Tag: Zero Waste Changes

Toddler Lunches

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. 

Thank you again for reaching out to us!

Best regards,

Tina
PepsiCo Consumer Relations

Got Milk?

If you’ve been reading and remembering (I can’t blame you if you haven’t been doing either…), you’ll remember me complaining musing early on that I thought the only way to get plastic free milk was if I bought a cow.

I had a friend in Ohio tell me via Facebook that at their grocery store, they can buy milk in glass jars from an Ohio-based dairy, Hartzler Farms. When you’re done with them, you return them to the store and Hartzler reuses them. I was so jealous and lamented that I wished we had that in my area!

….But apparently, I just needed to open my freakin’ eyes….

I sent my husband to the grocery store and he texted me this picture of Hartzler milk in glass jars in the grocery store 5 minutes from my house. WE NEVER KNEW! Or rather, we never paid attention.


If this milk isn’t a symbol of this zero waste journey for me, I don’t know what is.

I am realizing that I have just never paid attention to the things I have been using. And I’m so thankful to those who have already taken this on and posted about it because they are helping me to open my eyes.

Anyhow, if you are paying close attention (teacher kudos!), you’ll have noticed the price tag on these sweet babies – $5 a pop in comparison to the $2 on milk in a single-use plastic jug. Yeah….not exactly what this cheapskate likes to think about.

Keeping in mind, when you bring the glass milk jugs back to the grocery store (the Giant Eagle service desk in our case), you get your $2 deposit for each glass jar back. In cash! But, you’re still paying $1 more for only half a gallon. Yikes.

…but let’s come back to that later….

On the Hartzler Dairy website, they explain in detail why many people with milk allergies or lactose intolerance can drink their milk. It’s non-homogenized which apparently means better nutrient delivery in your body. They Low-temperature Vat Pasteurize their milk so that it’s safe according to the US Food and Drug Administration, but it doesn’t kill all the good stuff in addition to the bacteria. Also, as noted on their bottles, they don’t use chemical pesticides and herbicides on their farm.

Because of this, it tastes different.

I’m not a big milk drinker because it previously upset my stomach. I found the hormonal fluctuation of my pregnancies helped me to tolerate milk better now than I could during college and in my 20’s. I used to not eat cereal for many years because I didn’t want a stomachache, but when I was pregnant I was able to have cereal and ice cream again.

When my husband brought it home that night, after playing Christopher Columbus and “discovering” what was already there, I tried it.

I honestly don’t know how to describe the taste of it…it tastes like cow? No, that’s no good – I’ve never licked a cow to know for sure. It’s just…different. My mom was raised on a dairy farm (Hi, Mom!) and I need to get her over here to try it so she can tell me if it’s more “natural”.

When I tried it, I immediately had the crushing thought that my kids were going to hate it and refuse to drink it. Here, I find a PERFECT, nearby solution for milk in plastic jugs and my kids are going to hate the taste.

They haven’t noticed a difference. They still suck it down like crazy. Not a SINGLE word about it.

It’s just me and my husband who are kinda like…eh, we miss the taste of milk that we’ve grown up with. But, we’re getting old and set in our ways.

HOWEVER, we’ve discussed it and agreed that it’s better milk for our kids (have you read about the effects of growth hormones in milk?), it’s better for the environment, and I really like supporting a local dairy with these kinds of values – even if we’re paying a little more.

I think we agreed….did we agree? In my mind we agreed….

At the top of the milk is usually a cream plug that you can break apart, then shake up into the milk, or on their website they recommend putting it in coffee. I put some in my tea that I’m drinking right now. For the record, their milk in a cup of tea has no noticeable difference. I notice it when you drink it straight.

We’re on our 3rd round of the Hartzler milk “loop” and it’s been noticeable that our plastic recycling is much, much less without the plastic milk jugs in it. It was a HUGE reduction, probably because we don’t flatten out the plastic milk jugs when they were empty and those puppies were big.

The glass jugs do have plastic lids that so far I’ve returned with the glass bottles. There is also a pull-away-plastic-sealing-band-thing on them too, but I’m saving those in a jar to send off to Terracycle.

Now if only I could find cheese and chips in something not plastic. 🙂

Monday Input

There’s not really a “focus” for this post. It’s late, I’m tired, and I just want to journal style this one.

First of all, I’m not professing to be original in any way in this zero waste journey. I’m flat out copying others and implementing the changes in my life.

Taking the time to write it out in a blog is really just a way to keep me accountable to a goal I want to follow through on and to see if I can inspire anyone else to make even the smallest change. Nothing else.

