Zero Waste July Day 13: A Very Honest Look at My Bathroom

Greetings! It is me, I am alive!

I have been taking some time for self-care, R&R, and reconnecting with friends, which inevitably has led to me taking several days off from blogging. Finding the time and willpower to write every day has been a struggle. But I’m here, gender-queer, and ready to talk to you about my bathroom and all the things I use within it.

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Teeth

Here I have a bamboo toothbrush, my partner (J’s) toothbrush, and my copper tongue scraper. If you haven’t found one already, you should definitely get a tongue scraper. Most bacteria responsible for bad breath resides on the tongue, and it’s disgustingly satisfying to scrape it off. For toothpaste, I have been hopping around between brands, but I really like Jason Sea Fresh. Yes, it’s in a plastic tube, am I just the worst? I haven’t found a DIY recipe for toothpaste that I like and that doesn’t make my mouth taste like a dumpster in the morning. I make my own mouthwash with water, baking soda, and peppermint essential oils. For floss, I currently am using a combo of vegan waxed floss in a paper box, a freebie of coconut fiber floss from my dentist, and when those are gone, I’ll start using the biodegradable floss in a refillable glass tube that I found here.

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Hair

My hair is the longest it’s ever been in my life, and it requires a little more maintenance now. I use a bamboo hair brush with natural bristles that don’t yank my hair out whenever I brush. I have superfine hair and a sensitive scalp, so this brush is just gentle enough without leaving a rat’s nest. I make my own dry shampoo out of cornstarch (absorbs oils) and cocoa powder (for my darker blonde locks; doesn’t make my hair look gray). I use a soft and fat makeup brush to brush the dry shampoo from my roots down through greasy sections of my hair, wait a little bit, and then brush it through my hair to disperse oils. I use a small amount of leave-in conditioner made from macadamia oil that I bought in this plastic spray bottle probably close to 6 years ago. I keep adding water to it to make it last longer, and with the dry shampoo, it makes my hair smell like cookies! I also use a solid hair conditioner that I got from Lush. I wet my hands, scoop out a dime-sized dollop, rub into hands, and then into my strands. It works fantastically.

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Rest of the Bod

I found compostable cotton swabs because my ears produce a LOT of wax, and it affects my hearing, which is already terrible. I use an acne prevention medication, tiger balm for those sore baker hands, homemade deodorant (recipe and link to blog post here), and a DIY whipped body butter I made two years ago with loving ingredients like cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, and mint essential oil. Also smells like cookies. I’m noticing a trend here in my hygiene products.

 

The toilet-brush looking thing at the top is my body dry brush. I really don’t like using body scrubs that are oil based and wash down the drain, so I gently use the brush to exfoliate, massaging skin with small circles. I have exactly one color of nail polish. A small bottle of natural throat spray for those allergy-related sore throats. We have a container of cut up soft cloth for tissues and cleaning the bathroom counter. A small tin of Burt’s Bees miracle salve for bug bites or sunburns, pretty much anything. A small tin of antifungal foot balm for that very real rock climber’s foot gnar. When these two tins run out, I’ll reuse them for making my own balms and salves, or for bar shampoo and soap while travelling.

These are all of the things that live in my shower right now. As you can see, this is not a perfectly zero waste shower. The white bottle of conditioner was grandfathered in, and I have been trying to use it up. The middle bottle was something I got for free from work, and it’s hard for me to pass up free things like $12 vegan shampoo that would have otherwise been thrown away. I also have another bottle of conditioner that I’m also trying to use up before switching to solid, package-free conditioner or apple cider vinegar rinses, I haven’t decided yet. I also have a sliver of bar shampoo from Lush that I fell in love with instantly. I may buy more, we’ll see. Package-free soap (only has a plastic sticker on the back for a barcode). A ceramic shaving mug with a small disk of my remaining William’s Mug Shaving soap, which you can get for less than $2 at most grocery stores! A vegan bristled shaving brush for a decadent lather and my safety razor. I bought a box of over 100 razor blades for about $12 and haven’t even put a dent in it since I switched to a safety razor over a year ago. Zero waste changes can be thrifty AF.

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Le Toilette 

I buy recycled toilet paper in a recyclable paper package in single rolls from the Co-Op. I just ordered a bidet and am honestly stoked to start using it instead of toilet paper. Apart from using less water, it also is better for ya bum than TP. For scrubbing our toilet, we use Bon Ami and it works well. Instead of buying toxic air fresheners, I like to use Palo Santo smudge sticks. You burn them for only a few seconds and they fill the room with a woodsy, spicy smell, and are traditionally used in Central and South America to cleanse spaces of negative energy and prepare for ceremonies.

Storytime. For the longest time, every day when I would come home, I was immediately greeted with an intense musty smell that would make me wrinkle my nose. The apartment could be super clean, trash was taken out, no food left around, no exact cause for the smell, and yet every day I would smell it. When I come home, I want the space to be welcoming and homey, which includes not smelling like something rotting. It was making me grumpy, searching for the root of the cause, obsessively cleaning, and overall putting myself in a bad mood. Sounds petty, I know, but the nose I was given is a blessing and a curse, I smell everything, good or bad. We tried incense, candles, fans to air out the apartment, baking soda, nothing worked. I bought some Palo Santo sticks mostly out of impulse, and because incense sticks are a bit too smoky for me. I burned the sticks for about 30 seconds in each room, and our whole apartment suddenly felt homier. The next day, this smell that was driving me batshit crazy was GONE. I haven’t smelled it since. I’m convinced there was some looming negative energy that was finding its way into my nostrils. Not to be all hippie dippy but the space feels much more welcoming and homey than it did.

