerous, risky and illegal,

0:34:39.358,0:34:41.908
but actually, well it is kind of illegal,

0:34:41.908,0:34:44.144
but you are actually just picking through

0:34:44.144,0:34:47.175
trash to find food that is perfectly [br]edible.

0:34:47.175,0:34:49.706
Can you talk about the night that we went

0:34:49.706,0:34:51.551
Rob: Sure[br]Lauren: and your experiences?

0:34:51.551,0:34:53.569
Lauren: For me that was earth shattering.

0:34:53.569,0:34:56.193
For you that was just a typical dive.

0:34:56.193,0:34:57.913
Can you talk about what it was like?

0:34:57.913,0:35:00.065
Rob: Yeah, we were walking back to your[br]place.

0:35:00.065,0:35:01.499
We walked past a bagel shop.

0:35:01.499,0:35:02.496
Sheryl was there.

0:35:02.496,0:35:04.784
I said, "Let us look inside these garbage[br]bags.

0:35:04.784,0:35:06.942
I am sure there are a bunch of bagels [br]there."

0:35:06.942,0:35:09.623
Lauren: I said, "Holy shit, we are[br]breaking the law."

0:35:09.623,0:35:11.576
Rob: I remember you were pretty nervous.

0:35:11.576,0:35:12.311
Laughter

0:35:12.311,0:35:14.372
Rob: You were not sure you wanted [br]to do it.

0:35:14.372,0:35:16.284
Because there is also the social stigma.

0:35:16.284,0:35:17.769
I went through the same thing.

0:35:17.769,0:35:20.145
For example, you are running a business.

0:35:20.145,0:35:23.134
Do you want to be known as a dumpster[br]diver, or....

0:35:23.975,0:35:25.961
Lauren: the trash prom queen

0:35:26.153,0:35:28.322
Rob: Dumpster diving is the cool term.

0:35:28.322,0:35:30.146
Do you want to be known as someone who

0:35:30.265,0:35:32.204
eats garbage, eats out of the trash?

0:35:32.656,0:35:34.632
Lauren: I feel like I am the wrong person

0:35:34.632,0:35:35.879
to ask that question to.

0:35:35.879,0:35:37.796
Rob: Because you do not mind?[br]Lauren: No.

0:35:37.796,0:35:38.535
Rob: Good.

0:35:39.952,0:35:42.099
I started dumpster diving in 2013.

0:35:42.099,0:35:45.234
I did it because I was biking across

0:35:45.234,0:35:46.843
the country that first time.

0:35:46.843,0:35:49.465
The rule was that I could only eat local [br]and organic.

0:35:49.465,0:35:51.565
The first time I ever dove into a [br]dumpster,

0:35:51.565,0:35:54.315
it was me and my friend biking across the[br]country.

0:35:54.315,0:35:55.285
We went around back.

0:35:55.285,0:35:56.579
We looked in the dumpster.

0:35:56.579,0:35:58.780
Sure enough, it was full of food.

0:35:58.780,0:36:04.179
The first thing I ate was a half gallon [br]of ice cream.

0:36:04.179,0:36:05.913
It was still frozen,[br]Lauren: What?

0:36:05.913,0:36:08.343
Rob: just melted a little bit around the [br]edges.

0:36:08.343,0:36:11.877
I did not have a spoon with me that day,

0:36:11.877,0:36:14.395
so I used my sunglasses.

0:36:14.395,0:36:17.499
I ate about 1/2 the box, 3/4 of the box

0:36:17.499,0:36:18.704
right there on the spot.

0:36:21.140,0:36:23.061
For me, that was a big moment.

0:36:23.061,0:36:24.983
I saw how much food was going

0:36:24.983,0:36:26.528
to waste, perfectly good food.

0:36:27.249,0:36:29.361
Since then, that was 2013,

0:36:29.361,0:36:31.390
that has definitely been an essential part

0:36:31.390,0:36:33.744
of my life, eating food that would

0:36:33.744,0:36:35.238
otherwise go to waste.

0:36:35.238,0:36:36.983
What is the name of the (inaudible)

0:36:36.983,0:36:39.860
trash art walker?

0:36:39.860,0:36:42.431
She has an Instagram account here. [br]Lauren: right

0:36:42.431,0:36:46.275
Rob: I saw her getting tons of fresh

0:36:46.275,0:36:49.585
sushi from a sushi place.

0:36:49.585,0:36:50.837
They put it out.

0:36:50.837,0:36:52.702
10 minutes later you go get it.

0:36:52.702,0:36:54.119
It is still perfectly good.

0:36:54.133,0:36:55.956
So I am definitely going to get some

0:36:55.956,0:36:57.434
sushi while I am here.

0:36:57.505,0:36:58.266
Laughter

0:36:59.259,0:37:01.026
Lauren: Let me know how it goes.

0:37:01.810,0:37:03.386
Rob: You will have to come.

0:37:03.427,0:37:06.599
Lauren: Obviously. Great. Yes. Okay.

0:37:06.599,0:37:08.033
Let us do that.

0:37:09.981,0:37:11.836
What are some other interesting things

0:37:11.836,0:37:12.890
that you have found?

0:37:12.890,0:37:14.087
I have seen people find..

0:37:14.087,0:37:15.867
There are people that would go to CVS

0:37:15.867,0:37:17.635
Right Aid find perfectly good makeup.

0:37:17.635,0:37:19.362
Thousands of dollars worth of stuff.

0:37:19.386,0:37:21.786
What are some of the treasures that you[br]have found?

0:37:21.786,0:37:23.422
Rob: You just find everything.

0:37:23.422,0:37:27.385
For me, biking accross the country,

0:37:27.385,0:37:29.291
the best thing you can possibly find is

0:37:29.291,0:37:31.683
a case of organic peanut butter.

0:37:31.683,0:37:35.751
As a cyclist, that is one of the greatest [br]foods.

0:37:35.751,0:37:37.611
If you find organic wheat bread

0:37:37.611,0:37:40.021
and peanut butter, that is perfect.

0:37:40.021,0:37:42.579
Another great thing I found is

0:37:42.830,0:37:45.163
fresh pressed juice on ice in the [br]dumpster.

0:37:45.174,0:37:46.233
They threw away ice.

0:37:46.233,0:37:48.282
Then they threw away juice.

0:37:48.282,0:37:50.257
It just happened to land right on top of

0:37:50.257,0:37:51.951
the ice, so it was still ice cold.

0:37:52.520,0:37:56.470
I have dived into about 2000 dumpsters.

0:37:57.229,0:38:01.911
There is nothing shocking as far as what [br]it is, individually.

0:38:01.995,0:38:04.450
What is shocking is that it is consistent.

0:38:04.450,0:38:05.854
I have done it in 30 states.

0:38:05.854,0:38:08.748
Everywhere you go- rural, big cities -

0:38:08.748,0:38:10.756
We are throwing away insane amounts

0:38:10.756,0:38:13.063
of perfectly good food.

0:38:13.063,0:38:17.017
Lauren: Does anyone here want to go[br]dumpster diving?

0:38:17.017,0:38:18.742
Yeah, okay!

0:38:18.742,0:38:21.259
Do you have any top tips for what to

0:38:21.259,0:38:24.151
look for whilst dumpster diving?

0:38:24.597,0:38:27.464
Rob: New York City is a bit of a different[br]place.

0:38:27.464,0:38:30.124
You are actually in a great place for [br]dumpster diving.

0:38:30.124,0:38:32.185
As you said, it is illegal in some places,

0:38:32.185,0:38:35.873
but in New York city, when they put bags[br]on the street,

0:38:35.873,0:38:37.321
then it is public domain.

0:38:37.321,0:38:40.532
You do not actually dumpster dive here.

0:38:40.532,0:38:42.496
You just open bags on the curb.

0:38:42.496,0:38:45.709
That is completely legal.

0:38:45.709,0:38:47.601
In other cities, where you are actually

0:38:47.601,0:38:49.483
going into the dumpster that is usually

0:38:49.483,0:38:51.237
on the property, in the parking lot,

0:38:51.237,0:38:52.852
then it is technically not legal.

0:38:53.291,0:38:56.207
If you want to go dumpster diving,

0:38:56.207,0:38:59.293
I have a guide with everything you

0:38:59.293,0:39:01.008
could possibly want to know.

