Once upon a time, I made my own laundry detergent. It was when we were living in Washington State and I was super proud of it. I continued making it when we first moved into our house in Ohio, but when we got a new washer and dryer, I was too afraid to use it because, “Hello – brand new washer and dryer!”
Here I am super pregnant with our new washer and dryer in 2015. Oh, and for the record, my basement has SO MUCH more junk now. What is it with kids bringing more junk into the house even when they can’t carry it themselves?
I still have some of my homemade laundry soap from 2015. It’s in that giant mason jar on my laundry shelf (see below). It’s a pretty simple recipe to make, and it is very zero waste. As in, there’s no plastic whatsoever involved in making it.
But like I said, I got nervous to use it in my new washer and dryer, which is ironic because I cloth diaper(ed) my children so we got brand new appliances and I literally washed poop filled diapers in them almost right away. Most people wouldn’t do that. My nerves got the best of me though, so enter All Free & Clear laundry detergent – stage right.
I actually have SO MUCH of my All Free & Clear detergent left. I am a sucker for those Target sales, “Buy 5 of these today and get a $5 gift card”. Well, HOT DOG! Of course I’m going to buy 8 of them to get a $5 gift card – I am that gullible consumer who thinks they will ALWAYS want to use this one specific detergent.
Sigh. The universe is playing a massive, cosmic joke on me this year.
Ok, the sale is never to buy 5 laundry detergents, usually just 2 and here is my stockpile in my basement (along with the paper towels that I have banished to the basement – oh, and there’s a corner of my 2nd bread machine!):
It’s going to be a long while before I need to get zero waste laundry detergent. It’s true. But I’ve been reading up on it and recently found what I think will be my zero waste (or minimal waste) laundry detergent.
First of all, IF I had unlimited funds, I would try the O3 Pure Professional Laundry Washer. It’s $300 and from what I’ve read, it blasts oxygen into your washing machine and cleans all your clothes without any detergent at all. And it only uses cold water.
It sounds so cool! I had a friend say that their aunt and uncle use it (…I think that’s how it went…), but I’m finding myself wanting some firsthand review from someone I know before I purchase it. Which is ironic, because I feel like anyone who is reading this blog is reading it for my firsthand reviews of zero waste stuff.
It’s definitely being mulled around in my mind. A LOT. And who knows, I may save up my Amazon rewards points to purchase it later. I wouldn’t put it past me.
However, recently I was listening to the radio and I heard them talking about this product – the Eco Egg. Now, it looks like it’s made of plastic, and the little detergent balls inside come in a plastic bag but I did notice the recycle symbol on them, so I’m assuming I can recycle those with my plastic bags.
This is one of those times where I’m still debating, is a little reusable plastic OK, for the sake of saving larger amounts of plastic? #firstworldproblems Eh…I dunno if there’s a solid answer. In this case, I’m leaning towards this little plastic egg is probably totally worth it.
But…regardless of that plastic….it’s cutting out harsh detergents (better for water), the plastic bags can be recycled and it’s a smaller amount of plastic than a large container of detergent, and I believe you can purchase refills for it. There’s probably other benefits to it that I just don’t know too.
It’s $35 and lasts 720 loads, which they say for a family of 4, could last 3-4 years. It sounds like such a good deal…and it seems to have good reviews on Amazon too. Here’s a review video if you’re interested:
I’m thinking this will be the laundry detergent I try. I am planning to wait until I use up at least one of those All Free & Clear containers I have in my basement, so it’ll be later in the Spring.
Unless I get stressed and do some retail therapy. That could happen too. Zero waste items have replaced my previous shopping of junk on Amazon.
And if you’re wondering, here’s the recipe I used for the homemade laundry detergent (as far as I remember, it was a decent detergent, but I haven’t used it in about 6 years):
1 grated bar of Dr. Bronner’s soap (I used lavender); 1 Cup Baking Soda; 1 Cup Washing Soda; 1 Cup Borax; and I added in lavender Essential Oils.
I would just use my cheese grater to grate the Dr. Bronner’s soap on the finest side possible, mix it all together, and put in a scoop for my laundry.
Once upon a time, I would buy my son and nephews’ love by bringing lots of juice boxes and fruit snacks on our adventures. I still did that this past weekend with gummy bears bought in bulk:
Buuuuuuut….before the gummy bear idea, my first inclination was to get them all a bamboo toothbrush and zero waste toothpaste.
This is why I’ve never been cool and never WILL be cool.
These are my actual thoughts. Thoughts that I follow through on. I will always be that “weird” person/aunt/girl.
BUT WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!! We can get all that gummy bear gunk outta our teeth! WITH BAMBOO! (Yep….still think it’s cool….)
I was searching for a bamboo toothbrush holder on Amazon and found one that also came with 6 bamboo toothbrushes with bristles in different colors.
It sounded perfect for my buying of the love of little ones.
I was SO certain that there would be an all out brawl between the boys since there were green and blue bristled toothbrushes – but then pink, white, beige, and black. Three boys, two fun colors = disaster.
Not to mention the fact that just getting children toothbrushes is a major risk. It’s like being the house that hands out toothbrushes on Halloween – nobody wants that! Odds are they will hate it. It’s a toothbrush. Made of bamboo.
But you can never plan for kids.
Friday we had a big long day, so when my sister and I approached the topic before bed – using the same tones that people use when they talk about a surprise like “chocolate cake” or “tropical beach vacation” – it was a miracle that even two of the boys bought into our mock excitement.
One boy was flat-out against it. In fact, there was some yelling across the hotel room along the lines of, “Who would want to use a toothbrush that’s going to give you splinters in your mouth!?!”
It was a little comical. No one was forcing him to use the toothbrush. We even offered to take it back, but he refused. It was a long day.
But the other “big sell” that we had for them was the toothpaste tablets that I was excited to try for the sake of Science and my zero waste experiments this year.
Once again, using the tones that other parents would use to say, “We’re going to Chuck-E-Cheese!” or “Let’s go look at the llamas in the glitter fountain!”, we presented toothpaste in tablet form.
I had wanted to try the Bite toothpaste tabs because I liked that they are a true plastic-free product, but they were back-ordered. Wop-wop.
Since my sister was headed to a Lush store, I asked her to stop and get some of Lush’s toothpaste tabs to try. They’re packaged in plastic, but I believe it’s post-consumer plastic and they recycle the bottles too. So not great, but not bad.
The flavor we got is called “Dirty” and has a spearmint taste to it. I thought about making a video to demonstrate how to use these tabs, but let’s be honest…no one wants to watch me brush my teeth! I don’t want to watch myself brush my own teeth! Here is someone much more attractive brushing their teeth with the Bite toothpaste tabs to demonstrate:
You wet your toothbrush, bite down on the tablet, and start brushing. It foams up like a commercial toothpaste and cuts out the waste from all the non-recyclable toothpaste tubes.
