Zero Waste Camping - if it wasn't for cling wrap

Hanging out at Joshua Tree

We're back from Spring Break! Rested and tan (unintentionally). Having rented our home for the whole period, we decided to "rough it" for a profit and spend ten days camping our way down the California coast, an experience that Scott and I had longed to share with our boys.

This trip was a first for our Prius too, and I must say, its trunk capacity exceeded our expectations, accommodating the belongings for our family of four with ease.

This is what we packed:

• Dining: 4 mugs, 4 bowls, 4 plates, 4 forks, 4 spoons, and each of us carried a personal pocket knife.
• Drinking: 4 Stainless steel canteens, always filled with water (or tea). And refillable pouches for waterless sites (i.e, desert camping).
• Cooking: A two-burner propane stove, 2 nesting pots and a pan, an Italian espresso maker, and a wooden spatula.
• Sleeping: 4 sleeping bags, 4 mattresses (2 mats, 2 inflatables), 4 small pillows, 2 regular pillows (what seem like extras, assured restful nights for both Scott and I).
• Sitting: 4 folding chairs.
• Light: 4 LED head lights.
• Shelter: Our 12-years-old tent and a hand broom to sweep it (Scott's anti-stress device)
• Mini First aid/emergency kit: It contains a tiny roll of duct tape, which saved our tent, see below.
• Cleaning: 2 microfiber cloths, one bar of solid Castile soap, a metal scrubber, and a kitchen towel.
• Clothes: 2 layer outfits per person (I brought jeans + tights, shorts+leggings, 2 long-sleeve shirts, 2 tank-tops, 2 sweaters, and one jacket), bathing suit, socks, underwear and hats. We used our shopping totes for easy access and transport. We also stored one clean outfit for back-to-school in a hidden compartment of the car to keep them clean.
• Hygiene: All we have in our bathroom medicine cabinet, which is not much, but included eyeliner and mascara for myself (an extra which I happily used once we got to LA;), and scissors, which I used to give Leo a "plein-air" haircut. SPF lotion, solid soap, toothbrushes and tooth powder are the items that we used most. We also brought TP, but did not use it, as it was available everywhere we went.



Our car packed

• Entertainment: Books, a handful of toys, football, sketchpad, pencil and pastels, plus Scott's fishing equipment comprising of 2 rod/reels, waders, a tackle box and calamari in a jar (bait).
• Food: We brought salt, pepper, olive oil, homemade vinegar, eggs, cheese, bacon, potatoes, 2 baguettes, fruit, veggies, oatmeal, peanuts, homemade jam, wine refills, dog food to get us started. All were stored in shopping reusables (glass, bottles, jars or cloth bags).

What I love about camping is making do with the necessities and allowing nature to replace the grocery store. On this trip we foraged and consumed: Yerba buena, rosemary, seaweed, rock crab, bay leaf, mussels, dock, plantain, dandelion greens, mustard greens, and pine shoots. All these came un-packaged, local, and fresh... My botany class is really paying off;)

Our remote location on Easter Sunday made room for improvisation: The Easter Bunny not having access to bulk (not even a regular store), boiled eggs at night and hid them at the crack of dawn. No color, no chocolate, just plain eggs, but the kids were excited about the hunt, as if they had landed in an episode of the Little House on the Prairie, far away from the marketers who have exploited the holiday into an extravanganza. No pressure, no stress, no fuss, no sugar highs or drawbacks, just plain simple.

When we got to a metropolitan area, we found bulk and refilled our cloths bags with grains and bread buns. We bought seasonal fruit and veggies, splurged on a few bottles of wine and beer (we depleted our refillable wine stash quite quickly), and treated the kids to root beer. But the nature of our camp trip generated the purchase of packaged products otherwise banned at home:

• Two plastic jugs of milk: Because we camp without ice, we bought milk for the kids on two occasions, in small quantities, in a plastic jug (vs.carton, for its recyclability). But even though, it is recyclable, I cringe at our purchase, i.e., our vote. We recycled them at the campground.
• One gallon jug of water: Although we refilled every water container we had (both collapsible and stainless steel containers) before entering Joshua Tree, Scott freaked out at the idea of running out of waster in a desert, and bought a jug as an emergency extra. I freaked out about him buying the plastic jug. But I have to say, we used it all up, recycled the jug at the campground, and came out of the desert with no water left and thirsty.
• One loaf of square bread, in a plastic bag: When we camped in the boondocks, the only bread we found was square bread (bread was available in neither bulk nor paper). Boy, we had forgotten what it tasted like, and although it was organic, we could not wait to get back to baguettes. We recycled the bag in a grocery store receptacle.
• Two propane canisters: Since propane burns cleaner than wood or charcoal, we used it exclusively for cooking. Special recycling receptacle were available at some camps.