0:39:01.008,0:39:04.740
That is just at [br]robgreenfield.tv/dumpsterdiving.

0:39:05.676,0:39:07.395
I think I will be here for a week.

0:39:07.413,0:39:09.838
I will have to do a dumpster diving [br]outing.

0:39:11.226,0:39:17.135
If I do that, I will post it.

0:39:17.164,0:39:19.619
Or should we set a date right now?

0:39:21.046,0:39:22.496
Thursday? no not Thursday.

0:39:22.980,0:39:24.387
Lauren: Lucy is coming?

0:39:24.387,0:39:26.157
Rob: Wednesday night....[br]Oh, hey Lucy!

0:39:26.157,0:39:30.608
I know I can do Wednesday, Friday,[br]or Saturday.

0:39:30.608,0:39:32.506
I will post it on my page. That way ...

0:39:32.506,0:39:35.122
I will come up with a night.[br]Lauren: I will reshare.

0:39:35.122,0:39:37.490
Rob: Alright, hopefully there is not

0:39:37.509,0:39:39.263
going to be too many people.

0:39:39.263,0:39:41.463
Lauren: You are going to have 500 people.

0:39:41.815,0:39:44.022
Rob: There is a group, the Freegans.

0:39:44.022,0:39:46.990
I think their website is freegan.info.

0:39:46.990,0:39:49.705
They do dumpster diving tours.

0:39:49.705,0:39:51.660
I am not sure if they are still active.

0:39:51.660,0:39:53.548
I went on one with them four years ago.

0:39:53.548,0:39:55.642
So it you do not end up getting to come [br]out,

0:39:55.642,0:39:56.837
[check out] freegan.info.

0:39:56.837,0:39:58.373
I do not know if they do weekly

0:39:58.373,0:40:00.478
or monthly dumpster diving tours.

0:40:00.515,0:40:02.869
They also tons of information on their [br]website.

0:40:02.869,0:40:05.635
Lauren: When we went, we found 100 bagels

0:40:05.638,0:40:11.274
that I kept in my freezer for a good 6[br]months.

0:40:11.274,0:40:12.723
Rob: They were good bagels.

0:40:12.723,0:40:14.988
Lauren: There were some really spicy [br]flavors.

0:40:14.988,0:40:16.383
Everytime someone came over,

0:40:16.383,0:40:17.709
I would make them a bagel.

0:40:17.709,0:40:18.653
They would eat it.

0:40:18.653,0:40:21.069
I would tell them, "I got that from the [br]trash."

0:40:22.769,0:40:23.721
It was amazing.

0:40:23.721,0:40:25.456
I think it opened their eyes to see,

0:40:25.456,0:40:26.932
"Wait, this is just a bagel.

0:40:26.932,0:40:28.316
It is still perfectly good.

0:40:29.449,0:40:31.789
One of the last things I wanted to ask you[br]about,

0:40:31.789,0:40:32.954
or talk to you about is,

0:40:32.954,0:40:35.179
one of the reasons why I find you so [br]amazing,

0:40:35.179,0:40:37.163
I mean, you do so many incredible things,

0:40:37.181,0:40:40.085
but you are one of the only active men

0:40:40.085,0:40:42.011
talking about sustainability.

0:40:42.011,0:40:46.123
Which, to me is amazing because you [br]are incredible,

0:40:46.123,0:40:47.734
but also, such a bummer.

0:40:48.375,0:40:50.391
Why do you think that is?

0:40:50.391,0:40:53.236
This is probably the most men we have ever

0:40:53.236,0:40:55.347
had at one of our events.

0:40:55.347,0:40:56.846
Thank you for being you,

0:40:56.846,0:41:01.021
and expanding the demographic of our [br]space.

0:41:01.021,0:41:02.792
But why do you think that is?

0:41:02.792,0:41:05.720
How do we get more men to feel

0:41:05.720,0:41:08.048
comfortable getting involved with [br]sustainability?

0:41:08.316,0:41:12.240
Rob: You are right, it is mostly women[br]here tonight.

0:41:12.240,0:41:14.785
Maybe 80% or so.

0:41:15.689,0:41:18.387
As far as the zero-waste movement,

0:41:18.837,0:41:21.736
and much of the sustainability movement,

0:41:22.073,0:41:26.224
there are 2/3 to 3/4 women.

0:41:26.224,0:41:28.600
There are parts of the environmental

0:41:28.600,0:41:32.959
movement that are more male-oriented.

0:41:32.959,0:41:35.474
In permaculture for example,

0:41:35.474,0:41:36.462
it is the opposite.

0:41:36.462,0:41:38.395
I was just at a regional permaculture

0:41:38.395,0:41:39.952
gathering in Florida.

0:41:40.092,0:41:43.436
I had a woman come up to me afterwards.

0:41:43.436,0:41:48.475
She said, "Your resource list has almost [br]all men."

0:41:50.240,0:41:52.592
As soon as she said that, I realized it.

0:41:52.592,0:41:54.516
Then I had to go do research.

0:41:54.516,0:41:56.699
I found that there actually a lot of [br]women.

0:41:56.699,0:42:00.090
I just had not put enough energy into [br]finding them.

0:42:00.597,0:42:04.453
I added them all to my resource list.

0:42:04.453,0:42:06.178
Then I realized there is a lot more.

0:42:07.358,0:42:12.681
As far as zero-waste, and this element of[br]sustainability,

0:42:12.681,0:42:16.562
It is so much more female than male.

0:42:16.562,0:42:19.073
I think one reason is,

0:42:19.073,0:42:23.179
I generally feel women care more than men

0:42:23.179,0:42:25.602
[care] about these issues.

0:42:25.602,0:42:30.512
I do not know if that is sexist to say.

0:42:30.512,0:42:32.482
But that is generally what I have seen.

0:42:32.482,0:42:35.246
You see that throughout cultures.

0:42:35.246,0:42:37.703
Women are the nurturers, the protectors.

0:42:37.703,0:42:41.861
That goes into this as well, possibly.

0:42:41.861,0:42:46.129
Then, also, I am happy to say

0:42:46.129,0:42:48.142
that I ascended manliness.

0:42:48.142,0:42:52.138
This idea of "manliness", where manliness

0:42:52.138,0:42:58.202
is sports, or Old Spice deodorant, or [br]this certain way.

0:42:58.202,0:43:02.382
In American culture, even hugging,

0:43:02.382,0:43:06.127
A lot of my men friends do not hug

0:43:06.127,0:43:07.594
because they are worried about

0:43:07.594,0:43:08.992
the feminine aspect of that.

0:43:08.992,0:43:11.577
I think that is another thing.

0:43:11.577,0:43:14.282
Alot of this plays more into the

0:43:14.282,0:43:16.653
feminine than the masculine.

0:43:16.653,0:43:19.672
It is crazy to say, but a lot of men

0:43:19.672,0:43:26.566
are so afraid of expressing emotions and [br]such, even crying.

0:43:26.566,0:43:29.533
It is weird, because for me, crying is [br]just a part of life.

0:43:29.533,0:43:31.190
Lauren: I love when a man cries.

0:43:31.190,0:43:32.967
Rob: Yeah, men who cry are great.

0:43:32.998,0:43:36.896
I mean, to me all of those things are [br]absurd.

0:43:36.896,0:43:39.276
It is absurd that our culture has pigeon-

0:43:39.276,0:43:41.164
holed men into this protective way

0:43:41.164,0:43:45.461
where they fear expressing their emotions.

0:43:45.461,0:43:47.062
But it is such a real thing.

0:43:47.062,0:43:48.471
I think that all plays in.

0:43:48.471,0:43:50.798
As far as getting more men involved,

0:43:50.798,0:43:54.889
1. It is a societal structure that creates

0:43:54.889,0:43:56.484
it in the first place.

0:43:56.484,0:43:58.967
Of course, it is hard to change societal [br]structures.

0:43:58.967,0:44:01.554
But I think that is what both you and I[br]are all about.

0:44:01.554,0:44:03.088
It is not zero-waste.

0:44:03.088,0:44:06.109
Zero-waste is what we talk about,

0:44:06.109,0:44:08.056
but when we get into the deeper part of

0:44:08.056,0:44:09.926
the conversation, it is going way back

0:44:09.926,0:44:11.707
to the foundation of how our entire

0:44:11.707,0:44:13.568
structures of our society are set up.