It was a funny experience.
My sister and I were showing the two, non-tantruming boys how to use the tabs in the bathroom and boy – those suckers were potent! I thought I was just having an over-reaction to it since I haven’t used commercial toothpaste in about 2 months, but my sister had a tough time with it too.
My mouth felt numb hours later.
I’m pretty sure our “not-so-positive” reactions were very obvious to the boys who were actually buying into our mock excitement over dental hygiene.
We got one little guy to try it that night (impressive!), one kept tantruming, and one just went for his old toothpaste after watching us.
In the world of small children, I call that a win.
But what I really was impressed by was the fact that everyone used their bamboo toothbrush (why did we NOT get a group picture of this??) the entire weekend AND the one who was tantruming on Friday night, used the toothpaste tabs for everysingle toothbrushing session after that night.
Much less….no one picked the blue toothbrush. The BEST one!
No tantrums over color?? Where am I?
I brought along my homemade stuff in a baby food jar and used it all day Saturday. On Sunday morning, I decided to suck it up and try the tablet again – mostly because I refuse to be out-done by someone who thinks that Bubble Guppies is a quality TV show – and it was much better the second time around.
My sister did the same thing and she agreed – it was better the second time. And my mouth stayed minty for a good long while after.
Now, these puppies are expensive (to me) – I think this bottle was around $12, so it’s definitely not going to be an every day thing for me. I think I’ll leave them in my travel bag in lieu of a mini tube of toothpaste or my glass bottle of homemade stuff. And while I probably won’t buy them again, I was glad I tried them out! For the sake of Science.
Speaking of which, I still really like the homemade toothpaste I’ve been making. I made a double batch today, as a matter of fact. Homemade, zero waste toothpaste has been a very easy, cheap switch for me.
Oh, and although I ordered toothbrushes and a bamboo toothbrush holder, I was SO disappointed to find that each toothbrush was individually wrapped in plastic within their little cardboard box. WHAT?!?! Who does that? Do they not get the POINT of using a bamboo toothbrush?? It’s more than a trend, people!!!
I will be leaving some not-5-star feedback on Amazon about that. And my bamboo toothbrush holder has already split a little and I can’t decide if it’s upsetting or to be expected since it’s made out of wood. I think I would be a little more forgiving in my mind if they didn’t individually wrap zero waste toothbrushes in plastic. But maybe if I read more reviews before ordering, I would have found that out.
Has anyone else tried toothpaste tablets or a different zero waste toothpaste? Let me know!
If you’re friends with me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have noticed that this weekend I was out of town with my sister and some of our boys (the littlest one stayed home) on our annual Sisters and Sons trip.
Hence the break from blogging. I’m not a professional blogger by any means (Just look around at this site!) and I certainly do not have a stash of posts waiting in the wings to be posted while I’m out of town.
I’m not putting that kind of work into this thing….this is more of a “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” deal.
Anyhow, it was one of my first travel experiences trying to incorporate some zero waste strategies.
Please keep in mind, I am not completely zero waste. For me, zero waste is the goal. It’s what I strive for rather than what I achieve.
First of all, I would like to state for the record, that since I first wrote about taking out my zero waste kit, and feeling awkward about using it, I’ve had more opportunities to use it that I haven’t been sharing.
For example, my school puts on these AMAZING “Funcheons” and we also recently had conferences where our wonderful PTA provides lunch for us teachers since we’re at school for some extremely loooooong days.
And I’m proud to say….that I have so far remembered to bring my own plate, silverware, and even bowl for the soup days. At school, it’s super easy because there’s a sink right in the staff lounge so when I’m finished eating, I rinse my dishes in the sink, dry them, and I pop them in the dishwasher when I get home.
It’s gotten easier and less awkward each time I use them. And it makes me feel really good about my personal decrease in waste. 🙂
I mean, it can still be a little awkward because I feel that those around me who witness me bringing my own stuff perhaps feel a little…uncomfortable? I’ve noticed people keep apologizing to me or explaining about using plastic or something single-use.
It’s really not my intention to make anyone feel uncomfortable!
I can only change myself – and I understand that. And up until about 1.75 months ago, I didn’t think twice about using disposable items. So, trust me – not judging! Just changing!
Anyhow…knowing that we were headed out of town for a long weekend, I naturally packed enough for 5 of us in my zero waste kit. I knew we wouldn’t be perfect (and we weren’t), but I always try to keep it in my mind, that ANY TIME I use something reusable instead of a single-use, disposable something, that’s a big win.
Progress over perfection. 😉
It made me especially want to stick with it as I kept seeing piles of trash alongside the roads or even when we were at the Duquesne Incline and I looked over the top rail of the viewing platform at the top of the hill and just saw trash. Everywhere.
And thankfully, my sister is on board with a lot of this, and is implementing her own zero waste changes in her own life.
Having people on board with zero waste makes it easier to do.
I put my zero waste stuff utensils in my “No Thank You” plastic bag that came with the 4Ocean bracelet I asked for for Christmas.
I feel like it’s the perfect bag for some zero waste materials. Especially since it flat out says “Say No to Single-Use Plastics”. It came in super handy to carry down to the hotel lobby. Depending on where I am, I think I may switch between a canvas tote also.
We always look for a hotel that offers breakfast, so I carted this bag downstairs for breakfast each morning. And also our cups – our refillable Starbucks cups to be honest.
I really want to figure out some system for carting dirty dishes around. So far, when I use my plates or silverware, I’ve been finding a sink and rinsing them, then drying them a wee bit with a dish towel (carried in the bag) before shoving them back in my bag. Later, I wash them more thoroughly with soap. But I imagine that I will not always have access to a sink when I want to use my zero waste kit…..so what do I do with dirty dishes?
I don’t have an answer yet.
Thankfully, the hotel lobby bathroom was right around the corner from the breakfast room, so I just popped in there to rinse.
The second morning my son wanted cereal, and I did forget a reusable bowl. Ugh. You live and learn, though! And I didn’t anticipate a disposable cup to measure out the hotel waffle batter (I adore those hotel waffle irons!). But the cereal bowl and the cup for waffle batter was really our only trash at breakfast. I brought home the yogurt cups to recycle, along with any other recyclables I encountered on our trip.
Yes, it could have been interpreted as an “annoyance” to have to wash dishes at the hotel, but then I think of how annoyed I get by trash everywhere on the ground and it’s a no-brainer for me.
