Literally Walking the Walk

This commitment is long overdue, but I am also not giving myself a hard time about it because….life. I recently (2 weeks ago) made a pact with myself to walk rather than drive basically anywhere I go that is within a 2-mile radius, with some reasonable exceptions of course. Those exceptions being: time (sometimes the schedule just doesn’t permit, although I am finding that often I can move the puzzle pieces around to make it fit), size & weight (if something I am intending to bring/get is too big, bulky, or heavy to fit in my cart or stroller), wellness (if someone is sick or injured and walking could cause more harm than good…in all reality quite rare), and weather (too much rain, storms, unbearable sun). So I have been at it for a couple of weeks now and I just love it.

I spent all of my adult life, until the last few years, living in a city where I never needed a car and I walked or took public transportation everywhere. In terms of my daily transportation carbon footprint, I always felt so good. Plus, I love walking. I love the vantage point of walking, I love the closer interaction with people and the environment, I love to feel the elements and not just see them through glass, and I love the physicality of it. So I miss that. A LOT. I struggled with the transition to car culture even though some things were certainly made easier and more convenient. When I did move to a car culture, living in a location where I could walk to many things was part of my house-hunting criteria. So over the past few years, I have walked a fair amount and I think I definitely walk more than the average person in my geographical area but I also knew I could do better. And when I say “better,” I mean for the environment and also for my physical health. So…I recently made this pact with myself and let’s see how it goes. So far, I have been doing grocery shopping on foot, taking the kids to the park and the beach on foot, and running errands and going to some appointments on foot. It’s wonderful. The kids like it too—to them it feels like they are taking more adventures and if time is not a factor, they like to get out of the stroller and walk a bit as well and sometimes make little stops along the way, which makes them more active, which makes them more tired, which makes it easier for them to go to bed, which makes it particularly worthwhile for me. And an added bonus is that I kill two birds with one stone—I had been doing more walking just to exercise but now I don’t schedule that as much—my form of transportation is my exercise, or at least a big chunk of it. I do realize though, that this is not something that everyone can do in the same way and is very location-dependent. But if you can find a way to add some walking into your life, particularly as a replacement for driving from time to time, I highly recommend it. One more instance where better for the environment = better for the wallet = better for your health = WIN + WIN + WIN.

On My Soapbox About A...Soap Bag

I love this product. Small, simple, and goes a long way. Since I have converted to bar soap, I have had (and anticipate having) a lot more soap scraps and ends. The conservationist and thrifty side of myself always felt weird about throwing away the end of a bar of soap when it was seemingly too small to use “normally.” So I went through some phases in my life when I would save them, but to what end? They never stuck together well and I fantasized about turning them into liquid soap when I had enough but that never happened and I always ended up throwing them away anyway. But…enter the soap bag! I love it! I put my soap ends in it and then I use that bag of soap + my soap box when I travel. This combo makes me so happy—I am not wasting the soap scraps and I also know that I don’t have to use any small, single-use travel body wash, etc.

Another thing I love is that the bag is the scrubber. It exfoliates really nicely. You do have to allow the soap ample time in water to slightly soften up a bit before it lathers though. And FYI, it is not intended only for soap scraps. You can use it for a whole bar of soap as well. I just happen to prefer to use it for the ends. I did read in a product review about someone’s concern about mold. They then stated that they could likely keep an eye out for mold and then just bleach the product if they noticed any. I do take precautions such as letting it hang to dry out between uses, which is something to be even more mindful of when traveling, but I suppose it IS a good idea to monitor the situation for mold. I look forward to being able to use this more whenever we can travel again, but in the meantime, it is collecting my soap ends, which I will use whenever the bag gets full-ish.

Knock, Knock...Who's There? Dishes...Dishes Who?

Dishes the police! or Dishes a nice place! Two of my kids’ favorite knock, knock jokes which I have heard way too many times. But on the topic of dishes….

Finding a favorite scrubber for hand-washing dishes has been a bit of a journey for me over the years. Of note, I didn’t have a dishwasher for most of my adult life until the past 5ish years, so hand-washing was all I did and having a good (meaning effective and long-lasting) scrubber was relatively important. Before being as mindful about waste as I became, I often used those sponges with a scouring pad on one side, you know, those standard yellow and green ones. In my thrifty ways, I would often cut them in half and I actually came to prefer the smaller size. Then I liked the fancy scrubber brushes (e.g. Oxo) which you could fill with liquid soap and the soap would automatically dispense as you washed or you could push a sort of button. I vacillated between using various sponges and brushes and generally came back to sponges of some sort. As I started to care more about being ‘green,’ I went through a phase of using loofah, which sort of worked but I found myself using WAY more soap because it didn’t really hold water or soap very well. Then there was the period where I saved those plastic produce net bags and made scrubbers out of those, fashioned around an eco-friendly sponge. It did it’s job and I really liked the idea of re-purposing those bags, although I would prefer to avoid those now, I still succumb to them when there is a great deal on a bag of avocados or oranges or lemons (hoping the extinction of those will be a future post when I am ready to commit). However, they weren’t ideal and fell apart more than I wouldn’ve liked. I’ve also used ‘natural’ sponges that are similar to the green and yellow ones—part regular sponge and part scouring pad—but the ones I have found, I haven’t loved, and the scouring side seems to fall apart easily.

