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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
sustainably.
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On that vein, Rob is also leading the
way,
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showing us all how to live more
sustainably,
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more just, and be better people, in
general.
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We are really excited for your
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
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
respond to it
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in a way that would make them feel
uncomfortable,
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but I later I learned it was actually
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
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of silence, for all of us, to take a
second
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to think about someone that we love.
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If you were with your family for
the holidays,
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maybe you thought things that you
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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
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
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
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that you did not not bathe, but you swam
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in rivers, and you let the earth
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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
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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
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
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
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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
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did the story, Lessons Learned from
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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
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
places, like Fiji.
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I always had a deep desire to learn all
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
chipping off.
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We had an old rusty car.
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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
it was a lie.
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I did not want people to know who I
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
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
driving,
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the garbage that I was making -
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was destroying everything I loved as
a kid.
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Lauren: Can you talk about what sparked
that?
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Your life now, is quite the contrast
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from being a millionaire at 30.
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What was the moment?
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Was there a singular moment or event
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or anything that made you change
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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
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
millionaire, sort of.
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Actually, the opposite would be being
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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?
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What was your lightbulb?
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Rob: For me, I started to watch a lot of
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documentaries and read a lot of books.
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"Fooding" was one of the earliest
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documentaries that I watched.
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Zeitgeist was another early one.
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I read a lot of books; Michael Pollan
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was an early wake-up.
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Lauren: Me too.
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Rob: I just realized that my life
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was a couple of things.
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It was a lie that had been sold to me by
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corporate America, that most of the
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things I was doing was because I had
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bought their advertizing.
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For example, early on, Old Spice
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
into society?
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Do I actually need these things?
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All the chemicals I was putting on my
body and in my food,
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all the ways I was spewing chemicals
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and toxins into the world.
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[I was] also realizing that my actions
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were not in line with my beliefs.
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I always considered myself
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environmentally friendly because
I recycled;
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I had energy efficient bulbs;
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I turned off the water when I was
not using it.
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My mom had taught me the basic things.
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I always considered myself
environmentally friendly,
-
but then I realized that actually 99%
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of what I was doing was
environmentally destructive.
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Almost nothing I was doing,
nothing at all,
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was really environmentally friendly
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because I just bought into
American consumerism.
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Lauren: What were the first steps you
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started to take when you realized that
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your values were not in alignment with
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your day to day actions?
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Rob: I just realized that we are talking
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exactly about the title of this talk.
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[Laughter.]
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Lauren: I am happy we got there.
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What were the first things that you did,
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because I think for a lot of people,
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they realize, maybe I am not living
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aligned with my values, but what can
I do?
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I am just one person.
-
I think what you really embody
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is doing something and 'really' doing
something.
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What were the first steps you took
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to start to align with what you cared
about?
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Rob: My thing was that I wanted to
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drastically and radically transform
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my life fairly quickly, but I also knew
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I could not do it overnight.
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I am generally pretty logical and
rational,
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and I was deep in the system.
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I had 7 credit cards.
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I had a card that had 30 or so different
bills.
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I had debt.
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I had a 3-bedroom apartment that I rented.
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I was in the system.
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Not as much as others -
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I did not have a mortgage, for example.
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I wanted to radically transform my life,
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but I knew that it would take some time.
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What I did was made a list of a hundred
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ways I wanted to change.
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My goal was that I was going to check off
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one positive thing per week, or better.
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As far as the first things, I have a
visual,
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I remember taking everything toxic
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out of my bathroom and putting
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it on the curb, and then saying....
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That was the Story of Stuff,
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one of my earliest wake-ups.
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There is also the Story of Cosmetics
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in another video they put out.
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I remember just putting all that out
on the curb,
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and saying, I am either going to 'not'
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replace them because maybe I do not
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need them at all, or if I am going to
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bring something into my house,
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it is going to be something
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that makes sense to put on my body.
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That was a really early one.
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I was also dating someone who was
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practicing traditional Chinese medicine,
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accupuncture, massage therapy and
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herbalism, at the time, so that was
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another reason that I started there.
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Then food. At the time, I went to Walmart
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for all of my food.
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They always ship around the country,
around the world.
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It is all in plastic, and then in two
plastic bags.
-
I quickly stopped going to Walmart.
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Then I went to Trader Joe's,
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I realized that is a scam,
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as far as thinking it is environmentally
friendly.
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Then transitioning to eating more
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at local farmer's market.
-
Another one was riding my bike a lot more.
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I had a beach cruiser at the time.
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So I decided I was going to get a bike
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that I could get some distance on.
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Lauren: Where were you living at the
time?
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Rob: That was San Diego.
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So, I stopped driving my car as much.
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Also, slowly but surely got rid of my
garbage can.
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That was a big goal of mine,
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to not have garbage cans in the house.
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Lauren: Yes!
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Which, back then seemed radical,
-
but over time, it is just normal.
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Lauren: Let me talk about that a little
bit.
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The word radical.
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I think there are not many people
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who would disagree that the things
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you do a quite radical, quite extremist.
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I have gotten that myself about going
zero waste.
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You go all the way, you never half-do
anything.
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Do have a reason for why you tackle these
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projects or these goals in the way that
you do?
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Can you speak to some of the projects
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that you have done in the past,
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from not showering to what you have just
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embarked on, have just completed.
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Rob: I do radical things for a few
reasons.
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1. because I have always been a radical
human being.
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It is just the reality.
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It is deep inside my bones.
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Before, I was radically stupid.
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I liked to do stupid things that
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would get people's attention.
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In college, running into a fence as hard
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as I could and seeing if I could
break it.
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You know, really stupid things
when I was drinking.
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I have always liked to test the limits.
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Now I choose to test purposeful limits.
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There is the reality that I just like
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to do extreme things and to test things.
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The other thing is that I realized at that
time,
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not only did I want to change my life,
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but I wanted to give people the
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opportunity to change their life.
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I was always decent about not wanting to
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tell anybody what to do,
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but just to give an alternative.
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In a half hour news segment,
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there are 18 short segments,
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and 15 of them are negative,
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and only 3 are positive.
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Between that are commercials telling you
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that if you want to be happy or healthy,
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you need to buy things.
-
I just wanted to put out another
narrative
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and give people another option.
-
It was that. I wanted to show people
another way.
-
And of course, I had to compete
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with mainstream media.
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I had to do things that would actually
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get my message out there.
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If I just did a little bit.
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If I did things in a really moderate way,
-
like starting to shop at the farmer's
market.
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Lauren: I shower once a week.
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Rob: Yeah, that would not be on ...
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Rob and Lauren: mainstream media
-
Rob: So that was the strategic aspect
of it.
-
The other big part of it was....
-
You have been called, like you said,
-
extreme, and people generally
-
consider me extreme.
-
I consider myself extreme, but the
reality is,
-
I am actually not extreme.
-
The only reason that I am extreme
-
is because I am being compared to what is
-
already an extreme society.
-
The United States has 5% of the world's
population,
-
but uses 25% of the world's resources.
-
That by definition, is extreme.