So there you have it! All this being said, there are still more things in my bathroom than what I’ve shown you, but not much. I’ve pared it down to things I use very regularly. I keep it simple with my hygiene routine. I wash my hair 1-2 times per week, wash my face with any ol’ bar soap, occasionally slap some lotion on the dry spots, and dab the occasional acne problem zone with some zip-zapper. I stopped wearing makeup because it is just too much work, and I rub my face too much from the sleepies. I used to wear it all the time and would feel naked without it. But I’ve been really diggin’ myself without it. If you do wear makeup and want to go to a more zero waste routine, I recommend Clean-Faced Cosmetics. They have an Etsy shop and are an all vegan makeup company! You can also ask them to ship things to you in reusable or recyclable packaging.

Love (and bar soap),

Ollie

Zero Waste July Day 12: Ditch Plastic Wrap & a DIY Alternative

Hi there,

I’ve been real busy living a summer life, workin’, visiting friends, getting through my summer reading list, and making art. I still think of this blog every day! I promise I’m still here.

Today I’m ranting about plastic wrap. I don’t even need to introduce you to the frustrations of dealing with “glad wrap.” There’s nothing “glad” about it. It’s a single-use product meant to help you cover food, but it’s a completely unnecessary product, I think.

There are so many waste-free and wonderful alternatives! Some of them don’t even require you to buy anything. Use any ol’ jar with a lid to keep leftovers, fruits, and veggies in to use later. You can use Tupperware, glass airtight food storage “tupperware” for just about anything. Don’t go out and buy any of these things without looking through your own stock first. I love to use the giant Adam’s Peanut Butter jars for literally everything. They’re huge, you can freeze things in them, the lid is airtight, they’re just the best.

 

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I always find glass food storage containers at thrift stores, same with mason jars or any other old jar with a lid. No need to buy new, ever! There’s plenty of stuff to go around! We like to use this glass bowl with a matching lid to put things in. This cabbage has been in here for *cough* wayyyyy too long, but it’s still looking and smelling fresh.

The second option for replacing plastic wrap requires a purchase, but I think it’s definitely worth it. I love to use beeswax wrap, a piece of cloth soaked in melted beeswax. It adheres to anything, and it melts from the heat of your hands, conforming to any shape you need it to. I use it to cover bowls, produce, and as a snack bag. I like to make my own, but you can purchase vegan reusable wax food wraps here from Tiny Yellow Bungalow, beeswax wrap here, here, or learn how to make your own from:

• beeswax and cloth;
• beeswax, pine resin, and jojoba oil; or just
• beeswax and jojoba oil.

There are a few different ways to make them, I would say experiment. They all work. Fair warning: if you wash them in hot water, they will melt and get really crackly and probably not work as well. They also will start getting weird over time, but if they feel crackly and balls of beeswax are coming off, just pop it in the oven at 180 degrees for a couple minutes and the wax will remelt over them, making them good as new! They’re easier to maintain than it is to wrestle with cling wrap until you’re sweaty and out of breath.

Additionally, they are not completely airtight. Sometimes I will use two of them on top of a bowl if I need to keep air out.

I found some cool fabric recently at a thrift store, and decided to make beeswax wrap out of it! I bought a large block of beeswax close to 5 years ago at a Farmer’s Market have been using it exclusively for making food wraps. I still have a bunch of it left. For a long time, I only used beeswax and cotton cloth to make them. But since I’ve been using them for a while, I decided to spring for some pine resin to make them more soft and pliable. Here are the finished products! The chicken print ones are new, and I decided to maintain the red and black ones (I made those probably 4 years ago and they still work great with a little touch-up every once in a while).

The chicken print fabric was someones abandoned pillow-making project, and I thought it would be a much better use of fabric to make these! I love how they turned out, and they are HUGE so I can wrap almost anything with them. To wash, either spot clean with a wet cloth, rinse in cool water, or GENTLY (like brushing your teeth gently) clean with cool soapy water. Rinse and air dry. If you take care of them, you’ll have them for a long time!

Bend it and shape it anyway to you please!

Another one of my favorite alternatives (although not plastic-free) to ziploc bags is Kids Konserve reusable food bags and Blue Avocado (Re)Zip bags. You can wrap sandwiches, fruit, snacks, and pretty much anything else with it. I like to freeze fruit (like huckleberries!) in (re)zip bags and it works fantastically. I only have a couple because I have so many jars, and honestly prefer them to the plastic alternative.

So hey, please stop using plastic wrap. If you have a box right now and want to switch to reusables, it’s up to you whether you want to toss it immediately and start using reusables. If it were me, I would keep the box, and use it for emergencies and things like DIY fruit fly traps (which are rampant in my apartment during the summer #vegetarianproblems). To me, it makes more sense to use it up instead of throwing it away unused. But you do you, boo boo! I hope beeswax wrap really makes you… Glad you switched. Terrible.

ANYWAY

Love (and beeswax stains all over the goddamn carpet),

Ollie

Zero Waste July Day 11: Wear your Stink & a DIY Deodorant Recipe

Heyyyyyy I uh… yeah, I’m behind on Zero Waste July, hehe.

But hey, it’s summer. I’m workin’, you’re doing things, it’s all good.

Today I’m talkin’ bout deodorant, and why you should make your own! Rock n’ roll music. I want you to go find your deodorant right now, and enter the name and… subgenre(?) into this EWG’s Skin Deep database where the search bar says “Search 73,314 Products…”

I used my partner’s deodorant as an example. Here are the results:

Below the Ingredient Concerns section, you can find each ingredient and the health or environmental issue associated with each one. I trust this website because they not only give you an easy-to-follow rating of the product based, but they also provide extensive scientific sources and links to more information about toxicants so you can educate yourself on what exactly is in your products. They have everything from shampoo to lipstick to toothpaste rated.

Here’s the main reason why you should be concerned about what’s in the products you put on and into your body: According to the National Resource Defense Council, “Of more than 80,000 chemicals currently used in the United States, most haven’t been tested for their effects on human health.” Chemicals are all around us, in our clothes, furniture, cleaning products, personal products, and food. Many of these chemicals are linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and immunotoxicity.