In the past several months, I have been using a combination of loofah and wooden scrubbing brushes with natural bristles. I’m ok with my set-up but I am not sure this will be a forever situation. I found a set of scrubbing brushes with bristles of different levels of coarseness and the dish wand brush has a replaceable head. These scrubbers work well with the Dish Washing Block. The loofah I found was designed specifically for washing dishing and it seems to hold water and soap much better than when I had tried to use loofah in the past. I’m not sure if it’s a different part of the plant or at a different level of maturity but it works better and also works well with the bar soap. Part of finding new dish scrubbing products was also influenced by switching to a solid bar soap for dishwashing. I didn’t need something that could hold liquid soap and instead I needed something that could kind of scrub the bar soap to get the soap off more effectively.

As I said, I’m not sure that I am completely sold on this set-up but it works and I would rather keep this up than return to buying any plastic or synthetic sponge or brush to wash my dishes.

From Blueland to Greenland (no, not that one).

A friend tipped me off to Blueland. I didn’t seriously look into it until more recently. Blueland sells cleaning products—soaps and detergents for the kitchen, bathroom, laundry, etc. The products are mostly “green cleaning tablets with natural clean ingredients.” They also sell bottles that you ideally buy once and then reuse and only buy the cleaning tablets as needed after that. They also sell kits. As much as I loved the idea, I didn’t feel like I really needed any of their products. But then I realized that I was running out of a multi-purpose cleaner. I have made my own cleaning products in the past with vinegar and essential oils and other things but I always felt that the vinegar smell was too overpowering. I never seemed to have the energy, motivation, and inspiration to spend a whole lot of time and effort trying to figure out the best recipe. However, in my effort to reduce waste, I really didn’t want to throw out a container and buy another. Then I thought to myself, “Blueland!”

I intended to only order the Multi-Surface Cleaner tablets but in looking at the website, I decided to try the Foaming Hand Soap tablets as well. I have moved to bar soap throughout my household but I do have a few refillable hand soap containers from before and I thought, “Why not try?” While I am fine using bar soap, I completely understand the preference for liquid soap and I figured I could have both on hand. As for the Multi-Surface Cleaner, I was just going to rinse out my old container and reuse it. The process is very easy, you just pop the tablet in with water and it dissolves like Alka Seltzer. You don’t have to shake or stir…just let it sit. I did have to look up online how much water to add as there are no instructions on the packaging. That was a very slight annoyance because it felt like an effort to make it a tiny bit harder when you don’t buy their containers. But I eventually found the information and moved on. Also, I am assuming their containers have a wide enough opening for the tablets to plop right in. For the hand soap, I had to break the tablet in two in order for it to fit in my container and for the multi-purpose cleaner, it fit but it was tight and needed quite a nudge. Not really significant issues though.

I have just recently started using the products but so far the Multi-Surface Cleaner seems to work very well for what I use it for—to clean counters and the table. It also smells lovely. As for the hand soap, I have only tried the Lavender Eucalyptus. It smells great. It’s not super foamy, but it does foam a bit, and it’s pretty thin…the consistency of water. For people that really like their liquid hand soap, this might disappoint. But maybe give it a go and see if you can get used to it? For me, it’s fine. I think it’s nice to have on hand and I will likely keep buying the product but I think my go-to soap will be bar soap. I do like this company’s mission and I am happy to support it.

To Tare or Not To Tare?

I don’t use produce bags too much and haven’t for quite awhile (15+ years at least?)…precisely because they do seem so wasteful and I was often shopping just for one so I would rarely have large volumes to be weighed together. The really weren’t necessary. I also remember that when I was growing up, we had a special drawer for produce bags and it was SO FULL…and we never even re-used or repurposed them like we did with plastic shopping bags so I think they would just get thrown away when the drawer was overflowing. I think that image was burned into my memory when I started doing my own shopping when I went to college and I wanted to avoid any similar type of situation. But now with a family and an increased volume of produce in my groceries, produce bags are useful from time to time. Enter reusable produce bags in different sizes!

When produce is sold by weight, these bags can be particularly helpful…or not. If you are trying to avoid using plastic produce bags, they can be helpful as a service to the checkout person (or yourself if you are doing self checkout) if you have a sizeable enough volume so as to contain the items so they (you) don’t have to deal with piling up items on the scale that may roll around and be a bit clunky. When prices are per item, it doesn’t seem to really matter. But where it is not helpful is in considering the tare weight, which means making sure you deduct the weight of the bag from the product so as not to pay for the weight of the bag. Yeah….it can be annoying. I’ve been to grocery stores where you can do this yourself in the self checkout and I prefer to do that. I’m not even sure a checkout person will bother with this task in most stores, but maybe I’m wrong. The bags in the pics above have their weights indicated on little tags in lbs, oz, and g so it does make it a tiny bit easier. For me, this annoyance and inconvenience is worth it when I do use these bags because reducing waste and avoiding the overflowing produce bag drawer of my childhood nightmares is more important, but I completely understand how it could be a turn off to some. I’m happy to see that many places now provide biodegradable produce bags although I still think reusable ones are less wasteful. So I try to use these reusable ones as much as I can because…every little bit helps.

Snack Attack

I was not allowed to have a lot of snacks as a kid. My parents were pretty strict (and thrifty) when it came to food. Being a mom myself now, I feel like I depend on snacks sometimes—as bribes, as a tool to head off difficulties that I can foresee way before my kids can, to soothe my anxious mom self and make me feel like I am giving my kids enough calories, and probably to fulfill my snack-deprived child self. I usually bring some kind of snack(s) with me when I take my kids somewhere…just in case. We also often have picnic lunches outside. As I began to pack more lunches for our outings and also for daycare/preschool, I looked for more packing options so as not to use plastic bags and also not to buy snack-sized, individually-wrapped, smaller portions of, let’s say crackers or cookies or trail mix. I do have some reusable containers, bento boxes, and other things like that, which I do use often, but sometimes I want something more like a bag. When all is done and eaten, bags are also easier to make compact for transport.