0:44:16.038,0:44:18.814
Did I answer the question?

0:44:18.814,0:44:23.483
Lauren: Yes. Two more quick questions [br]for you.

0:44:23.483,0:44:25.307
Then I am really excited to open it up

0:44:25.307,0:44:27.867
to the audience, who I am sure have many

0:44:27.867,0:44:30.448
interesting questions to ask this [br]incredible human.

0:44:30.448,0:44:35.488
2 things: First, what or who is inspiring [br]you right now?

0:44:35.533,0:44:37.433
I always like to ask.

0:44:37.878,0:44:40.696
I love to point people towards other

0:44:40.696,0:44:43.274
people who inspire amazing people.

0:44:43.274,0:44:45.426
So what's inspiring, motivating you,

0:44:45.426,0:44:46.946
or exciting you right now?

0:44:46.946,0:44:50.243
How can people learn about it?

0:44:50.243,0:44:51.588
Rob: I like this guy.

0:44:51.588,0:44:54.672
I just came his farm this weekend in [br]Swoope, Virginia.

0:44:54.699,0:44:56.428
His name is Joel Saliton.

0:44:56.428,0:44:59.649
Polyface farm, regenerative agriculture.

0:44:59.649,0:45:01.520
I just spent the weekend with him.

0:45:01.520,0:45:03.369
He is one of the most legitimate

0:45:03.369,0:45:04.545
human beings on earth.

0:45:04.545,0:45:06.412
I think one of the biggest problems

0:45:06.412,0:45:08.510
with our environmental movement today

0:45:08.510,0:45:11.295
is that most issues have been made very[br]black and white.

0:45:11.295,0:45:15.876
So much of it is boiled down into viral [br]Instagram posts.

0:45:15.935,0:45:18.726
Yesterday, I was swiping through [br]Instagram.

0:45:18.726,0:45:23.085
I had gotten into the environment section.

0:45:23.085,0:45:26.710
Honestly, I would say 95% of it was just [br]garbage.

0:45:26.710,0:45:29.940
So much inaccurate information.

0:45:29.940,0:45:32.666
So much polarization that does not

0:45:32.666,0:45:34.801
tell the real story.

0:45:34.801,0:45:39.075
This guy, you know, I respect people

0:45:39.075,0:45:41.033
so much in the environmental movement,

0:45:41.033,0:45:44.252
who go far deeper than the headlines,

0:45:44.252,0:45:46.731
and these basic black and white ideas

0:45:46.731,0:45:50.674
of what is the right, wrong, or only [br]way to do it.

0:45:50.674,0:45:55.528
He is one person who really inspires me.

0:45:55.528,0:45:57.820
Lauren: He is amazing. [br]Rob: You know of him?

0:45:57.820,0:45:59.700
Lauren: When I was in college, studying

0:45:59.700,0:46:01.888
environmental science, we read all about [br]him.

0:46:01.888,0:46:02.671
Rob: Ok, cool.

0:46:02.671,0:46:04.782
Lauren: I thought, "Damn, this guy is [br]cool."

0:46:04.782,0:46:07.074
He was one of the first people [br]approaching....

0:46:07.074,0:46:08.944
He was one of the people that showed me

0:46:08.944,0:46:10.969
that the world that we see is not the only

0:46:10.969,0:46:12.487
world that we have to live in.

0:46:12.487,0:46:15.241
Rob: Yeah. Visit his farm.

0:46:15.241,0:46:17.251
That would be an amazing thing to do.

0:46:17.251,0:46:19.420
See where your food is really coming [br]from.

0:46:19.420,0:46:21.886
That is another really big thing.

0:46:21.886,0:46:24.314
When people think of vegan food,

0:46:24.314,0:46:28.574
or their vegetables, they think of these

0:46:28.574,0:46:31.032
glorious places where everything is fine.

0:46:31.032,0:46:35.113
But go to any place where almost any

0:46:35.113,0:46:36.881
of the produce at Whole Foods down

0:46:36.881,0:46:38.802
the street is coming from, and you would

0:46:38.802,0:46:41.303
not be there and think, "This is [br]glorious."

0:46:41.303,0:46:42.798
No, you would probably think,

0:46:42.798,0:46:45.675
"Oh, this is a big, industrial, factory [br]farm."

0:46:45.675,0:46:48.842
They just have different chemicals that [br]they spray.

0:46:49.715,0:46:51.839
Anyway, regenerative agriculture.

0:46:51.839,0:46:55.819
That is the reason that you and I

0:46:55.819,0:46:57.629
connected so well, because that first

0:46:57.629,0:47:00.944
night when we were talking, I quickly saw,

0:47:00.944,0:47:04.259
"Okay, she actually really knows."

0:47:04.259,0:47:07.614
The story starts with your jar,

0:47:07.614,0:47:10.580
but you understand the intricacies

0:47:10.580,0:47:13.782
of the zero-waste movement extremely[br]well,

0:47:13.782,0:47:15.834
which is what I really respect about you.

0:47:15.834,0:47:16.895
Lauren: Thanks, dude.

0:47:16.895,0:47:19.973
Last question, which is kind of a hard [br]question.

0:47:19.973,0:47:22.389
If you do not have an answer, that is ok.

0:47:22.503,0:47:24.596
I like to ask this question because

0:47:24.596,0:47:25.856
it is interesting to me.

0:47:25.856,0:47:29.087
If you could play God for a day,

0:47:29.087,0:47:32.020
and make one change that you believe

0:47:32.020,0:47:35.136
would affect the system in the most

0:47:35.136,0:47:37.332
impactful way, what would you do?

0:47:38.174,0:47:39.474
Rob: Ok I will answer that,

0:47:39.474,0:47:40.980
but I want to mention one other

0:47:40.980,0:47:42.717
person, and that is Winona LaDuke.

0:47:42.717,0:47:44.287
She is another one of my biggest

0:47:44.287,0:47:45.465
inspirations right now.

0:47:45.465,0:47:48.030
She has Winona's Hemp Farm in [br]Minnesota.

0:47:48.030,0:47:51.128
She is trying to use hemp as a way

0:47:51.128,0:47:52.566
to create regeneration.

0:47:52.751,0:47:53.751
Everything about her!

0:47:53.836,0:47:55.837
She has been doing it for about 40 years.

0:47:57.600,0:48:02.917
As far as the change, I think it would be

0:48:02.917,0:48:04.557
bringing common sense back.

0:48:04.557,0:48:05.817
You know?

0:48:07.837,0:48:10.322
It is all about our minds.

0:48:10.324,0:48:12.687
The way that we approach the world,

0:48:12.687,0:48:14.427
the way that we think about things.

0:48:14.427,0:48:16.757
If we approach the world with basic

0:48:16.757,0:48:19.615
common sense, which the reality of

0:48:19.615,0:48:22.011
common sense is that it is no longer [br]common.

0:48:22.011,0:48:24.781
When I meet people with common sense,

0:48:24.781,0:48:28.511
I think, "Yeah!!! Awesome!",

0:48:28.511,0:48:31.864
because our society, our structures are

0:48:32.110,0:48:33.826
actually designed to remove our

0:48:33.826,0:48:35.984
common sense, because if they want us to

0:48:35.984,0:48:39.157
buy things, you do not need to have common

0:48:39.496,0:48:41.682
sense to earn some money to buy things.

0:48:42.025,0:48:45.633
I do think that the structures benefit

0:48:46.073,0:48:48.370
from people having less common sense and

0:48:48.370,0:48:50.834
more people that just follow the system.

0:48:51.120,0:48:53.841
Just common sense. If everybody had

0:48:53.841,0:48:55.893
common sense that would change everything.

0:48:56.687,0:48:59.133
Far deeper than any one individual change.

0:48:59.497,0:49:06.193
Everybody would then question everything.

0:49:06.193,0:49:08.421
Lauren: Who was it that wrote Common [br]Sense?

0:49:08.421,0:49:09.604
Thomas Paine?

0:49:09.604,0:49:12.676
Rob: The book? I need to read that.

0:49:12.676,0:49:14.659
Lauren: It is really good.

0:49:15.253,0:49:20.959
Ok, I will stop talking so you can start[br]talking.

0:49:20.959,0:49:22.741
I would first like to give you a mini

0:49:22.741,0:49:25.374
round of applause before the big round [br]of applause.