But again, I must mention, one of the things I’m really enjoying is that as I type out random strings of consciousness in my evenings about my attempts (and often failures) at trying to become more green and go zero waste, is that people often problem-solve for me. It’s kinda really nice.

I had a friend today text me a variety of places that I could find applesauce packaged not in plastic including glass jars of applesauce at Target and a 6 pound aluminum can of applesauce available on Amazon, you know – school lunch style. Or camp food style. We’re talking serious bulk here.

Anyways, we may give the 6 pound aluminum can of applesauce a go and freeze whatever we aren’t using in the moment. I never would have thought of looking on Amazon for buying applesauce in bulk. You know who you are – thanks!

Also, FYI it sounds like the reusable pouches become a breeding ground for mold. Just like all the plastic kid bath toys that squirt “water”…..until they’re full of mold. And yes, I’m still bitter about all of those bath toys. Seriously, the best kid bath toys are measuring cups, funnels, and sieves from the kitchen.

Ok, but here is the “real” issue I want to bring up tonight. So far this year, I’ve encountered one family birthday and it was super easy to be zero waste with an Amazon gift card emailed to the person. But zero waste gift giving has been on my mind a lot.

I don’t give my kids presents for Valentine’s Day and opt instead for an “experience”. But my 3 year old will be turning 4 soon and shortly after, it will be Easter. I’ve been thinking a lot about both his birthday and filling those Easter baskets.

First of all, my kids are young and I am cheap. Frugal? Which one sounds less insulting? I have little stuffed bunnies and ducks that were given to my kids previously that I put in their baskets each year to take up space make their baskets look festive. I plan to reuse them forever.

I already have the plastic Easter basket grass that I will reuse, hopefully, forever. I already, also have a giant cache of plastic Easter Eggs. It seems to grow every year as if the Easter Bunny is trapped in my Easter storage bin and laying eggs. There are LOADS of alternatives to plastic Easter basket grass and even plastic Easter Eggs. I had a cousin who sent me a really cute felt alternative to plastic Easter Eggs with a pocket that you can stuff with candy or money or whatever other goodies. (I can’t find the picture – it’s late, I’m not searching.)

I’m sure closer to Easter when I’m scrambling for ideas for blog posts that I will run through all those alternatives. Like I came up with the ideas all on my own. 🙂 And I may try to sew those felt Easter Eggs with a pocket just for fun if I get the time. For the sake of Science.

I have some ideas for their baskets this year including stuffing plastic eggs with coins and/or bulk candy, bulk candy in a small glass jar, maybe some silk play scarves, a Lush bath bomb.

I’ve looked online but I’m hoping by me posting this now, a few months in advance, that I will get some great suggestions from people out there in internet land that I can steal and claim as my own respectfully use and give credit where it’s due.

Actually, for Christmas I gave my one year old these egg matching toys:

They’re plastic (wop wop), but you open them and match their shapes and colors to connect them. My 3 year old likes to set them up as a matching game to play, allowing me and my husband to easily win since you can see the colors when they’re open. My 1 year old likes dunking them in glasses of water left on nightstands and throwing them at me.

I may very well just put those in his Easter basket to take up space make his basket look more festive.

Anyways, if there’s any good ideas out there…this tired, unoriginal mama will take ’em!

I also got my safety razor in the mail today. I am both excited and scared. I’ll write a post as soon as I take it for a test drive.

It’s past my bedtime and the bread in my bread machine is baking and giving off all sorts of good smells, so I’m signing off before I go eat the entire loaf. Night…

The Secret’s in the Sauce

One of the things that I wanted to target early on in this zero waste process is our consumption of applesauce pouches by my kids.

Applesauce pouches, for me, are a hard thing to give up with toddlers. They are so gosh darn convenient! I worked extremely hard at training both of my boys to suck liquid food material out those pouches so I wouldn’t have to spoon feed them anymore.

It’s purely selfish motives! Just untwist the lid, hand it over, and be done.

Plus my kids liked to play with the lids.

In general, they tend to be less messy than spoon feeding baby food or applesauce. However, it seems like whenever we would do a long journey in the minivan and I would give them to my kids for convenient, on-the-go eating, that would be the time that they decide they want to squeeze the pouch and make an applesauce geyser in the minivan. Just…all over the place.

There was one such infamous journey out of state for Christmas 2 years ago that coated me, my hair, my clothes…with oatmeal, raspberry yogurt. TO THIS DAY, I’m still finding splotches of it even though I’ve cleaned it multiple times.

