Coming out: flyers, insolvency and the journey to zero waste

Through my own example of the journey to zero, I show how to live without waste, lighter and with fewer things. However, the journey to zero hasn't always guided my steps... this article was prompted by the arrival of a letter from the distant past. Although it's been 11 years, it's as if I'm looking at a different person. Which is good. What doesn't grow, dies.

 

 

Last updated: August 24, 2023

My steps weren't always guided by the journey to zero

For about six years I've been avoiding supermarkets like the devil avoids the cross. For the last six years I've been shopping in package-free stores and leading a zero-waste household together with Veronika. It brings treasures, the biggest of which is probably life's lightness.

However, there was a time when supermarkets didn't bother me. On the contrary, I liked their anonymity and didn't like small shops. I was bothered by the contact with salespeople, exactly what I enjoy today. What's more, I served supermarkets...

But that seems so long ago to me now... I was living with my parents then...

And after 11 years, the court's claws found me

This week I'm watching my parents' cats. When I was emptying the mailbox, there was a summons from the court. I laughed: "What are my parents up to?" But karma found me quickly. As soon as I pulled out the letter, I was staring at my own name.

"How's that possible? I have permanent residence in Pardubice and even a data box," I shook my head in confusion.

The materialization of all those emails where Uncle Sam died and has no heirs

Today I called the registry office. It turned out the court doesn't want to convict me, but to give me a gift. Cool!

The company that contacted the court only gave them my address. Nothing more. No date of birth or anything more specific so they could find me in the population register and find out if I'm still at that address or if I have a data box.

Coming out

It's time to come out with it... it's been bothering me for years. I can barely sleep anymore... inhale, exhale:

"I delivered flyers throughout college!"

It's as if someone lifted a boulder off me. The weight on my Solar Plexus is gone. Phew.

But that's how it is. For five years I delivered flyers. During those five years I delivered flyers for three companies. For a while even simultaneously. Life is sometimes ironic, isn't it? 😀

The journey to zero starts with the sign "no advertisements." Does it make sense?

I used to love these mailboxes. They saved me work. However, let's say what the reality was... and I'm not proud of it.

If you think that by sticking up a "no flyers" sticker you'll make a dent in the world...

After delivering flyers, you had to report distribution success and flyer rejectors. However, I still received the same number of flyers, I just had to return the remaining flyers (when they were no longer valid) when picking up new ones. But reporting rejectors was a damn administrative process. In the first years, such addresses were dictated to a telephone operator, only later did they switch to online table filling. Then inspections came, ringing people and asking if they were getting flyers... what a mess.

However... the reality was that reporting was ignored and what remained was eventually taken to paper collection, where there were extra bucks for it. Except for 2008-2010, when due to the automotive industry crisis, purchase prices even went into negative values. Apart from those years, they paid 2 CZK/kg. In a quarter you could collect even 200 kg.

Want a goat for your mailbox too? Write to me through the contact form and I'll send it to you. You don't even have to register anywhere, but you can, of course, because my newsletter with curated content is full of interesting stuff!

However, I knew people who went straight to paper collection with them. That didn't work in my district. There they demanded the flyers back. 😀

So "no advertisements" has no value?

It probably does. Just maybe not as much as one thinks.

Insolvency

After five years, that original company I delivered for twice a week changed owners and soon stopped paying. It ended up in insolvency. I didn't like that. It wasn't so much about the money as about the principle. Nobody's going to screw over an electrical engineering student!

I took the trouble to register for the insolvency proceedings. It was about an amount between 2500-4000 CZK, I don't remember exactly.

So here's what we have after those years with interest...

Something was recovered from the company after eleven years and divided among others who were as active as me. Apparently there are 300 of us. So, the amount is: 11 crowns and fifty hallers. No kidding. 😀 The coincidence of eleven years with eleven crowns is interesting.

It's not about the money, I've naturally forgotten about it long ago. It's more about the fact that because of 11.5 CZK, a bunch of people at court have to deal with this case. Paradoxically, it's easier for the clerk to complete the proceedings with me and pay me 11.5 CZK than to simply ignore it. The whole time she'd have to watch whether I'd registered a claim for those 11 crowns, and after 4 years she'd inform me that the dizzying 11.5 had fallen to the state.

Gratitude for the reminder of where the journey to zero has led me

I feel grateful for the reminder of where I was eleven years ago. As I wrote above, I'm not proud of it, but I don't blame myself for anything either. It's part of the story. I'm sharing this text so that part of the journey is visible. The journey to zero.

I'll be away for a while now. Probably more than a while. So the next post in a month. ¡Hasta pronto, amigos!