Less Is More: Join the Low-Waste Movement

By Leah Payne. Orca Book Publishers, 2023. 48 pages. $21.95/hardcover; $17.99/eBook. Recommended for ages 9–12.

For an older elementary- or a middle-school student who is interested in helping the environment, Less Is More could be a very enlightening and inspiring book. It provides a clear and useful introduction to a low-waste approach to life, why it’s important, and how to be most effective in limiting waste.

Two things stand out to me about this short book. Concepts and current practices are explained in simple language and with robust attention. There are also several points where the author’s thoughtful discussion of a subject yields uncommon insights. Secondly, while it is primarily a book of actions that young people can take to reduce their environmental impact, it acknowledges several times that no one can do everything and that some problems can only be solved collectively. These strengths make the book worthy of anyone’s time.

Payne structures her book according to the waste hierarchy, which she explains at the end of the first chapter. The waste hierarchy replaces the reduce-reuse-recycle triad with a more complicated but ultimately more comprehensive and useful model: avoid and reduce; reuse (or repurpose, reimagine, repair); recycle and rot; and dispose.

Splitting “reduce” into “avoid” and “reduce” prompts a deeper consideration of any given interaction: can waste be avoided entirely, and only if it can’t, then question how it can be minimized. For example, eating at a restaurant avoids all of the waste that would come along with takeout, but if you have to pick up food to go, you can reduce waste by turning down utensils and napkins.

This recognition of flexibility is one of the low-key but vital points in the book, as it shows that no actions are right for every person at every time. Payne sticks to the idea that “less is more” and avoids the trap of absolutism, which can lead adults to become defeatists, as well as kids just beginning to wrestle with living in right relation with the natural world.

In addition to providing very practical advice—ranging from the big-picture (conducting a waste audit) to the specific (using handkerchiefs to reduce tissue waste)—Payne includes ideas that will appeal to all ages. Examples include a school or community clothing swap to avoid waste while giving people new (to them) clothes.

In the final chapter, Payne explains that “some of the more important work we can do as individuals is to push for changes that make reducing waste easier for everyone and benefit the community as a whole.” This section also provides some environmental activities that engage the community, such as teaching mending skills, organizing cleanups, starting an environmental club at school, or seed-saving.

Less Is More is an accessible, fun, and useful book that will give middle schoolers interested in the environment increased knowledge of waste reduction and strategies to act on that interest. Parents and teachers should encourage children to read the book and should be ready to help them put what they learned into practice.

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Mark Jolly-Van Bodegraven came to the Religious Society of Friends through the lived witness of peace activists and other Quakers; the space that Friends hold for unprogrammed worship and universalism; and Quakers’ literary traditions of journals, pamphlets, and this magazine. He works in higher education communications, lives in Newark, Del., and attends Newark Meeting.