0:49:25.374,0:49:27.227
Just a quick thank you.

0:49:28.178,0:49:32.464
Applause.

0:49:33.243,0:49:35.122
Lauren: We will open up to questions

0:49:35.191,0:49:37.903
from you, the audience, and some questions

0:49:37.903,0:49:38.875
from the interwebs.

0:49:39.310,0:49:41.913
We will be taking both if anyone has a[br]question.

0:49:41.913,0:49:45.222
Rob: And, no question is too crazy,

0:49:45.474,0:49:47.366
in fact, I encourage the craziest ones.

0:49:48.637,0:49:50.651
Lauren: The craziest question wins.

0:49:51.415,0:49:53.405
Rob: The craziest question wins!

0:49:53.405,0:49:54.972
I will decide what.

0:49:54.972,0:49:57.316
First, there has to be a crazy question, [br]though.

0:49:57.316,0:50:00.426
Question: I do not know how crazy it is,

0:50:00.672,0:50:04.306
but, as far as dumpster diving goes,

0:50:04.306,0:50:11.706
has there ever been a negative experience [br]with it?

0:50:11.738,0:50:13.991
Have you ever had issues where you are

0:50:13.991,0:50:16.697
not sure whether the integrity

0:50:16.697,0:50:18.824
of the food is quite there?

0:50:18.824,0:50:22.660
Rob: Yeah. I should also say, do not feel

0:50:22.661,0:50:24.468
like you can only ask crazy questions.

0:50:24.468,0:50:26.180
Every question is a good question.

0:50:26.180,0:50:29.674
So, common sense is the number 1 thing

0:50:29.674,0:50:30.734
with dumpster diving.

0:50:30.734,0:50:32.497
Just like you would use common sense

0:50:32.497,0:50:34.647
with everything you buy at the grocery [br]store,

0:50:34.647,0:50:36.761
You have to apply common sense to [br]your food.

0:50:36.761,0:50:38.998
Unfortunately, we have lost food common[br]sense.

0:50:38.998,0:50:42.547
Looking at dates and deciding whether

0:50:42.547,0:50:45.030
food is still good is not common sense.

0:50:45.034,0:50:46.711
That is one of the main reasons

0:50:46.711,0:50:49.478
we are wasting up to half of our food.

0:50:49.478,0:50:51.338
Because we have removed our common

0:50:51.338,0:50:53.547
sense and put dates on there instead.

0:50:54.103,0:50:56.655
Once you get in touch with food

0:50:56.655,0:51:00.644
you understand the basic biology of how[br]things work.

0:51:00.644,0:51:03.473
For example, if you have a bloated[br]package,

0:51:03.473,0:51:05.625
a bloated package is the gases being

0:51:05.625,0:51:08.039
created by bacteria eating things,

0:51:08.039,0:51:11.010
breaking it down, fermenting and creating[br]gas.

0:51:11.432,0:51:13.814
When you want that to happen, that is [br]great.

0:51:13.814,0:51:16.571
That is what creates beer, kombucha,

0:51:16.571,0:51:19.602
and thousands of fermented foods.

0:51:19.602,0:51:21.441
But when you do not have the right

0:51:21.441,0:51:25.364
set-up for that, like a hot dumpster

0:51:25.364,0:51:27.042
and milk, that is not the kind of

0:51:27.042,0:51:28.165
fermentation you want.

0:51:28.298,0:51:32.102
If you find a bloated package in the

0:51:32.102,0:51:33.823
dumpster, then that is something you

0:51:33.823,0:51:35.652
generally do not want to eat, because

0:51:35.652,0:51:36.559
that is fermented.

0:51:36.559,0:51:39.149
The 3 things are: first you look at it.

0:51:39.149,0:51:41.453
If it looks good, you proceed.

0:51:41.453,0:51:42.803
Then you smell it.

0:51:42.803,0:51:44.448
If it smells good you proceed.

0:51:44.448,0:51:46.755
If it smells good, then you taste it.

0:51:46.775,0:51:49.808
If it tastes good, then you are eating it [br]now.

0:51:50.771,0:51:51.616
Laughter

0:51:51.616,0:51:52.641
Then you swallow it.

0:51:52.641,0:51:59.018
The number one rule of foraging

0:51:59.018,0:52:02.126
-People call dumpster diving 'urban[br]foraging'-

0:52:02.126,0:52:04.023
The number 1 rule or foraging for food,

0:52:04.023,0:52:05.800
is that you only eat something if you

0:52:05.800,0:52:07.260
are a 100% sure of what it is.

0:52:09.329,0:52:11.239
The other thing is that you do not eat

0:52:11.239,0:52:12.520
a bunch of it right away.

0:52:12.520,0:52:14.192
You taste it, you try out any new

0:52:14.192,0:52:16.562
foods before eating a lot of it,

0:52:16.562,0:52:18.982
because you do not know if you could be[br]allergic.

0:52:18.982,0:52:20.388
Lauren: or you start tripping

0:52:20.388,0:52:22.496
Rob: I have never tripped off dumpster[br]food.

0:52:22.496,0:52:24.258
I do have to say that this one beer

0:52:24.258,0:52:26.861
has got me a little drunk now.

0:52:26.861,0:52:27.759
Laughter.

0:52:27.759,0:52:29.526
This is my first time being a little

0:52:29.526,0:52:31.209
drunk in about 3 years.

0:52:31.209,0:52:35.215
I will try to keep this up.

0:52:37.165,0:52:39.136
Next question?

0:52:39.866,0:52:41.849
There is one here.

0:52:41.849,0:52:44.635
Question: Hi. My question is for both of [br]you.

0:52:44.635,0:52:46.263
I am a zero-waste practitioner,

0:52:46.263,0:52:48.682
but also trying to educate people [br]about it.

0:52:48.682,0:52:51.056
I started doing a few workshops in New [br]York City.

0:52:51.056,0:52:52.733
I am curious, what kind of advice

0:52:52.733,0:52:54.612
you would like to give to a zero-waste

0:52:54.612,0:52:56.122
entrepreneur on how to grow my

0:52:56.122,0:52:58.647
presence and my business, if you will.

0:52:58.647,0:53:00.882
Rob: Do you want to go first?

0:53:00.882,0:53:03.191
Lauren: You go first, because I feel

0:53:03.191,0:53:04.882
that you have done such an amazing

0:53:04.882,0:53:08.885
job at creating so many different types of

0:53:08.885,0:53:10.350
communities online.

0:53:10.350,0:53:14.092
Rob: The first thing that comes to mind is

0:53:14.092,0:53:19.673
be yourself, be the real thing.

0:53:19.673,0:53:27.015
Peope today are attracted to authenticity.

0:53:27.015,0:53:33.174
People are attracted to authenticity in

0:53:33.174,0:53:35.006
this world that is dominated by

0:53:35.006,0:53:38.515
politicians, who are so inauthentic.

0:53:38.515,0:53:46.834
That is another weird thing about today.

0:53:46.834,0:53:49.531
If you look at the spectrum of who is out [br]there,

0:53:49.531,0:53:53.040
you will see a smaller percentage

0:53:53.040,0:53:55.341
of people who are actually truly [br]authentic.

0:53:55.341,0:53:57.912
That would be my number one [br]suggestion.

0:53:57.912,0:53:59.100
Be authentic.

0:53:59.100,0:54:00.869
Another one is do what you are really

0:54:00.869,0:54:01.826
passionate about.

0:54:01.826,0:54:04.193
Do what you wake up and want to do.

0:54:04.193,0:54:06.112
If you are doing that, it is not work.

0:54:06.112,0:54:08.999
I am sure Lauren is working 15 hours [br]a day.

0:54:08.999,0:54:12.033
That is because she really loves this.

0:54:12.033,0:54:13.782
It is what she is passionate about.

0:54:13.782,0:54:15.892
I do not recommend becoming

0:54:15.892,0:54:17.471
an environmentalist and choosing

0:54:17.471,0:54:20.107
a topic that you do not really love.

0:54:20.107,0:54:23.546
Those are a couple of thoughts.

0:54:23.546,0:54:25.804
Lauren: I perfectly agree with that.

0:54:25.804,0:54:28.278
I was thinking about this today, [br]actually.

0:54:28.278,0:54:30.272
Things that have really helped me.

