Today is Day Seven of Zero Waste Week here at The Non-Consumer Advocate and I am wiped. Mind you, I'm not tired of making Zero Waste choices, I'm just tired of writing about it! Today I brewed a cup of loose leaf tea, drove kids to soccer, sat in my car reading library books until...
Today Day Six of the Zero Waste Week and although I normally take a break from blogging on Saturdays, today is a bonus day! Why? Because yesterday was all about stocking the kitchen back up on Zero Waste goodies. Unlike regular grocery shopping which can be accomplished at one or two locations, Zero Waste has...
Today is Day Five of the Zero Waste Week here at the Non-Consumer Advocate. And although I still have the weekend to get through, I have now successfully packed ten individual school lunches and two work lunches for myself. Mind you, my kids' lunches are never filled with pre-packaged stuff to begin with, but...
Today is Day Four of Zero Waste Week, and I work again. The grumbling about the project is starting to starting up, although I nipped that in the bud with bribery of bulk purchase of yogurt covered pretzels and fruit gummies from New Seasons. Yesterday was more about what I didn't do, rather than...
Today is Day Three of Zero Waste Week, and although the day was mostly devoted to laundry, (seriously, where does it all come from?!) there was a definite waste-free bent to the day: Drank loose leaf tea throughout the day. Everyone's lunches (work and school) were zero waste. Dinner was back bean chili made...
It's Day Two of Zero Waste Week, and so far my focus has been on food, food and . . . wait for it . . . food. Searching for businesses who sell without packaging, finding bulk sources and adjusting how my family cooks and eats. So far, it's been a delicious experiment. However, a...
It's Day One of Zero Waste Week, and I've already messed up. How? Well . . . I planned out the kids' school lunches to be baguettes with bulk purchased gourmet cheese, (Maybe Brie?) homemade cookies and cut up oranges. My first thought was to buy the baguettes and cheese at Pastaworks, but then I...
Tomorrow starts The Non-Consumer Advocate's Zero Waste Week, but I wanted to switch my mind over a few days in advance. So I spent the last few days practicing Zero Waste and figuring how to get through the week without going insane and eating nothing but bulk purchased oatmeal and lettuce. I want to see how...
Would you be interested in participating in a Non-Consumer Advocate Zero Waste Week? I am very inspired and intrigued by Bea Johnson's Zero Waste lifestyle, but am hesitant to make a full commitment. I guess my qualm is that I'm pretty sure it would cost my family more money. I know that Bea Johnson says...
Today, September 6th marked day one of Zero Waste Week, which is put on by Mrs Green over at My Zero Waste. The changes recommended are: As long as you end up reducing your food waste in some way, you can choose anything you like. Here are some ideas: Identify a particular food that gets...
This week recognizes the shared distinction of being both Zero Waste Week and the start of Clotheslines Across America. My Zero Waste is the creation of Britain's Mrs. Green in an effort to put the spotlight on the issues of wastefulness and rubbish output in the U.K. and beyond. Mrs. Green and her family of three...
One of my favorite website/blogs is My Zero Waste. The site chronicles the challenges of an English family working to minimize household waste. Mrs Green (married of course to Mr Green, and mother of Little Miss Green.) approaches the subject matter with a wonderful sense of humor and a keen eye. Although three...
Although I don't strive for a 100% zero waste lifestyle, much of how my family lives falls under that category. We buy used, (zero packaging) mend instead of replace and choose reusable items whenever possible. This past week was no more a Zero Waste Week than any other week, but it still included many zero waste...
I make an effort to minimize waste in my home whenever possible. We recycle and compost, mend and repair, buy only used (which almost eliminates packaging waste) and try to find alternate uses for what we already own. We Portlanders only get every-other-week garbage pickup and we share that with our next door neighbors. On...
Zero Waste Week may have been seven months ago, but that doesn't mean that it's full steam ahead for wastefulness. Reducing my family's waste is always part of our daily routine. Here are some recent examples: My kids' school lunches and the adults' work lunches are always packed with zero waste in mind. Handmade cookies...
It's been a month and half since I wrapped up Zero Waste Week, and although I am no longer buying the $4.50 half-gallons of glass-bottled milk, I am incorporating some other permanent Zero Waste changes into my life. As you may recall, I had already made most of the easy changes. I use my own...
I write a lot about food waste, and recently I've been adding a fair number of posts about zero waste. So naturally I've been thinking about how the two are connected. Buying in bulk (the mainstay of zero waste) means that not only are you avoiding dreaded packaging, but you're also able to buy precisely the...
The following is an updated post from last year's food stamp challenge. It's a classic and a keeper. Enjoy! Welcome to day eighteen of the July Food Stamp Challenge. Today's focus is on food waste. With food prices so high, there's simply no excuse for food waste in the home. Regular readers of The Non-Consumer Advocate already know that the food...
In honor of No Waste Week, I am going to take the opportunity to confess my frugal transgressions to The Non-Consumer Advocate community. And no, I don't need to back more than a month to find an example. This occurrence happened in August. I could start making my excuses now, but perhaps I should start from...
Welcome to day four of the June Food Stamp Challenge. Today's focus is on food waste. With food prices so high, there's simply no excuse for food waste in the home. Regular readers of The Non-Consumer Advocate already know that the food waste issue is near and dear to my heart. Two years ago, I...
Welcome to day two of Thrift Week. Today's topic is food waste. With food prices so high, there's simply no excuse for food waste in the home. Regular readers of The Non-Consumer Advocate already know that the issue of food waste is an issue near and dear to my heart. I issued a Waste No...