These are some bags I like to use for sandwiches, trail mix, carrot sticks, cookies, fruit, etc., and not just for my kids but for me too. They come in different sizes and are easy to wash. It is true that they are not airtight like plastic so things can become a bit stale or dry out faster, but I have rarely kept food in them long enough for this to even matter. I think I prefer the lunchskins ones because they are easier to clean and the brand has a lot of great products which are also pretty cute. So one more easy way to reduce waste.

Weight Watchers for Planter Boxes

I recently designed and helped make some planter boxes. They needed to be specific sizes and they are quite large so buying them seemed WAY too expensive. Plus, I enjoyed the process. But when it came time to fill and plant, I began to wonder about how much soil would be needed to fill them. I was trying to do a relatively low-budget project and although soil is not THAT expensive, it can add up when you need a lot. I also began to think about the weight of the amount of soil that would be needed. What if the boxes ever needed to be moved? Truth be told, I think if someone were to move these it would likely be to get rid of them, so I don’t think that is actually a huge concern, but in my mind, it felt better to reduce the weight if possible. Plus, they are on a balcony and whether it is reasonable or paranoid or whatever, it also feels better to have less weight on a balcony if possible. I began to research ways to reduce the amount of soil needed for planter boxes and raised planter beds. I stumbled upon this idea and loved it.

You essentially fill 1/4 to 1/3 of the planter box with plastic cans, bottles, containers, etc. that you would otherwise throw away or recycle. So this is not exactly reducing waste, as in getting you to consume/throw away less, but it IS diverting this waste away from landfills. Ideally, it would take a little while to accumulate enough items to fill a planter box from your own household because ideally you are not using a lot of plastic. It did take me a minute to gather a sufficient amount of plastics, which made me realize that I HAVE reduced my waste. But I told some friends that I was doing this and they gave me the stuff they would otherwise toss too. It might seem like a trivial and insignificant amount but I like to maintain the philosophy that every little bit helps.

Other positive aspects are that it provides good soil drainage and you are using less soil. Like WAY less. And I generally take the position that using/buying less = less waste. I know it’s soil so I’m not sure that more soil as a product = waste (or maybe it does?). But I do know that it’s less plastic packaging that soil comes in. Again, really trying to take and live the position that every little bit helps…and I believe it does.

On My Soapbox About A...Soap Box

Some of the things I wanted to post about, when I thought about doing this blog, was efforts and ideas to be a more zero-waste traveler. Up until COVID-19, we were a family that traveled quite often. Now, I don’t know when we will travel next. However, I imagine and hope that we will still take some “local” trips in the near future so there are still some travel-relevant changes and things to try out and post about. In preparing to travel during our last trip, I was reviewing what toiletries I needed to bring. I actually never really bought travel-sized, single-use toiletries on a regular basis but I do still have a small stash of random shampoos and lotions in the depths of my bathroom cabinet from who knows where. I think that my inventory of small bottles of toiletries has come mainly from hotels and samples from random places. In my thrifty mindset, I admit, I definitely used to take shampoo etc. when I would stay in hotels. As I transform into a more waste-reducing mindset, I plan to not only NOT take single-use hotel products but also to not even use single-use hotel products anymore. Those small bottles really are so very wasteful and good news, some major hotel chains are on board with doing something about it (click here)!

Although I never really bought travel-sized items, I did often use travel-sized reusable containers to fill up with my regular shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. It started more as an effort to save money rather than reduce waste, but I have found that these things often conflate. However, as I was packing, I realized that I did not have any more random samples of liquid body wash and since I had discontinued liquid body wash for the adults in my household, I needed a container to bring bar soap—a soap box. I chose this one for travel for a few reasons: 1) it has its own soap lift type of thing so that the soap doesn’t just sit in water and become gooey, 2) it has a tight band that wraps around and ensures tight and leak-free transport if the soap is not 100% dry, and 3) it’s cute and fits with my aesthetic. I really like this product, it has worked very well, and it will definitely be a part of my regular travel gear.

Stank You

I have mostly used some kind of more “natural” deodorant for as long as I can remember. I think since I was in high school and heard about some connection between aluminum in deodorant and Alzheimer’s. There used to not be that many options, but now there are plenty. In considering what deodorant to buy when my last one ran out, I realized there are a lot of options when it comes to more natural ingredients, but actually not a lot of options when you are trying to reduce waste (i.e. plastic packaging in this case). So…cardboard containers! Yay! Thank you! I did a little online shopping and these are the two I decided to try. One for me and one for my husband. So far, so good on both of them. We both think they work and smell really good. The only cautionary statement I would say about the one I use (black rogue) is that it kind of acts like a regular white solid deodorant, in that you should be careful not to get it on your clothes (e.g. black or dark colors in particular). I also think I might put on too much sometimes. According to the instructions, you don’t need a lot. And because of the color with a slight charcoal tinge, it kind of looks grayish on your skin if you have applied it multiple times in a day…so not exactly flattering with tank tops. I do like the smell and feel but I think when this runs out, I might try one without the charcoal.

Enough Is Enough. Period.

