wasting time…and for what?

Having undergone some life changes recently, it got me thinking about metaphorical waste and how I am absolutely done with wasting my time, and for what?

AS MUCH AS I LIKE TO THINK of myself as a go-getter, I am also a strong believer that we (as a society) have become so driven by the societal norms of striving towards a better quality of life by acquiring our dream job, that we put overt amounts of pressure on ourselves to achieve this. Which paradoxically infringes our spirit and leaves us feeling empty and devoid of purpose.

I WORKED SERIOUSLY HARD in all three of my degrees, but past the awards, the certificates, and the attention, I left university feeling utterly lost and totally unprepared for the working world. I think many people of my generation feel the same. We all work hard at university to earn our place in a well paid job within our chosen career. Instead, we achieve our highest to get a big pat on the back and then we are left to deal with the soul crushing debt and almost zero job prospects. I carried a huge weight on my shoulders whilst working in a dead end job for minimum wage, a £36, 000 debt to be precise-£12, 000 of which needed repaying in monthly instalments of £210 IMMEDIATELY due to it coming from the bank. (Postgraduate masters degree’s don’t qualify for student loans, and unfortunately for me I’ve never been a member of the “bank of mum and dad”).

So what with a deposit for a flat, rent, bills, and this extra amount suddenly stuffed on top-all the while working in a kitchen for £6.50 an hour where I was over-worked and undervalued-I was not in a good mental space. I found myself becoming easily manipulated into working each day without a single break, working six days a week just so I could tell myself I was working off the debt slowly, that I was contributing to society. I walked the 40 minute walk to and from work each and every day no matter the weather because the bus in my city was almost £5 a day. No way was I working the first hour to only pocket £1.50 before tax! No thanks. I had been taught to work hard to get places, and work hard I did. I stopped sleeping, my mind a constant drone and buzz of thoughts, worries, anxiety, thinking of all the things I must do tomorrow, and what I didn’t have time for today.

THIS ISN’T LIVING. 

SO ONE DAY I SNAPPED. My boss was vulgar, taunting me for having so many qualifications yet ending up in a dead end job for shit money anyway (nice to know he was aware at how hard I worked and how little he valued that). I just snapped. I held my end of the bargain and waited until the end of the shift, then politely made my excuses and never went back again.

I BEGAN WORKING AS A FULL TIME VOLUNTEER in my local community, something which I had wanted to do but felt I didn’t have the time. I immediately started sleeping again. I started relaxing again, and I started smiling again.  I started living. Yes I still have the heart stopping amount of debt, but no it doesn’t worry me.

If I don’t have it, I can’t give it, and the maths really is that simple.

Yet I am giving back to society more than most people in well paid jobs and who pride themselves in paying their taxes. I am helping people and the environment on a grass roots level. I now refuse to waste my time and waste my life trying to fulfil a conventional place in society. Who was it up there who valued my time, my life, my potential, at £6.50 an hour anyway? Who was it who said to further my career I should do an apprenticeship for £2.73 an hour, despite me already investing £36, 000 and five years of my life to do just that? No. No I will not struggle and work the grind to fulfil my place in society if that is all society has to offer me.

IN THE UK WE HAVE THE LONGEST WORKING HOURS IN EUROPE. Nearly half of British employees work more than four hours of overtime each week. In 2013 alone, the British people put in over £33 BILLION WORTH OF UNPAID OVERTIME. That’s crazy! Especially when you consider the most popular reasoning for this ludicrous display of work dedication was that employees felt pressured by workload demands; and 1 in 5 people were compensating for staff shortages. Still our government prides itself on increasing job opportunities despite the fact that homelessness has risen by 50% since the coalition came to power, and over 900, 000 people are reliant on food banks each year.

THIS MAY BE A WORTHWHILE struggle if you were lucky enough to work a job that you love. But for the overwhelming majority, this simply isn’t reality. We work long hours for low wages doing mundane unappreciated work and we can’t even afford the time or money to take a holiday.

In the words of Lois (Malcolm in the middles mum, my favourite fictional woman):

“Welcome to the working world. They pay you less than your worth, but just enough to keep you crawling back for more.”

Feel like you’re being worked into the ground?

Even worse is the shocking number of people who dread being asked “so what do you do”, as if you’re value is solely based on your job title. “I’m a barman” or “I’m a cleaner” doesn’t exactly inspire pride for those who have spent £30 000+ to get there. It’s demoralizing, and it further emphasizes our institutionalized belief that our working life represents us as people.

THE MONETARY SYSTEM IS BROKEN

ONCE I GAVE UP ON MONEY, I stopped giving up on myself. I realised just how much of my life that I had resented was down to money. I resented my crap job, the low wages, the long hours. I resented the price of food, the price of clothes, haircuts, prescriptions, dentist appointments, drinks out with friends. I resented it because it cost money and I barely had the time to do all these things. Now that I earn no money, I am valuing my life and valuing my resources. I value the clothes on my back because I can’t afford to buy new ones. I value the food I eat because I am starting to grow it and I’m preventing it being thrown in the bin. I value the time I spend working because I get so much reward from helping others. I value my time because I am not waiting and dreading my next work shift.

Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be able to live with such little money if I hadn’t found a part time job with free accommodation-but there are ways to free yourself from the pressures of monetary worth. Firstly, STOP WORKING OVERTIME FOR FREE! Say no. Say your children, your partner, your pets, your sanity, are more important than compensating for the decisions made by people earning more than you. You can make your finances stretch further by trading your time or your skills for the things you need. You can join Street Bank and the Freeconomy community online, read some inspirational material such as Mark Boyle’s book “The Moneyless Man” which details his journey of living 100% without money for an entire year and includes excellent tips and advice. Go wwoofing, volunteer with helpx, join your local community groups-even one day a month of volunteering your time will give you respite from the pressures of work life. Regain your connection with the people around you, your neighbours, your community. And next time someone asks you “what do you do”, you can tell them what you do with pride.

THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO BE. Stop wasting your time and denting your spirit by conforming to a system which does not value you as an individual. Once you stop, your mind will feel so much better, and your body will too.

The Rubbish Junkie joins The Real Junk Food Project Brighton

I’ve always been really perplexed by the amount of waste we Brits make each and every year. But what really gets my goat is the amount of food we throw away. Collectively the UK people throw away 18 million tonnes of food every year.That’s a lot. Especially when you consider that our climate doesn’t support the production of a lot of our food, which means countless tonnes of that waste has travelled from all over the globe to end up in our bins! Even more alarming is when you consider that in 2014 alone, approximately 900,000 people were regularly using food banks.

Personally I’ve always been drawn to utilising waste food. I started skipping years ago after spending time living with people who fed each other collectively with food found in bins. I like finding my food in bins, it’s free and it’s perfectly edible -what’s not to like? The real problem, I found, is the poor attitude surrounding our food waste problem. I’ve worked for companies that locked their bins specifically to prevent people accessing the food inside. I once took a job as a supermarket cleaner which although made it easier to get my hands on bin food, I still risked my job by taking it. I started taking surplus food from my new place of work to feed the homeless this year- at first it was seen as a positive thing, until I was given some surplus veg that was expensive. Then I was told “don’t you be giving this to any homeless people now”…one chance to guess what I did.

It was at that time that I read about a UK movement tackling the waste food and food poverty crisis simultaneously. It’s name:

THE REAL JUNK FOOD PROJECT (TRJFP)

As a community interest company, The Real Junk Food Project  started intercepting food before it reached landfill, which they then used to create healthy meals to serve to the community. TRJFP has sparked a food revolution across the UK and even beyond. In 2014 there were 11 cafes operating under TRJFP which collectively saved 32, 974.026 Kg of edible food from going to landfill, which fed 16, 498 people. And the best part- all meals were served on a “Pay As You Feel Basis”. Food isn’t free, but it doesn’t just have to be traded for money.

“PAY AS YOU FEEL”

“Pay As You Feel” encourages people to think about the cost of their food-not only in money value but in it’s mileage, where the food on your plate came from, who planted/cared for it, who packaged it, how much energy in sunlight, rain, and harvesting, was required to produce that meal? “Pay As You Feel” also breaks down the societal norm of valuing people with enough cash above those without-instead it values the individual. Can’t pay for your food? That’s no problem at all. Help us in the kitchen, come wash up with us, help serve the customers, busk or give some creative input. How many skills do you have? How many times have you shared these skills for your food? Trust me, it feels much better than buying it from the supermarket, and it gives a sense of community and value to everyone no matter their background or job title. It breaks down hierarchies. It saves food. It saves waste. It saves environmental degradation through the emission of toxic gases that are released by rotting food. It feeds the hungry, it takes pressure away from food banks. It’s inspirational, it’s encouraging, and it’s for everyone.

So a couple of weeks ago I quit my job and now I help to run The Real Junk Food Project Brighton as a full time volunteer director along with Adam Buckingham, who has tirelessly dedicated himself to the project from the beginning.

Seriously good PAYF coffee

We’re now recruiting more directors, members, and have a database of over 80 volunteers. We run two events a week, including a community cafe at One Church on Gloucester Place on Fridays where we serve up to 100 people in three hours. I love my job. I’ve met so many wonderful people who all have such gusto for life, for our planet and for each other. I’ve also started eating so much healthier now too! The amount of fruit and veg thrown away is staggering, I now enjoy well over my five-a-day each and every day, I can drink smoothies or fruit juice whenever I want, I can even eat as much Avocado as my heart desires (they’re so expensive if bought new)- all of which would be rotting in landfill somewhere if it wasn’t for the project.

Ready for customers at TRJFPB Community Cafe. (at One Church on Gloucester Place).

Serving time at our community cafe!

Our customers enjoying their waste food meals

TRJFPB volunteer Paul, tucking into a well deserved food waste lunch

TRJFPB market stall serving intercepted bread, pastries, fruit, and our home made chutneys

Fresh fruit juice made from 100% intercepted fruit

HOPEFULLY AS THE PROJECT GROWS we will be able to find a premises in Brighton to run a community cafe seven days a week. We want to run workshops on waste free living, healthy cooking, and food safety classes to teach people how to trust their senses instead of the sell-by-date labels. I am hoping we can come up with a premises that is equally as waste free as our ethos. For when I think of the amount of empty properties in this city I can’t help but envision a community restoration project using recycled ingenuity and voluntary support…but maybe for now I should start with my own tin cabin and see what happens.

Waste apples

More waste fruit!

You should follow us on facebook here: The Real Junk Food Project Brighton

and of course no twitter account is complete without: @realjunkfoodbri