Last year, I was in the U.S. and was inspired to write an article on how to prevent waste after experiencing first hand how wasteful the U.S. culture can be. Today, I bring you the manifesto version of How to Prevent Waste:
![How To Prevent Waste [Manifesto]](https://personalexcellence.co/files/manifesto-prevent-waste.jpg)
(Click image for larger version)
Source article: Why We Should Stop Wasting (And How To Prevent Waste)
Feel free to print it, put it on your fridge, at your work desk, or wherever you like. Check out my other manifestos in the manifestos section.
![[Attitude, not Altitude] Wallpaper: "It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude." ~ Zig Ziglar](https://personalexcellence.co/files/wallpaper-attitude-400x225.jpg)
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Hi Celes,
I agree with you on how wasteful it can be here in the US. I used to live in Japan (6 years) and got into the habit of recycling, saving water and electricity, and trying to produce as little trash amount as possible. (I even used to lightly *clean* my trash with a little water to make sure the trash wouldn’t stink when the trash people picked it up. This habit also prevented me from producing too much trash as I didn’t want to clean too much).
I moved back to the US 5 years ago, and I’m afraid to say that I lost *all* my good habits.
The culture here (in Los Angeles at least) is so different. People very strongly-deeply believe that more is better.
People don’t care about their trash either. In every apartment building I’ve lived in we have a huge “regular” trash bin, and a very tiny blue “recycle” bin….
… I don’t even know what the blue one is for since it’s always full or “regular” trash… and the trash stinks!
I could go on, but that’s not the point.
How do you prevent waste when that goes against the culture in place? How do you motivate people to give up a little tiny bit of their time and freedom (to do whatever they want, whenever they want) when the whole culture is based on individual freedom above all?
This is a problem that here (In Los Angeles at least) we have failed to solve. :(
The only way to solve that kind of problem is to have a concern for environment. But as I observe they only say it without doing an actions.
I’ve been fond of recycling since I was elementary until now, my mom just laughed at me when I was been keeping such boxes or anything to be recycled. She’s always saying “Why you have to keep that? It’s already a trash”
I just having a thought that it would help lessen the problem regarding our environment. As she said, why am I affected with those trash I’ve seen. I only said, why not? It’s our environment and we live in it so we are the one who were responsible to take care of it.
It always upset me when they’d ask me that and that they wouldn’t believe me saying that. How sad, there were only few good people who is concern enough for their environment even taking a simple actions. I believe that everything has started in being simple.
No matter how we say to motivate others to be aware of their own acts regarding this issue would be nothing unless they would be willing to take an action to it.
Take care! God bless!
Jhierren,
Yes, creating change requires:
1. Action.
2. It then requires spreading the word (as Celes is doing with her articles that have a wide reach).
3. Hopefully enough people will be influenced, and start doing their own part (step 1 and step 2).
But I agree with you. I too get affected when I see unruly trash. I’ll go back to my previous habits,.. to the extent that I can here.
Take care!
(and thank you Celes for taking a stand on this issue!) :clap:
I love that this manifesto has incited such an active and conscious discussion. I thought I was one of the few who was disturbed by wastefulness and I’m glad that you guys have the same sentiments. As Gandhi said before, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” So let’s do our part and inspire us to be less wasteful through our actions.
I’d like to see the decluttering article made into a manifesto(not sure if my past comment was posted)
Oh yeah, and I’d also love to see manifestos of the 21-day trial program and another one for the 21-day revamp program. :)
Sorry I keep commenting but this is the last comment for today. :sweat: Randomly an idea just popped into my head. You can try out making special manifestos especially exclusive for the people that have bought live a better life and be a better me program, maybe with the the steps of the programs and such for an easier mental access as a daily reminder for the people on the program? :) It’s a bit risky since maybe they can end up out there for people who have not bought the books but it can be like a bonus and you can also try out making a free manifesto e-book and a free picture quote e-book to keep all those things in one place for the go since some people might prefer it like that to keep all those picture quotes and manifestos :mrgreen: As the manifestos and picture quotes grow you can add volumes with other picture quotes and manifestos. :D
Hey fufu! Thanks for your suggestions! :D The 30BBM and 30DLBL manifestos actually sound like great ideas. I’ll definitely consider them.
