My first attempt at zero waste shopping occurred yesterday. Maybe not an epic failure, but certainly not a success.
I had spent the morning making these nifty draw string bags out of old t-shirts and I couldn't wait to use them.
I chose to go to Whole Foods. I figured since I was trying to use less packaging they would be sensitive to that and have plenty of bulk options - they didn't. I made the mistake of going to the smaller Whole Foods that is closer to my house and on the bus route. They apparently specialize in packaged goods.
I got a handful of veggies there and went back to my home grocery store of King Soopers. Now they do have an impressive bulk section, but I realized that what I was searching for wasn't bulk items.
I promised my fiance lentil veggie tostadas for dinner which I knew wouldn't be ZERO waste, but I was hoping to only get packaging with the tostadas. As it turns out there is no "bulk cheese" option that I found at either store. I'm not a big cheese eater, but my fiance is and I don't think he's as gung-ho about this as I am :)
I also bought packaging with our toothpaste. I know eventually we will go to tooth powder, but we're just not ready yet. It is a process, after all. I also bought packaging with our toilet paper. I know Seventh Generation has a product wrapped in paper, but neither King Soopers or Whole Foods had it. I suppose I should have asked for it so my voice would have been heard, instead I just purchased the 12-roll in plastic and took the bus home without a word.
All in all I'm a little disheartened by this experience. It seems like if you want to buy anything other than grains or veggies then you'll have either make it yourself or drive all over town to the various specialty stores that carry bulk cheese/raw milk/etc. I'm not opposed to making things myself - I love that, in fact, but I work full time and don't always have the time to make my own yogurt or energy bars or whatever. I suppose that is part of the process, too.
Thank goodness farmers market season is gearing up!
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Friday, April 24, 2015
Awareness
Awareness. That is what I've been dedicating the last 2 days to. Simply being aware of when and how much I am creating waste is very eye opening. From that then I can take the next step to correcting the problem.
So far I have noticed that it will take a lot of foresight to decrease my waste. Today, for example, was a crazy busy day. I left the house at 9:30a and didn't get home until 9:30pm. Essentially all three meals were eaten out in a "to go" fashion, which I am not proud of, but you do what you have to do sometimes.
My day could have been less waste-filled if I had provided my own to-go tea mug, skipped the saran-wrapped scone and opted for another option (or brought breakfast from home - both restricted by time this morning) and planned ahead for lunch time options. Of course I was running late to my next obligation so I got Tokyo Joe's to-go and ate it while I drove (don't judge.). The plastic is recyclable, but as I'm learning, plastics only down-cycle and only do bad things. I did appreciate that the plastic packaging did encourage re-use and stated that it was dishwasher safe... unfortunately, I have no use for a re-purposed Tokyo Joe's container and I'm going to bet that I'm not the only one. Anyway, my one-purpose plastic bowl was served in a plastic bag (which I didn't think to refuse at the time, but will be re-purposed for dog poop at some point) and a plastic fork with 2 white paper napkins. It would not be inconceivable to carry a cloth napkin and a "camping style" metal spork option to eliminate waste from those simple but necessary tools. In fact I already own both of those things, it would just be a matter of having them with me at the right time. I only had time for half of my Tokyo Joe's bowl for lunch so I ate the rest for dinner. I went out with some friends for a whiskey which was served with a compostable cocktail napkin.
So obviously, not a very impressive day when it comes to decreasing waste.
I'm also realizing it will also take a lot of self control to decrease waste. I am addicted to this lifestyle. I love sugar and efficiency and potato chips. I know that my current lifestyle is not the healthiest lifestyle - although probably pretty average for an almost-30 year old American. But I do enjoy it. I also realized to do that I really enjoy CONSUMING. Shopping. Choosing. Buying. It's all so exciting, but not the most conscientious thing to do.