So how do we protect ourselves against these chemicals? For starters, I would explore the ‘Health’ section on the NRDC’s website. Read up a little bit on where there are chemicals lurking in your home. Secondly, start making your own products! Or at least start paying attention to what is in them. Scary list of ingredients that you can’t pronounce? Words that have more than 6 syllables? Those are chemicals that probably aren’t very good for you.

Watch this wonderful video about the Story of Cosmetics from my favorite Story of Stuff people!

Also, be wary of “greenwashed” products available on the shelves. Look out for phrases like “natural,” or “herbal,” and pay attention to images depicted on the products. A product like ‘Herbal Essence’ sounds like a toxin-free shampoo to use (you know, due to the ‘herbal’ bit), but can actually contain neurotoxins, immunotoxins, and chemicals that are poisonous to the environment (in the production process and when you wash it down the drain).

I used to buy all my shampoo, body wash, face wash, and every other product known to man in a plastic bottle, creating a lot of waste and pumping my adolescent and adult body full of chemicals. Now that I’ve become more aware of the things I put into and on my body, I’m much more conscious of the decisions I make regarding body care. I purchase package-free shampoo bars, bars of soap (body, face, hands), and things to make products. I make my own deodorant and dry shampoo from the ingredients I have in my kitchen, ingredients I could even safely eat without poisoning myself.

Here are a couple of my favorite recipes for deodorant. The first one is a simple 3-4 ingredient recipe that I like for summertime:

 

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• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda
• 20 drops essential oil (optional; if you like a scentless deodorant just omit)

Melt coconut oil over stove over low heat. Once melted, stir in cornstarch and baking soda and mix with a soft spatula or wooden spoon until smooth. Take off heat and let cool for about 10 mins. Pour into a glass container, stir in essential oils.

 

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You only need to spread a tiny pea-sized amount of this on your armpits. It won’t stop you from sweating, because sweating is healthy and keeps you cool. It will neutralize body odor and make you smell like a human, which I kinda like.

Alternatively, you can melt the coconut oil in the microwave (like 5-10 seconds, if it’s not already melted in your 86 degree apartment like mine), and stir in cornstarch and baking soda. Let cool for 10 mins, stir in essential oils with a chopstick (or stick, or end of a toothbrush, just nothing metal).

This has been working great for me! You can also try this method if you’re more willing to spring for some ingredients.

• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
• 2 tbsp bentonite clay
• 20 drops essential oil (I like 10 drops tea tree with 10 drops lavender) (omit if you like scentless)

Melt coconut oil in a larger, shallow glass jar in microwave for 5-10 seconds, or heat over the stove on low heat. Stir in clay, baking soda, arrowroot powder (cornstarch), and bentonite clay. Let cool for at least 10 minutes, stir essential oils with a non-metal something or other. You only need a small pea-size amount of this also.

I’ve used this recipe for the last three years and it worked perfectly for me. I bought a large container of bentonite clay and still have about 1/4 of it left. The only reason I stopped using it is that I don’t want to shave my armpits anymore and the clay clumps into balls when I used it.

And there you have it! Zero waste deodorant on the cheap.

Love (and sweaty armpits, always),

Ollie

Zero Waste July Day 10: Zero Waste-ish Backpacking Food (Vegetarian & Vegan)

Heyyyyy there ya’ll.

So it was my birthday on July 10th, and I’ve been taking some time to be a human and interact with people. Therefore, I haven’t been keeping up on blogging every day, but that’s okay. I’m sure none of you were on the edge of your seat checking your phone every day for new posts.

Today I want to give you some tips and tricks for zero waste backpacking and camping food! If you’re not a very outdoorsy person, then you can think of these things more of as things to pack for snacks on your way out the door for other adventures. I pretty much don’t ever leave the house without food, don’t know about y’all.

ALWAYS abide by Leave No Trace principles when you are outdoors. Always pack your trash in and out (this should be a rule everywhere you go), dig a hole and bury your poo (and never pee or pee within 200 feet of a water source), keep your food hung and out of your tent/backpack so animals don’t get into it, yada yada.

I love hiking, camping, and backpacking. I try to do it as often as my body and schedule allow me to. Last summer, I worked for the Idaho Conservation Corps doing trail maintenance, tree felling (fuels reduction), and lots of other conservation-based projects. We would work for 9 days straight and have 5 days off, often working in the backcountry. We would hike all of our stuff in, set up camp, and get the heck to work. This often meant having 75-90 lb. packs on our backs stuffed with clothes, food, trail tools, sleeping bags, tents, and whatever else a human needs for 9 days in the woods at a time. I quickly learned how to pack light, shop for food, and make my own backpacking food at home. I had a friend give me a food dehydrator before I started last season and it was AMAZING for making my own backpacking food.

Although I tried my hardest to keep my trash at a minimum, sometimes it proved to be incredibly difficult to get all the nutrients I needed sans waste. So I urge you not to be so strict with the food that you end up going hungry because you didn’t want to make trash. Waste happens, and you need to nourish your body when doing a strenuous activity like hiking and backpacking or working. I don’t have a lot of photos of food because I am usually in the zone while packing food that I don’t take photos (go figure). But I found lots of bulk bin foods that worked perfectly, and lots of online resources if you want to make your own food and dehydrate it!

Okay, here we go! Firstly, when I was planning out my meals before hitch (a 9 day project), I would make a chart like this, just to get a rough meal plan and idea of how much food I needed to pack for myself: 

I would make quick trips of my grocery shopping, being wary to carry a small basket with me to avoid buying too much food and to keep a good idea of how heavy all the food was getting. I would go to Winco and the Co-Op for everything. I rarely bought a Mountain House backpacking meal because they are expensive and the local Tri-State store didn’t carry very many vegetarian options.