-
Not even close to the whole world could
do that.
-
What I am, is I am the counter balance to
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extreme western consumerism.
-
I only have to go to these extremes
-
because the extreme is already there.
-
Lauren: Can you speak to some of the
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headlines that you created, some of the
-
things you have taken on.
-
We spoke about the 'I have not showered
in a year -
-
these are the lessons I learned.'
-
Talk about some of the lessons you
learned,
-
from Trash Me, growing all your own
food.
-
I am really curious becuase we have not
-
caught up in a while, so this is more
-
or me than it is for all of you.
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Rob: Well, my first project was to bike
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accross the United States, and try to
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have no negative environmental
impact.
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That meant setting basic ground
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rules for all the key aspects of
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sustainable living, the things that we
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deal with every single day.
-
I consider those to be food, water,
-
energy, waste, and transportion.
-
These are things that every single one
of us
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deals with every single day
-
whether we realize it or not.
-
For example, for waste, every piece
of garbage
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that I created, I had to carry across
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the United States with me.
-
If I had a candy bar in San Francisco,
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then I had to bike with that plastic
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all the way to Vermont.
-
On that trip, I made just 2 pounds
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of trash in 104 days, which is what
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the average person in the United States
-
makes by about 1 or 2 in the afternoon
-
on any given day.
-
On that trip, I was doing extreme things
-
about food, water, energy, waste,
transportation.
-
That was my first project.
-
The other one was Trash Me,
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which was right here in New York City.
-
That was a month of living like the
average American.
-
Putting all ethics and morals aside
for the month,
-
and eating, consuming like the average
person.
-
But I had to wear every piece of trash
that I created.
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Lauren: Did everybody see that? Yeah?
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We had it here for a little while.
-
It was awesome!
-
Rob: Good
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Lauren: How did you feel after that?
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What was the lesson that you learned?
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Rob: It is interesting, in a way I felt
better.
-
I have to say, it was the most enjoyable
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month in my entire life.
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Not because I was consuming,
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but just because it worked so well.
-
Everywhere I went for the whole month
-
in New York city, I was being chased
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down the streets by people saying,
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"It is the trash man!" People were
excited.
-
What fulfils me, is seeing people's
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wheels turning inside their head.
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People would walk up to me.
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It is the opposite of all of your trash
-
fitting into your jar.
-
I always try to find visual ways to help
-
people understand important issues.
-
The idea was that I wanted people
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to look at me, and see themselves,
-
without me having to tell them
anything.
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Without me having to tell anyone
-
that they are doing anything wrong.
-
Because I do not necessarily believe
-
in wrong or right anyway.
-
... not have to tell anybody anything.
-
What would happen, is people would
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walk up to me in the street.
-
They would say, "What are you doing?"
-
I would say, "I am just living
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like the average American for a month,
-
and I am wearing all my trash."
-
They would just look at me.
-
Sometimes they would actually say,
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"Oh, that is me."
-
Sometimes you would see them
realize it.
-
Other times they would actually say it.
-
I try to do things in a way that are
-
in people's faces, without "being
in their face".
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Lauren: I think it was a really amazing
-
project for me, because my whole life is
-
focused around talking about trash
-
and how not to make so much trash.
-
Actually feeling the weight of your
-
completed suit was unbelievable.
-
This suit was really heavy; we needed
-
three people to carry it up the stairs.
-
The day we installed it, I think I fell
4 times.
-
It was unbelievable.
-
You truly do not realize the sheer volume
-
of the sh*t that people create every
single day.
-
I think it was a really important
project for me.
-
I am sure it was for so many other people.
-
The next project after that was what?
-
Rob: Another project that I just finished
-
was a year of growing and foraging all
my food.
-
For one year, no grocery stores, no
restaurants,
-
no drink at a bar, nothing packaged,
-
nothing processed, nothing shipped
long distances,
-
no beer, no even going to the package-free
-
shop to get my food, or even the farmer's
market.
-
Everything I ate for the year was either
-
from my gardens, or that I went out and
-
foraged, whether it was out in the
-
countryside, or right in the cities that
I was in.
-
Lauren: Where was this taking place?
-
Rob: That was in Orlando Florida.
-
That is where I have lived for the last 2
years.
-
Lauren: How was that,
-
foraging for food in Orlando Florida?
-
When I think of Orlando, Florida,
-
and I think of Disneyworld.
-
I think of Universal Studios,
-
and maybe cotton candy,
-
but I definitely do not think of
-
sustenance for a year and half of life.
-
So what were the types of things
-
that you found there?
-
Rob: Generally, we think of what we know.
-
If we are not thinking of what might
-
be edible around us, then we will walk
-
past those things our entire life without
-
ever thinking about it.
-
The amazing thing is,
-
food is growing everywhere,
-
even in New York city.
-
I was here 3 years ago. I was in a park.
-
I saw this guy, just picking things
-
out of a tree and eating them.
-
I said "What are you doing?"
-
He said, "These are cherries and
mulberries."
-
At the time, I did not know what they
were.
-
Lauren: Surinam cherries?
-
Those are my favorite things in the world.
-
Rob: Oh really? These were just little
-
pin cherries, or black cherries.
-
There is food growing all over New York
City.
-
It is basically growing everywhere.
-
But what I did in Orlando was I
-
turned front yards into gardens.
-
When I landed in Orlando, I had no land.
-
I did not have a place to stay yet.
-
I found someone, and they let me
-
stay in their guest bedroom.
-
I turned their front yard into a garden.
-
Then I turned 6 yards into gardens
-
while I was there.
-
That is where I got all my food that
I grew.
-
Just front yards that you could walk by.
-
Anybody could pick from them.
-
There was no fence or anything.
-
Lauren: Who were the types of people
-
that opened up their homes, their
property,
-
their possessions to you, so you could
subsist?
-
Rob: Mostly people who watched me
on YouTube.
-
Lauren: Wow, and how did you find them?
-
Did you do a call for them
-
before you started off on this journey?
-
Community is so important, right?
-
And for you, it is a major part of how
you live.
-
So how are you finding and connecting
-
with these amazing people?
-
Rob: That was partially a joke, because
-
a lot of the people I ended up doing
-
things with had never heard of me.
-
I am just some crazy guy who wants
-
to build a garden.
-
Sometimes, they would think
-
"That sounds good, but you are barefoot.."
-
and "I am not sure about this guy."
-
I am not usually wearing a shirt.
-
I am wearing short shorts around.
-
They are thinking, "I am not sure about
this guy."
-
Lauren: Did some people like it?
-
Rob: Some people do, enough people do.
-
There are 7 billion people,
-
so you do not need to please everyone
-
to have plenty of people on your side.
-
Some of it was through,
-
these days I think the word is
Social Capital.
-
Some people base their life around having
-
enough money to get everything they need.
-
That is what I used to do.
-
I used to design my life around having
-
enough money so that I would be able
-
to buy whatever experience
-
or product, or even sometimes
-
friendship that I might have wanted
-
through my material possessions and the
-
experiences I could give or share with
them.
