I have replaced my facial lotion with an oil homemade by a person here in my city. The bottle is glass and this is my second time going to her home for a refill!!
Love to refill bottles, bags, buy soaps - my best facial items are from The Bubblery in Leavenworth WA. Good on you - and those who will refill their product!
About to go on vacation for a week, definitely the hardest thing to try and stay eco friendly on, but at least we have our own water bottles (and found a brita filter that's reusable), cups for coffee and tea we can wash and reuse, bringing own bar soaps/shampoos. Helps to be driving too.
Took the thred up quiz (also the place I just got new to me converse) and happy to score low on a fashion footprint and watched the ted talk, hand would have still been up. Even with small amount of mostly second hand and resewen clothes, still feel surrounded by too much 🤷♀️
I am a big fan of decluttering and just holding onto less overall -- because if you have items you aren't using, they're basically waste. My favorite way to move stuff along is to give it away in my local Buy Nothing group. That way, you know it's going to someone who wants it. Plus, thrift stores will generally throw broken donations away (hello, another method of wishcycling) whereas someone in your neighborhood might be willing to use it as-is or fix it.
Last fall, my partner and I did a 31-day challenge of getting rid of 1 thing/day x the date of the month (so, by the end, we cleared out nearly 1000 items between the two of us). I was hoping to do that again this month, but have been too overwhelmed. Regardless, it feels good to pass on a handful of items to others who will use them!
Our air conditioner has been broken for a bit, so I've largely been preparing raw or minimally cooked meals. Yesterday, the Instant Pot was a great solution for making a warm meal that doesn't heat up the house. When I have extra veggies on hand, I like to chop them up and freeze individually on cookie sheets before transferring to jars, to avoid waste and have an easy things to bulk up a meal. Combining dried beans, rice, and spices (readily available in bulk at the co-op and Sprouts) with my previously chopped frozen poblano & sweet potato turned out perfect for a cooler (!!) rainy evening.
I regularly clean all other appliances, but have never cleaned the exterior dryer vent in the 4+ years I've lived here. And I did find a receipt behind the dryer from 2018, so not sure it's been done since at least then. It was super easy and only took a few minutes. There actually wasn't a lot of buildup in there (maybe because we don't use it often), and I did find more dirt/debris under the dryer than in the vent, but still worthwhile. The most exciting find was 2 impact driver bits inside the vent.
Are there any restaurants in your area that offer reusable takeout containers? How can you advocate for this practice to become more mainstream in your city?
There is a group in Galveston, Texas doing this. You can learn more at: https://www.perpetualuse.org/galveston & https://environmentamerica.org/texas/articles/reusable-foodware-coming-to-texas/
I don't know of any that offer this, but some allow you to bring your own (or I usually order for here and then put it into my own container to take away). I've been noodling for a while on starting a local chapter for BYO (https://usreduces.org/local-groups/) -- what do you think??
City Council passed a ban of plastic bags once, hopeful it can happen again, as for take out I always just have my own containers, no restaurant has ever told me not to pack my own leftovers.
Breakfast was great! Made a savory meal with quinoa leftover from the previous night's dinner, sauteed kale from a neighbor that was on its last legs, poached quail eggs, sliced avocado, and yogurt. This was filling, reduced potential food waste in the fridge, & everything except the yogurt was purchased or produced plastic-free (quinoa in bulk, garden kale, quail eggs from my yard, avocado). When I have more time/energy, I'll start getting into the habit of making my own yogurt again.