Here are a couple examples of things I would pack for an entire day’s worth of food

Breakfast: oatmeal, peanut butter powder (bought in bulk), dehydrated fruit (bulk dried bananas, peaches, mangoes, goji berries), coconut (bulk), and maybe some chocolate chips, instant coffee (in single plastic packaging, totes not zero waste, but very necessary)

Snacks: Rice cakes, peanut butter (I found tiny plastic Ziploc containers that held about 1/4 cup of peanut butter, I would fill them up at home from my big jar of Adam’s), a Snicker’s bar, dried fruit

Lunch: Smoked salmon and Ritz crackers (in plastic packaging), unsalted sunflower seeds (bulk), an avocado with chili flakes sprinkled on top

Dinner: Tasty Bites Madras Lentils and Rice (in plastic packaging, but much needed after a long day of trail work), hot cocoa (bulk, brought in a plastic Ziploc container)

I would usually separate all my days of food into different gallon-sized Ziploc bags or into reused plastic grocery bags. This helped keep everything from floating around my backpack, and also was helpful for throwing everything into the bear bag at the end of the night to keep animals from getting into it. It also made it easier to have my lunch and snacks in separate bags so I could throw them into my daypack (work pack) while I was making breakfast in the morning. We were often away from camp to work, and didn’t have the luxury of returning to camp until we had worked for 8 hours.

As you can probably tell, zero waste backpacking food is nearly impossible. You’re not able to bring lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and you can’t cook things for very long because you’re carrying a micro stove or JetBoil mostly to make boiling water. So the key to reducing your trash and eating less processed foods while backpacking is to plan, shop, and pack everything in advance. You’ll likely end up eating healthier, have enough food to sustain you on the trail so you don’t go hungry, and will feel much more at ease without having to fish through all your food deciding what to eat.

Here are some things I would buy at Winco and the Co-Op from the bulk bins:

• Dehydrated fruit (bananas, mangoes, goji berries, pineapple, strawberries, peaches)
• Dehydrated vegetables (peas, carrots, corn)
• Dehydrated hummus (a friggin’ lifesaver especially for vegans! Seriously you just add water, instant hummus)
• PB powder (another lifesaver for vegans)
• Avocados (harder ones so that they don’t get too squished/last longer)
• Random bulk bins snacks (sesame chips, Gardettos, chex mix, trail mix, chocolate energy bites). Just peruse the bulk bins, you’re likely to find something lightweight and yummy
• Nuts
• Dehydrated Tomato powder/veg stock (an amazing addition for flavor)
• Nutritional Yeast
• Rice noodles (require little cooking time, very versatile)
• Crackers
• Hot Cocoa

Here are some packaged things I bought off the shelves at Winco and the Co-Op:

• Smoked salmon
• Gatorade powder
• Instant coffee packets
• Pop-Tarts (guilty trail pleasure)
• Canned bean dip
• Packets of honey crystals
• Ramen
• Granola Bars
• Instant mashed potatoes and hashbrowns
• Applesauce

Here are some things I would make myself (if I had time before hitch):

• Granola Bars
• Dehydrated strawberries, apples, bell peppers
• Dehydrated backpacking meals from Backpacking Chef (amazeballs)
• DIY flavored oatmeal packets

If you know your stuff, you can forage for berries (huckleberries!!!) along the way.

If you’re car camping, try to clean out your fridge and pack leftovers in your cooler. Save food waste and use what you have already on hand.

So there you have it. You can Google backpacking or camping food ideas, the internet is full of resourceful humans who have found their own ways around $9 premade backpacking meals. “The mountains are like, ‘yo dude where you at,’ and I’m like ‘omw.'”

Love (and hiking boots),

Ollie

Zero Waste School & Office Supplies

Hey there,

Another short and sweet post about zero waste school and office supplies.

By the time I graduated college a couple of months ago, I had used up probably 8 paper notebooks and 4 GB of Google Drive space worth of notes. Also thousands of flashcards for memorizing terms (psychology and ecology were surprisingly memorization-heavy). I always felt bad when I had to recycle all of those notecards, and it seemed silly for them to have a single use.

On the other hand, it was just the way I could learn, and I hadn’t found a better way to do it. The tactile feeling of flipping the cards and reading the words to memorize the content worked for me, and if I use a few thousand flashcards, so be it. Point is, don’t interrupt your learning just to reduce your waste. Do what works for you.

That being said, there are a few things you can switch to reduce your impact. The first example is recycled paper. Take your notes on something like a Decomposition Book, made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper and soy ink, completely compostable, recyclable, and they all have lovely designs on the cover. If it works for you, take your notes electronically and upload them to a cloud. I use Google Drive.

For my sister’s last birthday, I got her a Rocketbook, which allows you to physically write out notes, and upload them to any cloud service. When the notebook gets full, you put it IN THE MICROWAVE and it erases all the pages to be used again! This is the future y’all. So cool!

As for writing utensils, I made the switch to a refillable fountain pen that I found used on eBay for around $30. It’s an older one, made to last, and it writes really nicely. I also bought a few brand new ones on Amazon, and of course, they came in plastic packaging, all wrapped individually (zero waste fail). But, I can buy fountain pen ink in recyclable glass bottles with a metal recyclable cap. I went through maybe 2 tablespoons of ink throughout this last school year. I’m also a fan of the good old wood pencil and pink rubber eraser. I will keep a small mason jar in my backpack for pencil shavings, which are compostable.

As far as other office supplies go, just do your best to avoid greenwashed products (when PR or marketing uses deceptively “green” packaging or phrases to trick you into thinking it’s good for the environment. It takes a little more attention and research, so when in doubt, I go to the thrift store, where you can find mountains of donated materials that would have otherwise been landfilled. I would much prefer to buy cheaper materials that no one is going to use than buy new, sustainable products. But that is just my preference. You do you.