Just in the past two days I have noted multiple instances where a simple "no thank you" would decreased my waste for the day. No to the chocolate bar. No to the chai latte. No to the veggie straws. No to the cute vintage-style (most likely new wood) planter for the garden. None of those things make my body BETTER. They simply tickle my pleasure center in my brain to continue the addiction.
Not that I want to get into the habit of making excuses, but I do want to say that this week is maybe a little harder than others because we put our house on the market yesterday. As a result, everything needs to stay incredible clean and orderly for the various showings over the next few days making cooking at home difficult. That aside, its been incredibly helpful and eye opening to bring a little awareness into this corner of my life.
Simple successes:
I used my water bottle throughout the day.
I kept the left-over half of apple in a glass container
I always use my reusable lunch sack and glass tupperware for work lunches.
So far I have noticed that it will take a lot of foresight to decrease my waste. Today, for example, was a crazy busy day. I left the house at 9:30a and didn't get home until 9:30pm. Essentially all three meals were eaten out in a "to go" fashion, which I am not proud of, but you do what you have to do sometimes.
My day could have been less waste-filled if I had provided my own to-go tea mug, skipped the saran-wrapped scone and opted for another option (or brought breakfast from home - both restricted by time this morning) and planned ahead for lunch time options. Of course I was running late to my next obligation so I got Tokyo Joe's to-go and ate it while I drove (don't judge.). The plastic is recyclable, but as I'm learning, plastics only down-cycle and only do bad things. I did appreciate that the plastic packaging did encourage re-use and stated that it was dishwasher safe... unfortunately, I have no use for a re-purposed Tokyo Joe's container and I'm going to bet that I'm not the only one. Anyway, my one-purpose plastic bowl was served in a plastic bag (which I didn't think to refuse at the time, but will be re-purposed for dog poop at some point) and a plastic fork with 2 white paper napkins. It would not be inconceivable to carry a cloth napkin and a "camping style" metal spork option to eliminate waste from those simple but necessary tools. In fact I already own both of those things, it would just be a matter of having them with me at the right time. I only had time for half of my Tokyo Joe's bowl for lunch so I ate the rest for dinner. I went out with some friends for a whiskey which was served with a compostable cocktail napkin.
So obviously, not a very impressive day when it comes to decreasing waste.
I'm also realizing it will also take a lot of self control to decrease waste. I am addicted to this lifestyle. I love sugar and efficiency and potato chips. I know that my current lifestyle is not the healthiest lifestyle - although probably pretty average for an almost-30 year old American. But I do enjoy it. I also realized to do that I really enjoy CONSUMING. Shopping. Choosing. Buying. It's all so exciting, but not the most conscientious thing to do.
Just in the past two days I have noted multiple instances where a simple "no thank you" would decreased my waste for the day. No to the chocolate bar. No to the chai latte. No to the veggie straws. No to the cute vintage-style (most likely new wood) planter for the garden. None of those things make my body BETTER. They simply tickle my pleasure center in my brain to continue the addiction.
Not that I want to get into the habit of making excuses, but I do want to say that this week is maybe a little harder than others because we put our house on the market yesterday. As a result, everything needs to stay incredible clean and orderly for the various showings over the next few days making cooking at home difficult. That aside, its been incredibly helpful and eye opening to bring a little awareness into this corner of my life.
Simple successes:
I used my water bottle throughout the day.
I kept the left-over half of apple in a glass container
I always use my reusable lunch sack and glass tupperware for work lunches.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Earth Day 2015
My name is Melissa and I am just starting to grow my family. I am getting married in August and we are moving really soon to a house that will hopefully be home for the next half century or so. Currently my fiance and I are normal consuming Americans. We try to recycle, we take the bus when it's convenient, but really, we don't do anything out of the ordinary to reduce our consumption.
Enter my friend Andrea. She is my super-awesome-Zero-Waste-guru friend and every time I talk to her I get super excited about adopting her lifestyle, and every time I talk to her it feels more and more doable.