Little bowl made out of foraged clay

Obviously, had I camped on my own, I could have done without some of these. I can rough it and do without bread or milk for breakfast for the sake of conservation. But I did consider these necessary in making camping pleasant for the kids. I want them to look forward to the outdoors, not resent its harshness; enjoy it versus fear or hate it. I even agreed with the purchase of cling-wrapped firewood. (Ironically, state and national parks sell wood in saran wrap, but outside these parks, we found it at convenient stores sold in cardboard or bundled in twine and for cheaper). Yeah, burning wood is not eco either, but when temperatures dropped to 37 degrees Fahrenheit and penetrated thick layers of clothing, we used it for warmth. We made the most of the fires that we did start though: to warm water and keep my hands from freezing during dishwashing for example, to wash greasy/oily dishes with its ashes the next day (the combination of ash and oil acts as a primitive soap), or to fire the bowl that Leo and I made from foraged clay.

Camping promoted togetherness. Putting up the tent, setting up camp, making decisions on activities, preparing food or fire, cleaning dishes, digging a trench for compostable scraps... At night, we'd cuddle up in our tent and play charades. During the day, leisure activities included reading, drawing, writing, hiking, fishing, foraging, bouldering, picking up litter, playing football or just sitting on the beach, watching waves perform perfect rolls. Simplicity at its best.

Bouldering

Camping not only connected us to one another, it also evidently connected us with our surroundings. During our journey, we spotted dolphins and rabbits, watched a gopher make his burrow, avoided roadrunners, chased blue jays from Zizou's food, and listened to coyotes howl at night. We woke up the last morning to the repertoire of a mockingbird.

The environment is the reason why we embarked on the Zero Waste journey in the first place. The beauty of the landscape we visited and the fauna that we observed reminded us of the treasures we are fighting to save. They renewed our strength to keep going against the flow, on the unbeaten path of Zero Waste.

Camping confirmed my naivety too it seems... Not so long ago, I remember stressing out about beating after-dinner rush to the sink, as people would line up to wash dishes. Last week, I not only noticed the line missing, with a closer look I found that our family had exclusive use of the washing sink and tap water. I wondered: "How come no one uses the sink? Do they handwash when I sleep? Do they pack dirty dishes to clean at home" and got answers when Scott pointed to the throw-away flatware, plates, cups, and water containers used by neighboring campers. One family actually did not even use these. Their diet consisted of single servings of Gatorade, shrink wrapped hot dogs and a bag of marshmallow for dinner; Gatorade and a bag of chips for breakfast. No sinks required there. Camping has changed. Today, it has become synonymous of disposability for many. For us, it is synonymous of affordable fun.

At one point, our trip was interrupted by heavy rain and a subsequent stay at a friend's house for couple of nights but we enjoyed camping so much we did not want our vacation to end. Two tent poles also broke along the way. We used duct tape from our first aid kit to temporarily repair it. In the old days, I would have sent a whole tent to landfill for a broken pole. But I'll be sending these here for repair instead, for I can't wait to go camping again!

Do you enjoy camping?

A personal view on the ideal Christmas

A few years ago, my holiday traditions consisted of the following steps.

Each year, shortly after Thanksgiving, I would kick start the season with a trip to the art supply store for fancy paper and scrap booking elements to hand-craft the best greeting card ever. The elaborate design had to out-do my previous ones; the forty duplicates would take a week to complete and had to be mailed the first week of December. My schedule also included adding Christmas lights to our existing collection and ensuring that our house out-shined all the neighbors. We would buy the tallest tree we could afford and fit on the car (given the fact that our living room had a 14 ft. ceiling), and each year I would accumulate new ornaments to decorate it. Weekends were spent shopping for gifts, and included a stop at the Dollar Store for stocking stuffers. I spent hours paper-wrapping countless presents; I planned feasts and outfits for both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Advent was basically filled with activities aimed at psyching us up for the “big day”. Mall parking and a quest for unbeatable excellence was source of much underlying stress, extending far beyond the month of December. But I considered myself a dream-maker and worried about meeting expectations; expectations that I had created for myself, I now realize.