I found some dry-erase markers (a product I just can’t give up) made of recycled materials on Amazon. It seemed like a better option. This is my decomposition notebook, which I mostly have been using for grocery lists now that I’m done with school. I have a few refillable fountain pens and lots of wood pencils. The small container of pen ink is in a glass bottle with a metal top, both recyclable.

Try to get things that are packaged in recyclable materials (staples in cardboard, loose pencils, loose erasers, loose art supplies not wrapped in plastic (harder to find than it should be)). Opt for supplies like the Seven Year Pen, that is not only made to last a lot longer than conventional pens but is also refillable! I have one, it’s awesome.

It can be easy to grab a 100 pack of cheap pens from the shelf, but if you and one million other people do the same, that’s a lot of plastic in the landfill that could have been either avoided or reduced. When you buy 5 notebooks for every class, but only end up using 1/2 of each notebook at the end of the semester, it’s just wasteful. I opt for the multiple-subject college-ruled notebooks that allow you to stuff multiple classes worth of notes in one spot.

Just be conscious of your choices when school shopping or picking up office supplies. Buy recycled printer paper (and then recycle it, no matter what), and recycle your ink cartridges. Certain programs will take in your cartridges for you (University of Idaho campus has several drop-off locations). Opt out of buying kids new school supplies every year, and try to salvage things at the end of the year so you aren’t buying the same things over and over. Try finding gently used secondhand backpacks and other supplies before you buy a new one, and remember that hand-me-downs are ideal. Try using the cloud to keep your notes safe and backed-up, or if handwritten notes are your jam, no big deal. Use front and back sides of paper when writing on and printing (set your printer to always print double-sided).

There’s enough stuff in the world to go around! Let’s be more resilient and resourceful with our school and office materials!

Love (and fountain pens),

Ollie

Runnin’ Out the Door with an Armful of Jars & Straws

Welcome!

I’m ranting about to-go containers and single-use stuff today. Why do they suck? The majority of the world’s plastic ends up in the oceans. Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean. I mean, sure, we can keep investing in ocean cleanup efforts, but truth be told, it’s just not enough, and it’s never going to be.

We need to start being more conscious consumers. We need to start refusing single-use coffee cups and straws and other plastic containers intended for a one and done use.

Did you know that Seattle just banned all plastic straws and utensils?! That’s huge! It’s progress. Starbucks is vowing to ban plastic straws by 2020, but are replacing the lids with a larger, recyclable plastic lid. Yeeeaaahhhh that’s great and all, but that’s just replacing one plastic with another. Reusables should be the standard.

So how do you become a more conscious consumer of the same everyday things you love? Get some reusables! Below you’ll find a little spread of reusables I like to take with me when I go somewhere and know I’ll be eating at a restaurant.

When I’m heading out to eat somewhere, I try my damndest to bring a container to put leftovers in. Most portions are just too freakin’ huge for me to finish, and I usually end up with half a plate of food. I just drop any leftovers in my tiffin tin, or in a Klean Kanteen insulated food container. I will also bring a spork (I like calling them “fapoons”), a stainless steel straw, cloth napkin, and maybe a mason jar, the world’s most versatile container.

Also, I’m not perfect, I forget my reusables sometimes. And I am terrible at remembering to ask for “No straw, please,” when I go out. It’s just one of those habits I’m working on. So far, I have reduced a lot of take-out containers just by bringing my own. People look at me weird sometimes, but I have lost my ability to care. It’s a little sad to think that people think it’s “weird” to be reducing your waste, but the heck with ’em. You do you, boo boo.

If you’re wondering where to buy a fancy reusable coffee cup, you can find them at thrift stores! I won the large green Klean Kanteen coffee tumbler from a zero waste project I did a couple years ago. I love Klean Kanteen because they are a certified B Corporation (wtf is that), ship their products in recyclable packaging, and are just an all-around kickass company. No, I did not get paid to advertise for them, I just love their products a lot a lot.

If you want to pick up some reusable straws, I recommend Life Without Plastic. Also another super cool company with lots of products to choose from for living a plastic-free life.

I found the cloth napkins at a thrift store. You can use anything, like cut up sheets, old tee shirts, whatever is clever. Mason jars you can find in dumpsters (my personal favorite location), sometimes at recycling centers in the glass section (I don’t believe it’s against the rules to dig through those), thrift stores, your grandma’s pantry. At the VERY last resort, buy them new. You shouldn’t ever have to buy new mason jars though.

I would keep a set of reusable cutlery, a straw, and a napkin in your purse/backpack/fanny pack at all times, then you’re never left scrambling!

Love (and mason jars),

Ollie

Zero Waste Cleaning

Hello hello! I am a few days behind on writing blog posts. We went camping over the weekend and substituted technology for margaritas.

This blog will mostly be a picture blog showing you what I use to clean my old dusty 60’s apartment with! I don’t use any bleach, but it is recommended to disinfect things. Used with proper dilutions, bleach can disinfect and protect you against certain bad bacteria. Here’s a good chart to see what kind of things you should be disinfecting and the proper bleach dilutions. I use vinegar to clean and as a weak disinfectant. I use all natural ingredients that are non-toxic and typically non-scented. I’m very sensitive to chemically smells and they give me headaches, therefore I haven’t used bleach in a really long time.

 

This is a ceramic tool holder that I made in my ceramics class last year. It used to have a nice thick handle and ceramic crystals on it, but it’s been dropped in our ceramic sink so many times that it’s looking a little rough, but I still like it. It has drainage holes in the bottom and it lives on the back edge of the sink.

I think our culture is germaphobic, and we must kill all bacteria! Kill it with fire! What does it mean to really get something ‘clean?’ Cleaning means getting dirt and grime and stuff off of things, disinfecting gets rid of spreadable and possibly dangerous germs. Although a lovable alternative to bleach, vinegar may not always get rid of the things that can make us sick.