I actually don’t mind it at all when I put things into perspective like that.
Thinking ahead, I brought my microfiber dish pad, some dish soap, and a wash rag. I set up the dish pad in the bathroom and my sister and I would pop in and wash our reusable stuff whenever necessary.
And God Bless my sister – if she was annoyed by it, she never said a word.
When my sister(s) and I get together, Starbucks is a frequent stop for us. On this weekend trip, we actually decreased our Starbucks intake to only one latte a day because we never seemed to be in close proximity to one. Last year, one of the determining factors in picking our hotel was the fact that there was a Starbucks next door.
If we’re going to take our boys for a whole weekend of adventure and tiring fun (which, if you’re not a parent, equals lots of tantruming and whining), then we have earned our lattes.
Previously, we would order ahead of time on the Starbucks app, pop in and grab our disposable cups, and be on our merry way. So convenient!
This time, once again – God Bless my sister – we stopped and went in to order so we could use our reusable cups. Which got us 10 cents off our order each time! And saved a cup from going to a landfill. We had zero Starbucks waste.
And Starbucks, if you’re reading – you should make some Venti reusable cups.
ALSO…we found an indoor playground where we took our boys on Saturday and while we watched them play, we got Chai Tea Lattes from the snack bar. We walked up to the counter with our cups, and said, “Can we get our lattes in our cups? We’re trying to cut out single-use plastics” and the nice, young girl behind the counter said, “Of course! I have my own at home and love it!”.
It’s even better when you meet people at stores who are completely on-board with reusable packaging. Very reaffirming. So don’t be afraid to show your colors. 🙂
When we’re out, we typically pack lunches – that’s how we roll – and we A LOT of changes there.
Previously, we would have brought fruit snacks, applesauce pouches, juice boxes, and probably put sandwiches and snacks in separate, ziploc bags.
This year, we had water bottles, a big bag of goldfish crackers to share (not recyclable), and fruit that we put in reusable bags/containers. We also carried all of our sandwiches in one Tupperware container. Very minimal waste – Huzzah!
I CAN’T believe I didn’t snap a picture of our picnic lunch tables! But I was SO impressed by us and the changes we made. And once again, God Bless my sister because she did most of the shopping and prepping for the lunches.
Zero waste takes planning – especially this early in a zero waste journey when it’s not routine yet. So a big thank you to her for all the planning and prepping she did – Love Ya!
It’s getting easier. It’s becoming habit. It’s a good thing. 🙂
I stayed home from school today because at 4:00 AM this morning, I was woken up bedside by my toddler who promptly starting vomiting. On my bedside.
Yep, this is a vomit post.
In the world of motherhood, it’s amazing that this is my first, nighttime vomit experience (despite little baby spit-up).
(I just jinxed myself, BIG TIME)
As “luck” would have it, when I get into bed in the winter, I climb into bed and THEN discard my hoodie and warm pants on the floor right beside my bed. Then, they’re easily accessible in the morning to put on before I leave my warm cocoon.
Therefore, most of the undesirable bodily fluids ended up on those clothes and our bedsheets and NOT the carpet or seeping through to our mattress (Hallelujah!), which is super “lucky” since those items were easily washed.
At 4:30 AM.
However, there was some splattering. On my nightstand (and cell phone) and along the way to the bathroom. Splattering all around the toilet -especially as you’re trying to get your toddler to lean closer to the toilet instead of standing completely upright while scream-crying (mid-vomiting), “It hurts! I’m sick!!!! I’m going to miss my birthday! AHHHH!!!!”
(His birthday isn’t for awhile, mind you.)
In my 4 AM “this is motherhood” stupor, I wasn’t processing well. And naturally, I fell back into old habits and immediately went to the cabinet to grab the Lysol wipes.
Until I got there and I realized, oh yeah – we ran out of Lysol wipes and I didn’t buy anymore because I’m going zero waste!
Ugh…stupid.
Well, I actually don’t like to think it’s stupid because I happen to 100% believe that going zero waste is a very important mission.
…buuuuut……..my instinct last night was definitely out of habit. And my internal monologue of feeling stupid for not having Lysol Wipes on hand was definitely due to not being completely “transitioned” into a zero waste mindset.
I mean, I consider myself to be a “natural cleaner”, but in the blinding light of my kitchen at 4 AM, with the smell of vomit lingering in my nose, I noticed in the back of the cabinet a glint off the plastic wrapper of a trial pack of Lemon Lysol wipes that I had gotten at school.
And I cleaned my bathroom with those disposable wipes without another thought.
Ok, a tiny, fleeting thought…but there was vomit. On my side of the bed. At 4 AM.
And I wasn’t about to stop to google zero waste vomit clean-up. I mean, I did later today, but I made the conscious decision to not in the middle of the night.
Anyways, I started to feel guilty today as I thought about my early morning approach to cleaning. Under no circumstances have I promised any sort of perfection at being zero waste. I HAVE, instead, promised full-blown honesty as I implement slow, zero waste change. This is only week 7 and I make it a point to generally not anticipate vomit in the middle of the night due to other priorities….such as sleeping.
So I’m forgiving myself for last night and using disposable cleaning products.
I am a mother though. So while I’m thankful it’s taken almost 4 years for my first mid-night upchuck sesh, it’d be foolish to think it’ll be my last.
Perhaps it’s time to anticipate it and put a zero-waste vomit clean-up kit upstairs.
I need to recognize that although the teacher in me really wants that powerful, overwhelming clean smell to burn in my nose and guarantee that a Norovirus won’t run rampant through my household, the nature-lover in me wants me to stop using disposables even more. And not use the time of day as an excuse.
Change your mindset, change your life.
So once this trial packet of Lysol wipes are gone, I’m hoping no more will enter my house. I looked into zero waste vomit clean-up and natural vomit clean-up and it’s about what I expected: baking soda and vinegar with a rag/cloth do an excellent job of getting rid of liquids (and not-so-liquid) bodily fluids, killing viruses, and getting rid of smells.
Afterall, why do I feel the need to use a disposable paper towel or Lysol wipe when I ended up washing clothes and sheets with vomit on them anyhow?? I mean, I wash clothes with poop and pee on them ALL the time!
This was perhaps my favorite “research” on cleaning up vomit that I just had to share. From a much more established zero-waster, The Zero-Waste Chef , and someone who does a much better job at expressing themselves (seriously, you should check out that blog – it’s way more informative than mine):
“In addition to regular cleaning, sometimes you also have to deal with substances in the bathroom that you’d rather not have to deal with—substances that came out of your body or out of your child’s body. I use rags in these instances. If using anything for cleaning up such messes other than a paper towel you can then toss immediately sounds absolutely disgusting—rather than merely mildly disgusting—you may not be a parent. Or you may simply be a queasy parent.
