First Day of School

 

 

 

Tomorrow is the first day of school. There is a lot of excitment in the air. The picture above is Trey's lunch. He packed a sandwich wrapped in a cloth napkin, LunchBot with trailmix and dessert, fruit and a water bottle. Simple, filling and zero waste.

Noah and Trey Win

Maggie: 4 items (missing acupuncture needle)

Noah: 3 items

Trey: 3 items (missing yogurt foil)

1 Community Item: Plastic packaging from Dr. Bronner's Soap

This week was pretty simple since we were home from our vacation and back into our normal routine. I had a weak moment and bought Dove soap and the boys had a weak moment and had a package of Smarties during their school's Open House. 

Noah and Trey chose to go to a water park for their fun activity and will write a letter to National Geographic Kids for their environmental activity. We are making another update to our rules. We will be allowed 2 recyclables each week that are not counted as waste instead of one daily.  

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

  It's back to school time! We love back to school time in our house with the exception of  the dreaded school supply list. This year was especially overwhelming since I wasn't sure how I was going to tackle purchasing plastic free supplies. Luckily, I stumbled upon a fabulous website called Plastic Antidote (for link, click here). They offer a number of different school supplies that are all from recycled products. For example, their binders are made from 100% recycled chipboard instead of plastic. They also offer a wide range of categories from house products, lunch supplies, on the go items to toys.  I have already marked a few items on my birthday wish list that will help with our zero waste quest. 

Frustrations of Living in a Plastic World

  
  With the new school year starting next week, my work felt we could use some acupuncture to help us relax and meditate (picture above).  This was a new experience for me and I felt a little nervous.  It was not as painful as I had imagined and once the needles were in my ear, I couldn't feel them. We listen to relaxation exercises and then we were done.  Being that I was so close to my local grocery store and relaxed, I felt confident that I could give shopping there another try. All I needed was deli meat, how difficult could that be, right? 

   I walked, very sure of myself, to the deli counter and asked for a pound of turkey with no plastic.  The lady behind the counter starred at me with a blank expression. I continued and said, "Can I please have a pound of turkey only wrapped in your paper?" She said she had to ask someone because she wasn't sure. While she was gone a line was starting to form, and I was trying not to feel embarrassed as she came back with a manager. The manager said they could put it in a plastic container for me and I explained that I did not want the meat in plastic and only the paper.  They looked at each other and then the manager said, "Oh, why don't we wrap it in saran wrap? Is that ok?". I explained that saran wrap was also plastic and if they weren't allowed to only wrap it in paper I would pass. The manager felt that wrapping in paper was not safe. I'm not sure why, so I again left Food Lion empty handed. I felt very frustrated and embarrassed with all of the head shakes and eye rolls I was seeing when I left the line. When I got home I expressed my frustrations and my oldest son said, "Mom, keep your head up! Remember we are taking on the world one plastic straw at a time!". I love my children's motivation and dedication to this project. 

*Even though the acupuncture needles will not go into our waste bins because they needed to be disposed of properly, they will still be in my weekly waste count.
  

What happens when I am not prepared for dinner.

      
  
  My summer vacation is over and I started back to work today. We had a strange busy weekend and I was not able to do my normal grocery shopping at Whole Foods. The closest Whole Foods from my work is 45 minutes away, therefore, I decided to go to Food Lion, the local grocery store.  Since I had not pre-planned for dinner, I walked around the store aimlessly trying to find something to cook for dinner that wasn't wrapped in plastic. I broke one of my most important rules, always be organized and prepared when you cook non-processed foods. 

   At Whole Foods, I sometimes purchase meat that I obtain from behind the meat counter.  They wrap it in butcher paper and eliminate any plastic packaging. I thought I could do the same thing at Food Lion and pick up chicken to throw on the grill. I walked over to the meat counter and asked the man working in this department if he could wrap some chicken breast in butcher paper for me. He stared at me like I had two heads and said, "Excuse me ma'am, I do not understand your request". I explained that I did not want to purchase anything wrapped in plastic and if I could have something from behind the counter that wasn't wrapped yet. He laughed and said, "Ma'am, we don't even have butcher paper in this store".  Then he explained that all of their meat is delivered to the store prepackaged. I asked if their meat was fresh and he said he couldn't answer that because it is shipped from another supplier. He then told me that in his 13 years at Food Lion, he had never been asked for meat to be wrapped in butcher paper from behind the counter. I left Food Lion empty handed. 

   Question: Is my lifestyle extreme? Or is the way that our society has programmed us to use single-use plastic for the majority of purchases extreme?  

Addition to our rules

 

  

  I just watched a fabulous documentary, The Clean Bin Project. In the documentary, a husband and wife compete for one year to see who can have the least amount of waste. One of their rules was to bring home all restaurant waste, including food to compost. This is important because food thrown into trash bags will rot. The rot releases methane, which damages the environment 20 times more than carbon dioxide.  

  Although we have been bringing home all of our trash from restaurants, we have not taken our leftover food home. The boys decided that they wanted to incorporate this into one of our rules. I just finished a large glass mason jar of vegetable soup that I bought at the Farmer's Market. We washed it clean tonight and put it straight into the trunk of the car so that we are prepared if we decide to go out to eat. 


  The picture above shows some compost bins from Plow and Hearth. We own the stainless steel compost pail.  Although I think the ceramic composts are far more attractive, having three boys I was worried it would break quickly. Each evening after dinner, we empty the bin to the backyard where we have a designated spot for our compost pile.  The compost turns into soil which we mix into our garden. The soil provides nutrients which grows our fruits and vegetables. Perfect cycle.  

Benefits of homemade laundry detergent

  I first started making my own laundry detergent in order to eliminate plastic waste and because it is a huge cost saver; 7 cents a load compared to store bought brands that are 25 cents a load. While researching other topics, I stumbled across documentaries that expressed concerns regarding how toxic laundry detergents are for humans and to the environment. The run off from treatment plants reek havoc on our lakes and rivers. Consequently, I began doing research on the ingredients in the detergent in my home. I was horrified at what I read. 

  Most detergents contain harmful toxins. These chemicals can cause cancer, lung damage, mucous membrane damage, kidney damage, reproductive system failure, endocrine and damage to the immune system. If you are using store bought deterent, take the time to research the ingredients to ensure it is safe. Find out what is in those 'fragrances' and what you are really smelling when you breath in those different fresh scents. Your body absorbs all chemicals that are on your clothes. Knowledge of what you are putting into your body is key. My oldest son, Aaron, has asthma and allergies. In the past, he consistently got nosebleeds. Once I started making my own laundry detergent and household cleaners, his nosebleeds have been few and far apart. 

  Making your own laundry detergent is simple, quick, cheap, safer for the environment and for your family. There are hundreds of different recipes on the internet. Below is the one that I use. 


1 cup of Washing Soda
1 cup of Borax
1 bar (use a cheese grater or blender until soap is fine) of Dr. Bronner's Castile/ Kirk's Castile/ Ivory or other natural unscented bar soap. 
Use 2 tablespoons for full load
* I prefer Castile soap because it contains vegetable oil instead of animal fat. Pure Castile is also ecological and toxic free.