But the pouches aren’t recyclable because they’re that “fun” plastic foil hybrid. It’s one of the biggest contributors to our trash and we would hand them out in a similar fashion to fruit snacks.

Whiney kids + food = quiet time for parents

And if I’m really evaluating my motives and judging myself, these actions on my part were lazy and self-serving.

I would hand them out to keep my kids quiet, it would spoil their dinner, and not train them to eat the good things we were making for dinner. And about an hour after dinner, they’d be hungry again and it would be fruit snacks or an applesauce pouch to tide them over.

I talked to my husband and we have stopped relying on fruit snacks and applesauce pouches to quiet our kids. And for the most part, they’ve stopped asking because they know they won’t get them now. (Actually, now they ask for a slice of bread.) We still have some fruit snacks and we still have some applesauce pouches, but we’re not handing them out like Halloween candy.

Way to reduce, Julie! (*pat on back*)

We’ve transitioned to eating applesauce in bowls at mealtime. With a spoon. I know, crazy idea, right?

Or in the case of my 19 month old, holding the spoon and shoveling the applesauce into your mouth with your other hand while getting it all over the place. If I wasn’t making a concerted effort to keep my kids off of this blog, I would post a picture of my kids with applesauce everywhere. I don’t think I need the picture – you can picture it in your head!

That’s the trade off, though. But to me with my new mindset, washing clothes and giving baths is better than sending the packets to a landfill.

Change your mindset, change your life. Change your mindset, change the world.

In an attempt to prevent myself from buying applesauce in plastic jars, I, of course, attempted to make my own. I bought a bunch of apples, got out my trusty apple peeler/corer/slicer tool, and I found a recipe on Pinterest to make applesauce in my Instant Pot. Because I thought that would be simple.

It was a lot of work.

Aaaaaaand my applesauce was terrible.

How do you mess up applesauce??? you may be asking. It takes a lot of talent. 🙂

I’ve noticed with my Instant Pot that whatever I cooked last tends to leave a lingering aroma….taste…..in the Instant Pot. So even though the first bite of applesauce has all the sweet and cinnamoney taste of applesauce, it’s bad afterwards. My kids and husband wouldn’t eat it. Heck, I didn’t like eating it.

Plus, out of ALL the apples that we peeled, cored, and sliced – it made like 4 measly mason jars. I thought I was going to get A LOT and be able to freeze it and maybe only have to make applesauce once a month. No such luck.

We’ve gone back to buying applesauce and we haven’t found it in a glass jar yet, so we’re buying it in plastic jars and recycling it all. Not my ideal solution, but baby steps.

And I haven’t given up on making my own quite yet. Now that I failed miserably at something that should be simple, I MUST conquer it! I shall find the secret to this sauce!!!

Just not this weekend. …..Or next….

I have enjoyed pouches so much for my kids that my first thought was to save the pouches I currently have and refill them. With a leftover baby-medicine syringe thing. Thankfully, my husband talked me off that crazy ledge. And I can now recognize how silly that thought is. I’m saving all my current pouches, cleaning them, and have plans to mail them off to Terracycle once we go through them all.

I’ve also had the thought that I would like to get the reusable baby food pouches so that I can still have those as an option for days that we pack lunches and go to the zoo etc. Pouches like these:

And I’m KICKING myself because I KNOW I had at least one that was given to me with my first child, but I think I got rid of it because: “why would I ever need this???? I would never make my own baby food/applesauce because they’re so cheap to buy….” (if you didn’t read that in a whiney adult voice, please go back and re-read it in that manner…)

My, how the times have changed.

But right now, I’m having a really hard time justifying buying new things made of plastic. I still haven’t worked up the nerve to buy a plastic replacement lid for my “Juice in the Box” juice box (even though I think I’m eventually going to). I even searched on eBay to see if I could find some used pouches, but they all seemed to be brand new from China. So right now, I’m filling little tupperware bowls with applesauce and my plan is to search at thrift stores and at yard sales to see if I can find some used, reusable pouches.

We’ve had a lot of snow and bad weather here recently, but I’m hoping either today or later this week to venture South of here to check out what may be some good possible bulk stores to help with zero waste grocery shopping. I’ve also ordered a double-edged safety razor to replace my 3-blade, overly pink, disposable razors that I’ve always used. Should be interesting. 🙂

Oil Cleansing Method

I’ve been using zero waste face wash for years. I didn’t even know it was zero waste since I really only learned about the zero waste movement about a month ago.