Our aversion to ickiness creates an awful lot of waste. We want disposable everything for dealing with messes. We often act as though we’re cleaning up nuclear waste when we have to clean up barf. Yes, cleaning projectile vomit off the walls at 2 a.m. is gross but it will not kill you unless your child has Ebola. Use a rag. After you rinse it out, hang it somewhere to dry before putting it in the laundry (wet clothes in the laundry can develop mold). Once dry, toss the dirty rag into your filthy-stuff-to-wash pile.”
That’s an absolute truth for my mindset. My entire adult life I have been working around children and I have been trained multiple, multiple times in bodily fluid waste disposal. Using all disposable materials. So it’s ingrained in my brain. But at my house (not at school), there is no designated protocol that says I have to use disposable items.
Control what I can.
Sorry there’s no pictures for this post. And also, you’re welcome there’s no pictures for this post. What’s that?? You really want a picture? Ok…
Love your Mother by not puking on her in the middle of the night. But know, that when you do puke on your Mother in the middle of the night, she still loves you with all her heart. And then, when you’re cleaning up puke in the middle of the night, Love your Mother Earth and clean it up with something reusable.
(Oh – and that link for The Zero-Waste Chef includes all the other things to do in order to get rid of paper towels and go zero waste. Seriously, check it out.)
I will no longer buy homemade mascara on Etsy. I’ve learned my lesson.
I now have two failed Etsy mascara products that well, sadly, are going to go to waste. (What do I do with them now?? Can I pawn them off on someone, or is that gross? Clean them out and recycle the containers…? More likely….)
I decided to give mascara another chance on Etsy before trying out Elate’s mascara, which I decided would be a last resort due to price. My searching for zero waste cosmetics led me to Clean Faced Cosmetics.
Around the same time, I was ordering foundation samples and a large loose powder from Elate Cosmetics. Being the cheapskate that I am, I didn’t want to spend $28 on their mascara. Especially since it still contained plastic (even if it’s recyclable.)
So while I ordered some new eye shadow from Clean Faced Cosmetics, I opted to order their mascara also because I was hopeful with the jar aspect that it would be more “typical” of the mascara that I am accustomed to.
I really appreciated that it came in a 100% recyclable package (didn’t know these were a thing! I thought they all needed bubble wrap!):
I typically use 2 eye shadow colors – a purple-ish tint on my lids and then a lighter, “highlighter” color. They’re Bare Minerals and I always enjoyed the whimsical pairing of their names – “Heart” and “Soul”. Bare Minerals eye shadow lasts me FOREVER. Seriously…I’ve had the thought that if I don’t find a replacement I like, that I may allow myself to continue using them….even if they come in plastic since I’m buying them so infrequently.
But I dunno, it’s still really early into this journey and I do have a serious desire to cut out as much plastic as I can.
But here are all my new fun products from Clean Faced Cosmetics:
I also really learned my lesson on the mascara wand and not cleaning one I already owned and instead, asked for a clean one. I’m pretty sure when I wrote the note to the Etsy seller and I explained my previous situation (of cleaning a mascara wand) in detail and said that such darkness had never entered my life. #truth
The new one is made out of bamboo! Who knew they made bamboo wands? I sure didn’t!
This is still my issue with Etsy homemade mascara……where on Earth do you store the wand??? Do I need to purchase the travel tin/compact to also store it in? Seems so dirty! I wonder if I could find a blog post on this….
Right now, this mascara wand and the “cleaned” one from my experiment with cake mascara are being stored in a plastic ziplock bag. NOT my ideal situation.
I was so excited to have a jar and hoping this mascara would be more “moist” and easier to get onto the wand. But here was my issue… the little jar doesn’t have a…..ya know…smooshy thing. You know, the thing inside the mascara tube that “smooshes” the wand bristles and squeezes off the excess mascara.
Which means, when you stick the wand in…this is what you get:
I happen to be a very cosmetically challenged person. As in, putting on cosmetics is a challenge for me. Big time!!! I’m 35 years old and only in the past 3 years have I felt comfortable putting on eyeliner! I need challenge-proof eye products!
Much less, when I am getting ready in the mornings, I may have a toddler or two hanging around my legs – whining at an ear-piercing decibel so having an excess of mascara on my wand is just not for me. That whole clump would end up on my face in 5 seconds flat. Probably on a conference day or a big meeting with a parent day.
My brain has felt like it’s been used for some monster-truck rallies lately, so I honestly cannot tell you a review of it. I think I put it on and wore it for a day, but when I saw the absence of the smooshy thing and the subsequent blob on the mascara wand, I’m pretty sure I just closed my eyes and shook my head slowly. And I don’t remember it if I did wear it.
I think if I were in a better place mentally, I would have been more apt to try it and give it a big ‘ol, “Let’s-Go-Zero-Waste-Best-Effort-Try”! With pom-poms and a marching band. But I’m not there mentally. So back to the old mascara I went.
I sincerely think that other people could make this work. And I bet there’s some creative idea out there to smoosh out the excess mascara and store the wand. Maybe I’ll figure it out when I figure out life’s other secrets.
However, I do want to give a shout-out for the very pretty eye shadows I got from Clean-Faced Cosmetics. So shiny! They’re the eye shadows in the tins on the left and I put my Bare Minerals eye shadows next to them for a comparison. (Also, the shop owner will make custom eye shadow colors, I believe…)
I feel they’re really comparable and I have worn them several times (no picture yet – once again, mind run over by Monster Trucks). And with how much is there, I imagine it will last me awhile just like my Bare Minerals (I seriously got that Bare Minerals eye shadow well over a year ago – maybe 2 and there’s still plenty more).
So, for right now, I feel like it’s an eye shadow WIN, but another mascara fail. I’ll most likely order Elate’s mascara next unless something else passes by my way and bats its voluminous eyelashes at me (I’m a sucker for that kind of flirting). Just have to decide what to do with these cast-off mascaras…
I wasn’t nervous about switching to a double-edged safety razor. A razor is a razor just like a bamboo toothbrush is a toothbrush. I thought it would be an easy swap, no big deal.
But then I started reading up on them to figure out which one to get. And I got nervous.
I read reviews. I watched youtube videos. I spent an entire Friday evening in January watching various youtube videos of people restoring and reviewing vintage double-edged safety razors.
I absolutely stopped watching the above video when she switched to a straight blade. Eeeeck…..makes my skin crawl…..
And as super sad as that Friday night makes me sound….ahem….I found it interesting.
