Today I went out to eat no-waste style. My roommate and I got Chinese food. I'm learning that avoiding waste is not difficult, it just requires forethought. So I casually brought a glass container into the restaurant in case I had leftovers (ok, I always have leftovers). I asked for no straw and didn't open my fortune cookie. It was a very successful outing.
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Half way there!! And to celebrate here is a list of things I am excited to do when this challenge is over:
1. Make my box mix of brownies 2. Eat Pieology ( or out anywhere really) 3. Make the frozen PF Chang's that's been in my freezer for months now 4. Get gluten free cookies 5. Eat sour cream and onion chips! 6. Buy some cereal 7. Get some cauliflower! (seriously why is it sold in plastic?) 8. Use some plastic snack bags 9. Use teeth whitening strips and pore strips And here is a list of things I am excited to keep doing: 1. Use handkerchiefs (surprisingly convenient) 2. Buy lots of produce! 3. Use reusable produce/grocery bags 4. Wear my Thinx next month 5. Pack my lunch in glass 6. Use my glass water bottle We had a cookout for lunch today at work. But nearly everything came in packaging. But it looked so good! So I ate it anyway. It was already purchased food, and someone had to eat it, right? Otherwise the food would go to waste. I know, I know, it's the principle of the thing. But they had sour cream and onion chips! and potato salad! and burgers! I did opt out of the packaged slices of cheese, because is it really cheese anyway? and I turned down the icecream sandwiches; one, because they came wrapped in paper, and two, because they have dairy and gluten which I eat neither. We always use dishes and glasses at work, so my only personal trash was the individual bag of sour cream and onion chips. I really like sour cream and onion chips.
This post is for my wonderful, beautiful roommates. Beth and Carly, I told you reading today's post would be worth it :)
We all living together just for this summer, and they had no idea about my month challenge when we agreed to live together. But they have been so supportive and patient through the whole thing. We keep most things separate in our apartment so it hasn't been too difficult to go waste free in that respect. We all have our own bedrooms, food (except spices and condiments), and toiletries. We take turns buying toilet paper and paper towels, but for this month I will not be buying any paper towels. We have been working together to go through the recyclables and take them to the appropriate dumpster. When I remember I'll take what can't be recycled by the city to Whole foods and Kroger. I have still been putting my food scraps in the trash can so we are taking turns taking that out as well. Beth and I have been using a lot of the same re-usable products which makes our lives easier. We use a microfiber Norwex cloth to remove make up, glass containers for food storage, and re-usable grocery and produce bags. I bought a bar of hand soap for the bathroom and taught my roommates how to clean with vinegar rather than Clorox wipes. I've been excited to share my no-waste experiences first hand with the people I live with! We have had some great conversations and brainstorming sessions about how to not look silly in the bathroom at work while trying to dry your hands without a paper towel, and how to create no waste on a first date without seeming strange or suspicious. I am so thankful for both of my roommates! A big part of living waste free is saying no to things you don't need. I think of all the times I have accepted a flier from someone on the street only to throw it away at the next trash can. Saying no isn't always easy, especially when it comes to food. The best part of going to Costco is getting all the samples! Alas, this month I have been saying no to all samples because they always come in little paper or plastic cups. Other things I have been turning down this month so far are receipts (when possible), water served in single use cups, the program they hand out at church, plastic bags, and the pamphlet with brewing instructions for my tea (I took a picture of it instead).
Grocery day! This time I prepared and came up with a shopping list based on recipes before I left. And I just went to Kroger this time. I stuck to the produce, bulk food, and meat counter sections except when I got butter. I picked out the butter with the least amount of packaging so now I've got a huge block of butter. I was happy that I unintentionally spent about what I usually spend on a week's worth of groceries ($40)! It was a good time.
