Activity 7: Join a local CSA

 Taking advantage of living in sunny California, I joined a CSA. A CSA stands for: Community Supported Agriculture. CSAs make it possible to purchase local, organic, seasonal fruits food directly from the farmer.

I have the advantage of living near several different CSA's. Most of them consist of a mixture of fruits and vegetables. However the CSA I joined is geared for kids and only sells fruit; a large variety of delicious fruit. We also get to try fruits that we have never eaten before. For example, the grapes in the picture above are not your ordinary green grapes. When you bite into the grape, it tastes exactly like you are drinking apple cider. My boys and I loved them and are looking forward to what surprises we will find in next week's box.

Activity 6: A day at the Community Park in Benicia

After being out of town for a week on a cruise to Alaska, having my entire house under construction, starting to prepare for the new school year in my new classroom and with the first day of school tomorrow for the boys, our schedule has been hectic.

It was a perfect day to escape the first day of school jitters and play hard. We met some close friends for a picnic and kept the afternoon free of waste.  It was hot today, which meant preparation of extra reusable water bottles were necessary, a cooler with a lot of ice and a zero waste lunch.

After a long day in the sun, the boys are trying to settle down and prepare for their first day of school. We are not ready to say good bye to summer, however we are excited about making friends in our new school.

Activity 5: Bus Tour around San Francisco

Living near San Francisco, what better way to see the city but to be a tourist.  I went on a bus tour last summer and enjoyed it immensely. The weather was great, wasn't a cloud in the sky, low wind and the tour guide was extremely informative.  I had high hopes that this trip would be the same for my children to enjoy.

The journey started wonderfully.  The morning was beautiful, the sun was shinning and we were full of excitement. The fog quickly rolled in, along with the wind, 20 minutes into our bus ride. Our tour guide was obsessed with checking the traffic report, rather than telling us about the buildings we were passing.  He also told one joke over and over, which was funny the first time, but got old quick (Did you know that Lombard Street isn't the crookedest street in American? Wall Street is!). After the fifth time we started to tune him out. Unfortunately we didn't learn anything and from the picture below, the weather was taking a toll on us and the kids were ready for our adventure to end. The city was still beautiful and had some great views. 

After the bus tour, we went to our favorite organic restaurant and ate our hearts out. They serve all food on washable plates/utensils/cups, no straws and have compostable paper boxes for left over food.  Our zero waste dinner made up for the cold bus tour.

I still would recommend a bus tour for any visiting tourists as long as they follow these two rules:
1) Don't go in July unless you have your winter coat, hat and gloves. It is the coldest month of the year.
2) Pick a guided headphone tour instead of a person guided tour. You can bring your headphones so you don't waste plastic on their headphones. 

Has anyone else had an outing gone awry this summer?

Activity 4: San Francisco Giants Game

Going zero waste at a baseball game took some preparation, however it was not difficult.  My motto for zero waste has become research and preparation. In this case, I was glad that I did my research and found out that we were not allowed to bring in our stainless steel water bottles. We normally bring our water bottles wherever we go.  By checking the stadiums rules regarding bringing food and drinks, we knew to leave our water bottles at home.

The stadium only allows unopened plastic bottles. We really did not want to bring in and drink from the plastic bottles. Our alternative was to purchase drinks in paper cups and keep the cups to put in our compost at home. We decided to eat dinner at home before the 7pm game. Better food and we can control the waste.

We enjoyed to game even though the Giants lost. And we had a bonus: we were there for the Giants' July 4th firework display.

Activity 3: Geocaching

Finding a geocache

We were new to geocaching a few years ago.  It is free, zero waste, adventurous and requires family bonding time.  For those that are not familiar, geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunt all over the world.  To start was simple; I downloaded the geocaching app on my phone and searched caches by our house.  We then used my phone as a compass/map to find the hidden treasure. Ok, so the treasure is usually a piece of paper that you write your name and the date, but it is exciting to be the one to find the hidden cache.

Has anyone else geocached? Did you enjoy it? Find it to easy/difficult? If you are interested in more information, click this link.

Activity 2: Starry Nights Concert in the Park

For our second Zero Waste activity, we decided to stay in our town, Brentwood.  Every Friday evening from June until the end of August, Brentwood offers a free concert in the park.  This Friday was the Oldies but Goodies, the best of the 50's and 60's. 