I was just looking for any face wash that would improve my skin.

Full disclosure, my skin is horrible so I am by no means anyone who should be doling out skin care advice. I have acne scars and rosacea (facial redness) which I’ve probably always had, but to me my pregnancies seemed to really bring it on. I remember thinking in my second pregnancy that I looked like a bright red tomato the entire time. It never seemed to go away though which made me sad but whatever. Everyone has problems, mine are very minor in comparison to many others, so I don’t let it bother me. Still, these are the facts.

I also get random hives which I’m sure means I have some undiagnosed food allergy or leaky gut or something. I feel like I should go find out, but that takes time and effort and stuff.

With my terrible skin, I’ve always searched for good face washes. I’ve tried so many and it always seemed like they dried out my face with it still being super oily while doing nothing to prevent breakouts. Great…..

Then I heard about the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) and tried it. If you’re unfamiliar, instead of using a harsh facial wash full of chemicals, you use an oil because oil dissolves oil and keeps your skin nice and moisturized. It’s also a great make-up remover. It’s the best mascara remover that I’ve ever used.

Oh – and after I had been using it for a few years, I read that Zooey Deschanel also uses the OCM. If it’s good enough for Jessica Day, then it’s good enough for me.

The switch to the OCM from a commercial face wash, I feel, was one of my defining moments of becoming “crunchy”. I distinctly remember thinking it was SUPER WEIRD when I tried it for the first time! As a teenager, I had been bombarded with the message that OIL IS BAD FOR YOUR FACE. OIL causes PIMPLES. And here I was willingly smearing oil on my face.

It felt all wrong…

But, I did feel like it really improved my skin in my 20’s. I had fewer breakouts and in general my skin wasn’t dry and oily at the same time.

After my pregnancies with all the hormonal fluctuations…eh, I feel like my skin has been iffy again. But with the kids comes barely any time to dwell on it, so I think that’s a bonus….? 🙂

When I first started, I did a mixture of olive oil and castor oil, but I found that castor oil really dried out my skin and this mixture tended to build up in my wash rags.

Now I just use coconut oil. I get a little on my fingers, rub it all around, and wipe off the oil (and makeup) with a warm, wet wash rag. And the coconut oil comes in a glass jar that you can reuse or recycle.

I recently had a friend say that she ran out of face wash and decided to make her own out of coconut oil, baking soda, and honey. It sounds interesting and I’d like to give it a try, but I will probably be lazy and stick with what I know.

Update: Last weekend, my sister and I put in an order from Elate Cosmetics. Since we combined our order, it was sent to her house but it arrived today and she texted me pictures. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Some of their cosmetics come packaged in flower seed paper that you plant and grow pretty flowers (love it!).

I ordered loose powder and foundation samples and although the large sizes come in recyclable glass jars, the samples come in recyclable plastic. But the company did email to let us know that and asked if we still wanted them. I did, so I could test drive them. For the sake of Science.

There is a small part of me that wonders if a transition to “clean” make-up (and possibly eating better, since most junk food is packaged in plastic) will make a difference with my rosacea. But I’m not getting my hopes up; online articles about pregnancy-induced rosacea say it’s permanent.

I’ve also emailed Elate twice about their products and they are quick to respond and ridiculously nice. If my new mascara from Etsy doesn’t work out, I’ll be trying out Elate’s mascara next (it’s $28…that’s pricey for me for mascara).

Here’s a copy of their email response regarding their mascara packaging. I was super impressed at the detail of their response as well as how they passed along information on what to do with your old mascara wands to help cute baby animals:

Hi Julia,
Thank you so much for getting in touch! Our mascara tubes are made of a recyclable plastic inner tube, wrapped in water treated bamboo. The bamboo can be crushed off of the tube and composted before thoroughly washing out and recycling the rest of the tube. I usually use a mixture of 70% rubbing alcohol and dish soap, or make up remover, to rinse out my tube and use the brush to help get everything out 🙂 We’ve also recently been made aware of a very cool initiative for repurposing mascara wands, as they can be the hardest part to properly recycle. You can send your old mascara wands (cleaned and dried) to an organization called Project Wild Wands. They reuse clean mascara wands to assist with cleaning up animals after they’ve been rescued (the tiny bristles are good for cleaning out fly eggs and larvae, but also work to clean small animals after oil spills). You can find out more about Project Wild Wands on their Facebook page.If you’re located in the US, you can donate wands to Project Wild Wands, which is run through the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina.

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions!