-
Today, instead of it being through money,
-
I look at it through the reality that
-
we live in a time where together we can
-
pretty much meet all of each other's
-
needs outside of the globalized,
-
industrialized systems.
-
We live in a very privileged time
-
where just with this group together,
-
if we just came up with all of our
skills,
-
we could pretty much work together
-
to accomplish most of what we need to.
-
So I look at that.
-
I try to bring that together.
-
It is always about
-
What do you want in life that you do
not have?
-
What do I want in life that I do not
have?
-
For some people, that is a blank lawn
with grass.
-
And they want food.
-
I do not have a lawn, but I know how to
grow food.
-
So we can combine our resources
-
to create what we both want.
-
Lauren: That is so beautiful. Okay.
-
Where does your tiny house come in?
-
Was that before growing your own food?
-
Rob: When I lived in San Diego,
-
I lived in a 50 foot/square tiny house.
-
Lauren: that you built yourself?
-
Rob: That was the one I bought on
Craigslist for $950.
-
I call it a tiny house,
-
but it was basically a glorified dog
house,
-
or a kid's playpen on wheels.
-
It was basically a box, but it was
-
designed to look really nice.
-
Not a cardboard box, a wood box,
-
that had nice lines that made it
-
look like a little cabin.
-
I bought that for $950 and lived off grid
in San Diego.
-
That was 2015-2016.
-
When I lived in Orlando, I built
-
a tiny house out of 99% second-hand
-
materials for about $1300
-
Lauren: Where did you find
-
everything for that house?
-
Rob: It was mostly left-over materials
-
from construction projects,
-
the two-by-fours, the plywood and all
that.
-
Lauren: How did you know how to
build a house?
-
Rob: I did not.
-
I met a guy who knows how to build a
house.
-
Lauren: How did you meet said guy?
-
Rob: He was the husband of someone
-
who had been doing photography for
-
me for the past few years who liked my
-
work and had been following me.
-
Somehow she wrapped him into building
-
my house for me.
Lauren: That is amazing!
-
There was him.... without him it would
not have worked.
-
He was a carpenter.
-
But 40 different people came together
-
and built the house.
-
I am saying 'house' but it looks like a
shed.
-
10ft by 10ft, very simple.
-
I am very much a person who
-
does not practice altruism in any way.
-
Some people look at what I am doing
-
and might think of it as altruistic.
-
But it is not that, it is 'how can we meet
-
each other's needs'.
-
These 40 people who came out
-
to volunteer to build my tiny house,
-
none of them were there,
-
for the most part, because they thought,
-
"Let us help Rob out."
-
They were there because they were
-
interested in tiny houses.
-
It was an opportunity to learn about
tiny houses.
-
They wanted to meet like-minded people.
-
They wanted to make some friends,
-
or just have a new experience.
-
By making building my house a community
event,
-
everyone who came out got to benefit
from that.
-
At the same time, of course,
-
I got to benefit cause they helped
-
me put together my house.
-
I also just want to say I did a lot of it.
-
It is not like people just came up and
built my house.
-
Lauren: as you drank a beer and watched.
-
Rob: I slaved away.
-
It took 250 hours to build.
-
It was a lot of work.
-
Lauren: You were not always living there
alone.
-
Rob: Last time you and I met,
-
I was living with my partner Sheryl at
the time.
-
We were building that tiny house
together.
-
But it took me too long, so she left.
-
Laughter
-
It did take me too long.
-
That is not why she left.
-
It worked out great because
-
had we finished the tiny house ....
-
We were together for 4 years.
-
We spent a beautiful 4 years together.
-
It was actually 8, because we were
-
involved for 4 years before that 4 years
-
that we were actually in a partnership.
-
We always had the belief that if
-
our relationship does not serve
-
the individual to their best interests,
-
and the partnership to the best interest,
-
then there is absolutely nothing wrong
-
with letting those paths go in two
different directions.
-
We were at a point where there were
-
things that she wanted in life
-
that were different than me.
-
And [some] that I wanted in life
-
that were different than her.
-
We decided that we were not going to be
-
together anymore in a partnership.
-
But she is still, I guess my best friend
-
in the world, maybe top 3 best friends.
-
Timing-wise it worked out great though,
-
because had we built the house,
-
then we would have been in a tricky
situation,
-
because we would have had that tiny
house together.
-
She basically left 3 weeks
-
before I started building it.
-
Lauren: Can you talk about what it was
-
like being in a relationship.
-
Going through all of the different
-
journeys that you went through.
-
Because I know for myself,
-
I have been living a zero-waste lifestyle
for 8 years.
-
I have been so lucky to have incredible
-
partners that, throughout the journey,
-
have supported me in very different
and important ways.
-
From being counterparts to what I was
doing,
-
to being people that were absorbing what
-
I was doing and incorporating it into
their own lives.
-
It is a beautiful dance when you
-
are in a partnership.
-
A lot of people have come to me.
-
Maybe they have come to you, saying,
-
"I am in this partnership.
-
I have these values.
-
My partner does not share those values."
-
Do you have instances where you
-
experienced that in your partnership?
-
What advice would you give to someone
-
who, for instance, wants to reduce their
-
waste, or wants to grow their own food,
-
but maybe their partner, family or their
-
friends, do not align with it?
-
Rob: Well, a couple of things.
-
I would say that one thing people
-
are very afraid to do is leave behind
-
relationships that are not right.
-
For example, my dad, unfortunately was not
-
a good person to have in my life for a
while.
-
He was extremely negative and paranoid
about things.
-
He was as unsupportive as it could get.
-
Always telling me not to do almost
-
everything that I was trying to do.
-
After years of trying, I eventually said
to him,
-
-after many pleadings of "Let us make
-
things work",- eventually, I said,
-
"OK then, we can not be friends anymore.
-
We can not hang out anymore.
-
For two years, he was not a part of my
life.
-
I had to block his number because
-
it was a toxic relationship.
-
Then, after two years,
-
I do not remember how it happened.
-
I started to talk to him again.
-
And it worked out.
-
We have a much better relationship.
-
Obviously, that is a complicated thing,
-
but one of the main things is,
-
if a relationship is not providing
-
true value for two people,
-
then I think that we need to
-
be able to walk away from that.
-
Especially if it is a really toxic
-
relationship, or an abusive relationship,
-
or something like that.
-
Now, in scenarios where it is not that.
-
It is just a matter of friendship.
-
One of the easiest things is
-
just accepting them for who they are.
-
Ideally, they can accept you for who you
are as well,
-
but acceptance starts with ourselves.
-
We can not control anyone else.
-
In the past, I focused on people around
me.
-
Like Sheryl's mom; When I was around
Sheryl's family,
-
I remember being uneasy, because I
-
wanted them to do zero-waste type things.
-
Even around my aunt Louise, I remember,
-
we would go grocery shopping together.
-
She would use double plastic bags.
-
If you are watching, Louise, hello, I love
you.
-
Lauren: Me too.
-
Rob: There was a toxicity in my
relationships
-
because there was an uneasiness.
-
They might be nervous around me,
-
wondering if I was going to berate them
a little bit.