We really only disinfect our kitchen counters and lots of surfaces after we’ve been sick.

For doing dishes, I fill up on liquid dishwashing soap from the bulk bins at the Co-Op. It’s super concentrated and we only use a few drops for doing dishes. Our dish soap lives in a repurposed tequila bottle with a nice cork top. We have a natural fiber dish brush that sits in a little dish with re-soaping spring to add soap to the brush when we need it. We also use a compostable scrubby and bottle brush from Tiny Yellow Bungalow. We have two different sized straw brushes for cleaning out our reusable straws and a recyclable copper metal scrubby. We CONSTANTLY have dishes and no dishwasher. The struggles of living zero waste and loving to cook include a shit ton of dishes, all the time. So much that we have two dish racks that are pretty much always full.

 

I used to have a different cleaning product for cleaning every single thing in my apartment. Dusting spray, window cleaner, sink spray, etc. What I learned is that products are marketed to you so you can have a product for everything. More products = more packaging = more waste. I’ve learned that you can clean just about anything with baking soda and vinegar. SO CHEAP. You can dust, wipe off counters, clean glass, scrub sinks, yada yada with baking soda and vinegar.

We don’t use paper towels for general house cleaning things, but we do use them for wiping oil and food off of our cast iron skillets. Unfortunately, the can’t be composted because it interrupts the air flow around other materials in a compost heap, and can hinder decomposition. We will probably switch to only using cloth scraps to wipe out the cast iron after we run out of paper towels.

As the for the rest of the cleaning projects, we use washcloths and towels, of which we have an entire drawer. They’re used for everything. Cleaning up spills, drying dishes, wiping down counters.

When they get dirty, they go under the sink in this repurposed bucket that I took from the dumpster at work. We wash them about every couple of weeks.

I don’t think I have ever bought towels new. My mom likes to update her towels every once in a while, so I get all of her old ones. I use towels my great grandma has passed down to my grandma and my mom. Lots of repurposing!

When towels get too ratty and old, I cut them up to use them for cleaning things like the bathroom, or for tissues.

Here’s a jar of cut up scraps that lives on the bathroom counter. We wipe down the counter, dust off the toilet, clean the mirror, and wipe down the shower with them. I keep separate, softer fabric scraps tucked away for tissues.

For cleaning our super old apartment, I like to use Bon Ami on the toilet, sinks, and bathtub to really get the grime off. I use an old dish scrubbing brush that has funky bristles.

To make the house smell nice and get rid of the funk that sometimes occurs, I like burning Palo Santo wood sticks. You only need to burn them for a few seconds to have a house full of smelly good smells. You can find them at Mountain Rose Herbs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s pretty much it! Keeping it simple and cleaning with only a few ingredients can be better for your health, your wallet, and your overall sense of cleanliness. I recommend using up any products you currently have before making the switch. It’s not an overnight process, so have patience. Cut up old tee shirts or sheets for cleaning rags to get paper towels out of your life. Keep an eye out for free spray bottles, and avoid buying new ones.

Love (and dishes forever),

Ollie

 

 

Buying in Bulk

Heyyooo happy Friday!

I’m talking about buying in bulk today. Let’s keep this short and sweet. Here is a photo from my most recent grocery shopping trip to my Co-Op.

A bulk shopping trip that I somehow got home in a backpack and a canvas grocery bag. Radishes, tomatoes, and green beans in produce bags and cloth bulk bags. All else produce was naked except strawberries. The mason jars hold brown rice, garbonzo beans, and balsamic vinegar. I bought two tins of tomato paste, and two rolls of recycled tp in recyclable packaging.

I think that the zero waste life has taught me how to be more creative in kitchen. As a result from buying things package free and in bulk, I find myself eating healthier, saying “What the hell I’ll throw this in there, too,” and saving money. Bulk shopping trips require more meal planning and list-making, but it’s cheaper than processed foods when we factor in effects on your health, detriment to the environment, and waste resulting from packaging. The local Winco store has a sizable bulk section, but they do not allow you to bring your own containers and bags. If I’m buying bulk grains or beans from Winco, I’ll either use a smaller plastic bag or a paper bag from the mushroom section in produce.

A little whiteboard that lives on our fridge to help us keep track of groceries, things we need to get, make and do!

My local Co-Op has a brand new, shiny extended bulk bin section, with lots of local bulk grains, legumes, and other goodies. I always make a list before I go. From the list I determine how many bulk bags, mason jars, and produce bags (mesh or cotton) to bring, with a couple extra here and there just in case. When I get home with everything, I let produce sit in the sink with some Dr. Bronner’s castile soap, put jars of things in the cupboard, and transfer dry bulk things to jars or other containers.

As far as containers go, I only buy secondhand jars when I’m absolutely desperate. Other than that, I use glass peanut butter jars, mason jars from homemade pickles and jam from my dad, and whatever other containers I happen to have (sometimes plastic from freed out things at work).

The photo at the top of my blog is a typical shopping trip, not too big, unless we really groceries. I thought it might be helpful to include a list of things I buy in bulk bins and what kind of things we make with them. Here goes:

• Rice & Grains (brown, white, basmati, cous cous, quinoa) – stir fry over rice, blend into black bean burgers for structure, horchata, curry over rice, use as something to soak up soup, put into soup, horchata, vegan sushi with tomatoes
• Beans & Legumes (kidney, black, great northern, orca, garbanzo, pinto, lentils) – burritos, soups, black bean burgers, chili, falafel, flautas, enchiladas, bean dips
• Noodles (Soba, pastas, rice noodles) – pad thai, stir fry over noodles, spaghetti, tomato/pesto pasta, mac n’ cheese
• Oils & Vinegars & Syrups (Safflower oil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, honey)
• Flours & Sugars (Bread flour, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cocoa poweder, evaporated cane juice (sugar)) – cookies, muffins, bread, brownies (I bake alot!)
• Other Dry Goods (Coconut, chocolate chips, tea, coffee, spices, instant soup mixes, hot cocoa mix)
• Snacks – Sesame cheesy bites, vegan gummy bears, chocolate covered coconut bites, unwrapped candy, trail mix, nuts, granola)

A peak into our cupboards, not perfect but full of good stuff to cook and bake

Our “fat cabinet” full of snacks and oatmeal toppings, bread flour, all purpose flour, masa for making tacos, and smoothie additions

I’ve found such a love in food and making it. I hope you can too. What got me the most interested in vegan cooking was my first Thug Kitchen Cookbook that helps you “Eat like you give a f*ck,” with language I feel right at home reading. It helped me get my shit together, and you can too!

