Trashy Radical

How one student is making strides toward a zero-waste lifestyle

Story by Juan Manuel Mendoza-Tovar | Photos by Harrison Amelang

“What can you tell me about zero waste?”

Her eyes light up.

Gwen Larned has grown accustomed to this question.

“By being intentional about each of our purchases,” Larned said. “We can support more ethical companies, eat better, save time and money and support a world we want to live in.”

Larned is not your typical zero-waste advocate. At 22 years old, she doesn’t fit the mold of a zero-waste lifestyle, as she isn’t a white upper-class woman; the identity often seen in the zero-waste community.

There is a certain “privilege” that many people believe you have to have in order to truly live zero waste, Larned said. For example, one has to be able to spend more money on better alternatives when shopping for products like food.

“A lot of people think that by being zero waste, you’re being a better person,” she said.

Larned is a strong force on Western’s campus and a face of progress at the Western Sustainability office serving as the Zero Waste Coordinator which helps reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills on Western’s campus.

“She’s one of those born leaders people seem to talk about,” said Carrin Romain-McErlane, Larned’s roommate.

The pair have lived together since September, but have known each other for three years. Romain-McErlane jokes that some might even describe Larned as an active mind, changing lives; the very definition of what Western promotes.

Growing up in Leavenworth, Washington resulted in Larned being no stranger to seeing trash. With thousands of tourists piling the town every year, the city has become a target for garbage overflow. During a work shift back home at The Tea Shop, Larned found the fuel for her passion.

Each day Larned would see customers come in and talk about all the tea they already had at home, but most would still continue to purchase more tea. Thinking about all the waste, the hypocrisy of it all eventually wore down on Larned. She knew she had to do something about it. She followed her desire to Western, where a future of business and sustainability laid ahead.

“I came to Western because I knew it would give me an opportunity to follow my passions,” Larned said.

While the end of her time at Western will come at the end of fall, Larned is making sure that her impact will last. She helped create the Students for Zero Waste club, a club designed to help tackle the waste issues at Western, which currently spends more than a million dollars sending garbage to landfills, as well as providing information on how to live waste-free to community members.

The discussion-based club offers students a chance to take on larger questions referring to waste both within our local community and around the world. The club is committed to creating student driven change within not only students, but throughout all of Western.

Larned points out that engaging in sustainability on Western’s campus is not always the easiest thing to do. For the majority of the time students are in college, real life can easily become overwhelming.

“Everyone is busy but it’s about finding small steps to better the world,” Larned said.

With juggling classes, jobs and a social life most 18 to 23-year olds already have so much on their hands that adding another component to the mix could be overwhelming, Larned said.

However, Larned welcomes this added stress. Her time is focused on spreading the knowledge she has gained and learned throughout her time at Western, especially to those who don’t believe they could live zero waste.

Take Western student Angela Wissmar for example, who was inspired to try zero waste after working with Larned in a class.

“Gwen introduced me to the culture and community of the zero-waste world. She educated me and our group on why and how to move toward the zero-waste lifestyle,” Wissmar said.

Whether in a club meeting or out in the community, Larned is constantly looking for ways to spread the word.

“A goal is to reach people who don’t see themselves as environmentalists,” said Larned.

Wissmar didn’t consider herself an environmentalist before meeting Larned. However, after meeting with Larned, Wissmar felt empowered to make a change in her own personal life. She is now working toward a zero-waste life.

“It is a journey and it doesn’t happen overnight,” Wissmar said. “Working toward zero waste has really opened my eyes to the systematic way our culture consumes daily disposables, how consumerism encourages us to consume more and waste more rather than reusing, and how people simply are not aware of the consequences of their trash in the big picture.

Larned’s dedication of storytelling will take even greater shape this summer when she plans to hit the road with her roommate Carrin Romain-McErlane for the Zero Waste Roadtrip. Through her innovation minor, Larned was able to become an Idea Fellow for Western’s Idea Institute. The fellowship has given her a greater opportunity to work with other students and professors.

The Zero Waste Roadtrip will travel along the western end of the United States, where Larned and Romain-McErlane are planning to meet various vloggers. One who they are especially excited about the possibility to meet is Zero Waste Chica, a lifestyle blogger from the Bay Area.

Untraditional in her own way, Heidi Violet is an inspiring Latina voice in a traditionally white community. For over two years, Larned has looked up to Violet because of progressive and creative way of living. The passion Larned saw in Violet helper her create Trashy Radical, Larned’s blog.

“Living a Zero Waste lifestyle was the radical shift in perspective I needed,” Larned said on her blog. On the blog, Larned also acknowledges that due to her own privilege from living in a progressive community where the resources she needs are actually available, she has been able to make these changes.

Her blog, along with their Zero Waste Roadtrip Facebook page will be the main hub for information on the trip. Being able to share these stories are what excites Larned and Romain-McErlane for the summer.

Although there is plenty of time, the question still arises, what comes after graduation for Larned? Having already interned at one of the biggest lifestyle companies in the country, Vanity Fair, the sky’s the limit. During her summer there, she was able to identify and solve a waste problem and helped save the company $18,000 in waste.

This creativity and desire to bring zero-waste solutions with others, are the reasons why she is thinking bigger picture. Her mind is not just at Western or not even Washington, but everywhere.

“There’s so much to do everywhere,” she said, “I’m not trying to stay in one place.”