6 Ways to "Ditch" the Waste!
“Reduce, reduce, reduce!” Everyone knows that those are the three “Rs”.
Oh wait, it’s actually “Reduce, reuse, recycle!” isn’t it. Just a little slip on my part, I guess (wink wink).
These words have been put together and uttered since the 1970s. We’ve heard them so often that I think we kind of tune them out. BUT! It seems like maybe we need to rethink them and live by them.
Now more than ever, finding ways to “ditch” wasteful habits is so necessary!
Recycle! Or You'll Get "The Horns"
Since my teens, I have always been “that one” in the crowd that was full of… environmental consciousness, thank you very much. Personally, I like to think I was a young woman ahead of my time.
In actuality, I was probably quite a bit of a nag on this subject. Thanks to an Environmental Studies class I was enrolled in, I was bombarded with statistics that I had to regurgitate for our weekly quizzes.
And regurgitate I did. To anyone who would listen. Or not. How many times a year’s worth of used plastic water bottles could circle the earth, how many marine animals die each year as a result of plastic and how the ozone layer is being depleted. This being wayyyyy back in the 1980s, people looked at me like I had sprouted horns, “What the hell is an Ozone Layer?”
I had horns alright. They might have been figurative, but I had them. I was going to dig those horns right into anyone who littered, who didn’t recycle, who used plastic water bottles. I mean, I had me a Sigg bottle before anyone knew what those were ’round these here parts.
I like to think I went about “educating” others with the knowledge I was learning by throwing statistics at them. I was frustrated when I got “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” and hopeful when someone threw me a bone of “Really? That’s so interesting!”
Address: Us, Right Here, Planet Earth
Ironically, as I write this, my husband is watching the news and they’re talking about climate change. Incredibly, somehow the health our planet has turned into an us vs. them political debate. Some are saying that climate change isn’t real.
Honey, quick! Change the channel! Yeesh.
Whether or not you “believe in” climate change, it’s pretty impossible to deny the horrifying and staggering amounts of waste in landfills and in the oceans.
At the very least, we can all probably agree that each of us can make some changes that’ll affect our address: Us, Right Here, Planet Earth. Because despite these new space trips, I don’t think they’re selling and developing real estate out there yet. I don’t think. Maybe.
6 Simple Ways to "Ditch" Waste, not "Pitch" it
So what can we do that can really make a difference?
Reduce first, then reuse. Definitely. Then recycle.
So here we go. I’m throwin’ down the challenge of 6 simple ways to “ditch” waste, not “pitch” it.
#1. Ditch Plastic
Ditch the boxes of plastic wrap and plastic resealable bags:
Please.
There are so many other options out there that we CAN make this possible.
I love my covered glass and stainless steel containers. They are surprisingly rugged and hold up to a lot of battering.
If only something disposable will work, compostable bags or these paper bags.
Don’t have a cover that fits your container? Try beeswax or cloth covers.
Need to freeze something? Use the above for the same!
Ditch the disposable plastic water bottles:
Yes you can buy these in bulk; big sizes, little kid sizes. Plastic wrapped in plastic for a pretty low investment. Plastic filled with a clear life saving liquid that most of us are fortunate enough to be able to get out of the faucet. (If you aren’t sure of your tap water quality, you can have it tested.) In the meantime, we’re reducing the quality of our life by using all these plastic bottles. It turns out that they are a very poor investment to our health and to the health of our planet after all! Crazy!!!
How many parties have you been to that you’ve seen half full bottles everywhere. Even those tiny little ones for kids. I’ve dug through the trash because no one bothered to put them in the clearly labeled recycle bin, if there happens to be one. Or even worse, someone will tell me, “Who cares? Half of it doesn’t get recycled anyway.” O.M.Goodness! I get so upset and want to fire back with “Then why the HECK are you even buying it!” (There’s those “horns” rearing up again!)
Paper cups and pitchers of water used to work in the “old days”. Add some sliced cucumbers, herbs and fruit and kids love it! No? Plain water. In a paper or compostable cup. Or in their own reusable one.
Try teaching kids to be good stewards of our planet because after all, they’re the ones that are going to be affected in the future.
Save the plastic bottles for emergencies, like for power outages if you weren’t able to plan ahead.
#2. Do Without!
“Wait, what? Why would I do that? It’s cheap.” Was that your initial reaction?
You aren’t alone.