I get that life and space and food availability can hinder your culinary life, but start small. You should know at how to cook at least one meal from scratch. My go-to is spaghetti.

That’s it for today. Get swoll and shop bulk!

Love (and bulk bin candy),

Ollie

P.S. All photos at the top of my blog are irrelevant to posts, and are my own photography ♥

Thriftin’ & Votin’ with Your Dolla

Hi there,

I am rambling today about thrift store shopping and voting with your dollar. Are you tired of me yet? I don’t want to give the illusion that these are well thought-out blog posts written days in advance, so I’m being real when I say I need to go to bed in an hour and I’m just now getting to this.

Do you love free things? Do you enjoy saving money? Of course, you do. Have you ever picked something from a yard sale to purchase? Or traded something for something else?

What sort of system are we contributing to when we purchase new things from a department store? Clothing especially. We are contributing to the “fast fashion” culture, the throw-away culture, the culture of mistreating and underpaying women and children to make your clothing for pennies a day. We are giving into the system of “Oh, well I can always get another one,” that is so toxic to both our well-being, culture, and the planet. When we choose to swap clothing with a friend, buy a lamp at a yard sale, toss a dumpster coffee table into the back of our Corolla, or purchase plates from a thrift store with reminiscent cartoon characters on them, we are contributing to a circular economy.

The “Circular Economy” is the system in which we use resources as long as possible, find the most value in using the resource during its lifecycle, and recover resources and products at the end of their lifecycle to be made into something else. We currently live in a linear economy, one in which we make, use, and dispose of our resources (plastic, furniture, clothing, you name it).

I highly recommend you try dumpster diving, or driving around when students move out for the summer. Living in a college town where people mainly dwell in apartment buildings has made for excellent treasure hunting where I live. It’s sad to see thousands of students packing up and leaving for the summer, only to overflow dumpsters with perfectly salvageable things left to be landfilled. Unfortunately, there are laws in place that place liability on Waste Management Services, and therefore, people are not ‘supposed’ to be digging around in trash cans and dumpsters once things are discarded. It also creates an issue with the right to privacy and all that yada yada.

However, did you know that you can place reusable goods for others to pick through on the sides of dumpsters? It’s perfectly legal to sift through coffee tables and lamps and desk chairs left to the side. I’ve seen lots of dishes and furniture and appliances on the sides of trash cans.

My philosophy is, if you didn’t get caught, it’s fine. I’ve done my fair share of digging around in dumpsters, and have found small but victorious treasures (mason jars, small tables, TVs, shelves, etc.) Sometimes dumpsters have furnished my apartment. People get rid of the craziest things, y’all. Don’t wrinkle your nose at me. Dumpster diving is just cutting the middleman for the thrift stores, let’s be honest here.

Thrift stores can be great! I frequent them for kitchen supplies and other random “I probably don’t need this but it’s entertainment to poke fun at,” type of moments (electronic foot baths, knick-knacks that are nightmare fuel, full denim suits that your partner actually looks super fine in…ahem). One thing I have tried to be more mindful of is shopping at thrift stores that use profits mostly for charity work, such as the local Hope Center or Salvation Army.

Also, when you choose to decorate your house or piece together your wardrobe using only thrift store finds, I think there is something more eclectic and weird about it that makes your style more interesting. You do you, though! This is all from my perspective of being a reformed Kohl’s and Forever 21 shopper. I will also hit up our local Moscow Stormcellar, a magnificent consignment store for clothing, housewares, and furniture. I tediously browse thrift store and consignment shop wracks for things that I like, that are comfortable, fit my style, are durable, and gently used.

More recently I have been opting for more expensive but higher quality denim and pants. I’d be preaching to the choir if I said women’s pant sizes are all completely screwed. I just… like, where are the pockets? No, no, y’all already know. Anyway, when I find a pair of pants that fits and is comfortable, I feel indebted to the great denim goddesses of the universe. Also, I really enjoy wearing Carhartt’s. 9/10 Lumberjanes recommend.

By exercising our power to choose used over new, we are actively changing our economy as a whole. Voting with your dollar as a consumer in the U.S. is one of the best ways to contribute less waste to the economy, more income to actual people instead of big corporations, and more community into your life.

Bartering systems includes trading goods and services for other goods and services. Your sheep for my candles. Your VHS copy of Titanic for my blender. Your help moving me out of my apartment for exactly 4 cold beers. Community. Making friends by helping each other the heck out. Buying less crap and spending more time with each other. That’s what it’s all about, right?

I know I talk about stuff a LOT, but stuff is the world, and the world is stuff, and I have no better explanation. Oh, maybe it’s a good shout-out time! The Story of Stuff started nearly a decade ago, but I think this particular video is still very much relevant. Annie Leonard is amazing, and her video The Story of Solutions is a perfect summation of the process of human decision, goals, and economy all wrapped up into a perfect story. Please check it out and watch their other videos!