This is the type of activity that easily, without too much preparation, can become a zero waste activity.  The park allows food and drinks, so we grabbed our ThinkSport water bottles, snacks in zero waste containers, blankets and headed out the door.  The park provides recycling bins for those that brought disposable paper, glass and plastic. There was even an entire section in the parking garage for electric cars. After living in several states, this was a first for us. Has anyone else seen this type of parking in their parking garages? Below is a picture.

My crew enjoying themselves in the park.

Pay the Farmer Now or Pay the Doctor Later

"Pay the farmer now or pay the doctor later"

That is the motto my friends and family hear me say all the time when I am asked why I would want to buy only organic food.  The question I am asked the most is; how can you afford to buy only organic and free range food? Here is how my family of 6, with an average income, can afford to eat almost completely organic food.

1) Cooking from scratch and eliminating processed foods from our diet has dramatically decreased our need to go visit the doctor.  This saves us on co-payments for the doctor and medication. No one in my family is dependent on medication for illnesses due to poor diet such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes etc.

2) By shopping in bulk, the perimeter of the store, and avoiding processed foods, our grocery bill has not gone up and in fact I have noticed a decrease in our food spending. While cooking all of my own foods may take more preparation and planning than buying a frozen dinner, it is healthier, more cost effective and I know exactly what ingredients my family is eating.

3) Making my own laundry detergent and home cleaning products. While this saves us money, it also is better for our health and the environment.  Making detergent is also quick to make, my 12 year old can make it in 5 minutes. If you are interested in making your own, I would be happy to share which products we use to make our laundry detergent.

4) Living a zero waste lifestyle we are very conscious of buying second hand items whenever possible.  This is a huge money saver which allows us to manipulate more money into our food budget if needed.

5) "Couponing" has helped our family get the products we need at acceptable prices and often times even free. I started couponing a few years ago and it has dramatically changed the way we shop and helped us save hundreds of dollars on shopping expenses. While most food coupons are for processed foods, there are still some great coupons out there for the organic section at my local supermarket. Couponing doesn't only help us save money when it comes to buying groceries, either. It also helps us save on other expenses as well, for example: shampoo and conditioner, shaving cream and razors, feminine products, toothbrushes, and more. The best part is that with our advanced technology we can still cut back on waste by uploading the coupon to our smart phone and scanning our phone at the register, rather than printing out so many coupons and wasting paper.

Eating organic does not need to break the bank. It depends on how you budget your money and what is important to you. For us, eating food without pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and cage free is our priority. If eating healthier and being healthier is important to you, then these changes will become easier over time and you should start noticing a positive difference with your health and not your wallet.

Activity One: Tara's Organic Ice Cream

What better way to start our activities by seeking out an organic ice cream parlor on a hot summer day? While traveling to a nearby city for the weekend, we made it a priority to stop in Pleasanton, at Tara's Organic Ice Cream on the way.

Our first impression was great as we were welcomed in by friendly staff members. You can try any of the ice cream flavors on metal spoons that they clean and re-use, instead of the plastic disposable spoons typically used in other ice cream stores. They have bizarre, but surprisingly tasty flavors that are all hand made with raw organic ingredients. We sampled avocado, cilantro, and jasmine tea. The texture of the ice cream was not like your typical store bought ice cream, but rather it was very creamy and smooth. After debating for several minutes as to what flavors to choose, we decided on coconut, vanilla, mocha, nectarine, dark chocolate and cilantro. They dished it into a homemade waffle cone, which was pleasantly surprising how delicious it was- definitely the best waffle cone I have ever tasted. Their parlor had a compost for all trash considering everything they serve is compostable, even the cups they serve the ice cream in. Lastly, a nice touch was a sign on the napkin dispenser that suggested to be mindful of how many you take in order to conserve. This friendly reminder was a great idea for customers who are not as used to the waste free lifestyle.

All in all, the ice cream and cones were delicious and they go above and beyond to make their shop as eco-friendly as possible. They show how easy it is to avoid plastic completely. We will be sure to return for seconds and hopefully speak to a manager or owner to get some more information on this wonderful business. If you're in the Bay Area, be sure to take a little trip to Tara's Organic Ice Cream and enjoy your sweet treat- you won't regret it! 

Save the Bay

Save the Bay

50 Zero Waste Activities Around San Francisco and East Bay

    After a year of competing in the waste war, being zero waste in our home has become habitual and automatic. We will continue to be zero waste at home, however it is time for a new challenge. 