Ohhh the land of plenty…We have been so conditioned to believe that not only can we have anything we want, but we should have it.
How about trying this instead. “Do I really need this? Is it just going to get wasted or thrown away? Is it going to wind up on a shelf in the basement? Forgotten about and unused under the bed? Broken in the toy box?”
My friend, in cleaning and organizing, introduced to me a concept she learned from Marie Kondo, the organization guru; the question of “Does it spark joy?”
I.love.this. Before buying anything, I think we should all ask ourselves that question. Truly.
Does. it. spark. joy? Not, “maybe I’ll like it” or “I have to get her something to open on her birthday.”
The question should be whether (no matter what the item is), is it truly necessary for us to pay our hard earned money for this item, bring it into our (or someone else’s) home, dispose of the packaging, store it, clean it, repurpose it, dispose of it, etc.?
Is it truly worth all of the costs of this one item (price tag and “behind the scenes” costs) to bring it into our lives and homes?
So often, the answer is NO.
So often, we just don’t stop to think about the “consequences” of our purchases.
When the answer is no, then please, save the energy and the costs to produce it, ship it across the oceans, truck it across our country’s failing infrastructure and throw the packaging and probably the item itself into a permanent place of exponential waste in our landfills. (Whew. See what I meant about the “nag” part?)
#3. Ditch Plastic Gift Cards
Green is good, in so many ways!
After opening cards and monetary gifts from my aunts and uncles on birthdays and holidays, they always said “It’s the right size and color.” It truly was a gift from their hearts; one that kept on giving later on in life.
Those monetary gifts became the gift of a financial lesson too. My parents would give me a portion and put the rest in the bank so that the gifts I received when I was six or twelve eventually became a car and a down payment on a house. Awesome.
So whatever did happen to just giving cash or a slip showing a bank deposit? Cash might get lost? Just as easily as a plastic card anyhow. One statistic shows that up to 3 billion dollars of gift cards aren’t redeemed each year.
These plastic cards are dumped by the billions and will never ever ever breakdown. They just sit in landfills leaching their carcinogens and toxins.
And if you do try to find a recycler of them it can be costly or difficult.
In trying to reduce the amount of plastic gift cards we’re using, it’s also important to know a store’s return policy. There are more than a few big box stores that will only issue you a single use plastic card with credit on it for a return, even if it’s an exchange for another item.
Be proactive and make sure you aren’t contributing to another plastic card being tossed in the trash because of a return.
Better yet, petition stores to provide options besides non biodegradable plastic cards. Challenge them! Believe me, they do listen. All those surveys they want you to take? Tell them…reduce plastic and waste! When changes are made, then promote that business.
#4. Shop Local
By “local” I mean try farmer’s markets and farm stands, local co-ops and crafters.
Reduce the carbon footprint of the refrigerated trucking of a plastic bag of (insert any item here) from 3000 miles away, just because it’s convenient to buy at the big box store. Buy it local instead! Choose produce that doesn’t come in plastic and wasn’t sprayed with chemicals to preserve them in those cargo units.
I once asked a child if he knew where beef came from. It was so unbelievably sad to hear the reply of “the grocery store”.
As the saying goes, you may need a doctor, lawyer or police officer a few times in your life, but you need a farmer 3 times a day, every day! Support them!
Experience the joy of fresh.
It really is quite fun to make an event out of going to a farmer’s market. Bring your reusable cloth bag and see the colors and textures, smell the scents and see the pride on the producers faces. FRESH fruits and vegetables, soap, honey, milk, eggs, breads and baked goods and so much more!
And the “SO much more”…I love shopping for those special gifts at craft and agricultural fairs and art shows. Last year we found a craft fair that supported the local American Legion. It had the most amazing products and huge bonus, a portion of sales went to the Veterans! I got a lot of Christmas shopping done in July…another bonus!
Handmade pottery, blown glass, soaps and lotions, lip balms, artwork, handcrafted toys, scarves and clothes, jewelry… One of a kind, special items that weren’t mass produced with toxic ingredients.
Furthermore? Most of it was probably never cocooned in a piece of offgassing plastic!
Don’t know where your local farmers market is? Check here at the USDA Local Food Portal. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce to find local events too.
#5. Eliminate food waste.
Have you ever thought about what it takes to get a banana, coffee or rice to your table? From start to finish, food requires an astronomical amount of resources to get to you.