However, it was this following video that put me on the path to pick one out (it’s a longer video, I get it):
In the comments on the above video, several people commented that she got a really cheap, Chinese (or Japanese) made razor and that she should have sprung for a better razor. In fact, someone commented about bidding on vintage razors on Ebay because they’re higher quality, typically American made, and sell for “peanuts”.
I was simultaneously grossed out by the idea of using a vintage razor, but also liked the idea of not purchasing new stuff. Upon more contemplation, I figured I’d be able to clean it really well and of course, you put in your own blades. So what’s the big deal?
I bid on two that were decently priced when I bid on them, but once the auction was up, they sold for around $50. Not to me. That’s not “peanuts” in my opinion. And there was a part of me that was super happy to stroll on over to Amazon and buy a new one.
Which is how I found my new razor, a Merkur:
I believe it’s German-made, even though I originally had my eye on one made in Britain that I couldn’t seem to find again. They both seemed to have good reviews, and I particularly looked for a lot of comments on shaving legs as opposed to faces. I also purchased a variety pack of razor blades so that I could find the “right blade for me” – since that’s apparently a thing.
Previously, I was buying disposable, triple bladed razors made with an over-abundance of pink on them (girls like other colors besides pink, don’t they get that??).
What makes a double-edge safety razor zero waste is its reusability and the fact that you can recycle the metal razor blades. I haven’t looked much into that quite yet; I’ve heard that sometimes there are separate locations for recycling sharps or that some people will crush the used blades into a metal can and toss it in with their regular recycling… I figure I will have some time building up my stash of used blades before I need to cross that bridge to recycle.
Right now, these blades are housed on the very highest shelf in my bathroom where little hands cannot get to them whatsoever and that’s where I plan on stashing my used blades too. In a clearly labeled jar.
I’ve read recommendations to change the blade every 3 shaves. Hmm….
Some of the claims I’ve read about double-edged safety razors were that you’ll get such a close shave you can go longer in between shavings and that there will be less irritation and red bumps in your bikini zone.
Like I said, I wasn’t nervous until I read up on them and watched the videos. There was a lot of talk about not using pressure but you use the weight of the razor and be extra careful around non-fleshy areas and you’ll have to take the time to find the best angle…
Ah!!!! – too many rules and guidelines!!
So the first time I tried it out was during our recent “extreme cold” days off from school. I decided to have my first shave in a bath to be extra careful. Of course, I mildly panicked over wondering if I needed shaving cream or a shaving bar of soap instead of my regular bar soap that I always use (spoiler, I went with my regular bar soap).
It was so easy. No different really. I mean, I took my time shaving in the tub, so who knows if it would have been different in the shower.
I didn’t cut myself at all (pat on back).
Since it was SO INCREDIBLY COLD outside and I was feeling drafts inside the house that I’ve never felt before, I immediately got goosebumps when I got out of the tub….which meant stubble. Wop-wop…
But honestly, it was no different than normal. That would have happened with my disposable razor.
I don’t know about the “lasting longer in between shaves” statement – I flip flop back and forth on that issue – but, moral of the story is it was just like before. It felt relatively simple and I didn’t need 3 blades to get a good shave.
I actually think that there was a little less irritation in my bikini zone. There was still some, but not as much before. Oh, and I shaved armpits, legs, bikini zone – didn’t hold back!
I’ve used it 4 times now (debating when to change the blade…do I push it a little to see how long it will last…?) and on the third time, I nicked my heel.
Not uncommon for me.
It was still easy to use in the shower with no shave gel. And when I didn’t immediately get goosebumps getting out of the shower, I did feel quite smooth for days after.
The especially nice thing is that you’re able to open up the razor every so often to get the hair stubble out. I feel like the disposable ones would always have hair stuck in the back and in between the blades that I would try to get out and it just wouldn’t budge.
My safety razor twists at the bottom and the entire top part comes off (that’s how you get the blade in). So if there’s an over-abundance of hair stuck in it, I can just open it quick in the shower for a rinse. I’ve been making sure to rinse it well and pat it dry after use, and then I store it up as high as possible, away from tiny hands (even though it’s near the Spiderman soap, it’s out of reach).
In other news updates (besides being a ridiculously long week at school), I’ve gotten to try out some zero waste make-up options and I can’t wait to post about them. I also went on a recon trip to check out some bulk stores in the area and I can’t wait to post about those too.
We’ve sadly realized that we are on the last package of our dishwasher “Finish” Gelpacs, so I’m going to be looking to see if there’s a better, zero waste option out there for us. And it makes me nervous because we have extremely hard water and we tried MANY brands that didn’t work before finding Finish.
Having a working dishwasher was a game changer for us. In our first house, we didn’t have a dishwasher and we hand-washed everything. Very, very time consuming. We have small children, I don’t want to spend all my time washing dishes.
So, I’m going to try out some things, but if we can’t find a dishwasher detergent that works…well, at this point in our lives it’s not something I’m willing to compromise on. Maybe later, but not right now. But I’m going to search around. For the sake of Science. And as always, I’ll report back. 🙂
Once again, let me just start this off by saying – I am not an expert on composting. I literally am just fortunate enough to have a bit of land and I throw all my food scraps into one designated pile and call it “composting”.
It’s such a lovely system 🙂
So, as I go through “what we should probably do in composting”, just know that I am just spewing out regurgitated information that I just read online. And I will try to link to where I found my information.
It’s recommended to turn your compost pile to get that air circulating so that it doesn’t begin to smell. That’s why you’ll see a lot of compost “tumblers” or even garbage cans that can easily be turned over to get that air circulating. I’ve even seen kitty litter containers used for composters because you can easily pick them up and shake them.
Last year, we found someone selling food-grade barrels on Craigslist and purchased two – one for a rain barrel and one for a compost tumbler. They ran us about $15 or $20 a piece (we got one with a removable lid for the compost tumbler, which cost a little more). The rain barrel was made last summer:
The compost tumbler is yet to be assembled, but for right now, stands behind our garage as a resting place for dead, plastic, hanging baskets:
As mentioned previously, we just dump all of our food scraps into a black bin near the rear of our property and we never turn it. Apparently, turning it is what will help prevent it from smelling too much – every 1-2 weeks. If you don’t have a tumbler it or spin it, it’s recommended that you turn your compost pile with a shovel or pitchfork or something.
Some people keep multiple piles or stations for this purpose. That way they can have different piles at different “stages” of the decomposition process. I actually found this video, in which the guy has multiple compost piles, but I loved that he experimented with “No Rules Composting”:
I found it to be really informative. At first I was like, “Yes, dude! Throw everything in there!” And then as I watched it more, I felt guilty that I don’t turn our compost pile more.