I’ll also review your other suggestions in turn and consider them for future manifestos too, after I’m done with the ones in the waiting list. Thanks a lot for your suggestion! :D
Regarding the manifesto e-book, I highly doubt I’ll create it. The manifestos are already very easy to access on the site so I’d prefer readers to come to the site to download it.
I’ve considered an e-book for the inspirational pictures before, but if I were to do that I’ll definitely be charging a nominal fee for it, otherwise it’s really not worth the effort making the compilation and creating it. (The manifestos on the site actually cost me money to produce because I’ve been engaging a graphic designer to do them; even if I don’t hire anyone and do them myself, it costs time to create which in turn takes away my time from other revenue-generating activities for self-sustenance and business development reasons.)
I feel that I’ve been offering so much stuff for free on PE that I want to draw the line on when I provide my time for free and when I don’t; not valuing my time is an issue which I have faced in the earlier years of the business, which led me to frequent cases of burnout, under-appreciation, and even frequently being undervalued for my work. The articles will always remain free and I’ll share the lessons freely on the site, but where other stuff is concerned I’m more deliberate about what I take on and what I don’t (and if I do, it’ll usually be a value-added paid product/service that is something others would be happy to pay a premium for the value it adds to their lives.)
Some might not value what you’ve done freely to them. I knew it, I’ve been unappreciated for what I did to them without thinking twice about several years ago until now. But, I knew there will always be like that anywhere and everywhere so just don’t bother them and don’t think of it just to let you down but instead make it the reason for you to be more better, stronger and wiser than before. They’ll never realized that they’d hurt the feelings of others unless they’re aware of it or if they’ve been into that situation. I know it really hurts that no matter how we tried to explain certain things they won’t still not be able to get what we were pointing out. It’s just that they don’t allow themselves to learn from that thing. Any explanation without willing to understand it would be definitely worthless. >.<
Hey jhierren, thanks for your kind words. I’m not bothered by whether people value what I create or not; the most important thing is that I create the material for myself and because I want to, and hence my response to fufu’s (helpful) suggestions. Certain materials like e-books, etc. take more work than usual to produce, which is why I would only produce them as products for sale, and not as giveaway since I do need to make a living with my passion. The readers who do not wish to pay can always read the articles on the site which will always be free.
I absolutely agree with that, for me what matters most is that we have marked people’s heart, however it may depends on their interpretations regarding those things.. Maybe someday, they can realize that but not now. :)
Hi Celes and you’re welcome. ;) I read your answer and now that I think about it, it makes sense. The manifestos are a good source for people to come back to the website and read even more helpful articles/sharing on social websites/putting as wallpapers, etc. and thus reaching even more people.
And I think it’s ok to sell an e-book for the inspirational pictures – I know I’d buy it when I have my own income to get it! – :)
And sometimes I’ve noticed that people see it as a bad thing to sell things and in occasions might even find it unfair since many people prefer things free. ( And I used to be one of this people till I realized how hard it is to keep a public happy after trying out some blogging myself)
1. I haven’t seen your books or programs but it’s obvious that it’s high quality content and it makes sense for selling rather than just giving it for free.
2. I remember on a past article I had read how you felt that readers took for granted your efforts – and although you already overcame this – when you’re selling your books instead of giving them for free you are making sure that the people who are reading them are people who are serious in their growth and journey which would be a good thing? If you gave it for free people wouldn’t really see it much anyways and if they did people might even not take it that seriously so that way the programs and bonus articles are saved up for serious readers.
Hi Fufu, thanks a lot for your thoughtful reply. :D You are definitely right that sometimes free stuff offered for free gets undermined, simply because it is free. This happened for a number of the challenges I conducted in the past (which were free). People would just sign up and not turn up at all for the challenges. (You were definitely not one of them!) It shocks and saddens me whenever people do not uphold the commitments they make (by signing up).
Eventually I closed down the challenges section (April this year) and made the key challenges (30DLBL, 30BBM) premium because it just wasn’t worth my time to conduct the challenges for free. With the premium challenges, the good thing is that I work with a smaller group who are more dedicated about their growth. There are still dropout rates, but it’s better than when the challenges were free, I feel.