Some friends have been asking me what I am eating during the challenge. And it's really not that different from what I usually eat. Since I'm still using foods I already own (like soy sauce and brown sugar and rice) it is pretty easy to come up with recipes. Today I made some delicious teriyaki chicken with rice, broccoli, carrots, and zucchini that will last me for the next couple days. I thought it tasted pretty darn good. The only modifications I made were shredding my own carrots instead of buying matchstick carrots, using lemon juice instead of rice vinegar, and using ground ginger instead of minced. If you want to check out the recipe it's right here: http://www.cookingclassy.com/teriyaki-grilled-chicken-and-veggie-rice-bowls/ This is a whole month challenge, so you should have been prepared for that time of the month to roll around. Yes, feminine hygiene products produce waste. In fact, in the United States alone, an estimated 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are disposed of annually. And on average a woman in the US uses more than 11,000 tampons or pads in her lifetime. That is over 300 pounds of waste!
There are only a few alternatives for non-disposable feminine hygiene products including the Diva Cup, reusable cloth pads, and Thinx underwear, all which are relatively expensive. But they are worth the money in the long run. I invested in a pair of Thinx underwear and I am so excited to try them out! So far so good. I only bought one pair because I wanted to see how much I liked them before I spent more money on them. So I will still be wearing tampons this month, but I'm opting for the cardboard applicators over plastic. If you want to know more about Thinx, check out their website here ---> https://www.shethinx.com/pages/it-works/ I had some people over to my parents house to swim today. I opted out of eating out with everyone beforehand, because I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid paper/plastic packaging where ever we went. So I packed some leftovers and went home to get the pool ready and prepare some refreshments for everyone. I bypassed the usual plastic solo cups and put out some real glasses. I made iced tea (tea bags are waste but better than buying a plastic jug) and lemonade (I used a can of concentrate which again is waste but better than plastic). I also put out some glass bottles of coke. Overall the pool party was a success and no plastic was thrown away except what trash people brought with them.
I still have been struggling with eating enough to be full. I am not used to having to make a full meal every night. I miss cookies. I'm not going to lie. The past few days have been difficult and very busy. Hence the missing Day 6 and Day 7 posts. Day 6 I came home from work, ate some leftovers, and then fell asleep at 7PM (not incredibly uncommon for me). No time for blogging there. The next day I went grocery shopping again because I ran out of food. I have been hungry for a lot of the past few days. I bought as much food as I usually do to last me a week, but I usually supplement my groceries with some sort of packaged meals or eating out. I also couldn't eat a lot of snacks I usually eat. So yesterday on the way home from work I stopped at a farmers market and purchased broccoli, then stopped at Kroger to buy snacks. I bought bananas, peaches, plums, and cinnamon almonds and peach candy from the bulk food section. This time I used my own produce bags for the bulk items and just payed the extra weight at self check out. I was amazed how fast my trip was since I didn't leave the front of the store. I did underestimate how many snacks I eat because 24 hours later and I'm already out of peach gummies and I have less than half of the almonds left. I also will probably have to go shopping tomorrow again for more food. yay
You're out shopping and you go to the bathroom. You wash your hands and have the option between those annoying hand dryers that don't actually dry your hands and paper towels that do the trick easily and quickly. Like most people you probably pick the quick and easy option. But then how many towels do you take? two? three? four? What if you just take one? I watched this TED talk by Joe Smith when I was in high school and I will still think about it when I dry my hands. He gives instructions on how to effectively dry you hands with only one paper towel. His method is this: shake and fold. Shake your hands twelve times (why twelve? watch and find out. He's hilarious. I promise), fold the towel in half, and dry your hands. Just think about how much paper Americans could save if everyone reduced their paper towel usage by one towel every day for a year. The answer is 571,230,000 pounds of paper towels. Usually at work I do the shake and fold thing and only use one towel, but for this month I am cutting that out too. I've been doing the whole twelve shake dance then using the excess water to pat down my hair frizz. I keep telling myself I will bring in an actual hand towel to keep in the bathroom, but I'm too scared someone will make a strange comment. |
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Hi I am Sarah. I am a going into my fourth year at UC in Mechanical Engineering. This blog is for a UC Honors self-designed experience. I am working full time on co-op this summer, and I enjoy spending my free time drawing, painting, and spending time outside. |