Next time you’re in need of a new tee shirt, hit up a thrift store, consignment shop, or have a clothing swap with fun people! Or a stuff swap! There’s nothing more freakin’ wholesome than a stuff swap with snacks. But before you buy anything else, try to fix it yourself if you can! Or reuse/repurpose it! Turn old jeans into patches with art printed/painted on them, cut-off shorts, or hot pot holders. Make art and frame it in thrifted frames. Swap books with friends, and avoid buying books new (libraries are a thing now I heard). Support local businesses and buy things made by local people (ceramics, artisan wood spoons, hand-knit dog and reptile sweaters).

Below you can find some pics of stuff I’ve dumpster dived and thrifted.

Found these right on top of the dumpster outside of work. Lids on and everything!

Thrifted little gadgets. A cheese grater, a metal teaspoon for loose-leaf tea, a handmade ceramic bowl, and a handmade ceramic colander. Just fun useful maboppers

I had been searching thrift stores for this very item for months. I took my recycling out one day and found two of these next to a “reusable bucket” bin. I immediately started laughing and snatched them. They are plastic-free ice cube trays, one might say “antique.”

I must be missing college already because I am already procrastinating with writing blog posts.

Love (and dumpster diving),

Ollie

The Art of Fixing Stuff

Fair warning,

It’s July 4th, and I am full of sass that can only come from growing older and realizing that I am an Ugly American and so are you. You should not celebrate this country today. You should not celebrate the fact that our entire country was built on genocide, slavery, and misogyny (and apparently the shitty memories of Americans). If you think this is the greatest country on earth, I advise you to do a little soul searching, check your privilege and entitlement at the door, and maybe put yourself in someone else’s shoes for a minute.

This blog post is about fixing things that are broken. I feel awfully bitter towards this country as a 22-year-old fresh out of college with non-conformist, left-leaning ideology, and I’m not in a place to push it aside simply for the sake of getting a well-liked blog post. Our system is broken. We are a conglomeration of peoples, native peoples, immigrants, descendants of slaves forcefully brought here. Many (many, many) people in this country have somehow got it in their head that they are superior to others, and have the right to hate, discriminate, and incriminate anyone different. We need to have space in our heart to love people and to be kind. We need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves, and recognize our entitlement, pride, and privilege, then act accordingly. Critical thinking skills and self-discipline required.

Let’s all make an effort to fix ourselves, in our own minds first, before we can fix the rest of the problems in this country.

*Deep sigh*.

This is America

Fixing things. Right. Why should we fix or repair the material objects in our life? For one thing, we need to recognize that we live in a throw-away culture, a place where you use something a few times or even once before tossin’ it away. Vacuum not working? Toss it! Broke a beloved coffee mug? They make more! The car stopped running? Put a rock on the gas pedal and send it over a cliff!

Ha, just kidding. But seriously.

We have got to stop being in the mindset of, “Oh, well I can just get another one.” If you keep up on current events, you may have heard that there are planned space trips to Mars for potential “Plan(et) B” exploration and colonialism. We can just trash this planet and move right on to the next one! Wrongooooo. I mean, if you’re really into wearing the same space suit for years on end and living in sub-zero temperatures for the rest of your elderly life, by all means, live like a human dumpster while you’re on Earth. For the rest of us, I think we ought to start caring for the planet like its, you know, the only one in this galaxy we’re capable of living on. *Nervously pulls shirt collar away from neck*

Told you, I’m salty today. Good vibes from here on out. I promise.

Fixing stuff is fun! And empowering! You’d be amazed at what a tube of superglue can do. When I visited Zion National Park a couple of years ago, the only souvenir I brought back was an orange coffee mug. When it took a tumble into our ceramic sink and the handle broke in four different places, I was certain we’d have to throw it away. Instead, I grabbed my trusty superglue and glued that sucker back together. I’m still using it to this day!

The cast iron griddle before

Just the other day I learned how to change my flat bike tire and replace the tube. I sewed two large holes in the arms of my favorite sweatshirt. I found an old rusty cast iron griddle at a thrift store a while ago. I took some salt and steel wool and applied a hefty dollop of elbow grease, and now I use it every day, and it will probably last forever. I found an older KitchenAid mixer at a thrift store for $30 and am attempting to fix it up real nice for a friend. Your garbage is my gold, baby.

Not only does fixing things save us money, it makes us value that things we own even more. Sure, you “like” your stuff, but do you value it? Do you find it functional? Beautiful? Aesthetically pleasing? If you don’t value your stuff, you’re not going to

Cast iron griddle after scrubbing with steel wool and salt for at least an hour

take care of that stuff. And what is that “stuff” anyway? Do you really need more decorative pillows? Is the one that says “Live, Laugh, Love” actually going to make you live, laugh, and love more? Food for thought.

Fixing things is definitely not a new concept, but I think its lost its glamour. Why learn a new skill when it’s so easy to buy a new thing? I’ll tell ya why, because, and to quote my favorite podcasters (shout out time!) Chuck and Josh from Stuff You Should Know, “Learning is intoxicating!” The feeling of popping open the face plate of a chainsaw to deconstruct it, sharpen it, and put it back together to fell a big ol’ pine tree is a rush I can’t describe. I love taking things apart and putting them back together again.

So next time something of yours breaks, don’t opt to just throw it out. Try fixing it first. If that doesn’t work, try to find it used, thrift it, hell eBay still exists why is no one using it. Once again, there is already enough “stuff” in the world. No need to buy new! Learn how to sew. Repurpose things. Repair stuff. Youtube is an excellent resource for learning how to do things.

My ride or die babe, salvaged from a junkyard, refurbished by a guy named Frank, bought by me and loved wholeheartedly

Shout out time! Have you heard of ifixit.com? It’s a website that gives you resources to fix just about anything. Below you can find their “Repair Manifesto.” You are a smart, capable human being! I friggin’ love the internet.

I wasn’t sure where I was going with this blog when I started it, and I feel like it’s a little chaotic. But isn’t that life? I hope you take today to celebrate you, and all the wonderful, kind, loving people that live in this insane world.

Love (and fixing things),

Ollie