0:54:30.272,0:54:32.298
To your point, yeah, I work a lot.

0:54:32.298,0:54:35.408
There are some days where I am so tired,[br]or do not sleep.

0:54:35.408,0:54:37.906
The only thing that keeps me going is[br]my 'why'.

0:54:37.906,0:54:39.745
Why am I doing this?

0:54:39.745,0:54:41.499
What is my north star?

0:54:41.499,0:54:43.406
My north star is creating large-scale

0:54:43.406,0:54:44.901
positive environmental change.

0:54:44.901,0:54:46.467
I know it. I say it in my sleep.

0:54:46.467,0:54:47.928
I dream about it.

0:54:47.928,0:54:50.279
If you do not know why you are doing[br]something,

0:54:50.279,0:54:53.421
then maybe you should choose something [br]else.

0:54:53.421,0:54:55.049
Or think deeply about it.

0:54:55.049,0:54:56.238
What is your north star?

0:54:56.238,0:54:58.586
What is the mission of what you are[br]trying to do?

0:54:58.586,0:55:00.209
What are you trying to accomplish?

0:55:00.209,0:55:02.176
I think it is important to think about

0:55:02.176,0:55:03.815
when the shit hits the fan,

0:55:03.815,0:55:05.429
and business does not go so well,

0:55:05.429,0:55:07.157
which happens some days.

0:55:07.157,0:55:08.886
How do you stay motivated?

0:55:08.886,0:55:11.705
My north star is what keeps me inspired.

0:55:11.705,0:55:14.681
Question: How long did it take you

0:55:14.681,0:55:15.860
to build your...

0:55:16.385,0:55:18.226
Lauren: To build what?

0:55:18.226,0:55:19.838
Questioner: build your empire.

0:55:20.071,0:55:21.975
Laughter

0:55:27.235,0:55:30.181
Lauren: I have been passionate about

0:55:30.181,0:55:32.514
this and I have been talking about trash

0:55:32.514,0:55:39.375
for 8 years now, to my dad's dismay.

0:55:39.375,0:55:42.009
He thought I was going to do something[br]very different.

0:55:42.009,0:55:44.082
I do not know.

0:55:44.082,0:55:46.156
For me, this feels like the beginning.

0:55:46.156,0:55:50.545
I started by saying no to a conventional

0:55:50.545,0:55:52.580
job that made me cry everyday.

0:55:52.580,0:55:54.900
That was the start.

0:55:54.900,0:55:57.119
I feel like we are just scratching the

0:55:57.119,0:55:58.817
surface of what we are doing here.

0:55:58.817,0:56:00.806
If I keep my eye on my North star

0:56:00.806,0:56:02.948
-large-scale, positive environmental [br]change-

0:56:02.948,0:56:04.593
then every decision that I make is

0:56:04.593,0:56:05.688
centered around that.

0:56:05.688,0:56:09.013
From there, who knows what could happen.

0:56:09.013,0:56:10.085
Questioner: Thank you.

0:56:10.085,0:56:12.214
Rob: I have no empire, so I can not speak.

0:56:12.214,0:56:13.886
Laughter.

0:56:13.886,0:56:19.512
I do want to say that I am loving this [br]conversation.

0:56:19.512,0:56:22.609
A lot of people would come to something

0:56:22.609,0:56:25.470
like this and they would think about....

0:56:25.470,0:56:27.349
We are not talking about the individual

0:56:27.349,0:56:28.789
ways to do zero waste because

0:56:28.789,0:56:30.872
you do not need to know the individual [br]ways

0:56:30.872,0:56:33.079
when you look at the foundation of life.

0:56:33.079,0:56:34.981
It is all about questioning your values

0:56:34.981,0:56:36.943
and living in alignment with your values.

0:56:36.943,0:56:38.482
Once you decide you are going to

0:56:38.482,0:56:40.204
live in alignment with your values,

0:56:40.204,0:56:44.246
everything else, though still challenging

0:56:44.246,0:56:47.905
to run against the grain of society [br]everyday,

0:56:47.905,0:56:50.893
but when you are just choosing to live[br]with your values,

0:56:50.893,0:56:54.070
it makes everything a lot easier.

0:56:54.070,0:56:57.241
Lauren: I am a big believer that if you

0:56:57.241,0:56:59.429
think about what you want,

0:56:59.429,0:57:01.019
think about what your values are,

0:57:01.019,0:57:02.522
are focused on your North star,

0:57:02.522,0:57:04.270
your body tells you if you are doing

0:57:04.270,0:57:06.058
something in misallignment with that.

0:57:06.058,0:57:07.477
It sounds really weird,

0:57:07.477,0:57:09.161
but that is how I live my life.

0:57:09.161,0:57:10.863
When something does not feel good,

0:57:10.863,0:57:12.694
I know that it is not in alignment

0:57:12.694,0:57:14.245
with my greater goal.

0:57:14.245,0:57:15.681
I do not mean to sound like my

0:57:15.681,0:57:19.485
head is in the clouds, but it has worked[br]for me so far.

0:57:20.407,0:57:22.272
The point is, what are your values?

0:57:22.272,0:57:23.465
Are you living them?

0:57:23.473,0:57:25.021
Ask those 2 questions.

0:57:25.021,0:57:27.740
Question: How do you travel?

0:57:27.740,0:57:29.333
Rob: How do I travel?

0:57:29.333,0:57:31.788
Sometimes, I walk. Sometimes I bike.

0:57:31.788,0:57:32.968
Sometimes I get in cars.

0:57:32.968,0:57:34.948
Sometimes I take a train or buses.

0:57:34.948,0:57:36.026
Sometimes I fly.

0:57:36.026,0:57:40.500
Any other ways that I travel?

0:57:40.500,0:57:44.751
Canoe. Occasionally a boat or canoe.

0:57:47.301,0:57:51.893
Generally, if I can, I try not to get in [br]a plane.

0:57:52.857,0:57:55.270
It has been 2 years since I have flown.

0:57:55.633,0:57:57.955
But next month I am doing a trip around

0:57:57.955,0:57:59.735
the world where I will be flying.

0:57:59.735,0:58:02.044
I will do that accross oceans,

0:58:02.044,0:58:05.949
but once I get to Europe for my speaking [br]tour,

0:58:05.949,0:58:10.911
then I will be taking trains, buses,[br]boats around.

0:58:10.911,0:58:13.479
To get here from Florida,

0:58:13.479,0:58:16.048
I drove to Atlanta with someone who was

0:58:16.048,0:58:17.608
already going that way,

0:58:17.608,0:58:19.887
then I took a train to Virginia.

0:58:19.887,0:58:22.176
Then I took a bus to DC, then a bus here.

0:58:22.176,0:58:25.212
Lauren: We are very glad you did.

0:58:25.212,0:58:26.873
Rob: Me too

0:58:26.873,0:58:28.420
Lauren: Any other questions?

0:58:28.420,0:58:33.393
Question: I volunteer with City Harvest[br]when I can.

0:58:33.393,0:58:37.098
9am-5pm Monday-Friday is when they need

0:58:37.098,0:58:39.634
volunteers and I am usually at work.

0:58:39.634,0:58:41.623
Are there any other food rescue

0:58:41.623,0:58:45.907
organizations that might need volunteers?

0:58:45.907,0:58:50.318
Lauren: My favorite in the city, I have

0:58:50.318,0:58:54.548
been using their service for so long,

0:58:54.548,0:58:55.577
is 'Growing my Seed'.

0:58:55.577,0:58:57.476
They always need volunteers at the

0:58:57.476,0:59:01.187
compost pick-up, or the clothing pick-up.

0:59:01.187,0:59:03.747
Questioner: I go there all the time.[br]Lauren: Me too.

0:59:03.747,0:59:05.335
I have not actually volunteered.

0:59:05.335,0:59:07.935
I probably should because I have been

0:59:07.935,0:59:11.367
dropping my compost off for so long.

0:59:13.902,0:59:15.682
So thank you to Growing My Seed.

0:59:17.437,0:59:19.251
Rob: I am sure there is a lot of

0:59:19.251,0:59:21.202
different food rescue programs around.

0:59:21.202,0:59:23.473
I can not think of any off the top of my[br]head.

0:59:23.473,0:59:26.062
But I know there are other smaller ones.

