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Paper short abstract:

Intrigued by how far one can 'squeeze' size of the bin, I have started to study practices, motivations, and values which push people to reduce the amount of waste produced. I got involved in the Zero Waste community in Dublin, and stayed surprised by variety of actions.

Paper long abstract:

Amid the idea to stop producing waste is a correlate of knowledge about the overheated planet (Eriksen). Intrigued by present in a social media action ‘glass jar of waste’, which shows a possibility how far one can ‘squeeze’ size of the bin, I have started to study practices, motivations, and values which push people to reduce the amount of waste produced. I got involved in the Zero Waste community in Dublin through attending meetings, events, and volunteering as well as accompanying in everyday life of its members, and I stayed surprised by variety of actions; from dumpster diving, planting on the balcony, experimenting with plastic, and keeping wormery in the living room to organizing festivals, lecturing, protesting, blogging and creating initiatives. As it turns out, reducing waste idea is just “tip of the iceberg” of the Zero Waste cosmology that comprises an entirely different world in the ontological sense of that word. It poses a challenge to a commonly shared idea about the chain of production – consumption – disposal through understanding disposal as a way of consuming things (Hetherington) on the one hand, and on the other; within it objects are been as materials that are able to transform their properties (Ingold). My story is about “zerowaster’s” through everyday practices, activism, and grassroots projects as well as their philosophy of life and understanding their place in the world through a relationship with a planet and capitalism.