Kind Regards,

I’m really hoping I like their products because they sound like an amazing company that I would like to support in their efforts.

Terracycle’s Loop

I’ve realized that I may have to treat Wednesday and Thursday as my “blog” weekend. Posts are just not working out for me midweek while I’m teaching.

School tends to make me feel rotten and my brain feel like mush. This week was no exception. So I just want to share some positive things I learned about this week because there’s way too much negativity out there this week for me.

When I panicked about truly realized the impact of disposable packaging and more specifically, the fact that I would have to give up some of my favorite products, I started googling to find out whether or not some of my products were recyclable. It was then that I found Terracycle.

Terracycle is a company that from the sounds of it, have figured out how to recycle ALL types of plastic. Even all those plastics that I thought couldn’t be recycled and I had been throwing in the trash. Terracycle will accept your plastics and recycle them fully. (They can recycle old plastic toys, cigarette butts, bras, clothes…it sounds amazing and if it’s this legit, in my mind it needs to become more of a “thing” in our society.)

I thought all my prayers had been answered.

I didn’t have to give up my Burt’s Bees! I could still use Crest toothpaste and my plastic toothbrushes! Applesauce pouches for my kids were no longer a concern!

And then I thought about it. Like really thought about it…

I don’t want to save all my trash and put it in the mail! That is not a realistic solution long-term! I’ve actually been saving some of our non-recyclable things in my basement while we phase into other solutions. It’s super annoying!

(Side Note: Every time I’m annoyed by the growing pile in my basement and I think, “Ugh – this sucks! Just throw it out, Julie!” I remember that by throwing it out, I’m just passing that annoyance on to Mother Earth. And she can’t tell me how annoyed she is by my trash…and the other 7.5 billion people’s trash…)

I realized I had to find different solutions for me and my family. Especially since only some of the Terracycle programs are free; others cost per box. Still, I love what they’re doing and I am SO happy they’re out there doin’ what they’re doin’.

That love was upped in a big way this week.

Did anyone see the news on Loop??? If not, you have to read this article, or google it and read about it for yourself.

My minimal understanding of Loop is that Loop is a new Terracycle program that involves sustainable, refillable packaging from some of the more popular, commercial brands. Crest mouthwash in a glass bottle. Axe deodorant. Food products that I know and enjoy. 

My understanding is, you order on the Loop website, it’s delivered in a sustainable Loop Tote. Once you’re finished with a product, you return the containers in the Loop Tote and receive more. (Do you see the Loop there?) It’s like the Milk Man on steroids.

!!!!!!!

You guys…I’m convinced it’s because of all the emails I wrote.

You know, all the ones I wrote barely a month ago. It’s clear that they’ve been working extremely hard on getting this up and running in less than a month, based on my urging to phase out single use plastics. 🙂 (I really need a win…)

I really want Dorito’s to join Loop. So bad. Perhaps all they need is an email from me…

I’m so happy that even though I’m sure Loop won’t be available in my area for many years, it feels like the tides are turning. And I feel it’s about time product manufacturers take some responsibility to slow down and reverse the plastic problem we’re in.

Another positive this week is that in my school building, our Student Leaders, under the wonderful leadership of a fellow teacher, have teamed up with Crayola for their Color Cycle program. Which means we can now recycle markers at my school.

All smiles from this girl when that email came through. 🙂

I also woman-ed up this past Tuesday and I called Duma’s Meats (my local butcher) to clarify the mixed signals I had been getting. After an awkward, rambling 17 minute conversation, things were explained and the floor manager said she totally understood where I’m coming from and would tell the workers to watch for me and my reusable containers.

Most establishments tend to remember their weird, slightly psycho patrons…..at least I’ll be memorable...

She also said that she lives in the country and sends nothing to a landfill and now I want to study under her tutelage.

3 positives that helped me through my work week. I hope more continue to show up.

And now I’m off to contact Dorito’s about their packaging…

(And in case you’re wondering…I did contact Terracycle and I believe that although certain “types” of recyclables are “sponsored” by one brand or another, that they’ll accept similar products of different brands.)

Update: Had to add this link about the European Union banning single use plastics!

Croutons

I used to work at several different camps, and despite the bad reputation of camp food, I still have several recipes that I use all the time. I learned about making croutons from one of my camps and I used to make them all the time.

However, with food being so inexpensive at Aldi (this package is like a buck) and having kids (aka no more free time), it was one of those things that stopped. But you’ll notice on the back of the Aldi package their clear description that the containers are not recyclable. In fact, they’re that weird plastic foil hybrid that unfortunately, a lot of food comes in and they’re not recyclable. Wop Wop….

