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A little about me, T. My life, my writing, my hopes, and my dreams- with just a hint of green.

Monday, September 3, 2018

Zero Waste hype- part 2

I have moved past the complaining, I want attention stage. You could say I have matured over the last 10 hours or so of my life. sigh.
I am proud of what I do and my family does to wage the war against waste, consumerism, and our throw away society. I could have posted about these changes and decisions over the years, but I didn't. I have accepted that reality.
And therefore, I should accept the reality that I can do better. There are probably some great ideas out there that we have not tried. There are so many ways that we can do better to eliminate waste, to reduce our carbon foot print(s), to live more sustainably. Heck, even owning a computer (or 3) and plugging in to the grid screams as ways that go against being an advocate for the environment. The power, the materials and processes that went into making the machines, the lack of a true cradle to grave production system- all of these things are reasons to avoid owning and using (not to mention relying on) these electronic devices.
And yet here I sit, typing away.
So I am going to set some challenges for myself and my family. I am going to tap into my resources and talents to grow our sustainable and zero waste efforts. At this point I am brainstorming some ideas and will later finalize a list, make some deadlines and get my family to agree. I do love a good challenge!

Ideas on how to become even more green:
* make more cloth# produce bags
* make some in-fridge cloth# bags for keeping produce crisp
* make more cloth# sandwich bags or wraps
* make some cloth# bowl covers (beeswax or otherwise)
     #make sure the cloth is organic and not made in China (and any other potentially negative "side effects")
* find alternatives to products we use regularly (like dried cranberries and nuts) that do not come in plastic
**note: continue to harass/encourage/demand companies like Eileen's to switch from plastic to something better
* continue to harass/encourage/demand companies like Woodman's to stop using plastic bags
* eliminate craft projects from my place of work that use non-recyclable or other wasteful materials
* encourage my place of work to limit our craft materials to ones that are natural or at the very least recyclable or biodegradable
* research shoe companies that make more sustainable shoes- and when we need new shoes (really Need them) we purchase from them
* switch to goat's milk from my in-laws farm instead of buying cow's milk (in glass though) from the store
* go back to making our own yogurt (using goat's milk from the farm)
* figure out how to freeze things without using large plastic zip lock bags (yep- this is a path of complete and utter shame here. You have my permission to call me out on my early rant. And while I am at it, the next two are also causing me to hang my head and crawl under the nearest rock.)
* when our cars die, purchase the most fuel efficient model as possible- or go electric or go car-less
* make our own disinfectant wipes or spray

That's all I have for now. I am going to read through some of the blog postings and Pins I come across to fine tune my list.
What are you doing and what are some ways you can improve?

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