Sustainability

Above: A section of my plastic-free bathroom supplies.

• We purchase plastic-free toilet paper in bulk from Who Gives a Crap. Instead of using facial tissue, we use toilet paper or cloth handkerchiefs that I simply toss in the wash.

• Silk floss in a reusable glass container. I buy refills of the floss which come in compostable cardboard packaging. Did you know some plastic floss is coated in teflon? Yecch! 

• Toothpaste tablets that come in a compostable wrapper. I use ones with flouride in them since my mother was a dental hygenist for 30+ years. I also use a  bamboo toothbrush. The nylon bristles are not compostable, so I pull them out with pliers when it is time to compost the handle (it's very satisfying.) I'm lucky to live in a city that converts waste into energy, so I feel okay about the nylon bristles being trashed.

• Deodorant in a compostable cardboard tube. It's also extremely easy to make your own.

• A shampoo bar that comes wrapped in a piece of paper. I also use a conditioner bar and a soap bar. No plastic tubes needed!

• I purchase bulk lotion in a reusable container or I use coconut oil for moisturizer. I also purchase SPF face lotion from Burt's Bees. Their plastic tubing is recylable through TerraCycle.

• I don't use hair products, but I have had success with aloe vera gel as a curl gel in the past. 

• Vinegar and baking soda make a great cleaner for bathroom surfaces. Steep citrus peel in the vinegar  to make it smell fresher.

Above: a trash-free picnic with compostable pizza boxes, real plates, and cloth napkins. BYO silverware and travel mugs everywhere.

• "Can I make that myself?" is a question I ask before I purchase a product. It's way cheaper and fun to bake your own bread, plus, it really doesn't take a lot of time. We pickle our own hot peppers, and make our own hummus and pasta sauce.  

• We eat mostly vegetarian and vegan. The rare times we do purchase animal products, we purchase from small local family farms that raise sustainable, pastured flocks with regenerative farming practices. 

• I love the bulk aisle. Save your jars! We also order often from Azure Standard; many of their bulk items come in paper bags. 

• I am fortunate to live in a city that has an organics recycling program. We easily divert 30-50% of our kitchen waste to the organics bin that the city picks up and turns into compost. If you have outdoor space, it's easy to compost on your own, too.

• It's fairly easy to avoid single-use plastic bags. When we do come into contact with them, we save all #4 plastic bags and take them to a plastic-bag drop off, usually found in your local grocery store. 

• Make sure you are up to date on recycling rules in your municipality. Wishcycling doesn't work. 

• We re-use paper bags as garbage bags instead of plastic garbage bags.

• I shop with a food heirarchy. For example, I almost always buy organic produce, but if I have the option between organic squash flown from Chile vs conventional squash grown in Minnesota, I choose local over organic. Think global impact - eating local conserves a lot of resources.

• The Zero Waste Chef has been influential in my journey. 

Above: Mama the very good dog, sniffing some phlox, an amazing perennial ground cover that is good for the earth, bees, and us.

• Manicured lawns are unnatural,  contribute to the decline of pollinators, and are manifestations of harmful capitalist systems.
  For heavens sake, don't chemically treat your lawn. As we move into more turbulent, hotter, and drier summers, planting drought resistent native plants will help your plot stay beautiful when everyone else's looks dry and crispy. 

• You know about No Mow May, right?

• One of the easiest way to help decolonize your lawn is to overseed it with clover. Or, pick a corner, toss some wildflower seeds there, and just let it go wild to create a wildlife habitat for birds and bees.

• Dandelions are beautiful and edible and can be harvested to make a delicious coffee substitute. They are a source of early spring food for pollinators. Leave some please. 

• Instead of buying annual flowers, spend your money once on native perennials or volunteer annual plants and flowers that come back year after year. My favorites in Minnesota are echinacea, daffodils, strawberries, milkweed, butterfly weed, sedum, asters, rhubarb, asparagus, sunflowers, monarda, alliums, black raspberries, and phlox. 

• Leave the leaves! Nature really does have it figured out. In the fall, don't decimate all the leaves with your mower. Leave a good chunk of them to provide hiberation habitats for bees and pollinators. Leaves can also provide mulch for overwintering plants, flowers, and bulbs.

• Always research an issue thoroughly and implement IPM before reaching for a chemical solution.