a mason jar life in a cookie cutter house
At first glance, it seems that the zero waste movement is hyper-focused on plastic and personal trash. For most of us though, fitting a year's worth of trash into a mason jar is simply unattainable for so many reasons. While food packaging is huge contributor to overall household waste, being unable to avoid it is [...]
"But I have kids, so..." is something I hear often when talking with people about living a lower waste lifestyle. "Kids come with a lot of stuff" being the other one. But do they? Or is it really just marketing, perceived convenience, and well-meaning relatives? No matter where or how you begin to lower your [...]
We adopted our sweet girl last June from a great locally-based rescue called Save Our Scruff. She is a Belgian Malinois cross from a shelter in Mexico and the snuggliest dog of all time. Jazz is a member of our family and of course we try to keep it low waste with her as well, [...]
Suburbs were designed with cars in mind. Roads, parking lots, driveways, and 2-car+ garages on homes all prioritize cars over people. Living car-free seems like only something someone living in a city with a great transit system (and probably no kids) can do. But what if we shifted our mindset from going completely car-less to [...]
It's that time of year again, when we realize we may have overdone it and are faced with holiday debt and even more stuff. Decluttering becomes a main topic of conversation in January for a reason - it is now part of the buying cycle. Instead, let's shut off the consumerism tap and be mindful [...]
The holiday season presents a challenge when shifting to a low waste lifestyle with kids. Older children in particular have developed expectations about receiving gifts and are around peers with different experiences. Now is a good time to model giving presents with intention and showing that the meaning of gifts can (and should) go beyond [...]
When I first started planning for school lunches, the challenge was how to go nut-free for the safety of other kids. My brain got stuck on peanut butter and I wasn't sure what I could send our picky vegetarian kids that they would actually eat. Eventually I figured out 2-3 main items that would be acceptable [...]