0:59:26.764,0:59:29.111
Audience: Rescuing Leftover Quisine

0:59:30.715,0:59:33.313
Rob: That is Lucy Biggers.[br]Lauren: Yay!

0:59:33.313,0:59:35.719
Rob: She helped me spread my message[br]many times.

0:59:35.719,0:59:37.129
She is at Now This

0:59:37.129,0:59:38.004
Thank you Lucy.

0:59:38.759,0:59:40.383
Lauren: If you do not follow Lucy,

0:59:40.383,0:59:42.413
then follow her. You will not regret it.

0:59:44.853,0:59:46.197
Any other questions?

0:59:47.031,0:59:50.650
Question: I often find myself getting[br]frustrated

0:59:50.650,0:59:55.756
trying to be more aligned with zero waste[br]values,

0:59:55.756,0:59:57.331
and also be in a society where

0:59:57.331,1:00:00.663
everyone else is more or less on the same[br]page.

1:00:00.663,1:00:04.499
I understand that we are all progressing

1:00:04.499,1:00:06.208
in our own way and at our own pace.

1:00:06.208,1:00:10.435
I agree not to waste too much energy

1:00:10.435,1:00:15.761
on people who would not really do it,

1:00:16.506,1:00:20.981
but for those who are already in a [br]position

1:00:20.981,1:00:23.380
where other people look up to them,

1:00:23.380,1:00:26.526
for them to be more environmentally[br]sustainable.

1:00:26.526,1:00:28.459
How would you recommend to

1:00:28.459,1:00:31.421
approach them about that?

1:00:31.421,1:00:34.431
The most direct way would be calling them[br]out,

1:00:34.431,1:00:37.441
but that may not be effective.

1:00:37.441,1:00:39.872
Rob: How do you approach people

1:00:39.872,1:00:42.860
who are leaders? Is that the question?

1:00:42.860,1:00:48.050
I would say that you are just going to

1:00:48.050,1:00:50.097
have some guts [courage] to call out

1:00:50.097,1:00:53.401
people who are leaders.

1:00:53.401,1:00:56.133
Lauren: I would start by saying, do not[br]call them out.

1:00:56.133,1:00:58.634
Do not judge them or be negative towards [br]them.

1:00:58.634,1:01:00.618
Be loving.

1:01:00.618,1:01:02.106
If they are already leaders,

1:01:02.106,1:01:04.372
they have done something that [br]inspired someone.

1:01:04.372,1:01:06.137
Approach them like you would approach

1:01:06.137,1:01:08.516
someone you love, and say,

1:01:08.516,1:01:11.541
"I love what you do and this is something[br]I care about.

1:01:11.541,1:01:13.896
Would you like to have a converstaion [br]about it?"

1:01:13.896,1:01:18.466
Rob: Yeah, approach with passion.[br]Lauren and Rob: compassion.

1:01:18.466,1:01:24.937
Even if the person is totally off base.

1:01:24.937,1:01:28.174
If you do not combat them with compassion,

1:01:28.174,1:01:30.733
then it is unlikely you are going to get[br]anywhere.

1:01:30.743,1:01:33.257
Generally, I would say, approach

1:01:33.257,1:01:36.731
with compassion and a genuine desire.

1:01:36.731,1:01:40.958
If you strategically actually want to try

1:01:40.958,1:01:42.618
to get the conversation going.

1:01:43.352,1:01:45.106
The standard response of someone

1:01:45.106,1:01:46.952
when they get told that they are doing

1:01:46.952,1:01:48.570
something wrong, whether they are

1:01:48.570,1:01:50.904
leader or not, is to become defensive.

1:01:52.821,1:01:54.987
As far as the environmental movement goes,

1:01:54.989,1:01:57.017
I think one of the most important things

1:01:57.017,1:01:59.046
that we can all do is become psychologists

1:01:59.046,1:02:01.403
or understand basic psychology.

1:02:01.403,1:02:05.146
It is all about how people perceive [br]things.

1:02:05.146,1:02:08.765
That is the way that I always approach[br]things.

1:02:08.765,1:02:11.385
For example, wearing my trash around for a[br]month.

1:02:11.385,1:02:14.904
I had to ask, "How will people perceive [br]this?"

1:02:14.904,1:02:18.088
If the answer was that everybody would [br]be turned off,

1:02:18.088,1:02:20.044
then I would not have done it.

1:02:20.822,1:02:24.710
I try to always design everything I do[br]around perception.

1:02:26.469,1:02:29.472
In regards to approaching leaders,

1:02:29.472,1:02:31.888
you cannot put them on the defense,

1:02:31.888,1:02:34.173
because then they are more likely to go

1:02:34.173,1:02:35.516
in the opposite direction.

1:02:36.023,1:02:39.401
Approaching with compassion is very[br]important.

1:02:40.589,1:02:45.341
Also, approaching with knowledge to be

1:02:45.341,1:02:47.009
able to explain yourself.

1:02:47.009,1:02:49.601
It is best to know what you are talking[br]about.

1:02:49.601,1:02:51.894
This applies to any situation.

1:02:52.254,1:02:56.038
Come to them with information to help.

1:02:56.594,1:03:02.131
If you do not have solutions or[br]alternatives,

1:03:02.131,1:03:03.936
then they will often write you off.

1:03:06.733,1:03:09.614
If you cannot say what that person should [br]do,

1:03:09.614,1:03:11.604
then they will often just write you off.

1:03:11.604,1:03:14.244
So that is the other thing: sharing the[br]alternatives.

1:03:14.944,1:03:15.944
So I do not know.

1:03:15.944,1:03:17.348
Those are a couple of things

1:03:17.348,1:03:19.135
that come to mind for me.

1:03:20.097,1:03:24.308
One other thing to mention is

1:03:24.308,1:03:27.095
most of our leaders do need be called out

1:03:27.095,1:03:31.279
in one form or another, but also remember

1:03:31.279,1:03:33.200
everybody is a hypocrite.

1:03:33.200,1:03:35.258
Every person in this room is a hypocrite.

1:03:35.258,1:03:36.306
I am a hypocrite.

1:03:36.306,1:03:37.438
Lauren is a hypocrite.

1:03:37.438,1:03:38.610
We are all hypocrites.

1:03:38.610,1:03:41.359
It is a matter of reducing our hypocrisy.

1:03:41.359,1:03:44.259
The problem is, if we want to live in[br]society,

1:03:44.259,1:03:46.891
and we want to see positive changes

1:03:46.891,1:03:49.236
in humanity and our environmental[br]situation,

1:03:49.236,1:03:51.706
then we are all required to be [br]hypocrites.

1:03:51.706,1:03:54.883
Because if you want to be a part of the[br]change,

1:03:54.883,1:03:57.769
you can not go and live the perfect [br]life.

1:04:00.463,1:04:04.565
For example, Al Gore flies around

1:04:04.565,1:04:06.492
the world in private jets.

1:04:06.492,1:04:09.245
Personally, for me, that is something

1:04:09.486,1:04:11.436
I think he could do a better job at,

1:04:11.436,1:04:15.951
and not do that, at least so much.

1:04:15.958,1:04:19.251
There are things where leaders need to [br]be called out.

1:04:19.251,1:04:22.901
But the one thing that I was going to say

1:04:22.901,1:04:28.211
is it is important remember to also look[br]at their situation.

1:04:28.211,1:04:34.678
For me personally, I have to always make[br]trade-offs.

1:04:38.334,1:04:40.207
I generally have done a really good job

1:04:40.207,1:04:42.465
at living my values, but next year I am

1:04:42.465,1:04:44.370
going to fly around the world.

1:04:44.370,1:04:47.696
And I am going to emit more carbon

1:04:47.696,1:04:51.335
in that flight traveling around the world

1:04:51.336,1:04:53.384
than probably 95% of human beings.

1:04:53.384,1:04:55.454
To call me sustainable would be

1:04:55.454,1:04:58.523
a complete fallacy in reality.

1:04:58.523,1:05:01.730
What I have to do is look at the [br]situation.

1:05:01.730,1:05:05.584
I have to say, "Is what I am doing worth[br]it?"

1:05:05.584,1:05:08.644
Is it going to make the impact that is [br]needed?

1:05:08.644,1:05:12.662
Some people would call this a [br]transitional society.

1:05:12.662,1:05:16.134
You cannot just look at a current [br]situation

1:05:16.134,1:05:20.082
to decide what is right if we are trying [br]to shift society.