“But it’s only a 19 cent banana. Who cares?” That 19 cent banana, and all of it’s bunch-mates, sure costs a heck of a lot more to our planet than what that measly 19 cents reflects. And to have it end up in the trash, taking up space in yet another plastic non biodegradable garbage bag?
Lunacy. Period. Real food, a privilege, taken for granted. Especially when there are starving people everywhere.
Let’s take a minute to make sure that what we buy, cook, put on our plate or in our lunch box, Actually. Gets. Eaten.
It doesn’t matter what it is or what it cost. The finished product of food, by the time it gets into our homes, has a ginormously costly impact on our environment.
From the machinery involved in soil prep, fertilizers and pesticides (and the production of those too), factories to cook, bake (including all of those other ingredients involved including chemicals, dyes, and preservatives), process, can, package, store, refrigerate, ship, truck, fly, train (and the fuels, oils, refrigeration/temp control associated with those transportation methods in our oceans and across our infrastucture), the packaging and shipping materials, the carbon footprint, off gassing, and… it’s. ginormous. only to have it end up half eaten in a landfill.
I repeat, LUNACY. Right? And so very, very shameful.
Does that still sound like “It was only 19 cents. Who cares?”
And I’m gettin’ here too what I’m throwing’ down. I’m challenging myself too. My big offense some days? Coffee- I make too much sometimes and that last cup gets dumped. So wasteful of those amazing, organic beans… As of now, I’m Not. Doing. That. Anymore. Period.
I’m also going to be the food police- you take it, you eat it. Period. Any leftovers WILL get eaten and not forgotten about in the deep recesses.
Let’s teach kids and show them too. Let’s teach kids to RESPECT where their food comes from.
No more of this heap too much on their plates and then allow it to be thrown away.
No more one bite of the hamburger and into the trash it goes. An animal gave its life to be food for us to nourish us. The very least we can do is not to blatantly throw it in the garbage. (Yes, I am a beef cattle farmer!)
#6. REUSE by shopping thrift stores. And yard sales, estate sales and flea markets.
GoodWill, Salvation Army, consignment shops, thrift shops, second hand stores… an absolute wealth of treasure! It’s so much fun to browse and come up with that perfect treasure that “sparks joy”.
If online shopping is your thing then treasure can be found at sites like Poshmark, Mercari, Craigslist and EBay, right from the comfort of home.
It is amazing what you can find at all of these venues. So much can be found that is brand new with tags still hanging. Gifts for yourselves and others without contributing to more manufacture and waste.
Gently loved items, with no worries of clothes shrinking or being able to try something different without breaking the bank.
As an added bonus, your purchases at charity thrift stores may be going to a good cause. Purchases at yard sales or at online individual sellers, will find your cash going into someone’s personal pocket, helping them out! What a win win!
Let's Be Earth Gentle...
We are so blessed to live in the land of plenty and all too often take it for granted.
Perhaps we just don’t stop to think when we grab that giant cellophane wrapped box of individually wrapped boxes containing more individually wrapped little packages of cookies or chips. All that non-biodegradable packaging and plastic takes up more physical space than the cookies do. It’s so sad!
I do get it though. For busy people, it’s just so convenient and inexpensive! But it really isn’t. Not to our health and to the health of our planet. It’s tragically costly.
So how about this. How about evaluating what it is that you use. Which of those products contain the most waste? What do your find yourself throwing away most?
Can you set aside thirty minutes to whip up a huge batch of cookies? Store them in those reusable or compostable containers. Freeze some. Package them individually in the same for lunches for the week.
Can you do this with juice, smoothies and/or yogurt and store it in airtight containers and mason jars instead of juice boxes and foil pouches?
Where else can you cut waste?
These suggestions may not be as earth shattering as our recent pleasure trips to space, but actually, the point is not to be earth “shattering” anymore. How about we try to be earth “gentle”.
“Earth gentle”. I like it.
How can you challenge yourself and others to be “earth gentle?” Can you lead by example and get excited about your efforts? Can you be proud to take care of ourselves, our families and our earth each time you say no to something that contributes harm to it all?
If it seems overwhelming, as in “I am one person! How can I make a difference? You’ve. Got. This. You do.
Let me know what you think! Comment below and subscribe. Share some tips on how YOU are Earth Gentle!
Humans are the only creatures on Earth
that will cut down a tree,
turn it into paper,
then write
“save the trees” on it.
– unknown
