One of my first zero waste switches has been toothpaste. I personally have found it simple. (Granted…it’s only been about 3 days of new toothpaste, so it’s a bit novel still) And perhaps it was simple because I am somewhat accustomed to making eco-friendly changes. In all honesty, when I made some zero waste switches years ago (i.e. using coconut oil as a facewash/make up remover and a menstrual cup), I can definitely remember thinking,

“wow, this is weird…am I weird? is this stupid?  why do I do things like this?”

And eventually,

“Julie…good for you!  What an amazing switch!  You are AWESOME for helping the environment and deserve a gold star!”

Ah….inner monologue slash internal life narration. Where would I be without you? 🙂

Anyways, I wasn’t too nervous about the switch and was prepared for it to be different than what I’m used it. I was more worried that it would be REALLY disgusting, but besides the obvious differences of not being blasted by an overpowering mint flavor that toothpaste companies include to make you crave it and the fact that this toothpaste doesn’t foam – I feel it gets my teeth just as clean. Without a disposable plastic tube and lid. I guess the real test will be if I’m able to maintain using it and how my dental check-up goes next June (I just had my 6 month check-up last week). Thankfully, in my life I have typically (knock on wood) had minimal tooth issues. I know right now my husband has expressed interest in continuing to use our regular Crest toothpaste for the time being. No pressure.

I can take no credit for the recipe – I got it from Trash is for Tossers. 

I had all the ingredients already – 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, and 15-20 drops of your essential oil of choice. I naturally went with peppermint. Mix it up, store it in an mini-glass jar with a lid. I plan on making some more in a baby food jar for my parent’s house since I brush my teeth at their house in the morning when I drop off my kids.

My 3 year old was very excited about it when he helped me make it and we immediately brushed our teeth afterwards. He said he liked it. Later, when I put some on his toothbrush for his before bed brushing sesh (that’s what cool kids call it), he said he didn’t like it. Kind of like how one minute he loves me and I’m a rockstar and within a second, I’m boring and he’s pushing me out of the room. So I didn’t mind. Basing off those statistics, if I get 1 out of every 2 brushing sessions, that’s still a 50% reduction in toothpaste waste. (Wow – just had the genius idea to add a Paw Patrol sticker to the jar! Marketing really is EVERYTHING…) Anyways, he still has baby teeth so if they all rot and fall out, it’s not a big deal. He has a spare set! He’s the PERFECT test subject that way. 🙂 (That’s meant to be obvious hyperbole, you guys – don’t take offense to it.)

Warning – it also has a bit of a salty taste due to the baking soda, but while I found that weird the first time I used it, what I really enjoy is how SWEET the water tastes when I rinse it out afterwards. It’s worth trying it just for that sensation. (Or am I the only one?  Now someone has to try it and report back to me…am I weird?)

Oh, and I also emailed Crest/Proctor & Gamble to find out their environmental action plan to reduce their one-use, non-recyclable products. I have yet to get a response.

Make some noise and Happy Brushing!

First of all, I want to make it clear that I am not some shining beacon of minimalist, vegan health, zero waste living. When you start looking into zero waste, you see all these inspirational bathrooms and kitchens and minimalist houses and the amazing pictures of people proudly holding up their mason jar with a year’s worth of trash.

That won’t be me.

For starters, my kids are at a diapering age. Even though my first-born is potty trained and I cloth diaper my 1 year old, they still wear overnight disposable diapers. I tried the cloth diapers over night, but bigger bladders plus sleeping through the night, means wetness. Call me crazy, but I hate the idea of my kids sleeping in wet, urine soaked pajamas all night. So disposables it is. (I will admit that if my first-born does NOT pee in his overnight pull-up, I reuse it.) That’s 14 diapers a week. WAY more than a mason jar.

Every single floor in my house is littered with WAY too many plastic toys. We have no intention of becoming vegan or vegetarian or minimalist in any way. We have so much junk in our house that usually when company comes over, there’s the mad scramble to hide it in the basement or in one closed off bedroom and pretend our house is clutter-free all the time. Come on, you all know what I’m talking about. I realize that we will not be perfect role models in this venture.

But we can still be role models.