My holiday season no longer consists of participating in such activities or aiming for perfection… yet, I experienced the most “perfect” Christmas this year.

We opened the season with Scott using up air miles to surprise his mother with an impromptu visit (an early gift), while I stayed home with the kids, planning the “Holiday Cheer”. An afternoon of baking (eight types of cookies) went a long way. Scott brought some to work, Leo took some to a school event, and we filled jars for the kids' teachers’ gifts. But that week, I also used the cookies as treats for an afternoon cocktail with my girlfriends, a coffee hour with my walking group, a mulled-wine evening with the neighbors, and spiced-cider play dates for the kids, all through which I felt pure "Holiday Cheer". We also used the pretext of Advent to volunteer at the food bank (I discovered a real taste for the line work ;), and Leo had fun designing our family’s "Holiday Greetings" video.

We wasted no time at the mall and a week before Christmas (previously synonymous with high stress), we left for Hawaii, a trip fully funded by renting our home during the Holidays. Keeping it a surprise from the kids until departure time was the tough part.

"Public Recycling Bin" by Leo

Soon after landing on such small and pristine land surrounded by turquoise ocean, the question: ”Where is away?“ (“as the term throw“away” suggests) instantly hits you and makes you wish for speedy Zero Waste regulations and implementation, especially considering the amount of Styrofoam used on the island (a sad sight I had long forgotten). Residents can recycle cardboard, newspaper, glass containers, plastic bottles and cans at local Recycling Centers, but Zero Waste is not easy: Bulk at the local organic store was pre-packaged in plastic bags, and the farmer’s market mostly sold packaged products (in #5 containers). That said, our cloth bags (mainly for coffee, produce and loose buns) and containers (the rental’s Tupperware for buying cheese and deli) were happily accepted everywhere we went. We concentrated our efforts on buying produce (especially the great fruit! we love the rambutans!) and local products, which always offer a way to avoid packaging or at least alleviate its carbon footprint. I did not see any liquid in bulk, but fresh coconuts there provide the ultimate eco-friendly drink ;)

"Coconut Cutting" by Leo

Don’t blame me for not visiting the local landfill to investigate... On vacation, my time was carefully spent snorkeling with turtles, foraging guava fruit, zip-lining with the kids (an experience gift from grandma), barbequing with friends, drawing sunsets with Max, sharing “pupus” with the locals, blowing the conk shell at sundown, stringing popcorn and cutting out scrap paper to decorate the condo’s artificial palm tree into a Christmas tree.

On Christmas Eve, we went to mass in a small chapel. The window seals lined with candles that flickered with the flow of the ocean air,we sang carols in English, and carols in the native Hawaiian tongue. Some even danced the hula ;) At the end of the service, the power went out, and as we found our way out by candlelight, home-baked star cookies were handed out. This was a magical mass I won’t forget.

"Sunset" by Leo

For dinner, we went to a restaurant on the beach and the next morning, Max and Leo found a handful of presents in their shoes (the French substitute to stockings), none of which generated even the smallest amount of waste (just a few thrift store items), and the promise of more family activities together. We then spent the day boogie boarding in the waves and snorkeling.

I came home refreshed, grateful to have renters afford us such a lovely trip. I feel like I have taken the unbeaten, scenic detour through the holidays. Next year, I hope to able to travel the same path. The season used to feel like the slow removal of a Band-Aid. Today, it felt like a pleasant massage.

How did you do?

Zero Waste can save and make you money this holiday season!



Long before I ever heard about the term, businesses adopted Zero Waste to make their processes more efficient and financially wise.

Graphics by Leo Johnson

In the home the same is true. I have mentioned the monetary benefits that this lifestyle has afforded my household before, but I want to go into specifics, on how it can save money, and even make a profit this holiday season! This time of the year can be a source of financial stress during these trying economic times, but ZeroWaste can afford relief. Here are concepts that I introduced in earlier posts and how they translate to holiday savings and potential revenue.

