Day 30: self isolation/covid 19/2020. Creating something from everything. Working to practice zero waste requires you to slow down, think creatively and purposely. A few days ago my bowl of fresh pears were ripe and ready to be either eaten, although it’s a bit difficult to eat a dozen pears, or be turned into something, thus a pear cake was made. Left with a pile of peels and cores I initially thought I would make pear jelly and started boiling down the pear remains. Along the way I shifted my focus and decided we would get more use out of pear syrup. Slowly stirring peels and cores, the things that are usually dropped into the garbage, I added some sugar and let the process unfold. Today after several hours of gardening I mixed some ice water and pear syrup - something delicious made from what might be considered waste. Creating something from everything is a process, a slow moving transformation of something that others would usually reject. Our stories during this time of pandemic can be told simply by slowing down and noticing that we can make something from everything.