Or….ahem….at all..
My goal has always been to make a tumbler out of a barrel for that reason. Especially since I tend to buy potting soil in plastic bags for the houseplants I haven’t managed to kill yet:
And even more especially because my spider plant, Tobey Maguire, tends to have lots of babies. Can you see them in the very back of this picture? I like to repot his babies (and my aloe vera plant babies) and give them to other people to kill.
When it comes to making a tumbler out of a barrel, there’s lots of information out there on making sure you get a food safe one and not a barrel that held terrible, horrible chemicals. I had also looked into spray-painting it so it wouldn’t be so “bright” blue and would blend in a little better, but there was bad information about chemicals leaching through the plastic from the spray paint, so blue it is!
In a dream world, I think it would be really cool to have 2 tumblers so you can have one that is cookin’ while you add to the other one and then switch.
What I’d like to do, is get some good quality soil for my plants via a tumbler while still maintaining my “everything goes” policy.
And don’t go thinking composting has to be any big fancy tumbler. MANY people simply have containers, say a large plastic trash bin, and they’ll bungee cord the lid on and roll it around the lawn with their hands and stand back up.
I have a feeling my kids could really get into turning a compost bin, no matter what style.
And you may have noticed that I tend to gravitate towards the easy, free, “compost-any-way-you-want” people. I feel like when I used to read all the rules about having “green” layers and “brown” layers and “nitrogens” vs. “carbons” and “compost this” don’t “compost that”…it’s too much to follow.
I’ve always had this deep-seeded desire to get some worms and have a worm bin. If you want to sound smart, the proper term is “vermiculture”. I even thought that perhaps this would be my year to ask for worms for my birthday, but then I remembered that now that we are finally pet-free, we were hoping to be able to leave and get out more this summer.
It really made me wonder if having worms is like having a pet… I mean, how long can they survive without additional food scraps? If I wanted to leave for a week, could I dump in a bunch of food scraps and they’d be happy the entire time? Would I just end up killing them? Will they escape? Will they try to commandeer my pillow like my dogs used to? Would they like a bedazzled sign for their worm village? All very pertinent and pressing questions that I don’t know the answer to.
But if we decide to get some worms, rest assured – I will post about them. And probably try to name them. And bedazzle them a sign to their worm village. You know, the essentials.
There is A LOT of information out there on composting and even different viewpoints on how to compost. For that reason, I may break this into multiple posts just to explore all avenues.
We compost our food scraps. Be warned that I’m using the word “compost” very loosely. I am not a composting expert by ANY means. In fact, I welcome your input if you have knowledge that I do not! I may be incorrectly informed on loads of this information because I am not taking the time to research it thoroughly before I write this.
I know for a fact that we do not compost “correctly”.
A lot of that is just a lack of time that comes with having small children. When we moved into this house, we got pregnant about 4-5 months later so we never fully got set up in a true, composting manner.
In many ways, we kind of only use it for the “biodegrade” factor.
When I graduated from college, with my degree and no vision, I found outdoor education. One of the classes we taught at my first camp was about landfills.
One thing that I had thought, perhaps incorrectly, was that food waste thrown into landfills doesn’t break down. And for good reason!
Landfills are not meant to allow for a decomposition process. With some of the things we throw away, it’s wicked bad for it to break down and go back into the ground. In fact, my hometown of Uniontown, Ohio is listed as one of the 16 most toxic sites in Ohio. If landfills are incorrectly lined or managed, they can cause LOADS of harm.
Side Note: Recycling batteries is one of the BEST things you can do! I take mine to Best Buy and drop them off there. Many toxins in batteries.
It sounds like organic food material may eventually break down in a landfill, but it takes loads more time AND it emits more harmful gasses than it would if it were allowed to decompose out in the woods or in a compost pile.
An apple core in a landfill may outlive me compared to taking 1-2 weeks breaking down outside in nature.
So, just keep that perspective in the back of your mind as I continue this post.
I feel like there are some people who take composting very seriously and there are many, MANY different ways of composting.
To me, composting doesn’t need to be fancy or even cost anything, but there’s a lot of infomration out there that I want to discuss.. A multiple part series if you will.
In this post, I’d like to explain what we do now, and then in subsequent posts explain general guidelines for composting/how I’d like to change what we’re doing, and then explore how people in tiny spaces/apartments can still compost.
So, let me explain…
What We Currently Do
At my house, we tend to use “composting” simply for the “ROT” portion of “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ROT”.
We are quite fortunate in our location because although we live in a housing development, we have a lot of space. Which was our plan when we house hunted. We wanted space, mostly for our 2 dogs to run and play without too much worry (they sadly both passed last year). Here is our backyard after Winter Storm Harper (yes, that’s a plastic sled – we’re not perfect…):
Behind us, we have a farm/field and beyond that is some woods. We have seen occasional deer in the field that will come into our yard, we hear coyotes howling, and we have a slew of other wildlife in and out of our yard.
See the deer in the JUST planted garden??
In fact, in the past month, we’ve set up a trail camera near our compost pile because we know animals have been feeding out of it and we wanted to see what was there. We recently got pictures of raccoons and even a red fox.
Ok, not the best fox picture – but it’s still a fox picture!
So I get it. We feel like we are “out in the country” (even if we aren’t) and it’s easy to think that only people out in the country can compost. (FALSE.)
We have a small vegetable garden with raised beds that my husband made way out at the back of our property, near a small shed where we also set up a compost bin. Here he is setting up the raised beds:
Wait, our compost isn’t by that small shed. That’s our neighbor’s. You gotta turn around to see ours. Here’s our shed, in all of it’s Winter Storm Harper glory (I didn’t have a picture of it before):
When we moved in and I told my family we were setting up a compost pile, I had every intention of getting my husband to build a compost tumbler. But my sister had the above black compost bin that she couldn’t use in her neighborhood based on rules from their Homeowner’s Association.
It was free, we were pregnant – we didn’t hesitate to set it up.
It’s plastic and flimsy and not my favorite. If you notice on the right side of that picture, it has a flap that you could open on the side to access the lower layers of compost. We’ve noticed that animals learned about that side VIP entrance and have used it so often that the bolts that used to keep it closed are missing. It’s the animal door. Party animals only.
We also have to bungee cord the lid on because in previous Polar Vortexes (Vortices??), it blew away and I had to chase while being 7 months pregnant.
Not fun.
To the left is an unfinished bin made of pallet wood (not the safest wood, we get it), but that’s where we would place dog poop, occasionally sawdust so the poop wouldn’t smell, and weeds from our garden.
In short, items that we knew we would never want to put back into our garden, but could still decompose.