Enough is Enough. Period. These words can refer to a lot of things and feel pretty relevant these days. Interpret them as they suit you. For me, right now, they refer to a lot of current events, they refer to a message I convey to my kids almost on a daily basis when I am at my wits’ end, they refer to the year 2020, and in the context of this blog, they refer to a literal period—AKA menstruation. This particular post is clearly more relevant for women and may also be TMI for some so please be forewarned. But I think it is a super important topic when trying to reduce waste.

I first started really thinking about period waste when I was a grad student and on a super tight budget of $40/week after all of my living expenses were paid (rent + bills). This budget was for groceries, going out (nearly impossible), toiletries, and anything else I may have wanted. Needless to say, it was tough. And there was one week when my period started and I realized that buying tampons was going to eat up a hefty chunk of my budget. I was pissed off. I was pissed off that women HAVE TO spend money on something that is as much part of their physiologies as breathing is. So I first started to think about why there are not sustainable and reusable menstruation products that would significantly reduce the cost of something that happens generally every month for many, many, many years. I went to researching it right away and unbeknownst to me, I discovered some products. I didn’t feel ready/interested enough to try a reusable pad as I hated pads anyways but I was super interested in a natural sponge. The second thing my research made me think about was the environmental impact. I was imagining how many women there are in the world and how most of them use some type of disposable menstruation product, several times a month, every month, for many, many, many years. A quick internet search can lead you to various articles about the environmental impact of how we tend to our periods. So to make a long story short, motivated by financial and environmental factors, I used a natural sea sponge for many years. The thing about sea sponges is that you have to be quite comfortable with your body and blood. Because there is not a string (unless you put one on), sometimes you have to reach for it when taking it out and then when you rinse it out there can obviously be a lot of blood on your hands, quite literally. You also need to have a decent water source near you for rinsing which makes it less than ideal in bathrooms with multiple stalls and just a few sinks, especially when a bathroom is full of people. I found myself in some awkward situations but surprisingly never had any embarrassing catastrophes. I also begun carrying a water bottle with me whenever I was on my period for the purpose of rinsing.

I think I stopped using a sponge after my first pregnancy, I can’t really remember. But my periods seemed heavier after having a baby and sponges just didn’t feel sufficient unless I also wore a pad and that essentially defeated the purpose. I also seemed more swayed by the potential risks of sponges that didn’t seem to affect me as much before, probably because any risk seemed more risky to me since becoming a mom. So then I started using tampons again. I didn’t have the same financial considerations anymore but I still thought a lot about the environmental impact so I used tampons without applicators, preferably organic. I did use panty liners on heavier days/nights but I tried to always buy the ones that were not individually wrapped in plastic. Once you start thinking about it there really is a lot of waste between the products themselves and the packaging. I read one statistic that said that it takes 500 to 800 years for an average nonorganic pad to decompose whereas a cotton tampon takes around 6 months. I didn’t fact check this and I don’t really need to, to know that it just makes sense that nonorganic materials will take A LOT longer to decompose. I also didn’t actually need any statistics to be motivated to make changes because I know myself how many products I need for one period then multiply that by 12 months (a year) and then by the average number of years a women menstruates and then by the average number of menstruating women there are on the earth (and more females are born every day)—it’s enough to realize that period products MUST generate an enormous amount of waste.

Fast-forward to present day. Over the last year I have been shifting to a more zero-waste way to tend to my period and I feel good about my system. FIRST, I bought some Thinx. I love Thinx. However, they definitely do not work for me as well as they are seemingly advertised (meaning I can’t use them alone except on exceptionally light days). But I don’t need to buy panty liners anymore and that is a big plus. SECOND, I started used a menstrual cup. I don’t know why it took me so long. I also don’t know why the first time I tried last year I couldn’t get it right, but I have the hang of it now and it works well. Although just as with a sponge, you have to be comfortable with your body and blood. And also just as with a sponge, I think I will be carrying water with me for use in public restrooms, just in case, as they can be messy sometimes. This is also where having the bidet is helpful. I realized though that I seemed to need to empty the cup on heavy days more frequently than I would need to change a super absorbent tampon so I still felt like I needed a bit more support than just the Thinx, especially at night. THIRD, I made some reusable pads. As I said before, I hate pads and I wasn’t ready to try reusable ones before but I thought for this purpose, as just a back-up, I could get onboard. I had a bunch of bamboo charcoal cloth diaper inserts which worked really well as diapers so I figured they would work well enough as back-up panty liners. So I cut some up and made panty liners. I rinse them out if they get soiled and then drop them in the laundry. So on my heavy days/nights I use a cup, Thinx, and a reusable pad. On medium days a cup and Thinx. And on light days, just Thinx. I still have some tampons around and probably will always make sure I do have some around for situations where I might feel better/safer using them. And I don’t feel bad or guilty about it. But it sure does feel good when I go through a whole period not having used any disposable products and not generating a single piece of waste. Period.

As a final note, the good thing about the plethora of menstruation products available is that there is a whole spectrum of changes that you can make to reduce period waste—you can create your own combo according to your own comfort level. These are the changes I can think of:

• use tampons with cardboard or biodegradable applicators instead of plastic applicators

• use tampons without applicators instead of with

• use tampons individually wrapped in paper instead of in plastic

• use a menstrual disc or menstrual cup or some other reusable product instead of a tampon

• use pads/liners that are not individually wrapped in plastic

• use reusable pads/liners instead of disposable one

• use period panties instead of disposable products

• use organic products if you are using disposable products

Happy Perioding.