Plus, check out all those ingredients for croutons! I don’t know all the bad chemicals, but I feel pretty good that there are some bad guys in the mix there. It also make sense to make croutons so you don’t get wasted bread, you know, the stuff that may get forgotten in your pantry and turn moldy as I so recently confessed happens to us A LOT every so often…what…stop judging….

You can use any old, non-moldy bread. Here I am slicing up some hot dog buns that weren’t going to be used:



The next part is my favorite part. You let the bread pieces sit out. In a bowl. For a long time. Until the bread is dried out and you have time to bake them.

I guess I shouldn’t say it’s my favorite, because no one likes to have a bowl of bread cubes on their counter taking up space and silently judging them.

But it’s my favorite because I don’t have to follow through right away. I can literally let them sit out for weeks, until I have time to deal with them or when I already have the oven on for some other meal since it doesn’t take long to bake these puppies.

To make them, I just mix in some oil of your choice (I’ve used vegetable, olive, canola….whatever we have on hand) and season them. I like to use basil and garlic powder. I will say….I put on A LOT of seasoning. As in, I think I’ve put on too much, but I put on more and then while eating them, I usually wish they had more seasoning on them. But I think it’s something you figure out as you make more and more batches.

Bake them in the oven on a tray at 350 Fahrenheit, stirring them occasionally until they’re a nice golden brown or however you like them.

I’d like to experiment with new flavors especially once I figure out what addictive drug Outback Steakhouse puts on their croutons Outback Steakhouse’s crouton recipe.  But I am a boring creature of habit and have always done garlic and basil.

And my family loves them! I told my husband I was going to make croutons again and he literally whooped. When I looked at him and he said, “What? I really like your croutons.” And while my kids do occasionally eat salad, they tend to ask for the croutons out of our salads (salad is our preferred way to get our veggies) and I then sneak them pieces of lettuce or other veggies too.

Anyways, it’s a small thing, but an easy way to use up the tail end of your bread and keep a plastic/foil hybrid wrapper out of a landfill. Win Win!

No Loafing Around

One thing that I’ve wanted to do for a long time is make my own bread. We’ve had a bread machine in our basement, on a top shelf in a back corner corner for years.

It was my husband’s in college. Sometimes I like to daydream about him back in college being all cute with a bread machine in his dorm. I don’t know how he got out of college without a serious girlfriend because I totally would have fallen for a cute guy with freshly baked Sweet Hawaiian Bread.

All I wanted in college was a cute guy and carbs. And in high school for that matter. …and after college… I mean, I love my husband, but Ryan Gosling could still easily lure me away with some hot, fresh rolls.

Actually…….sigh……….he wouldn’t need the rolls……

But, uh….so….looking into zero waste options in my area has been the push I need to dig out the bread machine, dust it off, and fire it up.

We typically have so many varieties of bread at one time in our house, that (I’m ashamed to admit), it is not uncommon to find a bread bag with 1 or 2 slices that have gone incredibly moldy, like this one:

I thought it would be nice to get rid of my run-ins with moldy bread.

The first time I made bread a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a really fun activity to share with my toddler. Like most tasks being done with small children, you soon realize how much faster it would it go if you didn’t have a toddler “helping” you by slowing everything down.

The bread got made, it was super fun to watch it being kneaded, and the smells were AMAZING!

Baking bread is one of my most favorite smells ever.

I told my sister that I was making bread, and within a week – I had her old bread machine too. My first loaf in her fancy machine was a failure.

But I learned from my mistakes and I have had several successes since then:

I’ve been making Amish Sweet Bread, using the bread machine recipe from AllRecipes.com. All I have to do is measure out the ingredients, press start, and within a few hours, my house smells like a Subway delicious!

Not only has it prevented us from buying a loaf of bread in a plastic bag every week, it’s replaced my breakfast. I used to have an English muffin and a banana (or apple) for breakfast each morning with a glass of orange juice or kefir, but now I’ve been having 2 slices of homemade “toast” bread with a banana and water. Which saves on 2 plastic bags and the calories the plastic from orange juice or kefir containers.

I realize not everyone has a bread machine (or two!) sitting around and I hope that for me and my family it’s sustainable over time. I’ll report back if it’s not. So far, it hasn’t been bad to measure out the ingredients and my family has really seemed to enjoy the bread so far. But bread machines are not uncommon to see at thrift stores if anyone is interested in making their own bread and doesn’t want to buy

I also have it in my mind to try to make french peasant bread at some point, because it’s no-knead and it’s one of my favorite breads. But it’s going to take more time and energy that just putting ingredients into a bread machine, so that’ll happen later….if at all.