Beyond the psychology of something being free or not, when I tag a price tag to something, it helps me to make it an even higher value offering. This definitely benefits the people who purchase the material since it will be better than if it was just offered for free.
Hi Celes,
It has crossed my mind lately that we as human beings have turned into a ‘plague” to this planet. We deplete, plunder and destroy the environment just to create our own ecosystem. We consumed so much energy and resources to sustain our man-made habitat. We are always hungry for energy; looking for resources all over the world. All these stem from greed and the profit orientated philosophies of companies to make more profits in the expense of everything else. We are growing more, thereby using more energy and natural resources; and half of it gone to waste and feeding our habit of excesses. There’s a lot of talk about producing greener energy and higher yielding crop! If we learnt to reduce wastage and excesses, ‘half the battle is already won’! I’m very glad to have read this article, and I guess one of the vision for the human race would be to adopt (and understand) this philosophy and to spread the word… Well done, Celes as you have said and written on what I would have like to say and write.
Thanks for your kind words Albert! I’m glad that you share the same sentiments too. Most of earth’s resource scarcity issues probably wouldn’t affect the current generation, but I believe it will be a serious issue for the next generation onwards. So it’s important that we prevent waste now, starting from us (at the individual level), then spreading the awareness to others through movements.
Hey Celes!
Great and purposeful post as always!
Just wanted to suggest maybe you could have a more in depth post emphasizing giving away things we don’t need. Perhaps encouraging people to assess their current situation / the amount of things we have and perhaps even cling on to despite the fact that we truly have no use for them. For me, that really woke me up, as compared to hearing all the 3Rs and what not.
Not that they aren’t important, but that reflecting on our own situation, amount of possessions, habits that contribute to wastage, would one be truly motivated to change. In line with what you have always said, going to the root of the problem, and reasoning with yourself logically what you should do that you may once have been opposed to.
For me, I think I was working on decluttering my room and messiness in general. I gave away lots of clothes and odd objects that I always stashed telling myself I would use them, one day. There’s still lots to throw out but it has been a good start. I admit there are still things I’m clinging onto for sentimental value. There’s nothing wrong with that either but when everything is sentimental I guess I have to be a little stricter with myself, haha! One task on my to do list is to give away my considerably huge collection of soft toys. (heart cringing thinking of it lol)
Anyways, I’m looking forward to our Halloween gathering too, haha!
Cheers!
Nikkiko
Hey Nikkiko! It’s great to hear from you again! :D Haha, you still remember about the Halloween gathering! I’m not sure if it’ll be coming to fruition but I should plan for another PE readers outing later in the year. Perhaps that can happen as part of my book launch. I intend to publish a physical book in Singapore sometime in the next 6 months; when that happens, I’ll definitely be announcing on the site. Hope you’ll be able to come and support then, if you like! Stay tuned for more news on it!
Great list of ideas, Celes! I try to incorporate as many of these into my daily life as I can (and I’m in the US), but I have to admit of all of these a short shower is VERY difficult for me to achieve. Between exfoliating/using a body wash, cleaning my face, and then shampooing/conditioning it just seems to take a while no matter how quick I try to be. I could wash my face at the sink, but I’ve taken to doing it in the shower as it’s easier to wash up there and it leaves my sink not as covered with water. ^^;
And I just don’t think I could handle using a handkerchief instead of a tissue…just seems yucky and unsanitary to me. D=
I like the idea of bringing your own Tupperware to a restaurant to bring back leftovers, but I also feel that’d be something that is very socially awkward and hard to implement. Unless you carry a big bag with plenty of room (I don’t, being a fan of smaller purses), it’s hard to casually carry them into the place. I’m sure the waitstaff and anyone in your party would wonder about it…again, not that it’s a bad thing exactly, but for someone like me it’d be hard to handle the attention. ^^; Luckily though, more and more places are giving recyclable paper boxes for leftovers rather than the Styrofoam ones, so at least that’s a step in the right direction!
I’m glad to see that after reading over the list, I do much of this already. If I could just get my showers to be shorter, I’d be really golden! :p
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