I’ve realized as I’ve entered adulthood that I have a certain amount of perfectionism. Life was so much better when I lived in a state of caring only to achieve mediocrity. But now when I believe in something, I go all in whether it’s teaching struggling readers to read or trying to cut out waste. I often feel crushed if things fall short of my expectations. So it’s hard for me to accept doing anything less than perfect. Have I mentioned the words panic and anxiety yet? I currently have both of those. I feel by telling people I’m going zero waste that people will be watching me SO closely – ready to point out any waste I make and delighting in that imperfection. So I have to recognize, I will not be perfect and that may happen. My household will not be perfect. I can’t let my fear of imperfection stop me from taking any and all steps possible. Nor can I let any of these fears stop me:

1. I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!! I work FULL TIME! I get up at 5:30, get my family ready, and go to an over-worked, under-paid, high stress job all day! I don’t get home until after 5 and I also enjoy running ridiculously long distances to help me to handle my over-worked, under-paid, high stress job. I have 2 small children who are at the snuggle and giggle stage and I don’t want to miss it! I don’t have time to be making my own food from scratch to eliminate plastic waste! (My husband keeps joking that he needs to buy me a butter churn since I’m going all pioneer.) I don’t have time to go to MULTIPLE grocery stores to acquire my food and products in its most waste-free packaging! There’s a REASON most people buy wasteful products – they’re FREAKIN’ convenient!

But then I drive around and I notice all the plastic bags stuck in trees  (I counted 30+ plastic bags in fields/trees today on a 15 minute drive)  and all the single use plastic drink bottles on the side of the road.  And I think of the fact that organic content (think an apple core)  doesn’t breakdown in a landfill.  And I realize we can do better.

2. Some of my favorite products are going to be hard to replace. I like my Sonicare toothbrush. I am addicted to Burt’s Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm and literally bought 50+ tubes of it one day when it was on sale. (50 tubes that are now in a landfill.) Deodorant…I am dreading a deodorant switch. Foundation makeup too.

But then I look at this jar in my bathroom and I realize that the contents of this jar will be on Earth  looooooong after I am gone, and my kids are gone, and their kids are gone…

3. Money. I am a teacher. I am underpaid. A lot of this zero waste, health-food store, plastic free stuff is expensive!

But then I think that maybe this will inspire me to be less wasteful in how I spend my money and save money in the long run.  Plus, isn’t it worth paying a little more and putting in more effort to make sure the Earth is in good shape for my kids and grandkids?  And the cute baby otters?

4. Putting myself out there. I’m outgoing and generally not shy. At the same time, I have anxiety and overthink things. I don’t want to be “that girl” on social media; the person pushing an agenda. Ok, that’s a lie – I totally want to push agendas because I am right about everything.  🙂 I try NOT to because everyone has to live their own life. Also, I do NOT have time to maintain a blog (see #1).

But then I think that waste is not just a ME issue, this is an US issue. And if I can inspire just one person to decline a plastic bag or buy a menstrual cup by over-sharing and being “that girl” on social media, then it is worth any embarrassment I may feel.

5. Clothes. I have plenty of clothes. I’ve actually decided I’m not going to focus on clothes this year. My goal is that if I acquire any clothes this year that they are secondhand, made of natural materials that would breakdown (so no more nylon or polyester), or support a good cause (including allowing me to run because I am in serious need of some new sports bras…pretty sure I still have sports bras from high school…(see #4)).

6. My kids and husband. I’m not saying they won’t be supportive and better off from all of this, but I also don’t want to deprive my family to the point where they resent me and become super-villains. That would suck.

7. Amazon. Cutting back on Amazon purchases. ‘Nuff said. (See inspirational portion for #3.)

Time to face the fears. The time to change is now.

I have looked into so many things about going zero waste that I didn’t know where to start. I have so many ideas and plans! Of course, my initial reaction was, “Oh crap – now I have to go buy all new stuff…” But that would be wasteful. So, I’ve decided that I will finish up using all my stockpiles of supplies (or start incorporating easy changes to make sure I like them and they’re feasible for my family).

But the FIRST thing I did – since my true panic and obsession over this began over the Christmas holiday while I was away from home – was to contact some of my favorite companies as well as my state and national elected officials to ask them their environmental action plans to make their products more sustainable and reduce the creation of new plastics/landfill waste.

It’s been interesting to see which companies have responded and their response. For example, within hours Starbucks had responded about how they’re attempting to reduce plastic use, make their products recyclable and set up recycling stations within their stores (but it depends on the individual owners/locations), how they’re trying to make an entirely plant-based cup so that they’ll be compostable, and their incentive program to encourage people to bring a reusable cup (10 cents off your order. Personally, I think it should be more). Other companies, such as Cover Girl, sent me a response days later thanking me for my inquiry and that they’ll forward my thoughts to the appropriate department. I emailed back and asked if I would then hear from the “appropriate department” and I have not heard back.