   Moving to the East Bay area, we are on the hunt for exciting outings. The kids and I are searching for places that are zero waste friendly and companies that make a conscious effort to be eco-friendly.  Another aspect of our zero waste effort is to discover how to make your typical, everyday activities as waste friendly as possible. 

   Each week, we will document our experience with new zero waste activities as well as provide tips on how to easily and conveniently maintain a zero waste lifestyle whether you are at home or on the go.

   Tomorrow we will highlight the challenges a local ice cream shop endures in order to maintain a zero waste environment. We are going to take a first hand look at this relatively new business and explore the ways in which they are able to cut down on waste, in an industry where it can be difficult to be green.  

With 4 days left in Virginia and 2 days left of the school year, we have been running around with school activities, packing, moving and trying to catch our breath. Our waste war has been pushed to the back burner; however we are still very conscious of what we buy and throw away. We are visiting my mom in NYC four our annual summer visit on Monday. We will compete during the week and will challenge my mom to join in.

We have been keeping track our Spunky Avocado Challenge. It was easier than I envisioned. It was nice to ignore all the emails I get daily from clothing stores. We made do with what we had and did not feel deprived in any way. Now that we are getting ready to move, I am ending the challenge today so that I can start buying items we need for our new house. Once we are settled in, I will see if the boys are willing to try another month. Below are our monthly totals:

Me: 1 book, 1 pedicure

Aaron: 0

Noah: 0

Trey: 1 pair of shoes (used clothes allowance)

One Month Challenge Starts Tomorrow

As if asking 3 teenage boys to eliminate trash from their lives wasn't enough, I have decided it would be fun to commit to Spunky Avocado’s Facebook challenge of not purchasing anything during the month of May. I have been inspired by reading different blogs about families that do not purchase any material items over a one year period, 6 months or a month.

Why a month? Honestly I am not ready to tackle a 6 month or year commitment at this time. We are moving 3,000 miles in June. We will need to purchase bedroom and living room furniture for the new house.  After we are settled, and if all goes well in May, we will then reevaluate and decide if we want to make a longer commitment.

The only rule is to not buy any material items. Here will be our modifications:

     1) Buying food will be allowed

    2) Bathroom items are allowed, such as shampoo, toothpaste, medication,     sunscreen, etc. We will be mindful of these purchases and only buy if           necessary.                           

     3) Repairs or replacement to appliances or vehicles are allowed

     4) If an emergency arises we will purchase item at a second-hand store or     website, such as Goodwill, Craigslist or Freecycle.

Why are we doing this? One of the reasons is to be more appreciative and aware of items we already have in our home and to use the clothes, toys, books, etc. we already have.  We de-cluttered our house a year ago, giving away hundreds of books, board games, and clothes to Goodwill. Slowly, over the year, our house is becoming cluttered again. This will stop us from bringing anything new into our house.  We are also doing this to lessen our carbon footprint, since purchasing new items uses valuable environmental resources and energy. Lastly, to save money. Extra money will allow for more of our family adventures and lasting memories.

Earth Day

Tomorrow is Earth Day. Can you commit to make 1 or maybe even 2 changes in your household to becoming less wasteful? Even small changes make a huge difference. 

Here are some ideas:

1) Saying no to a straw in your drink at a restaurant 
2) Making a switch from paper napkins to cloth napkins
3) Reusable water bottle (we LOVE Thinksport)
4) Reusable grocery bags
5) Mesh produce bags
6) Switching from paper towels to dish rags
7) Composting
8) Buying bulk and storing in glass jars
9) Recycle 
10) Refuse
11) Cancel junk mail, magazines and catalogs 

Aaron's Win and Ice Skating

Aaron won waste war this past week. This is only his second win, so I was  very proud of his efforts. Aaron chose to go to Panera Bread. I was impressed with some small changes Panera's has made in the past few months. They have eliminated disposable plastic cups for water and serve reusable cups. Panera's also changed their ‘to go’ containers from plastic to paper. This has always been a company that strives to recycle, compost and conserve resources. Trey decided he would write to the company and ask them to stop serving plastic knives for their cream cheese, since they serve stainless steel knives for their other dishes. I love when the boys take their own initiative toward our waste war. 

Our Christmas in March activity was ice skating.  Although we were all terrible at ice skating, we had a fantastic time, stayed completely zero waste and made many fun memories. In April, we are going to Universal Studios in Orlando and Naples, Florida for a week. We are starting to plan now on how to best keep our waste down when we are at the parks.  Key to traveling waste free is pre-planning. 