Squeeze Please

In continued acknowledgement, honor, and support of Black Lives Matter, HERE is a little something to read about the intersection of climate and racism. The article indicates that “The rich have a bigger carbon footprint than the poor, but it is the poor who are more likely to be people of color in this country and who are often most vulnerable to the impact of climate change.” Yet another important perspective to consider.

*Awkward transition*

I think like most kids, my kids love squeeze pouches. And I assume like most parents, I find them to be extremely convenient, especially while on-the-go. But let’s face it, they are a money suck and super wasteful. Enter the reusable squeeze pouch. There are many, many, MANY different kinds in different shapes and sizes that exist out there. The ones you can see here in the pics are the ones that have worked well for me, for no particular reason. Here are some of the pros and cons I have realized:
PROS
less wasteful, less expensive, complete control over the ingredients so…ideally healthier
CONS
a bit annoying to open when washing, need to be prepped

As far as what to put in them, I usually just blend some combo of whatever I have that seems tasty and healthy. I usually mix some fruits and veggies and sometimes I add flax seeds, chia seeds, plain yogurt, oils…again, whatever I have that seems to make sense. And you can use fresh or frozen ingredients or some combination. My kids love them. I normally keep them in the freezer and then pop one in their lunch box or whatever bag of food and snacks I prepare for an outing. It also then serves as a kind of ice pack but then defrosts by lunch time. We are all a big fan of these.

*And if you happen to have a dehydrator, if you make a large amount, you can use the same puree to make fruit leathers…another yummy snack.

#BLACK LIVES MATTER

I was initially going to call this blog post “384 Trees” or “I Bidet Thee Farewell TP” or try to come up with something clever but given the current climate and situation, it only felt appropriate to say…BLACK LIVES MATTER. It has nothing to do with the topic of this blog post but everything to do with what is important and dire. It feels like it should just be thrown in and commented on wherever and whenever lest it fade into the collective wasteland of forgetfulness again and again and yet again until another horrific episode with no systemic change. I hope for change and healing.

There is no transition that feels appropriate so I won’t even try.
According to one statistic (the only one I could find so perhaps not accurate and don’t quote me on this), it takes about 384 trees to make the toilet paper that one man uses within his lifetime. Now multiply that by the amount of people that use toilet paper. Ouch. I had previously said that I would cover toilet paper and here we are. *This one is a bit longer and may be gross or TMI for some, so please note that you are warned and don’t read if you can’t tolerate mild (very mild) talk about bathroom and toileting behaviors.*

It seems that the panic-induced stockpiling of TP is not such an acute situation anymore but wow was it ever a “crisis” at the start of the pandemic. However, I still hear that it’s not always available wherever and whenever. TP is considered a dire necessity for some and although we may think that the majority of the world uses it, it actually doesn’t. A quick internet search indicates that anywhere from 70-75% of the world’s population doesn’t use it. I’m actually a little surprised by how high that number is. In the early days of the pandemic, it was the hottest commodity and the hardest thing to get. However, it is also true that many people made the realization that it’s not as necessary as previously thought as bidet sales skyrocketed. Most of us do not have, nor can afford, an actual proper bidet…as in an entire separate unit next to the toilet that is its own plumbing situation. But many people have/bought a toilet seat bidet. There are ones that easily connect to existing plumbing and then others that require some electrical work if you want the water slightly heated to avoid a cold shock. Then there are the hand bidets which also easily connect to existing plumbing. They are also generally cold. This is the kind I have.

I have pretty adaptable toileting behaviors due to a history and childhood of using outhouses, the natural forest, pots of water, and hand bidets. I’m generally not grossed out or disturbed by having to toilet without a flushing toilet or toilet paper. I know some people are though, so I know that this could be quite a sizeable learning and comfort curve. At some point, I personally realized that using water actually feels better and is way more hygienic. Once you get used to using water, paper just does not feel sufficient. I think most of us have heard that saying, “If you get poop on your hand, would you just wipe it off with toilet paper or would you use water to clean it?” So true, right?! And if you have kids you absolutely know how true this is. So about 10 years ago, after one of my trips to Indonesia (where they very often use pots of water or hand bidets), I got so used to it that I bought my first hand bidet as soon as I got home. Yes, I have gone through ups and downs of using it and not (mainly due to moving), but I think it is solidly here to stay and I much prefer it. It also came in VERY handy when I was cloth diapering (it’s not that easy to get poop off of cloth…I don’t know how people do it efficiently without one) AND it is great when you are menstruating to help with what can be a mess sometimes. I definitely vote for moving towards more bidet usage. And while I said I am pretty adaptable to toileting behaviors, I don’t think I would want to use the bare-hand-and-water method on a regular basis. I know people do it and some have no other options and when you wash with soap and water it is probably still more hygienic than toilet paper and I have done it when I have had to but…not my favorite. With bidets of any kind, you don’t have to worry about the hand part…unless you really want to. And since the beginning of the pandemic, I have only had to buy toilet paper twice. How nice is that? No TP panic in this house. But I have more than one bathroom and I have yet to get more than one bidet (ordering another) so I do still have TP in the house. Also, I am not going to force guests to use a bidet if they don’t feel comfortable so I will always have some available. So one more thing to check off the list as…good for the environment = good for the wallet.