1) I photographed three recently thrifted items for eBay/Facebook Marketplace, even though I profoundly didn't feel like doing it. It's easy to do the things you're in the mood for, it's an entirely different category when those things feel like a chore. File it under "A favor for future Katy." Current Katy is feeling unmotivated...
Goodbye, Canada! 1) My husband and I drove from Vancouver B.C back down to Portland, which took almost eight hours due to an hour at the Canada/United States border and inevitable Seattle traffic. (Even though it was a Saturday!) Seattle will never disappoint when it comes to inevitable frustrating traffic. We had a pair of...
1) I quickly flipped my curb picked Ikea chair through Facebook Marketplace for twenty bucks. It's great to make da' big money, but these $20-$30 sales are a quick thrill. I'll never turn that down! Keep in mind that the garage sale vendor had it priced at just $2 before they slapped a "FREE" sticker...
We've been really good about using up random food this week. • This morning I used up spinach and cabbage for an okonomiyaki-ish breakfast. • Last night we ate the last clearance shelf heirloom tomatoes on tostadas. • Yesterday we used up the last of our Tillamook cheese and half a red onion in a...
We hosted another family dinner, which culminated in a rousing game of Scrabble. (Thrifted of course!) The frozen enchiladas from last week anchored the meal and we assembled a big green salad to round things out. I'm really trying to spend as little money as possible this month, which makes me a slightly unfun hostess,...
In addition to this blog, I also run a companion Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group, which is currently hovering around 79,000 members. New prospective members have to answer a simple question, which helps to weed out the ever present spammers. The answers are always interesting, so I've started saving them to share in blog posts. I've followed...
My sister just finished a weeklong visit from New York and gifted me a pair of hand-knit sock as an early birthday present. I have a couple other pairs from her, but the colors on these ones are extra perfect for me. Here's a photo of my father and I wearing pairs of her socks:...
I'm still in the midst of swirling chaos, so I'm going to scrape the bottom of the barrel for this Monday's Five Frugal Things blog post. Okay, let's see what I can come up with. Last Tuesday found me stashing my perishable groceries in my mother's refrigerator across town, as well as abandoning a pot...
I walked a mile to pick up a Hydroflask water bottle and hiking headlamp from someone in my Buy Nothing group, even though it was hot and kind of humid and I was sorely tempted to drive. I dropped them off at the house and then walked another mile or so to pick up the...
My neighbors will be out of town next week, so I'll water their plants and bring in their mail. I'm actually happy to have this opportunity to help them out, as they help care for our elderly cat whenever we travel. Not that we're keeping track as some kind of quid pro quo situation, but...
I took my mom to the Goodwill bins, where I scored a small LLBean duffel bag, a new looking Land's End lined rain coat, (in my size!) a lazy Susan and a miniature wooden Pinocchio. All of which I'm keeping. The Adventure duffel was unfortunately embroidered with the name "Eleanor," which I'm 93% sure is...
My Facebook Marketplace and eBay sales have been slow lately, but I know that it's directly related to me being a homebody. However, sales have been trickling in: • A vintage Cathrineholm enamel bowl that I bought for $2 and sold for $65. • A wool sweater that I bought for $8 and sold...
Although I did earn some money since publishing my last blog post, it's still been a financially lopsided month for us. My son's college tuition was due January 1st, which coincided with the renewal of my nursing license, an unexpected car repair, leftover physical therapy bills from my husband's foot surgery, our semi-annual garbage bill...
My son went through his room and did a major purge of his clothing. (It filled one of those blue Ikea bags!) Ideally everything should have gone into last week's garage sale, but somehow that didn't happen. Instead we're going to to take it to the Buffalo Exchange consignment shop in the neighborhood, and then...
My youngest son came home for the weekend so we could celebrate his twentieth birthday as a family. (Can I get some kind of medal for ushering both my kids through their teen years?!) As always, we structured a Birthday Day of Adventures to put the emphasis on experiences instead of stuff. Our main activity...
Day one of being sick was all adorable, with nicely organized (and zero waste) supplies, but this plague has now hit day six, and honey, it ain't pretty. I've run through all my washable hankies/rags/napkins for the endless blowing of my nose and coughing, and have moved onto rolls of toilet paper. (Trader Joe's, which...
We took a day trip to Hood River, Oregon to watch the amazing kiteboarders and enjoy the town. Although the lunch was pricey, the rest of the day was quite frugal and featured my husband gleaning a wall bike rack from a literal pile of garbage. We stopped after lunch for some "walking around coffee." I...
My son picked up his loaner cap and gown from the counseling office at his high school. I was telling a co-worker about this savings/zero waste hack, and was asked how much it would have cost to have simply bought the cap and gown. I was unsure, since I never even considered buying one, so I asked...
Five Frugal Things I stopped into the counseling office at my son's high school to arrange borrowing a graduation cap and gown. The secretary was very accomodating, and mentioned that she wishes more families would donate these single-use garments back to the school, so they'd have more to lend out. I told her that I'd spread the...
I went to a coworker's retirement party on Friday, which called for people to bring "an appetizer." My day had been busy, as my friend Denise was in town and I wanted to make sure we got a chance to meet up in person. I was tempted to A: Buy something to bring or B: Flake out as I really didn't...
I was sent $85 in Outback Steakhouse gift cards as a Christmas gift from the fine folks at Clark Howard. My birthday is next week, so I'll use them as part of my Birthday Day of Adventures. Nice to be part of their family. Thank you, Clark! I loaned a nice card table to a neighbor...