It’s coming up on time to make New Year’s Resolutions. I love the opportunity for a fresh start and a renewal of enthusiasm. This year my resolution is to get as close to zero waste as I can.

I am super enthusiastic to cut back on waste, especially food packaging waste. So here is an overview of where I’m at now and what I hope to accomplish in 2017. Zero waste is a lofty goal and I don’t expect to get to the point of keeping a year’s worth of waste in a single mason jar, but I can definitely strive towards it.

Already Done

grocery bags

I’ve been using cloth grocery bags for a while. It can be challenging at first to remember to take them with you but I’m pretty good now. I put my grocery list in one and it’s part of my “going to the grocery store” routine to take my cloth bags. At first I was self-conscious about using them but now that I’ve been a grocery cashier I am not the least bit embarrassed. I’ve seen first hand the insane amount of plastic bag waste at stores. It’s very distressing!

trash

A friend of mine writes a zero-waste blog (I actually know her in real life from college) and she had this suggestion for getting rid of trash bags. I wasn’t too sure at first but now I’m sold on it. It has always seemed strange to put my trash into more trash to dispose of it. A coworker of Brad’s gave him some baby supplies that included two more pail liner wet bags (like these). They are cloth, washable, and waterproof. So now I line my trash can with one of those, then dump the trash directly into the outside bin loose (and my trash collectors have been willing to take it that way), put the liner in the wash and put the other one in.

compost

I have a yard now and I have been trying to garden but without much success yet. Still even if I don’t use the soil I’m composting, turning food waste into soil is way better than putting it in the trash. I have not done anything to make a careful balance of materials. I just put everything compostable into my rotating composter and that’s that.

unpaper towels

I love cloth “paper” towels! They are terry-cloth on one side and regular cotton on the other and they snap together so you can put them on a roll like paper towels.

See Example Here

handkerchiefs

We do handkerchiefs instead of tissues. They are soft on the nose and so much less wasteful. I have a bunch that I got at the thrift store for forty cents each so you can always get a fresh one when you want it.

cloth diapers and wipes

And of course, I love my cloth diapers and cloth wipes. They’ve worked wonderfully for us.

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So all in all we do a lot to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle already, but there are still areas for improvement.

Things I’m Starting

milkman

Food packaging is a big source of trash. I’d love to start getting my milk in glass bottles that can be washed and returned. But it’s pretty expensive. I did find a dairy delivery service (like the old days!) but there is a delivery fee that costs as much as the milk itself. So I’m still not sure how I’m going to make that work. A farmer’s market might be another opportunity to get glass bottled milk.

henna hair dye

I was henna dying my hair a while back but then I switched back to commercial dyes. Those dyes have two to three plastic bottles in them, and plastic gloves, and more packaging. The reason I haven’t been doing henna is that I want my hair black and not red these days and I don’t really know how to do the indigo part. But I’ve heard that Lush cosmetics sells a package-free henna/indigo combo to dye hair black so I’m going to give that a try.

bulk purchasing

This is the biggest thing that I’m changing and am excited about. There are stores, such as Whole Foods and health food stores, that have “bulk bins.” That means that they have things like oats, granola, and flour in big containers that you can add the amount you want to your own container (like in a candy shop). I scoped out the Whole Foods and found that I could get peanut butter and honey this way as well beans and grains and rice. They have bread that can be bought without packaging as well and mozzarella cheese. I’m nervous about whether this will be too expensive but I’m hopeful that we will be using food and other things more efficiently and effectively.

makeup

I’ve been watching some videos on making makeup, such as using burnt almonds to make mascara!

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Cutting way back on food packaging waste is going to have some ripple effects that will lead to a healthier life for us, though it may be challenging to keep up with and I’m a little nervous about that. It will necessitate cooking from scratch a lot, which I’m capable of but I get lazy!

Challenges

cat litter

I did see a video on Youtube that recommended using a chicken “crumble” (which I’ve never heard of). Apparently it is cheaper than litter and can be composted.

detergents

Not sure about how to do zero waste laundry detergent or dish washer detergent. Particularly since, with washing diapers, I want to make sure the wash is getting really clean. Need to do more research on this one.

toothpaste

All the zero waste blogs and videos say to use baking powder on a toothbrush and/or coconut oil. I am skeptical that this is enough. I have problems with my teeth and need to make sure that I’m really getting them clean.

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Here’s a fun thirty day challenge that gives you one new thing each day to work on: http://www.goingzerowaste.com/30-day-zero-waste-challenge/