But, but, butt…let’s talk a bit more about the How To. Do you wipe afterwards? Do you dry yourself? I know that this is a question that comes up. I have been in many situations where you are expected to use water but there is nothing for drying. Yes it can be a bit weird, but you can actually get used to it. But I, personally, like being able to dry a bit. So for my household, we use flannel wipes. They are actually the same wipes I still had from cloth diapering days. But if I didn’t have those, I would probably buy or make them because they work really well. They are essentially a one-ply flannel cloth. Theoretically, you clean yourself well with the bidet so the wipe is just used to dry. You are not actually wiping yourself as you do with TP; you are not getting poop or pee on the wipe…unless you didn’t clean yourself well enough. My household is yet to have that problem...I am telling you skeptics that bidets clean really well. For the setup, I made an IKEA-hack wiping station to hold the wipes and a bottle of air freshener and underneath is a bag for used wipes (see pic). I initially used a wet bag (again from cloth diapering days) but I wanted something more pleasing for the eye yet unassuming and also that could breathe…I didn’t want the moisture to turn the wipes funky as a wet bag does its job well and seals in the moisture. So I made a wipe bag out of a plain canvas bag and added a mesh “window” on the back for ventilation (see pics). Then I just put them in the laundry whenever it’s time. Since I have been switching over to cloth items in my household in general, I often can comprise a small load of unpaper towels, bamboo makeup remover pad, flannel wipes, and any other rags or towels or whites (since my cloth items are mainly white). I have in my mind to make some black flannel wipes that I would use when menstruating. It’s really just an aesthetic thing so that you can’t see any potential staining. While the wipes generally are used to dry and not clean, it can be a whole different story/mess when you are menstruating…ladies, you know what I mean.

As a final plug, for those that don’t already know this, bidets are considered beneficial for the following reasons:

• Better personal hygiene and cleaning.

• Reduce the impact you have on the environment.

• Save money and reduce household waste.

• Better skin care and more comfortable to use.

• Reduce plumbing problems and prevent clogs.

• Recommended for people with medical needs.

Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong

Aside from an elevator, the title of this blog post (which is a line in a song lyric) is one of the first things that came to my mind when I thought of the word “lift.” And then I went to listen to the song and was reminded of what a special, raspy voice Joe Cocker had, RIP.

And to attempt to connect to the topic at hand, I think that the words “love,” “lift”, and “belong” appropriately describe my experience of this product. The Soap Lift® is a pretty useful product when using bar soap. And as I began to foresee a lot more bar soap in my life, I finally got around to getting some of these. The Soap Lift® essentially lifts the soap so that some air can circulate underneath and dry it out a bit so you are not left with a total gooey mess on your soap dish. It’s not just about making bar soap a better, less messy experience but it is also supposed to extend the longevity of your soap. I’ve used it on hand soap in the bathroom and now on my bar dish soap. I’ve had these for a little while now and pre-COVID I felt like they really worked. However, now that we are washing hands more frequently in my household, the soap is getting wet more frequently and I’ve noticed some goo. I think there is just less time between washings to let things dry out completely. I still like the product though and I think I may need to change my soap dish situation to address the issue. There are a lot of colors and even some shapes to choose from. One of the easiest and smallest changes I have made.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Products page where you can find links for some of the things I feature. These are not affiliate links. I don’t make any money off of them. These are just for your convenience.

Amazeballs or Just Balls?

Laundry was one of my least favorite chores for most of my adult life (it still kind of is, but now because of the utter volume that kids create…I just don’t understand). That was because I lived many years without a washer or dryer in my apartment unit or building and doing laundry always necessitated a trek to the laundromat, sometimes in the rain and snow, often with a very heavy load up and down stairs in buildings without elevators. At some point along the way, I stopped using a dryer because (1) it was cheaper (every penny counted), (2) those industrial dryers were not always kind to my clothes, and (3) I figured it saved energy (I always had some conservationist leanings). Lugging a wet load up stairs was never fun though…but I just considered it exercise. And then for many years, I kept up my non-dryer use (or my dryer non-use?) as it just made sense since I really didn’t NEED to use a dryer—a drying rack was always sufficient. I think many Americans don’t realize that dryers are not used by the majority of the world, including developed, first-world, industrialized nations, and those people do and look fine without them. All of this to say that the more eco-friendly step to take in clothes drying, would actually be to not use a dryer at all. But…I know that it is certainly not as convenient for many…not at all. I started using a dryer again when I actually had one that I didn’t have to pay for and had one that was in my building and I am still using one as it seems even more inconvenient not to (no…I know…not impossible) with kids. Even so, I thought I should at least use wool dryer balls. I have read about people loving them who think they are indeed…amazeballs. But do they really work?

Wool dryer balls supposedly reduce drying time by absorbing moisture and getting in between your clothes to aerate the load more. They also supposedly reduce static cling. I think they do help with static, but I have never cared so much about static and, this may sound dumb but, I don’t have the best static observation skills. I recently read that sticking safety pins through each ball helps absorb the static like a lightning rod. I’m gonna have to try this. As for reduced drying time and therefore reduced energy, the jury is still out for me. I am going to try harder to keep track of the drying time, but in regular busy-life fashion, I usually just turn the dryer on and come back to it several hours (or days) later, so I don’t even really know how long it went for. You can also supposedly add some essential oils to them for fragrance and I have not tried this yet either as I don’t care for fragrant laundry. I think for people who use dryer sheets for fragrance and static, these should definitely be tried. Those sheets generally have so much perfumes and chemicals and just create more waste as a product itself anyway. I am going to keep using them because I have found enough information to convince me that even if they help just a tiny bit, that tiny bit is more than nothing. And until I find myself in a place (mentally and physically) where I can air dry my clothes some, most, or all of the time, every little bit helps.