-
Or I would be uneasy because I wanted
-
to say something, but was holding back.
-
There was a time, maybe 3 years ago.
-
I just said, 'Look, there are 7 billion
people on Earth.
-
It does not matter to me if my mom,
-
or my sister, or my friends change,
-
because there are literally tens of
millions
-
of people right now, who want to change.
-
This room is an example of that.
-
The fact that Package-Free is so
successful
-
is an example of that.
-
There are millions of people around
-
the world who want to change.
-
So what I decided to do, is put my energy
-
into people who are right there,
-
who want the help.
-
Not put 10 times more energy into people
-
who do not want your energy.
-
The amazing thing that happens is
-
that when you put your energy into people
-
who do not really want it, you are sapped,
-
and you lose energy.
-
When you put energy into people who want
it,
-
it actually increases your energy.
-
So by giving up the desire to affect any
-
one individual person, that is what allows
-
me to walk around completely carefree.
-
It does not matter what any individual
does,
-
as long as overall, my actions are helping
-
move people into the direction.
-
Lauren: That is so inspiring.
-
One of my favorite quotes ever is
-
"When you are no longer able to change
a situation,
-
Your challenge is to change yourself."
-
I think you embody that.
-
Instead of trying to change a whole
system,
-
you have embodied the values that you
believe in.
-
As such, you have influenced and inspired
-
so many people to take on the challenge
-
of thinking about other ways they can
live.
-
I think you have inspired so many people.
-
I am definitely one of them.
-
When we met - I want to talk about
-
what we did when we were together for the
-
first time, because it was so amazing for
me.
-
I grew up with a single mother.
-
She was raising me, and a child with
special needs.
-
It was a really hard time for her.
-
We did a lot of things.
-
Furniture, she would find in the trash.
-
You introduced me to the concept of
dumpster diving.
-
The first time that we ever did it was
electrifying.
-
As someone like you, who loves thrills,
-
loves excitement, loves the rebellious
things,
-
dumpster diving was the coolest shit ever.
-
You felt like you were doing something
-
so dangerous, risky and illegal,
-
but actually, well it is kind of illegal,
-
but you are actually just picking through
-
trash to find food that is perfectly
edible.
-
Can you talk about the night that we went
-
Rob: Sure
Lauren: and your experiences?
-
Lauren: For me that was earth shattering.
-
For you that was just a typical dive.
-
Can you talk about what it was like?
-
Rob: Yeah, we were walking back to your
place.
-
We walked past a bagel shop.
-
Sheryl was there.
-
I said, "Let us look inside these garbage
bags.
-
I am sure there are a bunch of bagels
there."
-
Lauren: I said, "Holy shit, we are
breaking the law."
-
Rob: I remember you were pretty nervous.
-
Laughter
-
Rob: You were not sure you wanted
to do it.
-
Because there is also the social stigma.
-
I went through the same thing.
-
For example, you are running a business.
-
Do you want to be known as a dumpster
diver, or....
-
Lauren: the trash prom queen
-
Rob: Dumpster diving is the cool term.
-
Do you want to be known as someone who
-
eats garbage, eats out of the trash?
-
Lauren: I feel like I am the wrong person
-
to ask that question to.
-
Rob: Because you do not mind?
Lauren: No.
-
Rob: Good.
-
I started dumpster diving in 2013.
-
I did it because I was biking across
-
the country that first time.
-
The rule was that I could only eat local
and organic.
-
The first time I ever dove into a
dumpster,
-
it was me and my friend biking across the
country.
-
We went around back.
-
We looked in the dumpster.
-
Sure enough, it was full of food.
-
The first thing I ate was a half gallon
of ice cream.
-
It was still frozen,
Lauren: What?
-
Rob: just melted a little bit around the
edges.
-
I did not have a spoon with me that day,
-
so I used my sunglasses.
-
I ate about 1/2 the box, 3/4 of the box
-
right there on the spot.
-
For me, that was a big moment.
-
I saw how much food was going
-
to waste, perfectly good food.
-
Since then, that was 2013,
-
that has definitely been an essential part
-
of my life, eating food that would
-
otherwise go to waste.
-
What is the name of the (inaudible)
-
trash art walker?
-
She has an Instagram account here.
Lauren: right
-
Rob: I saw her getting tons of fresh
-
sushi from a sushi place.
-
They put it out.
-
10 minutes later you go get it.
-
It is still perfectly good.
-
So I am definitely going to get some
-
sushi while I am here.
-
Laughter
-
Lauren: Let me know how it goes.
-
Rob: You will have to come.
-
Lauren: Obviously. Great. Yes. Okay.
-
Let us do that.
-
What are some other interesting things
-
that you have found?
-
I have seen people find..
-
There are people that would go to CVS
-
Right Aid find perfectly good makeup.
-
Thousands of dollars worth of stuff.
-
What are some of the treasures that you
have found?
-
Rob: You just find everything.
-
For me, biking accross the country,
-
the best thing you can possibly find is
-
a case of organic peanut butter.
-
As a cyclist, that is one of the greatest
foods.
-
If you find organic wheat bread
-
and peanut butter, that is perfect.
-
Another great thing I found is
-
fresh pressed juice on ice in the
dumpster.
-
They threw away ice.
-
Then they threw away juice.
-
It just happened to land right on top of
-
the ice, so it was still ice cold.
-
I have dived into about 2000 dumpsters.
-
There is nothing shocking as far as what
it is, individually.
-
What is shocking is that it is consistent.
-
I have done it in 30 states.
-
Everywhere you go- rural, big cities -
-
We are throwing away insane amounts
-
of perfectly good food.
-
Lauren: Does anyone here want to go
dumpster diving?
-
Yeah, okay!
-
Do you have any top tips for what to
-
look for whilst dumpster diving?
-
Rob: New York City is a bit of a different
place.
-
You are actually in a great place for
dumpster diving.
-
As you said, it is illegal in some places,
-
but in New York city, when they put bags
on the street,
-
then it is public domain.
-
You do not actually dumpster dive here.
-
You just open bags on the curb.
-
That is completely legal.
-
In other cities, where you are actually
-
going into the dumpster that is usually
-
on the property, in the parking lot,
-
then it is technically not legal.
-
If you want to go dumpster diving,
-
I have a guide with everything you
-
could possibly want to know.
-
That is just at
robgreenfield.tv/dumpsterdiving.
-
I think I will be here for a week.
-
I will have to do a dumpster diving
outing.
-
If I do that, I will post it.
-
Or should we set a date right now?
-
Thursday? no not Thursday.
-
Lauren: Lucy is coming?
-
Rob: Wednesday night....
Oh, hey Lucy!
-
I know I can do Wednesday, Friday,
or Saturday.
-
I will post it on my page. That way ...
-
I will come up with a night.
Lauren: I will reshare.
-
Rob: Alright, hopefully there is not
-
going to be too many people.
-
Lauren: You are going to have 500 people.
-
Rob: There is a group, the Freegans.
-
I think their website is freegan.info.
-
They do dumpster diving tours.