March 8-14 and Great Wolf Lodge

Mom: 2- chocolate almond package and plastic around a bottle

Aaron: 3- cheese stick wrapper, Jamba Juice: cup, top and straw (so jealous), and water bottle (all not shown)

Noah: 1- candy (not shown)

Trey: ? by Tuesday he already had 6 and then he lost count. He is too embarrassed to pack lunch and is using his birthday money to buy lunch. This gives him on average of 2 to 3 pieces of waste per lunch. The 6th grade science teachers used our pictures and family as an example this month, as they are learning about recycling and living with less waste. When some of his peers commented that they saw our pictures, Trey was mortified. None of his peers teased him or said cruel things, however I think at this stage of Trey's life he doesn't want to be considered different. I am allowing him to buy lunch, although it kills me, so that he doesn't revolt against the waste war completely. 

Community Waste: milk tab and Aaron's allergy pill 

Noah won this week and we all went to the movies on Saturday. We are now home, enjoying our 17th snow day of the winter. Hopefully, this will be our last storm of the year. I hope everyone else on the east coast is staying safe and warm.

For our February Christmas Adventure, we went to Great Wolf Lodge. Our priority on this trip was of course to have a great time, but also to keep our waste to a minimum.  I had never been before and wasn't sure what to expect. I knew our room came with a small fridge, so we packed enough food for breakfast and lunch. Keeping our trip zero waste was pretty simple, since we spent almost all of our time at the water park, playing miniature golf and playing Magiquest.

I forget my tea at home and the hotel had a Dunkin Donuts on grounds. The first morning, I brought my thermos to Dunkin Donuts and asked them to put tea in my thermos since this one only serves coffee and tea in Styrofoam cups. It is very dangerous to drink out of Styrofoam (and it is horrible for the environment). I was directed to ask a manager, who said no but was willing to sell me the tea bag if I could find my own hot water. I had a coffee pot in my room, so I gladly accepted. After 3 days, I had a wonderful vacation with the boys and felt proud of our zero waste efforts.

Dave and Busters...not as Zero Waste as planned

 

 

 

Week 2

For our January Christmas Adventure, we went to Dave and Busters. I wrongly assumed that this would be a zero waste activity. It pretty much was until it was time to cash in their tickets. I was busy playing a game with Noah when Trey cashed in his tickets for "prizes". Unfortunately, I was not there to supervise and by the time I went to the prize room, Trey had already exchanged his tickets for the bag shown above. We had a talk about overindulging. I'm not sure at age 11 he fully understood. I let him keep the bag, although it pained me to watch him eat so many treats with artificial colors and flavors. Since this was a splurge, I let it go. Noah and Aaron also had a bag of treats, although not quit as much as Trey. Needless to say, I won that week. As my fun activity, we went to a Glass Art Studio. We were there for hours and were able to make some great useful objects with recycled glass. I can not share the pictures yet because one is a gift for someone that reads the blog faithfully.

* I will update week 3 and 4 this weekend.



 

Week 1 of the New Year

Yikes...That's a lot of trash for us!

Mom: 5 - running pants packaging, 2 pillow packaging, sock tags (not shown) and salad dressing container

Aaron: 6- Laptop packing, rechargeable battery packaging, cream cheese container (not shown), Starbucks cup and straw (not shown), and envelope

Noah: 5- 2 drinks during school lunch (not shown), cream cheese packaging, rechargeable battery packaging, sock tags (not shown)

Trey: 7- 3 drinks during school lunch (not shown), Gatoraid (not shown), bag of chips (not shown), Starbucks cup and straw (not shown), and cream cheese container 

Community trash: 2- milk rings

We had a slow start but I'm sure there will be improvement in the future weeks. Since Noah and I tied, our decision is to go to The Cheesecake Factory tomorrow after we enjoy our January Christmas Adventure at Dave and Busters. I hope everyone has a fun, zero waste, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 

The Waste War Continues

After a long break, our Waste War resumed this past Saturday.  Since November, we have experienced a lot of changes to our living situation. We sold our house, shipped all of our belongings across the country to California and moved into a temporary fully furnished house.  While finding a fully furnished home during our transition months was a perfect situation, the kitchen was not set up for a zero waste life style. I could only leave behind what I absolutely needed for six months, since we are flying and limited to one suitcase each. I shipped all of my pantry containers and scoured local Goodwill’s for new ones. I was very fortunate to find several and at very inexpensive prices. At the end of May, I will donate them back to Goodwill. It took a few weeks to turn our new home into a properly functioning zero waste home. The boys missed the war and are excited that we have started again (although I think they really missed all of our fun outings that the winner choices). 

