This inspiring family generates only 1 quart of waste annually. Saving the Season - Journal. Think we can't live without plastic? Think again. In 2007 I committed to stop buying any new plastic & I've almost succeeded! Won't you join me? Let's see what plastic-free looks like today… for the health of our bodies, our oceans. Trash is for Tossers. Trash is for Tossers: Zero Waste Alternatives: The Ultimate List. While the journey towards Zero Waste is never ending, these alternatives will help any step of the way!
All of these alternatives have been tried, tested, and approved by me! I would never post anything that I have not researched to the best of my ability and will constantly update this list with new alternatives! Please keep in mind that throwing out an old item for one of the items I have listed is not a good alternative. Use up old products, recycle, donate, give away or sell the rest! The purpose of Zero Waste is to prevent as much matter from heading to the landfill as possible! Hygiene The Waste Problem: Disposable Razors Why: Non-recyclable, expensive, wasteful The Alternative: Safety Razor or laser hair removal (more money) The Waste Problem: Plastic Toothbrush Why: Non-recyclable, wasteful The Alternative: Bamboo compostable and sustainable toothbrushes The Waste Problem: Disposable Makeup Remover Wipes Why: They are wasteful, expensive, unnecessary, and often have toxic chemicals.
Zero Waste blogger Lauren Singer lets us look into her drawers and cabinets : Page 2. Life Without Plastic Blog. Cooking without producing plastic waste. Life Less Plastic. How We Tried to Be Plastic-Free.
Night at the Aquarium on a Plastic-Free Camping Cot - My Plastic-free Life. It’s hard to find plastic-free versions of a lot of camping supplies.
Plastic makes things lightweight and easy to carry in a backpack. I don’t camp a lot, so usually my strategy to avoid new plastic is to borrow from friends or find things second-hand via Freecycle, Craigslist, yard sales, or thrift stores. At Burning Man last month, I slept in a nylon sleeping bag on a foam pad, both of which I have had for many years. And while the sleeping bag has held up very well and will last me many more years to come, the foam pad was a big fail. Mason Jar Tip. Right about now, my family is well on our way to eating and enjoying the yummy cans of food I put up in the Fall.
When we finished eating a jar of peaches (or grape jelly or applesauce or peppers, etc.) I used to immediately throw away the lid. Then I would wash the jar and the ring and store them separately. I stored the rings in a plastic bucket with a lid. The jars would get stored in the box they came in. I tried to make sure the jars were all stored upside down, but since the kids usually run them downstairs to our storage, many were placed in the box right side up. That meant I had plenty of surprises in store for me in the form of dead spiders, their webs, and dead prey when canning again the next year. Now days I have a new method. To prevent mixing up the used lid with a new one, I mark and “X” on the top with a Sharpie. Then I place the lid on upside down and twist on the ring.
Zero Waste Home Store - Shopping Kit. The War Against Pyrex. Chances are, somewhere in your kitchen, you have a version of the measuring cup pictured above — if not multiples.
Pyrex-brand measuring cups are incredibly common because they’re made to withstand thermal shocks — that is, you can use one to measure hot water and, immediately after, cold water, and they won’t likely break. Try that with a regular glass and you’ll find it, in shards, all over the floor. For decades, Pyrex was made of borosilicate glass, a special type of glass in which boron oxide is added to the mix. Welcome to Pyrex Love. Hi Friends!
This is probably old news to those of you who are eBay regulars, but I came across this completed auction recently and was so happy to see a big Pyrex mystery solved! I just had to contact the seller to ask for permission to use her photos, and she was kind enough to oblige. Finally, there’s an answer to the mystery of the “Eyes” mixing bowl set. As we all know, the “Eyes” bowls (as they have been affectionately called by Pyrex collectors over the years) are only in 401 and 403, are unmarked, but we recognize the classic Pyrex bowl shape so well that we all guessed they had to be Pyrex.
Well, Laura of forgetmenotsonmemorylane found one of the Pyrex holy grails when she came across this set in a box. So the “official” name of this set is actually called… Hot ‘N’ Cold Chip and Dip set, with the model number HC-9. 5 steps toward going 'zero waste' in the kitchen. I’ve written a few times about my ongoing quest for a zero-waste household.
While I don’t have much hope of reaching Bea Johnson’s level, whose family produces only one quart of waste annually, I have certainly learned a lot by paying close attention to how much garbage and recycling my household generates on a daily and weekly basis. One happy discovery I’ve made is that the zero waste movement is much more popular and widespread than I thought. Recently I spoke with Shawn Williamson, who lives with his family just outside of Toronto and runs an environmental sustainability consultation firm called the Baleen Group. He hasn’t taken a bag of garbage out to the curb since August 2011!
While Johnson’s tips from her book, “Zero Waste Home,” vary from easy to somewhat extreme (i.e. pulling silk thread from cloth to substitute for dental floss, planning drives in the car with priority given to right-hand turns), Williamson describes his zero-waste lifestyle as much more practical. 1. 2. 3.