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 the game started and then drove through Burgerville for breakfast burritos on the way home.
Why would I make a drive-through decision?
Because I had a BOGO Chinook Book coupon, as well as a free breakfast burrito that had been added to my Burgerville card after my last visit. So . . . free!
And the packaging?
It was all paper and could be composted. So it was 100% Zero Waste!
If you’re wanting to delve more deeply into Zero Waste, I highly recommend Zero Waste Home as well as the Zero Waste Home book. (Get it from the library for bonus good karma points!) And for those of you with a smart phone, there’s an interactive Bulk Locator App for sourcing zero waste options in your neighborhood!
So now you have no excuses for not working Zero Waste into your life!
Did you make any Zero Waste choices this week? Please share your stories in the comments section below!
Click HERE for Day One of Zero Waste Week.
Click HERE for Day Two of Zero Waste Week.
Click HERE for Day Three of Zero Waste Week.
Click HERE for Day Four of Zero Waste Week.
Click HERE for Day Five of Zero Waste Week.
Click HERE for Day Six of Zero Waste Week.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Katy,
I just want to say thanks for taking the time to write 7 days of zero waste posts. It was a challenging, but inspiring week. (I’ve got to admit, I’m looking for a little bit of Goodwill inspiration again though!)
Just wondering… Did you ever give away the copies of Bea’s book?
The five winner have already been chosen and notified. The publisher will send out the books.
Katy
There aren’t many bulk options where I live, but I did find out this week that an ec0-friendly store in the town next to mine will refill my Charlie’s laundry soap container – and it’s cheaper that way! 🙂
This has been an interesting week, Katy! Your mega efforts have given us all a heads up on waste. I hope you will soon write a review on your take of the week. Has the effort been worth the time and money spent and is it sustainable for you and your family?
I’ll put together a blog post sometime this week, although I need to take a break from writing about it for a couple of days.
Katy
Thanks, Katy! Have appreciated all your posts. I am a work in progress, trying to progress in the area I live. One day at a time!
Thanks, Katy. It all reminded me of a free source of bulk tea if you (1) like mint and (2) have a small patch of ground, so possibly helpful for people who commented they don’t have bulk options near them. Mint spreads like weeds and will grow anywhere, sun or shade; better in shade. We had it at my childhood home, but I had forgotten. Chewed fresh, it takes like Wrigley spearmint gum. Dried — which is nothing more than picking the leaves and tossing them on a pan or anywhere; they dry really quickly, and then keeping them in jars over the winter. Get a teaball and you have free — after initial purchase of mint — tea. It can be mild or strong, depending on how long you steep it. I come from a big family, who drank lots of tea and we had more than we could use. We NEVER bought tea (bagged or loose). Occasionally we’d have linden tea, which was also picked free from linden trees — they grew on public property.
Umm . . . caffeine!!!!!!!!
Katy
If you know someone with mint I’m sure they will share a cutting then the plant itself is free too.
That’s how I got mine.
I enjoyed reading about this all week. I live out in the country and there are no stores like you have where you can bulk purchase items, so I try to buy items without too much packaging and recycle the rest. We do get our eggs from our neighbors and reuse the cartons over and over and I had to buy a new coffee maker recently (nursed the previous one as long as I could) and it has a permanent filter, so no more having to buy paper filters. It’s a start anyway.