Recycling
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Plastic Free July Tips for 2021
It’s that time again — Plastic Free July! While every day should involve doing your best to save our planet, Plastic Free July is a great time to explore even more ways to reduce plastic waste. At this point, reusable bags/straws/water bottles are becoming a bit more mainstream… so let’s talk about some other ways to challenge yourself to go plastic free. Hair/body care products: This month, make it a goal to replace at least one of your plastic shampoo/conditioner/body wash bottles with a package free, bar soap option. (I’d say the easiest one to replace is body wash as there are so many bar soap options from both small,…
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Wishful Recycling
Before we get into recycling, I’d first like to remind you about those two things that are even better than recycling! YES. REDUCE AND REUSE. Always do those two things first. Now that that is out of the way… Obviously, there’s always going to be stuff to recycle. And recycling is much better than having something go to the landfill. However, there is also something called wishful recycling… where you desperately don’t want to put something in the trash so you figure, hey, this item COULD be recyclable (or this is similar to other things I recycle)… let’s just do that. Don’t do this. It can contaminate items that can…
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Zero Waste + Eco-Friendly New Year?s Resolutions (for 2021)
First off, I’m using the word ‘resolutions’ very loosely here… if 2020 taught us anything… it’s that plans/goals/resolutions can very, very easily go down the drain. So. Be kind to yourself. For me, these are aspirations… goals… a few things I hope to try out this year. There’s a new refill store in Dallas! Yay! It seems they have a booth at the Dallas Farmer’s Market every Saturday + Sunday for a few toiletry + home essentials. I’m so excited to try them out once I run out of some current stuff. I definitely want to try out their liquid dish soap, laundry detergent, and body cream! Keep an eye…
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Zero Waste in the Time of COVID-19
What does the low/zero waste lifestyle look like for you during this time? I’m assuming different, right? For me, there’s definitely been some additional waste such as:– Takeout containers (some trash, some can be recycled) and drink cups (since we are currently not allowed to bring our own) since I want to support local restaurants (that I would’ve eaten out at during normal times). – Grocery bags (use some of these as trash can liners, recycle the rest at Target or Lowes bag drop-offs) since our local stores won’t let us use our own bags right now. I know a lot of the science says it’s okay to still bring…
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A Less Wasteful Gift Wrapping Guide
Brown paper packages tied up with strings… these are a few of my favorite things! ***Updated for 2019!*** Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy gift giving! So you picked out the perfect, thoughtful, mindful, gift — now what? I, like many others, love seeing beautifully wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. I also love watching the joy on people’s faces as they slowly (or not so slowly) unwrap their gifts. So how can we present beautiful gifts without producing waste that goes to the landfill? Here are your options!? The BadFirst off — check to make sure your local recycling facility accepts wrapping paper. Most do with some caveats. If your…
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Plastic Free July Time
I just got back from an epic trip to Japan and South Korea so forgive the lack of posts! I have a lot of travel related content coming up soon. In the meantime, since it IS Plastic Free July — I’ve updated last year’s post. Enjoy! Happy July! AND Happy Plastic Free July! Started in Australia, Plastic Free July now reaches over 2 million people across the globe. During the month of July, participants commit to reduce and eliminate plastic use. You can choose to 1. Avoid single use plastic packaging 2. Eliminate use of takeaway items (bags, bottles, straws, coffee cups) or 3. Go completely plastic-free. I highly recommend…
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An Ode to Freecycling
Goodwill and other thrift stores have seen an increase in donations recently — which seems great as households minimize their lives — but can ultimately be a problem as clothes and household items go unsold and may ultimately end up in the trash anyways. As much as possible, I try to donate items to places that only take specific items (i.e. shoes to Zappos, old towels to the animal shelter) — that way I know that the donated item is more likely to get used. But what about those completely random items that, yeah, could go to Goodwill but maybe, just maybe, has a better home out there? Enter Freecycle.…