Well today, being Earth Day (her favorite holiday), we met in the heart of our beautiful little city and ate lunch and talked for hours about reducing waste for our wonderful planet. Somewhere in the middle of our chat I made the decision to work towards her lifestyle, and what better time than the present?!
So this blog is going to be dedicated to me and my fiance's journey as we go from ordinary consuming Americans to maybe not ZERO waste, but certainly LESS waste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First things first is THIS IS A PROCESS. Andrea has been working towards this lifestyle of 10 years now. I can't expect us to be clutter-free and waste-less over night.
Secondly, I know that I am just ONE voice, but if more people catch on then our voices get louder and maybe companies and big corporations will start to listen. Just like I "voted with my dollar" for organic foods, I can continue to "vote with my dollar" for better/less packaging and a more sustainable product.
Lastly, as Andrea was so kind to reiterate to me today: we don't have to be perfect. She is living the extreme just to show possibilities, but even if enough people are making small changes it can help in a big way.
My to-do list for this week:
- start to de-clutter. This is the perfect time since we are moving anyway.
- make t-shirt tissues/rags/produce bags
- continue to think/talk/research the idea of decreasing waste. (ie Bea Johnson and Be Zero)
- Be more mindful of my consumer choices and practice saying no to products that don't serve me.
Wish us luck! It's never easy changing your lifestyle, but we have to try otherwise this Earth that we all love so dearly will drown in our own trash:
Enter my friend Andrea. She is my super-awesome-Zero-Waste-guru friend and every time I talk to her I get super excited about adopting her lifestyle, and every time I talk to her it feels more and more doable.
Well today, being Earth Day (her favorite holiday), we met in the heart of our beautiful little city and ate lunch and talked for hours about reducing waste for our wonderful planet. Somewhere in the middle of our chat I made the decision to work towards her lifestyle, and what better time than the present?!
So this blog is going to be dedicated to me and my fiance's journey as we go from ordinary consuming Americans to maybe not ZERO waste, but certainly LESS waste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First things first is THIS IS A PROCESS. Andrea has been working towards this lifestyle of 10 years now. I can't expect us to be clutter-free and waste-less over night.
Secondly, I know that I am just ONE voice, but if more people catch on then our voices get louder and maybe companies and big corporations will start to listen. Just like I "voted with my dollar" for organic foods, I can continue to "vote with my dollar" for better/less packaging and a more sustainable product.
Lastly, as Andrea was so kind to reiterate to me today: we don't have to be perfect. She is living the extreme just to show possibilities, but even if enough people are making small changes it can help in a big way.
My to-do list for this week:
- start to de-clutter. This is the perfect time since we are moving anyway.
- make t-shirt tissues/rags/produce bags
- continue to think/talk/research the idea of decreasing waste. (ie Bea Johnson and Be Zero)
- Be more mindful of my consumer choices and practice saying no to products that don't serve me.
Wish us luck! It's never easy changing your lifestyle, but we have to try otherwise this Earth that we all love so dearly will drown in our own trash:
- We produce a lot of waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces about 4.4 pounds (2kg) of garbage a day, or a total of 29 pounds (13kg) per week and 1,600 pounds (726 kg) a year!
- Americans throw away enough garbage everyday to fill 63,000 garbage trucks, which if lined up end to end for an entire year would stretch half way to the moon.
- Americans represent 5% of the world’s population, but generate 30% of the world’s garbage. On average, Americans throw away 2.5 million #1 PET and #HDPE plastic containers per hour! And only 9% of our plastics get recycled!
- Most recyclables never make it to facilities and most plastics are ending up in the ocean.
- 50 percent of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw away.
- Americans use 500 million drinking straws every day. To understand just how many straws 500 million really is, this would fill over 125 buses with straws every day. That's 46,400 school buses every year! Americans use these disposables at an average rate of 1.6 straws per person per day!(courtesy of BeZero.co)
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