I am happy to report that having Christmas experiences, limiting the amount of presents they opened was happily accepted by the boys. We have several trips planned for the future, with our first one to The Great Wolf Lodge. They view this as Christmas that lasts all year.  

School Lunches

 

 

 

 

 

When I went to order some bamboo utensils from UKonserve (click here for link), I read some statistics on their website that really shocked me. Each day I sit with my students at lunch time. I am amazed by the amount of food and trash waste that is mindlessly thrown away every day but I had no idea of just how much was being discarded.

*Children's lunches create 3.5 billion pounds of garbage each year
*18,000 lbs of trash is generated each year from one-average sized elementary school
*It takes a 15 year old tree to produce 700 brown paper bags
*The average child generates 67 lbs of lunchtime trash each year
*Trash is often mistaken for food and eaten by sea life
*The US has 6% of the population and produces half of the world's garbage
*38 billion plastic water bottles end up in the landfill each year
*Plastic water bottles take 700 years before they start to decompose

What can we do about this? There are some very simple steps to take that would drastically lower this statistic and save you money.

1) Use a reusable lunch bag or box VS.paper bags

2) Use cloth napkins VS paper napkins

3) Use a thermos, lunch bot, or some type of reusable container VS. foil or ziploc bags BECAUSE: The Center of Ecoliteracy reported that "One average elementary school student eating homemade lunches is estimated to generate between 45-90 lbs of ziplock bags, foil pouches and other packaging waste each year, roughly equivalent to the body weight of a third to sixth grader".

4) Make food from scratch and/or from the bulk section VS. processed food in prepackaged, single serving bags

5) Reusable utensils VS plastic utensils

6) Use stainless steal water bottle VS juice boxes or disposable plastic water bottle

Week 1 Count Down

The boys have looked forward to opening a new card every morning. With an unexpected parade and winter weather that moved into our town, we had to delay Day 7 to a later day. Besides that one hitch, we have enjoyed putting our electronics away to spend more time together.

Day 1: "Scavenger Hunt for your favorite candy" 

Only used candy that I could get from the bulk section.

Day 2: "French Toast and Hot Chocolate for dinner"

The Hot Chocolate we made from scratch. It was unbelievably easy and tasted so much better than the processed version in the packets.

Day 3: "After dinner we are making chocolate covered pretzels." 

Again, so easy and delicious. Sprinkles and candy we found in the bulk section. I normally try to avoid foods with artificial colors or flavors at all costs, however I do allow them to eat them on special occasions.

Day 4: "Stop at Goodwill and pick up a new board game."

The boys picked out 'Encore' which is a singing board game. We had a lot of great laughs since the majority of my family are not the best singers.

Day 5: "Random Act of Kindness Day: Do something nice for someone at school without being asked. We will talk about what we did at dinner "

I gave my co-worker a small gift.

Aaron gave a friend his a chocolate covered pretzel.

Noah cleaned the kitchen for Aaron.

Trey gave a friend a small gift.

Day 6: "Watch Elf with Egg Nog and Popcorn"

Day 7: Moved to future date

25 Count Down to X-mas

This time of year we are (like most families) especially busy.  Aaron has band practice, parades, banquets and concerts. Trey has wrestling practice and meets. Noah has chorus practice and concerts. Therefore, I spend a lot of time running around like a crazy woman without a lot of quality time with my family. At some point in late November, I took a step back, took some deep breaths and tried to figure out how we could continue with a crazy schedule AND still incorporate family time together.


This is why I came up with the idea of our own 25 day count down to Xmas, to run parallel with our 'experience' theme for presents. I broke down the activities as follows: 2/3 of zero waste activities (from making chocolate covered pretzels, playing a board game during dinner and eating dinner by candle light) and 1/3 of random act of kindness days. I found many great ideas online, however most were geared for young children and it was challenging to think of 25 activities teenage boys would enjoy.

I was a little apprehensive about the idea at first and  if they would feel they were too old, however they were very excited to open the first envelope on December 1. It is now the first thing they talk about in the morning and anxiously await to see what is written on the card.  The activities help remind my family of what is truly important during this time of year. Not the presents, but our family and spending quality time together.