Don’t ask me what I’m going to do about burger and hot dog buns once grilling season hits…still mulling that one over if anyone has any thoughts on how to get those plastic free.

Zero Smells

You have no idea how nervous zero waste deodorant has made me.

Trying to looking on the positive side of my anxiety, I have now typed ‘deodorant’ so many times that I can now spell it correctly. 🙂 Apparently, I didn’t know before…

A little background. I am a sweaty beast. I started wearing deodorant in 2nd grade. SECOND GRADE! I was super sweaty, and therefore super smelly. I have tried just about every deodorant out there – both female and male deodorants, natural to heavy-duty and most in between. I’m very picky about deodorant.

Everyone has their “thing” – deodorant is mine. Recently I was telling a friend about my Lush shampoo bar and she was like, “ooooh….I’m super picky about my shampoo…yeah….I don’t mess with my hair…..yeah….couldn’t do that”

That’s how I feel about deodorant.

But, when I think about all the bad things in deodorant, (aluminum – linked to Alzheimer’s among many others) AND the fact that I’ve been wearing it since the 2nd grade, I can recognize it’s past time to change to something better-for-me (and the environment).

As long as I don’t become the smelly kid.

I knew I just needed to dive in and try something because there is serious potential for this to be a loooooooong search. When I started looking at things, I read a blog post from a zero waste someone that said it takes three weeks to “detox” from the toxins in commercial deodorants. That’s why most people don’t make the switch…..because you shouldn’t wear ANYTHING during those three weeks and if you switch right away, the natural stuff doesn’t work.

Three. Weeks. THREE. weeks. three weeks???

Who has that kind of time to detox from something that is kind of a social requirement??? I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to try this until the summer! When I am off of school for the summer, I would totally allow myself to be smelly for 3 weeks. For the sake of Science and zero waste.

However, when I found my zero waste lip balm I decided to go for it and ordered deodorant from the same shop, FreeWheelin’ Market on Etsy.

Goodies from the FreeWheelin’ Market. Burt’s Bees not included. You may remember that my order included a free (FREE!) beeswax wrap. It’s a nice touch.

I ordered the Tea Tree and Lavender Scent because I like both of those scents, and I know tea tree oil is known for its anti-bacterial properties, which I hoped would help with any funk.

Naturally, I waited for the weekend to try it. I wasn’t going to risk smelling bad at work.

So last weekend, when I went shopping with my sister, brother, and sister-in-law, it was the perfect opportunity to try it out. If there’s one thing I know, my siblings will be blunt honest with me. And, they’re pretty good about taking a big whiff not being bothered when I would continually stick my arm pit in their face and ask for an update:

Ah, siblings….that’s me wafting my smells towards my brother. He loves sister time.

Last weekend, no bad smells. At all. Just deodorant smells. So, I decided to take a chance and wear it to work on Monday, of course bringing along my usual commercial deodorant as a back-up.

This year, I teach 4th grade; a period of change and growth in so many ways. I teach 4th graders who have not yet had “the talk” about hygiene and “growing up stuff”. Therefore, there are some very potent kids in my classroom. We’re in that “transition” period of adolescence. It happens.

On Monday, I kept getting strong whiffs of B.O. and I would momentarily panic that it was me. I would then do that not-so-casual move where, when you turn to move in a different direction you not-so-discreetly drop your face low to your armpit and get a big sniff mid-turn. I did that A LOT on Monday. But every time, it wasn’t me! Huzzah!

My husband has also been very good about getting up in there and taking a sniff being honest about my smells at the end of the day. And all week long, there have been no negative reports! And I never reapplied during the day. Huzzah!

In fact, yesterday, as we were “snowed in” at home, I didn’t even put on deodorant in the morning and I feel like I didn’t smell as nearly as bad as I would have had I been wearing my commercial deodorant.

Am I mid-detox? Is this a legit thing? Or am I simply looking at things through rose-colored glasses smelling things through a rose-scented filter? Not sure.

One thing that is different for me, is this is just a deodorant, not an antiperspirant. My commercial deodorant was both.

It’s been awhile since I’ve actually sweated when not doing physical activity. This week, I would sweat when I was nervous, but other times I was completely dry. I had NO IDEA that I was having that kind of physiological reaction to stress.