We get A LOT of weeds from seeds blowing off the field behind our house. It happens – we don’t put any pesticides or chemicals on our garden or flower beds.
In our kitchen, I keep a Tupperware container that I found at a thrift store with no lid (perfect!) and I cover it with a silicone Charles Viancin lid thing that I got from a family member who no longer wanted it (also perfect!).
We throw all of our food scraps in there, plus some. If you haven’t seen these silicone lids, they’re really cool and it’s perfect for our kitchen compost bin. They easily lift up on the edge, but if you pick it up in the center, it vacuum seals it:
And it’s a pretty edition to my kitchen. I previously used 2 bigger white Pyrex bowls that I had also found at thrift stores, but while we were at work, our one food aggressive dog jumped up on the counter and broke them. On separate occasions within like a week. It was sad. So the plastic Tupperware without a lid and a home was actually a perfect find for me at Goodwill.
When this bin is full, we march it out and throw it in the black bin.
And that’s it.
Like I said, I’m pretty sure there are people out there who would say we’re doing it wrong.
We don’t turn it, we don’t have multiple piles, we don’t layer carbons and nitrogens, we don’t have a thermometer to make sure it’s “cookin”.
We just let it ROT.
And I “compost” a lot of different things. I realized I could compost my Q Tips because I have the all cotton ones (no plastic stick!) and I toss those in. I compost the hair I pull out of my shower drain. I compost dryer lint (or sometimes turn that into fire starters for camping). I compost paper towels and paper napkins. I now add my Dental Lace dental floss to my compost bin.
We even had a sheet set that were worn thin and ripped beyond being able to send them to Goodwill, so we cut apart the sheets/shredded them while watching TV a couple nights and threw those pieces into the compost bin (because they were 100% cotton).
I’ve composted Chipotle bowls and my bowl from BiBiBop the one time I went there. I cut them down first and try to make sure there’s something heavy on top of them so they hopefully don’t blow away. I recently pulled these Alpaca Wool slippers out of the garbage and I have every intention of composting them (but now that I’m looking at them, I wonder if I could patch them…eh…we’ll see):
If I’m ever in doubt of if I can compost something, I give it a quick google search.
And this is where I’m sure others would disagree with me, but I compost almost ALL food materials except for meat and bones. And even then, sometimes meat may sneak in there (like when I clean out my kitchen sink with leftover food bits).
I have toddlers who drop food like crazy and specifically, a one year old who has decided that when he’s done with a meal, he wants it out of his way immediately and will dump it on the floor. Previously, my dogs would come along and eat that, but now – I put that all in the compost.
In my mind (and I may be wrong), I’d rather have cheese and spaghetti noodles break down outside than sit in a landfill.
Toaster waffles covered in sugary syrup….I compost ’em!
When we plant our garden in May and my gardener comes to help (Hi, Mom!), we empty out our black compost container and mix it in with the soil in our garden beds. Some of it is broken down and sometimes there are recent eggshells and banana peels from our most recent kitchen food scraps. It doesn’t bother us. It decomposes.
Actually one year, we had a few pumpkins that had rotted and we threw them into the black compost bin in the fall. When we planted the next spring, we had pumpkins growing in each of our beds. And pumpkins can’t be contained so our garden got a little crazy, but I really like pumpkins so we rolled with it!
Husband, making a funny face with a pumpkin. Who wouldn’t love that face though?
Anyhow, this is what we’ve been doing and for the past 4 years, it’s been working for us. I have visions for improving upon it this year, but that is a topic for a different post.
Hopefully, if anyone is reading this, it got you started thinking about what you can do to compost yourself or at the very least look into options that would work for you. But for right now…
Despite having like 5 boxes of Kleenex on reserve in my basement, I already swapped them out. Part of it was necessity because ever since my one year old has learned to climb on the couch and reach the Kleenex box, it became a play toy:
Nothing is apparently more fun that pulling out Kleenex one by one and laughing maniacally. I have yet to try it. So the Kleenex box got relocated to a top shelf in my living room:
So never fear, if you come over to visit and are morbidly opposed to reusable Kleenex, they’re still available if you need one.
He he he – if you’re tall enough to reach them! (Sorry Mom and short Sister).
Side note: This post keeps reminding me of the episode of “How I Met Your Mother” where they point out that Ted ALWAYS corrects people. And when Robin says, “Will you hand me a Kleenex?” he responds in a snooty way with, “Kleenex is a brand – THIS is a facial tissue.” Yeah, I definitely buy cheap off-brand facial tissues. It’s like the whole chapstick thing to me.
Anyhow, I’ve never really bought Kleenex until I had kids because I felt like I had to, just knowing that kids tend to let snot drip down their face since they don’t understand that whole, “suck your snot back up your nose” thing.
And honestly, we still barely use them. We have so many “kid” rags in our kitchen (near our main living space) to wipe off their sticky faces and hands that IF our kids were snot-fauceting (new verb), I would typically grab a kid rag and use that.
For myself, I would typically just grab toilet paper and flush it so it would break down in our septic tank and not go to a landfill. PLUS, if we did grab a Kleenex, I would typically throw them in my compost bin so they would break down and not go to a landfill.
But when you read other people’s zero waste ideas, they all use handkerchiefs and I thought, “Huh…that’s easy enough!” So…..I relocated some of our “kid” rags to become reusable Kleenex.
My one year old likes washrags and “kid” rags so much, that we asked for more for Christmas for him. He will just grab them and walk around the house with them. And socks. If he sees you with a wash rag, he would fuss until you give it to him. He would walk into the bathroom and fuss until you grabbed all the wash rags off the toilet rack and hand them to him. Kids are so weird….
Plus, we cloth diaper and cloth wipe him and nothing is worse than HIM trying to wrestle the cloth wipes out of YOUR hand while you’re trying to clean off his poopy bottom. There’s typically lots of fussing, struggling, and trying to reason, “But I’m doing this FOR YOU!!!” So we really needed some additional rags.
So I took some of his new rags, courtesy of my sister – thank you very much! – and I picked the white/light-blue ones and threw them in a pretty blue mason jar and set them on our behind-the-couch table:
I put the metal ring on for decoration, but the top is open – just like a Kleenex box. And despite my extremely longing desire to use my pretty blue mason jars (I will find a use for you some day!), I almost immediately swapped it out for one that had a wider lid so it would be easier to reach the Kleenex that are closer to the bottom.
So now, even though my one year old will still grab some of these rags out of the jar, I don’t feel as bad about stuffing them back in the jar as I did with crumpled, but unused Kleenex.
And it’s super easy to throw these in the wash when they’re used instead of sending them to the landfill or the compost. I personally like that it’s less trees cut down to make cardboard boxes and Kleenex.