FYI, they come in different colors and sizes (as pictured). I use the gray ones for colors and darks and the white ones obviously for whites. I am not sure it matters a whole lot, but if they shed at all, I know it would be a serious pain in the ass to get tiny pieces of white lint off of your colors and darks as well as dark lint off of your whites.

Even the Emperor Shouldn't Have Had New Clothes

I kind of take that back. I guess he and his subjects learned a good lesson. But wouldn’t it have been better for him to just wear threads he already had? I’m sure his subjects would have been impressed enough with his regal appearance and then all involved could have saved face. But no. He had to get all showy. So another moral of the story: find some appreciation and gratitude for what you already have, especially if you already have way more than you need. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story or need a refresher, here you go.

A few days ago, I received a text from my sister (see pic above). It made me so happy and isn’t it pretty? And don’t be jelly because she made two and gave me one. For the fabric, she dyed an old white sheet, had enough to make two dresses, and then sewed this simple pattern. I want to try to make one too. So comfy and great for staying at home because you are under stay-at-home orders and also for going out and dressing up with some nice jewelry whenever that day may come. The text message reminded me that I wanted to do a post about fashion and waste. There is So. Much. Waste. in fashion. Think of all the clothing that has been made since who-knows-when and how it has continued to be made since then, exponentially increasing in volume. And where does it all go? And not just the clothes, the finished products made for sale, but the by-products and excess from the process of making clothes. I don’t usually make official New Year’s resolutions, but I did for 2020 and it was to not buy any new clothes or shoes unless…I need underwear or socks or something like that. Aside from those, I would ideally not buy any other clothes at all but if I did, I would have to buy/get second-hand or make out of recycled or repurposed material. I knew this wouldn’t be too much of a problem for me as I have loved thrift store shopping since I was a teenager and I also like sewing, but I do like nice and new things as well from time to time. Still, I wanted to see if I could do it AND with sites like eBay and thredUP, you can find a lot of clothes that are very nice (even designer labels if that’s your thing) and not new. I also wanted to try the same for my boys. I try not to buy too much for them (clothes and toys) anyway since I hate the idea of spending money on things they will outgrow so quickly and don’t care about. Also, the younger one generally inherits stuff from the older one and I am so lucky to have great friends from whom I have received plenty of hand-me-down clothes and toys.

So far, almost 5 months in, I have not broken my resolution. I have not even bought second-hand. Although to be fair, the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders have significantly reduced opportunities to go shopping for almost half of that time. Still, it hasn’t been that hard (except there was one pajama set I really wanted at Target and I had to stop and have an internal dialogue reminding myself that I did not need it). It was also helpful during this pandemic to already be in the mindset of not shopping. Yes, I know a lot of shopping could still be done online, but I think it was helpful to not feel like I was deprived of anything in this regard—that I had already made that decision before everything shut down. Whenever we are able to co-mingle more safely, I am eager to do a clothing swap with friends. I’ve done them in the past and scored some great items. Yes, very often friends come in different shapes and sizes, but it can still work and still be fun...for women AND men. While it may be difficult to fit a wide range of sizes of a lot of clothing, there are some things that are more forgiving or easier to work with (e.g. scarves, shoes, things with drawstrings, sweaters, jackets) and things where someone may prefer a tight fit and another might prefer a loose and baggy fit. So when we can safely do so, clean your closet, gather some friends, maybe do a potluck, and get some new stuff for free! You can also do a version with kids clothes. Then you can donate whatever doesn’t get snatched up. It’s a win for you (new stuff for you AND free + hanging with friends), a win for the environment, and a win for wherever you donate to. Win, win, win.

In case you are interested in reading about the waste problem of clothing and fashion, here are some articles that I learned something from:

• The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. Business Insider Malaysia.

• The Fashion Industry Has A Huge Waste Problem. Meet The Entrepreneur Who’s Fixing It. Forbes.

• A scrappy solution to the fashion industry’s giant waste problem. grist.

• Fashion has a waste problem. These companies want to fix it. Vogue Business.

In (or On) Your Face

I have used cotton balls for beauty-related things probably since I started doing beauty-related things. So probably since junior high school…at least for nail polish remover. My most frequent usage has always been for applying face toner. I also sometimes used them to remove eye makeup. For many, many, many years I would halve them because I realized that I almost never needed a whole one. So in my world, particularly as a poor student for so many years, I was saving money and being less wasteful. But still, that’s A LOT of cotton balls over the years. At some point, I moved on to organic cotton balls when I felt that I could afford them; I figured they were better for the environment and probably my skin as well. And then more recently I discovered reusable bamboo makeup remover pads—even better for the environment, my face, and my wallet. I now use them for my toner. They do the job really well and I love them. They are soft but also with a very, very slight amount of friction. The texture is kind of like a baby washcloth. I bought 32 of the ones that are just over 3 inches (they often come in sets of 16) and I keep a stack of them in a basket and then use another basket to put the used ones in (see photos). I then drop them in the washing machine with my laundry whenever I need to. I think many places that sell them provide a mesh bag for laundry to keep them all together, but I found that they did not come out very well-washed and kind of stuck together in a mashed up ball. Right now I only have white ones but I have seen black ones too. I imagine some might prefer these for eye makeup or nail polish, which might stain…so they just won’t look as dirty after you wash them…if that matters. I have also used them for nail polish remover and they work well enough. I set aside a few exclusively for this purpose. I am a fan.

