Meet the Zero Waste Family!

Recycling. Composting. Going Green. Zero Waste? The road to being an environmentally conscious family can seem daunting and overwhelming. How can you do it? What if you can only do a little bit? Is it even possible? That’s where Fredrika Syren and her family come in; they’ve mastered the tips and tricks for living more sustainably – as a family  – and now make it accessible to every family!

Their journey to Zero Waste began in 2015 while living in Sweden. Fredrika, her husband James, and their children Bella, Noah and Liam made the commitment to “walk the walk” and become zero waste. That meant that if they couldn’t compost or recycle it, they didn’t buy it. The family continued their pledge when they moved back to San Diego and in 2016, Fredrika started detailing the family’s journey on her website green-mom.com that now has evolved to ZeroWasteFamily.com

The family is so passionate about their lifestyle that they recently filmed “Zero Time to Waste,” a short film movie debuting this weekend at the San Diego International Film Festival. The sentiment behind this journey is one familiar to many eco-conscious families, “Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the climate crisis we find ourselves in today—but it wasn’t until I became a mother that I felt a deep sense of urgency about it,” explains Fredrika.

They now live on an urban homestead just ten minutes from downtown San Diego. Together the family cares for a 400 square foot backyard garden, which provides the base for many of their meals. Through A LOT of trial and error, the family has slowly made total lifestyle changes, such as eating plant based-vegan, going plastic free and buying organic.

If you’d like to learn more, or give a try at being zero waste, Fredrika has written the e-bookl  “Zero Waste for Families – A Practical Guide”  to help learn how easy it is to go Zero Waste as a family. As she explains; you don’t have to do Zero Waste perfectly, you just have to Start and Try. https://zerowastefamily.com/film