Zero Waste will save you money this holiday season by:

• Curbing consumption: Using what you have is obvious, but I know how tempting the holidays can be! The best waste prevention is not spending at all, and not spending at all offers instant savings! Use a potted plant as a Christmas tree, and yard clippings or edibles as table decorations. You probably do not need new ornaments either…
• Focusing on activities vs. stuff: You can offer your expertise or services (i.e., your time) as gifts. Usually older people need a hand, more than they need stuff. Hold on to your dollars and offer your creativity, cooking, manual skills, mobility or time instead. Offering repairs or beauty care will please the elderly, for example.
• Buying used (if you must buy): Thrift stores, rummage sales and online secondhand markets (Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist) undeniably offer affordable gifts and decorations.
• Buying groceries in bulk: Since bulk is generally cheaper, celebratory meals for company will cost you less.
• Eliminating disposables (keep your money out of the landfill): Reusable gift bags and Furoshiki squares offer cumulative savings over the years. No need for wrapping paper or tape.
• Turning your waste into useful gifts: You can make lemon bars, marmalade, lemoncello with excess lemon harvest, turn junk-mail or kids artwork into stationery, melt bits of old candles, soap or crayons into new shapes, use corks for a bath mat and sew rags (i.e., worn-out clothing) into gift bags. I will be making the latter for family and friends.
• Reducing activities that support consumption: Avoiding the mall and decreasing media exposure (tv, and magazines) will ease the shopping temptations and spending binges as well.
• Reducing your paper output: E-mailing your Holiday card or video you’ll be saving material, shipping, and printing costs. This year, our kids will be “elfing” themselves for a comic custom video.

Zero Waste can even make you a profit by:

• Participating in collaborative consumption, i.e., sharing seldom used assets: You can rent your dwelling (through VRBO or Airbnb) and car (through Getaround or Relayrides) this holiday season and make a profit. We take full advantage of this aspect as mentioned here and on Twitter. The process is evidently easier once you have decluttered, but the potential revenue is HUGE!
• Sharing unused resources with others (see post on decluttering): It offers an opportunity to not only re-gift (instead of buying new) but also, and preferably, sell these items for a profit. And the holiday season, is the best time to do so, since Ebay, Amazon and Craigslist can bring you many more buyers than the rest of the year. Green shoppers looking to buy used hope to find your unused items in the secondhand market!
• Recycling and composting: The holiday season also usually means more consumable consumption, which increases recycling in the home. Why not save your recyclables, and take them to the recycling center for redemption after the holidays instead of throwing them in the curbside recycling bin? Instead of costing you money, recycling could make you money!
• Controlling clutter: If you get a gift that does not fit your needs, relieve yourself from the gift guilt. Don’t let anything that you do not need or love, take root in your home, let others use it: Sell it!

ZeroWaste has taken the financial stress out of my holidays. It did not remedy my anxieties overnight, rather over a couple of years as we slowly implemented and understood the full advantages of the lifestyle, but today it engages my creativity and pays back! Now that’s one advantage we did not foresee when getting into this.Can you think of other ways that Zero Waste will save you money this holiday season?

Costume Swap Day

Much of Zero Waste relies on planning ahead and being proactive: Taking your name off mailing lists before getting junk mail, saying "no" to the straw before it shows up in your drink at the cafe, or refusing the party favor, days before it gets handed out to your child. With the kids now back in school, we'll soon need to start thinking about Halloween.

Last year, we used items from home and the thrift shop to dress up the kids. Max (pictured) was a grandma. We bought a secondhand dress, wig, glasses and purse for a few dollars during a thrift shop sale. I shortened the dress's hem to fit his height, and used the fabric extras to make a matching coat for Zizou ("le chien-chien à sa mémère") and gift bags (for Christmas). The day after, we donated the whole outfit back to the thrift store (knowing that the kids want a different look every year), as if we had rented it while funding a cause.

We have also borrowed and created DYI costumes before, but for households holding on to them beyond Halloween, a good sustainable option is to swap. According to GreenHalloween.org, swapping half the costumes kids wear at Halloween would reduce annual landfill waste by 6,250 tons—about the weight of 2,500 midsize cars...

On October 8, National Costume Swap Day, people across the country will get together for costume swaps in their own cities and towns. Swaps not only help the environment but also save money and build community. You can find one near you or better yet, host one yourself with friends, neighbors, school or community group by following these simple steps and registering your swap (private or public) so others can know about it.

Happy Swapping!

Will you be my valentine?

Pardon me but I no longer get excited about Valentine's day. And I hope this year will be different.

I understand and enjoy celebrating love, but I don't understand and resent drowning it with red kinky lingerie, heart shaped junk, dust collecting stuffed animals (who buys that stuff?) and...tree munching valentines.

Many might view my anti-consumerism detachment as political or radical, but I rather blame it on cultural differences.