-
I am not sure if they are still active.
-
I went on one with them four years ago.
-
So it you do not end up getting to come
out,
-
[check out] freegan.info.
-
I do not know if they do weekly
-
or monthly dumpster diving tours.
-
They also tons of information on their
website.
-
Lauren: When we went, we found 100 bagels
-
that I kept in my freezer for a good 6
months.
-
Rob: They were good bagels.
-
Lauren: There were some really spicy
flavors.
-
Everytime someone came over,
-
I would make them a bagel.
-
They would eat it.
-
I would tell them, "I got that from the
trash."
-
It was amazing.
-
I think it opened their eyes to see,
-
"Wait, this is just a bagel.
-
It is still perfectly good.
-
One of the last things I wanted to ask you
about,
-
or talk to you about is,
-
one of the reasons why I find you so
amazing,
-
I mean, you do so many incredible things,
-
but you are one of the only active men
-
talking about sustainability.
-
Which, to me is amazing because you
are incredible,
-
but also, such a bummer.
-
Why do you think that is?
-
This is probably the most men we have ever
-
had at one of our events.
-
Thank you for being you,
-
and expanding the demographic of our
space.
-
But why do you think that is?
-
How do we get more men to feel
-
comfortable getting involved with
sustainability?
-
Rob: You are right, it is mostly women
here tonight.
-
Maybe 80% or so.
-
As far as the zero-waste movement,
-
and much of the sustainability movement,
-
there are 2/3 to 3/4 women.
-
There are parts of the environmental
-
movement that are more male-oriented.
-
In permaculture for example,
-
it is the opposite.
-
I was just at a regional permaculture
-
gathering in Florida.
-
I had a woman come up to me afterwards.
-
She said, "Your resource list has almost
all men."
-
As soon as she said that, I realized it.
-
Then I had to go do research.
-
I found that there actually a lot of
women.
-
I just had not put enough energy into
finding them.
-
I added them all to my resource list.
-
Then I realized there is a lot more.
-
As far as zero-waste, and this element of
sustainability,
-
It is so much more female than male.
-
I think one reason is,
-
I generally feel women care more than men
-
[care] about these issues.
-
I do not know if that is sexist to say.
-
But that is generally what I have seen.
-
You see that throughout cultures.
-
Women are the nurturers, the protectors.
-
That goes into this as well, possibly.
-
Then, also, I am happy to say
-
that I ascended manliness.
-
This idea of "manliness", where manliness
-
is sports, or Old Spice deodorant, or
this certain way.
-
In American culture, even hugging,
-
A lot of my men friends do not hug
-
because they are worried about
-
the feminine aspect of that.
-
I think that is another thing.
-
Alot of this plays more into the
-
feminine than the masculine.
-
It is crazy to say, but a lot of men
-
are so afraid of expressing emotions and
such, even crying.
-
It is weird, because for me, crying is
just a part of life.
-
Lauren: I love when a man cries.
-
Rob: Yeah, men who cry are great.
-
I mean, to me all of those things are
absurd.
-
It is absurd that our culture has pigeon-
-
holed men into this protective way
-
where they fear expressing their emotions.
-
But it is such a real thing.
-
I think that all plays in.
-
As far as getting more men involved,
-
1. It is a societal structure that creates
-
it in the first place.
-
Of course, it is hard to change societal
structures.
-
But I think that is what both you and I
are all about.
-
It is not zero-waste.
-
Zero-waste is what we talk about,
-
but when we get into the deeper part of
-
the conversation, it is going way back
-
to the foundation of how our entire
-
structures of our society are set up.
-
Did I answer the question?
-
Lauren: Yes. Two more quick questions
for you.
-
Then I am really excited to open it up
-
to the audience, who I am sure have many
-
interesting questions to ask this
incredible human.
-
2 things: First, what or who is inspiring
you right now?
-
I always like to ask.
-
I love to point people towards other
-
people who inspire amazing people.
-
So what's inspiring, motivating you,
-
or exciting you right now?
-
How can people learn about it?
-
Rob: I like this guy.
-
I just came his farm this weekend in
Swoope, Virginia.
-
His name is Joel Saliton.
-
Polyface farm, regenerative agriculture.
-
I just spent the weekend with him.
-
He is one of the most legitimate
-
human beings on earth.
-
I think one of the biggest problems
-
with our environmental movement today
-
is that most issues have been made very
black and white.
-
So much of it is boiled down into viral
Instagram posts.
-
Yesterday, I was swiping through
Instagram.
-
I had gotten into the environment section.
-
Honestly, I would say 95% of it was just
garbage.
-
So much inaccurate information.
-
So much polarization that does not
-
tell the real story.
-
This guy, you know, I respect people
-
so much in the environmental movement,
-
who go far deeper than the headlines,
-
and these basic black and white ideas
-
of what is the right, wrong, or only
way to do it.
-
He is one person who really inspires me.
-
Lauren: He is amazing.
Rob: You know of him?
-
Lauren: When I was in college, studying
-
environmental science, we read all about
him.
-
Rob: Ok, cool.
-
Lauren: I thought, "Damn, this guy is
cool."
-
He was one of the first people
approaching....
-
He was one of the people that showed me
-
that the world that we see is not the only
-
world that we have to live in.
-
Rob: Yeah. Visit his farm.
-
That would be an amazing thing to do.
-
See where your food is really coming
from.
-
That is another really big thing.
-
When people think of vegan food,
-
or their vegetables, they think of these
-
glorious places where everything is fine.
-
But go to any place where almost any
-
of the produce at Whole Foods down
-
the street is coming from, and you would
-
not be there and think, "This is
glorious."
-
No, you would probably think,
-
"Oh, this is a big, industrial, factory
farm."
-
They just have different chemicals that
they spray.
-
Anyway, regenerative agriculture.
-
That is the reason that you and I
-
connected so well, because that first
-
night when we were talking, I quickly saw,
-
"Okay, she actually really knows."
-
The story starts with your jar,
-
but you understand the intricacies
-
of the zero-waste movement extremely
well,
-
which is what I really respect about you.
-
Lauren: Thanks, dude.
-
Last question, which is kind of a hard
question.
-
If you do not have an answer, that is ok.
-
I like to ask this question because
-
it is interesting to me.
-
If you could play God for a day,
-
and make one change that you believe
-
would affect the system in the most
-
impactful way, what would you do?
-
Rob: Ok I will answer that,
-
but I want to mention one other
-
person, and that is Winona LaDuke.
-
She is another one of my biggest
-
inspirations right now.
-
She has Winona's Hemp Farm in
Minnesota.
-
She is trying to use hemp as a way
-
to create regeneration.
-
Everything about her!
-
She has been doing it for about 40 years.
-
As far as the change, I think it would be
-
bringing common sense back.
-
You know?
-
It is all about our minds.
-
The way that we approach the world,
-
the way that we think about things.
-
If we approach the world with basic
-
common sense, which the reality of
-
common sense is that it is no longer
common.