1:05:20.099,1:05:22.279
If I want to shift society, I have to look

1:05:22.279,1:05:24.254
strategically at everything I can do,

1:05:24.254,1:05:27.584
and say, "OK, there is a negative impact

1:05:27.584,1:05:32.152
over this, but will it offset itself?"

1:05:32.152,1:05:34.573
For example, when I was wearing my trash

1:05:34.575,1:05:36.973
for a month, some people were very mad at[br]me.

1:05:36.973,1:05:39.359
"What are you doing creating garbage for [br]a month?

1:05:39.359,1:05:41.207
You should be zero-waste."

1:05:41.207,1:05:43.080
But by creating garbage for that month,

1:05:43.080,1:05:44.949
and creating that visual, thousands and

1:05:44.949,1:05:49.121
thousands of people stopped creating so[br]much garbage.

1:05:49.121,1:05:51.767
So it was completely worthwhile.

1:05:51.767,1:05:52.537
I do not know.

1:05:52.537,1:05:54.127
I guess that is the other thing.

1:05:54.127,1:05:56.632
I think, understanding and compassion

1:05:56.632,1:05:58.816
are two essential tenants of my life.

1:05:58.816,1:06:01.192
Also try to be understanding.

1:06:01.192,1:06:02.990
I am not downplaying at all that

1:06:03.335,1:06:05.433
people do need to be called out because

1:06:05.580,1:06:09.023
most of us, are ultimately pretty [br]delusional.

1:06:09.023,1:06:10.874
So we need to be called out

1:06:10.874,1:06:12.533
to get out of those delusions.

1:06:16.410,1:06:20.297
Lauren: Let us get a temperature check.

1:06:20.297,1:06:22.688
Do people want one question?

1:06:22.688,1:06:25.383
Clap your hand if you just want one [br]more question.

1:06:25.383,1:06:26.950
Nobody is going to be offended.

1:06:28.301,1:06:29.878
Rob: I think they want more.

1:06:29.878,1:06:31.734
I want to be respectful of the room.

1:06:31.734,1:06:33.372
I know you all have places to be.

1:06:33.372,1:06:34.442
Also, It is snowing.

1:06:34.442,1:06:36.392
I just want to give gratitude to all of

1:06:36.392,1:06:38.028
you for being here in the snow.

1:06:38.028,1:06:40.282
Two more questions? Does that sound good?

1:06:40.982,1:06:41.982
[clapping]

1:06:43.973,1:06:45.869
We have one from Cyber Space.

1:06:47.035,1:06:48.750
Cyber Space: The people on Instagram

1:06:49.098,1:06:51.337
Live are asking, do you get overwhelmed

1:06:51.697,1:06:53.764
by the future and the state of the planet?

1:06:53.769,1:06:55.779
Do you think we can still create change?

1:06:55.779,1:06:57.786
How do you deal with that anxiety?

1:06:57.786,1:07:00.772
Lauren: That is a great question.[br]Rob: Do you want to go or me?

1:07:00.772,1:07:01.622
Lauren: Rob

1:07:01.622,1:07:05.689
Rob: I rarely get anxiety about the state

1:07:05.689,1:07:07.233
of the world or the future.

1:07:09.755,1:07:12.623
I think that I am somewhat of an exception[br]in that way.

1:07:12.623,1:07:14.126
What is the word that they say?

1:07:14.126,1:07:16.194
I think eco-anxiety or something like [br]that.

1:07:16.194,1:07:17.712
I am not up to date.

1:07:17.712,1:07:19.330
I actually do not even really know

1:07:19.330,1:07:21.023
how to use Instagram, to be honest.

1:07:21.023,1:07:22.663
I am figuring it out.

1:07:22.663,1:07:24.313
Lauren: You do a good job.

1:07:24.313,1:07:26.341
Rob: I do alright. I still do not know how

1:07:26.341,1:07:27.656
to do the 'stories' thing.

1:07:29.795,1:07:31.742
Lucy was trying to help me out with[br]that.

1:07:31.742,1:07:33.540
Lucy: I am making a story right now.

1:07:33.540,1:07:35.220
Rob: She is making a story about my

1:07:35.220,1:07:36.540
inability to make stories.

1:07:39.538,1:07:42.741
Ok, here is why I do not suffer from

1:07:42.741,1:07:45.493
anxiety or depression.

1:07:45.493,1:07:49.863
The reason is, for me personally,

1:07:49.863,1:07:53.702
1: I do not take responsibility for the [br]world.

1:07:53.702,1:07:55.888
I take responsibility for my own actions.

1:07:55.888,1:07:57.599
I want to make a positive change

1:07:57.599,1:07:58.775
in the life that I have.

1:07:58.775,1:08:01.265
I do not take responsibility for the 7[br]billion.

1:08:01.265,1:08:02.381
I am just one person.

1:08:02.381,1:08:04.757
I can really only take responsibility for[br]myself.

1:08:04.757,1:08:07.512
That is essentail to my life.

1:08:07.512,1:08:12.313
The other thing is that it does not matter

1:08:12.313,1:08:14.154
what is going to happen 300 years,

1:08:14.154,1:08:16.500
400 years, 500 years from now.

1:08:16.500,1:08:20.736
if you design your life around living in [br]a way

1:08:20.736,1:08:22.258
that is beneficial to the earth,

1:08:22.258,1:08:23.632
your community and yourself.

1:08:23.632,1:08:27.716
What I do is look at what I can do to

1:08:27.716,1:08:32.618
improve quality of life around me now

1:08:32.618,1:08:34.741
and be living in a way that

1:08:34.741,1:08:36.330
if we do have a future,

1:08:36.330,1:08:39.675
I am positively contributing towards that.

1:08:39.675,1:08:43.894
Basically, I think that life matters.

1:08:43.894,1:08:45.895
I value my life, Lauren's life,

1:08:45.895,1:08:47.728
the life of every person in this room,

1:08:47.728,1:08:50.331
every species, the 4-20 million species

1:08:50.331,1:08:53.312
that there are on earth; I just value [br]life.

1:08:53.312,1:08:56.494
If I can improve the quality of life [br]around me,

1:08:56.643,1:08:59.871
and not destroy life around me, then

1:08:59.871,1:09:02.251
that is a life worth lived.

1:09:02.251,1:09:04.877
That is something I can generally control.

1:09:04.877,1:09:08.752
We also live in very complicated times.

1:09:08.752,1:09:10.211
We do not know what the world

1:09:10.211,1:09:11.285
is going to be like in

1:09:11.285,1:09:12.567
Lauren: In eleven years

1:09:12.567,1:09:15.455
Rob: Eleven? Eleven years is kind of[br]unfathomable.

1:09:15.455,1:09:16.796
We really do not know.

1:09:16.796,1:09:19.863
There are things that we do know.

1:09:19.863,1:09:21.467
We do know ways that we can make

1:09:21.467,1:09:24.278
make a positive impact now

1:09:24.278,1:09:26.285
to improve quality of life now,

1:09:26.285,1:09:28.274
and do it in a way that does not strip

1:09:28.274,1:09:30.633
quality of life elsewhere for the future.

1:09:33.999,1:09:36.042
Lauren: I do not know if you all just

1:09:36.042,1:09:38.220
want to hive-five him every time he [br]speaks.

1:09:38.220,1:09:39.777
Audience Laughs

1:09:39.777,1:09:40.563
... but I do.

1:09:41.484,1:09:42.484
[clap]

1:09:44.525,1:09:45.688
One more question?

1:09:45.688,1:09:47.603
Does anyone hace a question in the [br]room?

1:09:47.740,1:09:49.820
Ok. Last question.

1:09:49.998,1:09:51.712
Question: Why do you cap your cash?

1:09:51.712,1:09:53.721
Rob: Why do I cap my cash?

1:09:53.721,1:09:55.691
I have never put it in those exact words.

1:09:56.221,1:09:59.826
I have committed to making less than the

1:10:00.102,1:10:02.434
federal poverty threshhold for life,

1:10:02.434,1:10:03.821
as long as I am alive.

1:10:03.821,1:10:07.112
In no way am I trying to simulate poverty.

1:10:07.112,1:10:10.091
In fact, a short segway.