Back to Basics

While most of us are still staying at home and physical distancing, I thought I would take a detour from my originally planned path and focus on topics that could be beneficial in this situation, such as reducing the need to buy certain ‘essential’ things. Aside from being better for the environment and our wallet, it’s particularly relevant to our current situation so that we don’t have to go to stores as much (for those who are concerned) AND so that we don’t have to potentially scramble and worry about whether or not these kinds of things are in stock anywhere. We all know toilet paper has been a big one and I WILL be posting on that but not now.

The unpaper towel, as it seems to commonly be called, is essentially a cloth. It is a cloth used instead of a paper towel. That’s really it. It is basically what people used before paper towels were invented and what many people around the world still use. So it’s nothing new or inventive. You can buy them expressly made for this purpose or you can also just buy/use cloth napkins or washcloths or kitchen rags. Some people sell ‘fancy’ ones that snap together and can be rolled like a roll of paper towels so that you can still use a paper towel holder. It had been on my mind for awhile to make some unpaper towels and I finally did! The current pandemic lit a fire under me and I pulled out my sewing machine and got to it. For the fabric, I actually bought flat sheets at a thrift store several months back before everything was shut down. I was initially going to buy some new fabric but in the spirit of zero waste, I opted to reuse. I feel super lucky that I found the ones that I did so quickly. I found white flannel and gray jersey sheets—the exact types of fabric and neutral colors I wanted to try. I wouldn’t recommend regular cotton sheets or fabric. The flannel and jersey absorb nicely. I’ve also seen some made with terry cloth or old towels. I washed the sheets really well and then I cut them into rectangles which measured approximately 12 inches x 9.75 inches. I did not plan the size ahead of time or measure when I cut. I only know the size because I just measured them, just now, to help convey a sense of size. I cut the sheets in half then those halves in half and so on and so on until the size made sense for my usage. I didn’t undo any of the seams at the top or sides of the sheet. I wanted this to be easy. I think the sheets were queen-sized so I got a fair amount out of them. I did cut them all the same size more or less though because I wanted to make them 2-ply. After that, I put 2 rectangles together, right sides facing out, and just sewed them together with a zigzag edge. I used contrasting thread just for an accent. And that’s it. All done.

Figuring out a system of usage is another thing. I don’t really like to have cloths strewn all over the place. I store the clean ones, ready for use, rolled up in a wire basket on the kitchen counter. I made a lot of them so there always seems to be enough in circulation and we don’t ever seem to be running out. After they are used, they go in a 2.5 gallon trash can under the sink that serves as a cloth and rag hamper. I also am in the process of getting a small counter-top-rag-drying-rack-thingy because sometimes we only use one corner of a cloth to clean something but it is not really dirty. The one used spot can easily be rinsed and then hung to dry for reuse. But I think we pretty much have it down now and I love that I don’t have to worry about buying paper towels.

In the Beginning...

I originally started this blog back in September 2019 but I didn’t tell that many people. I had never done a blog so I was testing the waters, mainly of my time and abilities, but also of my level of comfort with sharing my own content. And…I didn’t end up having as much time to work on it as I had planned. But what I learned is that I enjoyed the process of doing the blog and I also enjoyed the process of the topic. So while I dropped the ball on creating more content, I didn’t actually stop trying to be a zero and I continued to make lifestyle changes even though I didn’t post them. In present day, April of 2020, during this strange and surreal time where most of us are under stay-at-home orders due to this COVID-19 pandemic, I have come back to this project. It feels like a good time. Not because I have more time while staying at home (I actually have less), but because this hibernation experience has stirred creativity, resourcefulness, conservation of resources, and community which feels very much aligned with Trying to Be a Zero. So I am going give this another go and kind of start over. I will first re-post previous entries and then share new ones once I have re-released all the old stuff. It also gives me time to catch up and create new content and hopefully get more on top of the game. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Originally from September 1, 2019:
Why start now in September?  Why not.  But also of course.  Since I was a forever-student, I tend to still think in academic years (September-May + Summer) and September always feels like a new beginning. I thought I would start with something very basic—something that I am assuming most of us do every day, sometimes multiple times a day—Washing The Dishes. Even those who have dishwashers, usually wash some things by hand. So, I present to you The No Tox Life Zero-waste Vegan Dish Washing Block™.  It is the only bar dish soap I have tried and I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks, but so far I am in love . I just rub my dish sponge/scrubber on it and get to washing.  It suds up really nicely and does not dry my hands out.  Now I don’t have to buy plastic container after container of liquid dish soap.  I ordered 2 and would recommend ordering many (maybe with friends?) to reduce shipping frequency. I would love to find a place to buy this, or something like it, in-person.  I’m not sure how long it will last and I didn’t do my research on this so it’s hard to know what the cost comparison might be to liquid dish soap.  I will keep you posted on this and let you know further down the road.  Or if you happen to know, please do tell. Thanks!

I did come across one instance so far where I felt like I needed liquid soap. I wanted to soak a bunch of small toys in a large pot of soapy water before I washed them. I ended up just rubbing the soap on my hands underwater in the pot, creating some suds. I also added some white vinegar for extra cleaning properties. Not sure if it did the job as well. It somehow felt lacking, but maybe that’s just because I wasn’t used to it. I know some of these changes will also be a matter of changing perspective and just getting used to something different. The toys seemed to turn out just fine—nice and clean.

*UPDATE: I still use it, I still love it, and I have upgraded to the huge size. I used 2 of the medium bars from September through the end of the year, so approximately 3 months. I started using the huge block at the beginning of January 2020 and I still have PLENTY left almost 3 months later. I suspect it will last quite awhile.*