-
When I meet people with common sense,
-
I think, "Yeah!!! Awesome!",
-
because our society, our structures are
-
actually designed to remove our
-
common sense, because if they want us to
-
buy things, you do not need to have common
-
sense to earn some money to buy things.
-
I do think that the structures benefit
-
from people having less common sense and
-
more people that just follow the system.
-
Just common sense. If everybody had
-
common sense that would change everything.
-
Far deeper than any one individual change.
-
Everybody would then question everything.
-
Lauren: Who was it that wrote Common
Sense?
-
Thomas Paine?
-
Rob: The book? I need to read that.
-
Lauren: It is really good.
-
Ok, I will stop talking so you can start
talking.
-
I would first like to give you a mini
-
round of applause before the big round
of applause.
-
Just a quick thank you.
-
Applause.
-
Lauren: We will open up to questions
-
from you, the audience, and some questions
-
from the interwebs.
-
We will be taking both if anyone has a
question.
-
Rob: And, no question is too crazy,
-
in fact, I encourage the craziest ones.
-
Lauren: The craziest question wins.
-
Rob: The craziest question wins!
-
I will decide what.
-
First, there has to be a crazy question,
though.
-
Question: I do not know how crazy it is,
-
but, as far as dumpster diving goes,
-
has there ever been a negative experience
with it?
-
Have you ever had issues where you are
-
not sure whether the integrity
-
of the food is quite there?
-
Rob: Yeah. I should also say, do not feel
-
like you can only ask crazy questions.
-
Every question is a good question.
-
So, common sense is the number 1 thing
-
with dumpster diving.
-
Just like you would use common sense
-
with everything you buy at the grocery
store,
-
You have to apply common sense to
your food.
-
Unfortunately, we have lost food common
sense.
-
Looking at dates and deciding whether
-
food is still good is not common sense.
-
That is one of the main reasons
-
we are wasting up to half of our food.
-
Because we have removed our common
-
sense and put dates on there instead.
-
Once you get in touch with food
-
you understand the basic biology of how
things work.
-
For example, if you have a bloated
package,
-
a bloated package is the gases being
-
created by bacteria eating things,
-
breaking it down, fermenting and creating
gas.
-
When you want that to happen, that is
great.
-
That is what creates beer, kombucha,
-
and thousands of fermented foods.
-
But when you do not have the right
-
set-up for that, like a hot dumpster
-
and milk, that is not the kind of
-
fermentation you want.
-
If you find a bloated package in the
-
dumpster, then that is something you
-
generally do not want to eat, because
-
that is fermented.
-
The 3 things are: first you look at it.
-
If it looks good, you proceed.
-
Then you smell it.
-
If it smells good you proceed.
-
If it smells good, then you taste it.
-
If it tastes good, then you are eating it
now.
-
Laughter
-
Then you swallow it.
-
The number one rule of foraging
-
-People call dumpster diving 'urban
foraging'-
-
The number 1 rule or foraging for food,
-
is that you only eat something if you
-
are a 100% sure of what it is.
-
The other thing is that you do not eat
-
a bunch of it right away.
-
You taste it, you try out any new
-
foods before eating a lot of it,
-
because you do not know if you could be
allergic.
-
Lauren: or you start tripping
-
Rob: I have never tripped off dumpster
food.
-
I do have to say that this one beer
-
has got me a little drunk now.
-
Laughter.
-
This is my first time being a little
-
drunk in about 3 years.
-
I will try to keep this up.
-
Next question?
-
There is one here.
-
Question: Hi. My question is for both of
you.
-
I am a zero-waste practitioner,
-
but also trying to educate people
about it.
-
I started doing a few workshops in New
York City.
-
I am curious, what kind of advice
-
you would like to give to a zero-waste
-
entrepreneur on how to grow my
-
presence and my business, if you will.
-
Rob: Do you want to go first?
-
Lauren: You go first, because I feel
-
that you have done such an amazing
-
job at creating so many different types of
-
communities online.
-
Rob: The first thing that comes to mind is
-
be yourself, be the real thing.
-
Peope today are attracted to authenticity.
-
People are attracted to authenticity in
-
this world that is dominated by
-
politicians, who are so inauthentic.
-
That is another weird thing about today.
-
If you look at the spectrum of who is out
there,
-
you will see a smaller percentage
-
of people who are actually truly
authentic.
-
That would be my number one
suggestion.
-
Be authentic.
-
Another one is do what you are really
-
passionate about.
-
Do what you wake up and want to do.
-
If you are doing that, it is not work.
-
I am sure Lauren is working 15 hours
a day.
-
That is because she really loves this.
-
It is what she is passionate about.
-
I do not recommend becoming
-
an environmentalist and choosing
-
a topic that you do not really love.
-
Those are a couple of thoughts.
-
Lauren: I perfectly agree with that.
-
I was thinking about this today,
actually.
-
Things that have really helped me.
-
To your point, yeah, I work a lot.
-
There are some days where I am so tired,
or do not sleep.
-
The only thing that keeps me going is
my 'why'.
-
Why am I doing this?
-
What is my north star?
-
My north star is creating large-scale
-
positive environmental change.
-
I know it. I say it in my sleep.
-
I dream about it.
-
If you do not know why you are doing
something,
-
then maybe you should choose something
else.
-
Or think deeply about it.
-
What is your north star?
-
What is the mission of what you are
trying to do?
-
What are you trying to accomplish?
-
I think it is important to think about
-
when the shit hits the fan,
-
and business does not go so well,
-
which happens some days.
-
How do you stay motivated?
-
My north star is what keeps me inspired.
-
Question: How long did it take you
-
to build your...
-
Lauren: To build what?
-
Questioner: build your empire.
-
Laughter
-
Lauren: I have been passionate about
-
this and I have been talking about trash
-
for 8 years now, to my dad's dismay.
-
He thought I was going to do something
very different.
-
I do not know.
-
For me, this feels like the beginning.
-
I started by saying no to a conventional
-
job that made me cry everyday.
-
That was the start.
-
I feel like we are just scratching the
-
surface of what we are doing here.
-
If I keep my eye on my North star
-
-large-scale, positive environmental
change-
-
then every decision that I make is
-
centered around that.
-
From there, who knows what could happen.
-
Questioner: Thank you.
-
Rob: I have no empire, so I can not speak.
-
Laughter.
-
I do want to say that I am loving this
conversation.
-
A lot of people would come to something
-
like this and they would think about....
-
We are not talking about the individual
-
ways to do zero waste because
-
you do not need to know the individual
ways
-
when you look at the foundation of life.
-
It is all about questioning your values
-
and living in alignment with your values.
-
Once you decide you are going to
-
live in alignment with your values,
-
everything else, though still challenging
-
to run against the grain of society
everyday,
-
but when you are just choosing to live
with your values,
-
it makes everything a lot easier.
-
Lauren: I am a big believer that if you
-
think about what you want,
-
think about what your values are,
-
are focused on your North star,
-
your body tells you if you are doing
-
something in misallignment with that.
-
It sounds really weird,
-
but that is how I live my life.
-
When something does not feel good,
-
I know that it is not in alignment
-
with my greater goal.
