Week 1

We're one week in and since we started transitioning into this last month, it honestly feels like not that much has changed! We communicated our intent regarding waste to our families and friends before the holidays, so we received only extremely useful gifts for Christmas, which is wonderful! I am actually waiting on my first batch of kombucha to finish fermentation from the SCOBY my sister gave me for Christmas. It's a week into fermentation and it tastes delicious. More on the booch later.

So far, the place that we feel the most difference is in the kitchen. It's easy not to buy new clothes or household items; changing our eating habits is harder. It took us most of December to phase out all of the packaged foods in our kitchen and resupply with bulk ingredients. We have to start most things from scratch. I probably say "I can make that" about 3x a day. It takes extra time to cook from scratch, but you end up getting better food (with no preservatives and chemicals) as a result. It's a fun and productive way for me to spend my time, but I've always loved to cook. If you don't like to cook, come over and I will try to convert you because it's an extremely useful skill for a person to have! :)

General thoughts about Week 1, most of which seem to pertain to food:

1. This week I had to break my snacking at work habit. My work kitchen is full of delightful chocolates that I indulged in way too much over the holidays. Not anymore - personal trash at work counts toward our quota too.  I fully expect to lose some weight during this challenge, if only because I can no longer indulge in pre-packaged food (both at work and home). Everything I eat is coming directly from the earth or made from bulk scratch ingredients. I have started bringing oranges, apples, and nuts to work to munch on when I'm hungry. This was not intended to be a weight-loss challenge, but if that's what gets you going, use it!

2. We are also restricted from using paper products (paper towels, napkins) outside the house. On Day 2, I starting bringing a cloth towel to work to dry my hands after washing and to use as a napkin at lunch. We went to The Good Life for dinner on Friday (if you're in Columbia, try this yummy vegan restaurant!) and asked for unwrapped silverware so we didn't have to use paper napkins. Little switches are easy and if you ask nicely, most people are happy to help. On that note - make sure to ask your servers NOT to bring you a straw! Why you ask? Please check out this video that shows what one seemingly harmless piece of trash can do to a sea turtle.

3. Since we are not buying individually wrapped breakfast bars anymore, I am making them from bulk ingredients. It takes about 10 minutes in a food processor and is extremely cost effective. Since I'm making them myself, I can also add in extra nutritive ingredients that aren't in store-bought Larabars. Here's the breakfast bar recipe I used this week (you can either flatten them out and cut them into bars, or roll them into bites). Make sure to soak your dates first so they go a little easier on your food processor. I added in chia, flax, and dried cherries.  You can add in whatever tastes good to you!

4. Shout out to my partner in Zero Waste and everything else. I've been promising Austin more buck eyes since Christmas ended, but we haven't been able to find powdered sugar that isn't packaged in plastic. Yesterday he made his own powdered sugar from granulated sugar (I might be showing my ignorance, but I honestly had no idea this was a thing, kind of like when my college roommate told me that lamb is just baby sheep and I just about threw up my gyro.).  But seriously - we are learning new things since we have to be more resourceful.

5. We are going to have to buy a new bag of dog food soon and need to switch to a brand that is either sustainably packaged (no plastic) or available in bulk. I'll write a separate post soon about how we keep our animals waste-free, but in terms of dog food - we feed Luna about 70% dog food and 30% real vegetables like peas, potatoes, beans, and carrots. She always eats the veggies first; she loves them. Dogs are omnivores and in the wild eat both meat and plants. Supplementing your dog's diet with vegetables boosts their immunity and provides lots of vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber to keep their insides healthy. Just like we shouldn't eat entirely dry, processed foods, neither should your pup!

6. Things I miss: Black bean pasta from Trader Joe's; Salt and vinegar chips.

7. Finally, here's our trash production for the week! The wrapping from a bottle of kombucha, two lettuce wrappers, the inside pull from a carton of almond milk, an apple sticker, and a little bit of plastic film from ???. Starting off strong, but next week we will be throwing out our toothbrushes as we switch to a sustainable brand made of compostable materials.

Thanks for following along!