1:10:10.091,1:10:12.688
I have always liked to acknowledge

1:10:12.688,1:10:15.411
my privilege because a lot of what

1:10:15.411,1:10:17.713
I am doing, I can do because of the

1:10:17.713,1:10:19.244
privilege that I have.

1:10:19.244,1:10:22.969
Dumpster diving: because I am white,

1:10:22.969,1:10:24.967
because I am pretty eloquent,

1:10:24.967,1:10:27.542
if the police show up, they are not

1:10:27.542,1:10:29.387
really going to do something about it.

1:10:29.387,1:10:30.767
Homeless people are much more

1:10:30.767,1:10:31.904
likely to get arrested.

1:10:31.904,1:10:33.566
Traveling the world with no money?

1:10:33.566,1:10:37.348
Western passport, white, not running

1:10:37.348,1:10:38.900
from dangerous situations:

1:10:38.900,1:10:40.926
That is why I can easily do that.

1:10:40.926,1:10:42.343
Biking across the country.

1:10:42.343,1:10:44.562
So many of the things that I do,

1:10:44.562,1:10:47.358
I can do out of a place of privilege which

1:10:47.358,1:10:49.741
ties into that question.

1:10:49.741,1:10:52.167
I can choose to live with very little [br]money,

1:10:52.184,1:10:54.042
because it is a choice.

1:10:54.042,1:10:58.944
But if you trying to get by, day to day,

1:10:58.944,1:11:01.601
then to try and earn as little as possible

1:11:01.601,1:11:04.115
is not really something that is going [br]to work.

1:11:04.115,1:11:06.959
Some people would call this voluntary [br]simplicity.

1:11:06.959,1:11:10.429
The reason that I choose to live

1:11:10.429,1:11:13.044
with a minimal amount of money,

1:11:13.044,1:11:15.647
is because I am trying as much as [br]possible

1:11:15.647,1:11:18.604
to live in a more just and sustainable [br]way.

1:11:18.604,1:11:22.200
In a world where 1% of the population

1:11:22.200,1:11:26.360
has [what, like] 50% of the finances.

1:11:26.360,1:11:30.133
I want to stand out as the opposite of [br]that.

1:11:30.133,1:11:32.559
I want to live in a way that is more [br]equal

1:11:32.559,1:11:35.427
with the general population.

1:11:35.427,1:11:39.319
It is a way of restricting

1:11:39.319,1:11:42.450
myself from getting too much.

1:11:42.450,1:11:44.385
I could be making a lot of money off

1:11:44.385,1:11:47.258
of what I am doing.

1:11:47.258,1:11:49.206
The problem is that often, when you

1:11:49.206,1:11:51.337
have the opportunity for making a lot of

1:11:51.337,1:11:52.869
money, it can get in the way.

1:11:52.869,1:11:54.210
There are some people who do

1:11:54.210,1:11:56.133
a great job at making money,

1:11:56.133,1:11:58.057
plugging it into the places that matter.

1:11:58.057,1:11:59.930
The reality is that most people,

1:11:59.930,1:12:01.431
when they get a lot of money,

1:12:01.431,1:12:04.058
they rationalize that flight to Polynesia

1:12:04.305,1:12:07.470
for a vacation, or things like that.

1:12:07.470,1:12:10.670
It is a way to force me to live my values.

1:12:10.670,1:12:12.334
If I do not have money,

1:12:12.334,1:12:14.296
I have to connect with my community.

1:12:14.296,1:12:15.580
That is another thing.

1:12:15.580,1:12:17.804
I am dependent upon humanity,

1:12:17.804,1:12:21.885
because I cannot meet my own needs.

1:12:21.885,1:12:23.956
I need other people to meet my needs,

1:12:23.956,1:12:26.659
which is a way to encourage people

1:12:26.659,1:12:28.171
to depend on each other.

1:12:29.447,1:12:31.253
The only societies that I have seen

1:12:31.253,1:12:34.507
that are somewhat sustainable

1:12:34.507,1:12:36.468
are societies where people are actually

1:12:36.468,1:12:38.579
dependent upon their neighbors.

1:12:40.042,1:12:42.544
Today, in a monetized society,

1:12:42.544,1:12:46.135
I can just pay for everything I want.

1:12:47.046,1:12:49.200
You do not have to understand your [br]actions,

1:12:49.200,1:12:51.200
and how they affect the world around you,

1:12:51.200,1:12:52.694
but when you do not have money,

1:12:52.694,1:12:54.961
you have to understand your relationships

1:12:54.961,1:12:57.991
and how things get to you.

1:12:57.991,1:13:02.109
There is obviously a lot to it,

1:13:02.109,1:13:05.628
but that is a bit of an idea

1:13:05.628,1:13:07.380
why I minimize the amount of money.

1:13:07.380,1:13:09.149
Lauren: There is that documentary,

1:13:09.149,1:13:10.860
'A Dollar a Day, Living on One.'

1:13:10.860,1:13:12.161
Have you seen that?

1:13:12.161,1:13:13.641
Oh my god.

1:13:13.641,1:13:16.169
Such an incredible show.

1:13:16.169,1:13:18.510
Rob: Chris Temple, they are the guys

1:13:18.510,1:13:20.518
who filmed Trash Me, actually.

1:13:20.518,1:13:23.047
Lauren: They are amazing.

1:13:23.047,1:13:24.580
Rob: They have a new documentary

1:13:24.580,1:13:25.553
coming out in March.

1:13:25.553,1:13:27.258
Lauren: Did they do Salam Neighbor

1:13:27.258,1:13:28.028
Rob: Yeah

1:13:28.028,1:13:29.495
Lauren: with Angelina Jolie?

1:13:29.495,1:13:31.166
Rob: I did not know she was in it.

1:13:31.166,1:13:33.426
Lauren: I think she was associated in some[br]way.

1:13:33.426,1:13:34.764
That is a really interesting

1:13:34.764,1:13:38.209
documentary on the value of a dollar

1:13:38.209,1:13:39.834
in different places in the world.

1:13:41.039,1:13:43.588
I want to say, thank you very much for [br]being here.

1:13:43.624,1:13:47.758
I think that the radiance you created,

1:13:47.758,1:13:49.772
and how inspiring you are, and how

1:13:49.910,1:13:52.177
you decided to challenge what the world

1:13:52.179,1:13:54.226
looks like, has motivated me, and so many

1:13:54.226,1:13:56.768
people in our community so many times.

1:13:56.768,1:13:59.155
I am grateful that you decided to come [br]here

1:13:59.155,1:14:02.455
and share your life with us.

1:14:02.455,1:14:04.446
On behalf of me, my team,

1:14:04.807,1:14:07.428
and everyone here, thank you for being[br]here.

1:14:07.451,1:14:09.916
And thank you, Rob, for being here.

1:14:09.948,1:14:11.370
I am so happy.

1:14:11.370,1:14:16.982
Applause.

1:14:16.982,1:14:19.227
Rob: Thank you to Lauren

1:14:19.227,1:14:21.610
Thank you, Lauren, for opening

1:14:21.619,1:14:23.278
up this space to have this

1:14:23.278,1:14:25.764
and inspiring me to come to New York,

1:14:25.764,1:14:27.566
and for everything she is doing,

1:14:27.568,1:14:31.483
for opening up a second shop, right?

1:14:34.762,1:14:36.455
And, thank you all for being here.

1:14:37.714,1:14:39.550
I would be nothing without all of you,

1:14:39.550,1:14:41.948
because I expect all of us to inspire.

1:14:42.726,1:14:44.642
Lauren: Last thing, we are trying to do

1:14:44.642,1:14:47.291
more talks with more incredibly inspiring[br]people,

1:14:47.291,1:14:49.223
so if any of you know of anyone who you

1:14:49.223,1:14:52.626
would like to introduce to the Zero-Waste,

1:14:52.626,1:14:55.899
Package Free community, this woman who is

1:14:55.899,1:14:58.876
hiding behind here-[br]this is Joy, stand up-

1:14:58.876,1:15:01.053
Joy is in the red so you cannot miss [br]her.

1:15:01.053,1:15:02.714
Please share their name with Joy.

1:15:02.714,1:15:05.267
We would love to invite them to our[br]conversation.

1:15:05.267,1:15:07.080
Thank you everyone.

1:15:07.080,1:15:15.584
[Applause]

1:15:15.584,1:16:04.675
[Music and Mingling]