-
I do not mean to sound like my
-
head is in the clouds, but it has worked
for me so far.
-
The point is, what are your values?
-
Are you living them?
-
Ask those 2 questions.
-
Question: How do you travel?
-
Rob: How do I travel?
-
Sometimes, I walk. Sometimes I bike.
-
Sometimes I get in cars.
-
Sometimes I take a train or buses.
-
Sometimes I fly.
-
Any other ways that I travel?
-
Canoe. Occasionally a boat or canoe.
-
Generally, if I can, I try not to get in
a plane.
-
It has been 2 years since I have flown.
-
But next month I am doing a trip around
-
the world where I will be flying.
-
I will do that accross oceans,
-
but once I get to Europe for my speaking
tour,
-
then I will be taking trains, buses,
boats around.
-
To get here from Florida,
-
I drove to Atlanta with someone who was
-
already going that way,
-
then I took a train to Virginia.
-
Then I took a bus to DC, then a bus here.
-
Lauren: We are very glad you did.
-
Rob: Me too
-
Lauren: Any other questions?
-
Question: I volunteer with City Harvest
when I can.
-
9am-5pm Monday-Friday is when they need
-
volunteers and I am usually at work.
-
Are there any other food rescue
-
organizations that might need volunteers?
-
Lauren: My favorite in the city, I have
-
been using their service for so long,
-
is 'Growing my Seed'.
-
They always need volunteers at the
-
compost pick-up, or the clothing pick-up.
-
Questioner: I go there all the time.
Lauren: Me too.
-
I have not actually volunteered.
-
I probably should because I have been
-
dropping my compost off for so long.
-
So thank you to Growing My Seed.
-
Rob: I am sure there is a lot of
-
different food rescue programs around.
-
I can not think of any off the top of my
head.
-
But I know there are other smaller ones.
-
Audience: Rescuing Leftover Quisine
-
Rob: That is Lucy Biggers.
Lauren: Yay!
-
Rob: She helped me spread my message
many times.
-
She is at Now This
-
Thank you Lucy.
-
Lauren: If you do not follow Lucy,
-
then follow her. You will not regret it.
-
Any other questions?
-
Question: I often find myself getting
frustrated
-
trying to be more aligned with zero waste
values,
-
and also be in a society where
-
everyone else is more or less on the same
page.
-
I understand that we are all progressing
-
in our own way and at our own pace.
-
I agree not to waste too much energy
-
on people who would not really do it,
-
but for those who are already in a
position
-
where other people look up to them,
-
for them to be more environmentally
sustainable.
-
How would you recommend to
-
approach them about that?
-
The most direct way would be calling them
out,
-
but that may not be effective.
-
Rob: How do you approach people
-
who are leaders? Is that the question?
-
I would say that you are just going to
-
have some guts [courage] to call out
-
people who are leaders.
-
Lauren: I would start by saying, do not
call them out.
-
Do not judge them or be negative towards
them.
-
Be loving.
-
If they are already leaders,
-
they have done something that
inspired someone.
-
Approach them like you would approach
-
someone you love, and say,
-
"I love what you do and this is something
I care about.
-
Would you like to have a converstaion
about it?"
-
Rob: Yeah, approach with passion.
Lauren and Rob: compassion.
-
Even if the person is totally off base.
-
If you do not combat them with compassion,
-
then it is unlikely you are going to get
anywhere.
-
Generally, I would say, approach
-
with compassion and a genuine desire.
-
If you strategically actually want to try
-
to get the conversation going.
-
The standard response of someone
-
when they get told that they are doing
-
something wrong, whether they are
-
leader or not, is to become defensive.
-
As far as the environmental movement goes,
-
I think one of the most important things
-
that we can all do is become psychologists
-
or understand basic psychology.
-
It is all about how people perceive
things.
-
That is the way that I always approach
things.
-
For example, wearing my trash around for a
month.
-
I had to ask, "How will people perceive
this?"
-
If the answer was that everybody would
be turned off,
-
then I would not have done it.
-
I try to always design everything I do
around perception.
-
In regards to approaching leaders,
-
you cannot put them on the defense,
-
because then they are more likely to go
-
in the opposite direction.
-
Approaching with compassion is very
important.
-
Also, approaching with knowledge to be
-
able to explain yourself.
-
It is best to know what you are talking
about.
-
This applies to any situation.
-
Come to them with information to help.
-
If you do not have solutions or
alternatives,
-
then they will often write you off.
-
If you cannot say what that person should
do,
-
then they will often just write you off.
-
So that is the other thing: sharing the
alternatives.
-
So I do not know.
-
Those are a couple of things
-
that come to mind for me.
-
One other thing to mention is
-
most of our leaders do need be called out
-
in one form or another, but also remember
-
everybody is a hypocrite.
-
Every person in this room is a hypocrite.
-
I am a hypocrite.
-
Lauren is a hypocrite.
-
We are all hypocrites.
-
It is a matter of reducing our hypocrisy.
-
The problem is, if we want to live in
society,
-
and we want to see positive changes
-
in humanity and our environmental
situation,
-
then we are all required to be
hypocrites.
-
Because if you want to be a part of the
change,
-
you can not go and live the perfect
life.
-
For example, Al Gore flies around
-
the world in private jets.
-
Personally, for me, that is something
-
I think he could do a better job at,
-
and not do that, at least so much.
-
There are things where leaders need to
be called out.
-
But the one thing that I was going to say
-
is it is important remember to also look
at their situation.
-
For me personally, I have to always make
trade-offs.
-
I generally have done a really good job
-
at living my values, but next year I am
-
going to fly around the world.
-
And I am going to emit more carbon
-
in that flight traveling around the world
-
than probably 95% of human beings.
-
To call me sustainable would be
-
a complete fallacy in reality.
-
What I have to do is look at the
situation.
-
I have to say, "Is what I am doing worth
it?"
-
Is it going to make the impact that is
needed?
-
Some people would call this a
transitional society.
-
You cannot just look at a current
situation
-
to decide what is right if we are trying
to shift society.
-
If I want to shift society, I have to look
-
strategically at everything I can do,
-
and say, "OK, there is a negative impact
-
over this, but will it offset itself?"
-
For example, when I was wearing my trash
-
for a month, some people were very mad at
me.
-
"What are you doing creating garbage for
a month?
-
You should be zero-waste."
-
But by creating garbage for that month,
-
and creating that visual, thousands and
-
thousands of people stopped creating so
much garbage.
-
So it was completely worthwhile.
-
I do not know.
-
I guess that is the other thing.
-
I think, understanding and compassion
-
are two essential tenants of my life.
-
Also try to be understanding.
-
I am not downplaying at all that
-
people do need to be called out because
-
most of us, are ultimately pretty
delusional.
-
So we need to be called out
-
to get out of those delusions.
-
Lauren: Let us get a temperature check.
-
Do people want one question?
-
Clap your hand if you just want one
more question.
-
Nobody is going to be offended.
-
Rob: I think they want more.
-
I want to be respectful of the room.
-
I know you all have places to be.
-
Also, It is snowing.
