This is one area we have been doing very well with. I think we've had less than 5 total plastic bags come home with us in the past month (including Christmas shopping!). Here's a few tips if you are working on this change:
- Keep some reusable bags in each vehicle and at home so you always have access to them
- If you are running errands, be sure to bring a reusable bag in with you even if you aren't planning on buying something that will need a bag. Plans often change once you get in the store
- At the store, tell the checker BEFORE they even start ringing you up that your brought your own bag. A couple of the plastic ones we ended up with were because the checkers were just so darn fast and we felt bad asking them to take it out and re-bag it
Stop Buying "Single Serving" Products
We've been doing pretty well with this one. There are somethings we are still buying the same product but in larger portions, some things we found a way to make them ourselves instead and some things we have just stopped buying. Below are a few of the changes we've made:
- Instead of String Cheese: Buy a block of cheese and cut into cheese sticks
- Instead of Yogurt Cups: Buy a large container of yogurt and portion into tupperware or bowls as needed
- Instead of Protein Bars: make some healthy bars or treats or even switch to fruit or veggies as a snack
- Instead of Soda: Ryan now brews tea for himself. I try to mostly drink water but I do use the Mio water flavoring sometimes (each bottle makes 24 servings so it's still less packaging)
- Instead of Instant Oatmeal Packs: buy a large container of instant oats and flavor it yourself with things you have on hand
Start Checking Out Local Farms & Farmer's Markets
We haven't had the greatest success at Farmer's markets. We have checked out two in our area but they are pretty small and options are limited. Plus one time Ryan overheard the guy running the stand saying on the phone he has just moved here a week ago. And then we saw on the rubber band around the asparagus said “product of argentina”. So it makes me question if all of those stands are local. Now some of them are (shout out to Funky Chicken Farm) definitely local. I did like the hydroponics vendor – you know the cilantro is fresh when it still has the roots attached to it! There are two places we have found that I think will be successful:
- Thanks to Amazon Local and a few friends, we recently found an organic produce delivery service near us called Space Girl Organics (I’ll post a review after we’ve gotten a few weeks’ worth of produce) and have signed up for weekly deliveries
- We found a local butcher with reasonable meat prices! The meat is not certified organic, but they butcher it right in the shop and never add preservatives or chemicals to the meat. They make their own sausages and had a great selection. It’s called Ken’s Custom Meat & Seafood (I’ll post a review after we have gotten more meat from there)
- I started a private Facebook group with some other friends who grow things
Areas to Improve
While these aren't exactly on our "phase 1 changes" there were a couple of things that we are doing that seem to be generating more trash than necessary and we'll have to try to address them eventually.
- Take Out: I’m not saying we’ll never eat out again but getting fast food or takeout ends up with so much extra waste. Not only do you get a plastic or paper bag with all your food in it but you usually get extra napkins, sauces, salts, etc that you wouldn’t have grabbed if you ate at the restaurant. We’re going to do a better job making sure that if we have to get something quick, we at least order it “for here” and then only take what we need with us
- Amazon Prime: Because Amazon Prime is so convenient, we order A LOT of things from there. However, even if you put all your items in one order and they're all coming from an Amazon warehouse (and not a 3rd party seller), sometimes they still ship each individual item separately. And then when you get it, it might be a huge box with one tiny item in it and tons of packing material in there. So I'm going to try to do a better job of shopping locally for items if the price is reasonable (I will sacrifice a little convenience to save trash but I don't want to waste money just to save trash).