I’m learning so much about myself!

It’s been one week with NO commercial, bad-for-me deodorant. I didn’t even take my commercial stuff with me to school by the end of the week.

Knowing me, I will probably save my commercial stuff for the summer just in case I have any issues, but if there are issues, I hope future Julie tries a different product first before running back to a commercial deodorant. But I have no idea what that girl will get up to; she has a mind of her own.

Another perk, is that in this one week, I have had no deodorant marks on my clothes. Previously, it was not uncommon for me to have white marks on my clothing, even though my mom has shown me time and again how to avoid that when I put on my shirt (Hi, mom!).

I do have some reservations.

First of all, I am nervous to rely on an Etsy shop for anything as important to me as deodorant. Lip balm, there’s plenty out there. Deodorant….super picky. I want consistency. What if the shop owner takes a break? Stops making deodorant altogether? Those are scary thoughts for me.

Second, it’ll be interesting to take this deodorant through a blazing hot, global warming Ohio summer. And running. Neither of those are happening right now, so we’re good.

Lastly, I’ve noticed it feels different when I shave my underarms since it’s more…I don’t know how to describe it….thick? Waxy? So I’m hoping there’s no build-up over time either on my clothes or my razor.

But I’ll post updates as time goes on. I also wrote the date on the bottom of both my lip balm and my deodorant to see how long they last me.

Updates: Since my travel plans were canceled this weekend, I naturally stayed home and ordered zero waste make-up. Like A LOT of zero waste make-up. Foundation samples, loose powder, eye shadows, and a liquid mascara to be exact. So stay tuned for some make-up updates. (I feel a little bad about rushing out and buying all this stuff right away, but I do have every intention of using up my previous products! But I really want to have a solid replacement before I run out so I don’t have to do all these experiments with no back-up.)

I’ve also been trying to look into freezer food storage without plastic and to start limiting my purchasing of over-processed foods pre-packaged in plastic. I’m trying to work up the nerve to call my local butcher this week to clarify their policies because, if you read my depressing post from last Thursday, I went to buy meat and I was denied using my containers. I’ve also been wanting to share some of my responses from companies and elected representatives about what they’re doing to reduce single-use plastics.

Ugh…

My week has stunk.

It started off on Monday with a district meeting at my school where we heard “the cut list” of positions that will be cut next year in order to balance the school budget. We haven’t passed a levy in 20+ years. As a special education teacher, my job is relatively safe but it completely and utterly stinks knowing that people in your work family will be losing their jobs. People that you know and care about and work tremendously hard at their jobs. Even if we do pass a levy before next year, people will be actively seeking new jobs and it makes me sad to think of them leaving. I’ve honestly been trying to not think about it too much, because it is so far out of my control. But it stinks. A lot.

In general it’s been a long week at school and I’m tired. Winter storm Harper is on its way and I had to cancel plans to go to Washington DC for the Women’s March, which I’ve been looking forward to for months.

So things haven’t been great and to top it all off, I went to Duma’s Meat Shop (our local butcher) to buy some ground beef and the girl denied me the chance to use my own containers. Even though I had called to ask about this previously and did it just last week.

Wop Wop.

I was really bothered by it – I think more so because I feel like it was a lack of communication on both sides. Having already had a successful (and awkward) experience there, I didn’t go into an in-depth explanation of what I was hoping for and my purpose because I didn’t anticipate any issues. And personally, I felt like when I was trying to clarify things that I was abruptly cut off.

The first time I went, I had my toddler with me which has made me wonder if I need to bring a small child with me every time. When you have a small child with you, you’re humanized and I feel like people respect you more as a woman. However, when a woman is by herself and asking for something, I feel like we get interpreted as “difficult” and well…a variety of expletive names that I won’t list because my mom is one of my four readers (Hi, Mom!).

So I’m disappointed. And not sure how to proceed. There are so many steps in going zero waste, that thinking you have something worked out (such as getting meat with reduced waste) and then it doesn’t work, it feels like a GIANT set-back. I may give them a call again. Just to be that girl and make myself no longer welcome at the butcher anymore. 🙂 I’m going to give it some time to make a thoughtful decision.

I keep trying to tell myself it’s early days still and I shouldn’t expect to have everything worked out yet. Zero waste is a looooong process of change. And I have to remind myself it’s OK to take it slow. There will be set-backs and weeks where I am wicked tired from work and kids and life.

And that’s OK. I just can’t let it stop me. Because I believe in what I’m trying to do and when you believe in something, you need to stick with it.

Change the World