-
I just want to give gratitude to all of
-
you for being here in the snow.
-
Two more questions? Does that sound good?
-
[clapping]
-
We have one from Cyber Space.
-
Cyber Space: The people on Instagram
-
Live are asking, do you get overwhelmed
-
by the future and the state of the planet?
-
Do you think we can still create change?
-
How do you deal with that anxiety?
-
Lauren: That is a great question.
Rob: Do you want to go or me?
-
Lauren: Rob
-
Rob: I rarely get anxiety about the state
-
of the world or the future.
-
I think that I am somewhat of an exception
in that way.
-
What is the word that they say?
-
I think eco-anxiety or something like
that.
-
I am not up to date.
-
I actually do not even really know
-
how to use Instagram, to be honest.
-
I am figuring it out.
-
Lauren: You do a good job.
-
Rob: I do alright. I still do not know how
-
to do the 'stories' thing.
-
Lucy was trying to help me out with
that.
-
Lucy: I am making a story right now.
-
Rob: She is making a story about my
-
inability to make stories.
-
Ok, here is why I do not suffer from
-
anxiety or depression.
-
The reason is, for me personally,
-
1: I do not take responsibility for the
world.
-
I take responsibility for my own actions.
-
I want to make a positive change
-
in the life that I have.
-
I do not take responsibility for the 7
billion.
-
I am just one person.
-
I can really only take responsibility for
myself.
-
That is essentail to my life.
-
The other thing is that it does not matter
-
what is going to happen 300 years,
-
400 years, 500 years from now.
-
if you design your life around living in
a way
-
that is beneficial to the earth,
-
your community and yourself.
-
What I do is look at what I can do to
-
improve quality of life around me now
-
and be living in a way that
-
if we do have a future,
-
I am positively contributing towards that.
-
Basically, I think that life matters.
-
I value my life, Lauren's life,
-
the life of every person in this room,
-
every species, the 4-20 million species
-
that there are on earth; I just value
life.
-
If I can improve the quality of life
around me,
-
and not destroy life around me, then
-
that is a life worth lived.
-
That is something I can generally control.
-
We also live in very complicated times.
-
We do not know what the world
-
is going to be like in
-
Lauren: In eleven years
-
Rob: Eleven? Eleven years is kind of
unfathomable.
-
We really do not know.
-
There are things that we do know.
-
We do know ways that we can make
-
make a positive impact now
-
to improve quality of life now,
-
and do it in a way that does not strip
-
quality of life elsewhere for the future.
-
Lauren: I do not know if you all just
-
want to hive-five him every time he
speaks.
-
Audience Laughs
-
... but I do.
-
[clap]
-
One more question?
-
Does anyone hace a question in the
room?
-
Ok. Last question.
-
Question: Why do you cap your cash?
-
Rob: Why do I cap my cash?
-
I have never put it in those exact words.
-
I have committed to making less than the
-
federal poverty threshhold for life,
-
as long as I am alive.
-
In no way am I trying to simulate poverty.
-
In fact, a short segway.
-
I have always liked to acknowledge
-
my privilege because a lot of what
-
I am doing, I can do because of the
-
privilege that I have.
-
Dumpster diving: because I am white,
-
because I am pretty eloquent,
-
if the police show up, they are not
-
really going to do something about it.
-
Homeless people are much more
-
likely to get arrested.
-
Traveling the world with no money?
-
Western passport, white, not running
-
from dangerous situations:
-
That is why I can easily do that.
-
Biking across the country.
-
So many of the things that I do,
-
I can do out of a place of privilege which
-
ties into that question.
-
I can choose to live with very little
money,
-
because it is a choice.
-
But if you trying to get by, day to day,
-
then to try and earn as little as possible
-
is not really something that is going
to work.
-
Some people would call this voluntary
simplicity.
-
The reason that I choose to live
-
with a minimal amount of money,
-
is because I am trying as much as
possible
-
to live in a more just and sustainable
way.
-
In a world where 1% of the population
-
has [what, like] 50% of the finances.
-
I want to stand out as the opposite of
that.
-
I want to live in a way that is more
equal
-
with the general population.
-
It is a way of restricting
-
myself from getting too much.
-
I could be making a lot of money off
-
of what I am doing.
-
The problem is that often, when you
-
have the opportunity for making a lot of
-
money, it can get in the way.
-
There are some people who do
-
a great job at making money,
-
plugging it into the places that matter.
-
The reality is that most people,
-
when they get a lot of money,
-
they rationalize that flight to Polynesia
-
for a vacation, or things like that.
-
It is a way to force me to live my values.
-
If I do not have money,
-
I have to connect with my community.
-
That is another thing.
-
I am dependent upon humanity,
-
because I cannot meet my own needs.
-
I need other people to meet my needs,
-
which is a way to encourage people
-
to depend on each other.
-
The only societies that I have seen
-
that are somewhat sustainable
-
are societies where people are actually
-
dependent upon their neighbors.
-
Today, in a monetized society,
-
I can just pay for everything I want.
-
You do not have to understand your
actions,
-
and how they affect the world around you,
-
but when you do not have money,
-
you have to understand your relationships
-
and how things get to you.
-
There is obviously a lot to it,
-
but that is a bit of an idea
-
why I minimize the amount of money.
-
Lauren: There is that documentary,
-
'A Dollar a Day, Living on One.'
-
Have you seen that?
-
Oh my god.
-
Such an incredible show.
-
Rob: Chris Temple, they are the guys
-
who filmed Trash Me, actually.
-
Lauren: They are amazing.
-
Rob: They have a new documentary
-
coming out in March.
-
Lauren: Did they do Salam Neighbor
-
Rob: Yeah
-
Lauren: with Angelina Jolie?
-
Rob: I did not know she was in it.
-
Lauren: I think she was associated in some
way.
-
That is a really interesting
-
documentary on the value of a dollar
-
in different places in the world.
-
I want to say, thank you very much for
being here.
-
I think that the radiance you created,
-
and how inspiring you are, and how
-
you decided to challenge what the world
-
looks like, has motivated me, and so many
-
people in our community so many times.
-
I am grateful that you decided to come
here
-
and share your life with us.
-
On behalf of me, my team,
-
and everyone here, thank you for being
here.
-
And thank you, Rob, for being here.
-
I am so happy.
-
Applause.
-
Rob: Thank you to Lauren
-
Thank you, Lauren, for opening
-
up this space to have this
-
and inspiring me to come to New York,
-
and for everything she is doing,
-
for opening up a second shop, right?
-
And, thank you all for being here.
-
I would be nothing without all of you,
-
because I expect all of us to inspire.
-
Lauren: Last thing, we are trying to do
-
more talks with more incredibly inspiring
people,
-
so if any of you know of anyone who you
-
would like to introduce to the Zero-Waste,
-
Package Free community, this woman who is
-
hiding behind here-
this is Joy, stand up-
-
Joy is in the red so you cannot miss
her.
-
Please share their name with Joy.
-
We would love to invite them to our
conversation.
-
Thank you everyone.
-
[Applause]
-
[Music and Mingling]