Despite the fact that these rags are new and unused, I have high hopes to find some cute, vintage handkerchiefs at thrift stores to eventually populate this jar instead. For some reason, that’s a very romantic, nostalgic idea for me. I mean, there’s loads of handkerchiefs on Amazon and in stores, but I’d like to reuse what’s already in the waste stream.
Which is funny, because my dad has always carried a handkerchief that we would use when we were little and I can remember getting old enough and getting to a point where I was a little grossed out by using a reusable hanky. (I don’t think I ever said anything to him, but who knows what kind of snotty looks or comments I gave in all my teenage angst. So Dad, if you’re reading this and I ever offended you, my sincerest apologies.)
But, if handkerchiefs are good enough for Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in “You’ve Got Mail”, they’re good enough for me. 🙂
Yes, that’s a reusable handkerchief! And Meg Ryan had one with daisies earlier in the movie!
One area that I feel I’ve seen big change in is in my toddler’s lunch. My 3 year old goes to preschool 2 days a week for a full day, which means packing a lunch.
Like I’ve said, I’ve always considered myself to be eco-friendly and had phased out juice boxes last summer and I’ve used my reusable sandwich bags for years, even though I’m mad at them right now because they’re plastic and falling apart now. I’m still trying to figure out what kind of thing I’d like to replace them with when they’re finally through. But that’s down the road a little ways.
His typical lunch since the beginning of the year includes his reusable (plastic) juice box, a sandwich in a reusable (plastic) bag, fruit snacks, an apple sauce pouch, maybe some pears or mandarin oranges in a plastic cup, and some raisins. Sometimes a treat of some sort, like Halloween candy or a Rice Krispie treat.
I had thought about the trash it was making, but never really thought about problem-solving it because Little Man likes many of the items here and it was all about convenience for me.
But that’s changed. Well, in the process of changing.
Instead of an applesauce pouch that’s not recyclable, we’re buying applesauce in larger jars that can be recycled (still plastic, but working on it). Same with the little disposable fruit cups. Even though the plastic portion of the fruit cups can be recycled, if they’re empty at school, they tend to get thrown in the trash. So now, we’re buying cans of either pears or mandarin oranges which can be recycled instead of the pre-packaged fruit cups..
My mom gave me a set of 5 Tupperware cups a few years ago (Hi, Mom!) and at first I didn’t think I’d ever use them, but I frequently fill them with little snacks around the house. They now have double duty as school lunch containers.
Perhaps you noticed that there are still fruit snacks in there. We have been working our way through our last large-box purchase of fruit snacks. They’ve really been lasting us because they’re now only given out twice a week for lunches. Reducing makes a big difference.
I’m still problem-solving the fruit snacks. I recently found a bag of Craisins that well, are old enough to make me NOT admit just how old they are on the internet. 🙂 My kids have been chowing down on them like crazy recently – and not because I forced them! I actually pulled the bag out thinking I would compost them (they’re that old…), and my kids asked for some. Before I get accused of being a bad mom by feeding my children expired food, I ate them too and they tasted fine to me. So naturally, they have become a big snack for us and are currently scattered around every floor of our house.
Their recent enjoyment of geriatric “slightly past their prime” Craisins has given me hope that when I finally make it out to a bulk store, that I may be able to switch them over to Nature’s fruit snacks: dried fruit.And banana chips (I personally LOVE banana chips!).
And that of course they will find dried fruit to be SO satisfying and delicious that they forget all about their precious, gelatin fruit snacks. Right? That’s how it works, right? That’s an experiment for the future.
So while I’m talking about it…I still haven’t made up my mind on some reusable plastics. In essence, from everything I’ve learned about plastic – I’d like to phase them all out of my life (only when it breaks – I’m keeping all my Tupperware for as long as it’ll last me).
But then, I think, what are the best replacement containers for kid-use? I’m certainly not going to pack a lunch with glass jars for a preschooler. I personally use glass Pyrex or glass Snapware for my daily lunches because I heat my food in them without fear of BPA leaching into my food.
I know from zero waste kid posts that many use tin Bento Boxes, and I do have one. But….well I’m concerned about them getting dented and becoming unusable.
But I also have that bigger concern with plastic containers that will get broken and go to a landfill.
I’m especially torn because right now, I’d actually like some more of those little Tupperware containers. Is it bad to search for some second-hand at yard sales and thrift stores or do I seek out different, non-plastic options?
Which one is better?
It’s like my dilemma over replacing the plastic lid to the reusable juice box. It’s keeping SO MANY single-use juice boxes and straws out of landfills, but it’s still plastic and the lid already broke once. But right now, since I still have the bottom part, I’m thinking I will replace the lid. I just haven’t been able to pull the trigger quite yet…
I had emailed the Package Free Shop to see if they knew of any good , non-plastic juice box alternatives and they recommended the kid’s Klean Canteen, which at their cheapest are $18 a pop.
Hmm….
Is that the better investment??? It’s A LOT of money…
I don’t know if I have an answer or vision yet. If I find plastic containers second-hand is that bad? Does it make me less of a zero waste role model?
I don’t have all the answers. But that’s what this journey is all about. Living the questions (bonus points to anyone who can name that poet 😉 Granted, they meant live the questions in terms of an existential existence and not on the decision to use plastic in your life).
My answer may honestly depend on the day and the options that come my way. And I wish I could say I knew definitively what I’d like to do. But I’m only 1 month in.
Side Note – I think yesterday, was my 1 month of blogging anniversary! I didn’t know if I’d make it this long!
Anyhow, indecisive or not, I feel it’s these little changes that start to add up and I need to be proud of them. And I am. 🙂
Oh – I got an email response about Dorito’s (under FritoLay, part of PepsiCo which is a Loop company) and Loop:
Hi Julia,
Thank you for writing to us. We are strongly committed to doing our part to reduce waste and conserve energy.
The flexible packaging used for our chips is a challenge because it needs to keep our snacks fresh. For recycling purposes, it is a mixed plastics #7 which is not accepted by most recycling centers. It may be helpful to know that the amount of total snack packaging waste has decreased as a result of technological innovations in packaging and the increase of thin, flexible materials. In addition, the PepsiCo Foundation and The Recycling Partnership “announced the launch of ‘All In On Recycling,’ an industry-wide residential recycling challenge to make recycling easier for 25 million families across the country, providing them with the resources they need to recycle more and recycle better.
We invite you to visit the “Making a Positive Impact” section of www.fritolay.com to learn more about our commitment to minimize our environmental impact. You might also enjoy viewing and sharing our videos on www.howwillwe.com.
The Beck Trek 