I’ve noticed that the companies that seem to have an environmental action plan were able to respond quickly and direct me to a website link outlining their plans. Other companies, such as Bath & Body Works (full of one-use plastic packaging), I have yet to hear from.

(I also have yet to hear back from any elected official in Ohio or at the federal level, but it’s Christmas and there’s a government shut-down so I’ll give them a little bit more time.)

Because let’s face it – it is very challenging for consumers to make the changes. Not impossible – but it’s definitely not as convenient as throw away plastic. Which is why we have SO MUCH THROW AWAY PLASTIC. The only way for things to truly change is for things to change at the top.

It would be AMAZING if our government would care more and incentivize corporations to make their products and packaging more sustainable. We elect these people to power and they need to use that power for positive change. And they won’t initiate that change until we make enough noise. It would be great if corporations would incentivize their consumers to reuse products (say refill a shampoo bottle). It would be AMAZING if more every day grocery stores would provide food in bulk and refill stations. And their products in plastic free packaging.

But they won’t change until we ask for it. And use it. Repeatedly.

So get out there and make some noise! Email your product manufacturers and tell them you’d like to hear their environmental action plan. Ask them what they’re doing to reduce plastic use and create a more sustainable future. Make some noise – it’s an EASY way to start taking your own steps towards zero waste and a sustainable future.

Hi, my name is Julie and my house is filled with plastic.

(“Hi, Julie” – obligatory response)

It’s the end of 2018 and I have been panicked, to put it mildly. It started with a 60 Minutes segment on plastic. My husband called me into the room because he thought it was going to be an inspiring story about people trying to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Island thing. And while it was inspiring in many regards, it had the opposite affect on me.

I panicked. And started obsessing over it.  

They showed pictures of plastic in the ocean – sea creatures with plastic things they shouldn’t even know exist – and found the most remote island in the Pacific and all the plastic that has washed up on shore. And dead bird carcasses that died with bellies full of plastic. For me, the picture that sticks in my memory is the scientist holding up a handful of used plastic toothbrushes that drifted there.

I feel as if I just woke up from the Matrix. (Did I use that reference correctly? Eh, I don’t care…)

I’ve always been quite proud of myself because at my house, we produce very little garbage that goes in the trash. We don’t even pay for trash pick-up – I take our one small bag of garbage a week to my parents house and combine it with theirs. We recycle EVERYTHING we can, we compost (we are not picky composters either), we use reusable materials – I even cloth diaper and cloth wipe my children. There should be a nice white fluffy cloud reserved for us in heaven, right? Right beside the chocolate fountain and the cute rollicking pandas and otters.

As I was obsessing and rambling on and on about how to reduce our purchasing of plastic, I can’t remember the exact conversation, but my husband said to me, “Well, yeah – Reduce Reuse Recycle – in that order.”

In. That. Order.

I stopped and looked at him with that look. That dumbfounded look where I’m pretty sure light was shining out of every orifice in my head because a giant lightbulb just turned on in my brain.

(I hope it was LED)

Was this one of my adult learning gaps??? You know, the information you find out in adulthood and you never knew you never knew and you feel stupid for NEVER KNOWING? (Know what I’m talking about?)

I honestly didn’t know those were listed in order of PRIORITY. Reflecting on his comment made me realize that I had personally always emphasized the RECYCLE part of it. You know…save the best for last…

But really, recycling should be our LAST step.

You should see our recycling. We have multiple LARGE garbage cans in our garage that we fill quickly and drive to our local recycling center (for anyone in Hartville, that’s on Midway or at the Flea Market). The majority of that is SINGLE. USE. PLASTIC. The majority was produced NEW for sale. Most of it isn’t made from recycled plastic. Plastic is permanent. So ALL OF THAT PLASTIC will be around forever now, whether it’s intact and remade into new products or filling a landfill somewhere. Or if it’s broken into microplastics and filling our oceans and soil. Permanent.

So, this is about my journey to try to turn my panic into positive progress. To try to REDUCE my family’s trash and our use of new plastics. I don’t expect perfection and I know that our trash will not be reduced to the point where it will be able to fit in a mason jar by the end of the year, but I’m hoping for positive progress.

This is just us, open and honest.

Because the time to change is now.

(….Actually…it was about 50 years ago, but now is all we have).