I grew up in Europe, thinking that Valentine's day, as it is celebrated there, was globally reserved for lovers (grown-ups involved in an intimate relationship that is).

But during my eldest's first year of (American) preschool, I was instructed by his teacher to go to Rite Aid, buy a dozen valentines (I had never heard of such things), and address one to each classmate...Wait... I am not sure I get this... I (a grown woman) am writing love cards to 12 toddlers I barely know?

Although, I did not quite grasp the meaning behind my first purchase of Batman valentines, I eventually came to realize that Valentines Day in American schools does not celebrate "love", but rather "appreciation" for fellow pupils. So I went on pushing my kids into participating in the school activity for 6 years, as prescribed by subsequent teachers...A way for me, I then thought, to embrace the American culture.

But this practice no longer fits our family's current zero waste lifestyle (of refusing external trash) or the sustainable awareness that I strive to instill in my children. As a concerned mother and Earth citizen, I can no longer condone wasteful celebrations engrained in public education. Valentine's day does not need to be a wasteful event.

Last year my kids came home with a Safeway plastic bag (compliments of one of their classrooms)filled with wrappers, half eaten candies, and crimpled cards. I asked my youngest, Leo, what he thought about the valentines that he had received. "I don't know, I just want the candy attached to them" he said. I don't blame him for choosing candy, over duplicates of impersonal and commercial valentines, often picked out and signed by his peers' moms.

Luckily, my eldest, Max, is blessed with a wonderful teacher this year, who shares my philosophy on the subject. And before I could proactively suggest a sustainable alternative to this year's celebration, she sent out an email instructing her students to create one, inventive, recycled or edible valentine to be exchanged randomly. "Take care, take time, and make something you yourself would like to receive" she wrote. Now, that is a valentine gift I can approve of! Max plans on carving a watermelon (his choice).

Leo's teacher had mixed feelings about my preemptive suggestion of a cookie exchange in lieu of overlooked valentines: An idea that I ran thru my kids first and that generated much excitement from them. Nonetheless, she welcomed the idea and shared it with the class. I cross my fingers in the hope that classmates will adopt the proposed alternative and appreciate the homemade thumbprint cookies that Leo will care to make and bring to school in a jar.

On a personal level, I, of course, love my husband and kids. They do not need to receive clutter from me on a specific day to know how much I love them (nor do I wish to receive any thing from them). A hug, a kiss, and my time is all they truly need as a token of my unconditional love, and I will make sure they get extra on Monday.

But if Valentine's day, in my adoptive nation, is more an "Appreciation Day" than a "Lovers Day" or "Fete des Amoureux", then I have to turn to one I greatly appreciate and without whom I would not be alive to experience love:

Mother Earth: Will you be my valentine?

Zero Waste Holidays: this time for sure ;)

No, no. I am not crazy: I do not support holiday decorations being displayed at my local hardware store since September...

Nonetheless, the holidays are around the corner and my hardware store did remind me that last December, I vouched to be pro-active for this year's gift exchange. And that included letting those who will be exchanging with us know that we prefer experiences vs. more stuff. It seems early, but letting them know before they even had a chance to gather/buy objects for us, is key and all part of the “master plan” ;).

Here are some ideas, worth considering this holiday season:

GIFTS

-Offering "Experiences" in the form of a gift certificate or actual ticket, such as:

Classes at the local community college to develop a new interest

Movie ticket

Theme park season pass

Museum pass

Bowling night

Hotel night

Meal at a new restaurant

Treat to an ice cream parlor

My favorite for our kids: A year long subscription to a monthly surprise family activity (activities that I have in mind for the year, depending on our finances, include: kayaking, overnight at hotel with pool, ice skating, hiking to an overnight refuge, trampoline or indoor climbing center, science museum, gold panning in the mountains, crabbing, fishing, overnight on a houseboat, backpacking and overnight in the wilderness, fruit picking, sledding, overnight in a fire lookout, etc...) UPDATE: We call them SFA and inform you of our SFA of the month thru Twitter.

-Offering Services (your time) in the form of coupons, such as:

Professional expertise (I can offer simplifying and decluttering services for example)

Hand labor (planting a tree, painting a room for a new baby, fixing a deck, lawn mowing)

Babysitting

Services are great for kids to give (one sibling could take another sibling's chore for a period of time)

-Offering consumables in a reusable jar (to simplify, pick one project and make a large quantity):

Homemade cookies, cake mix, herbal tea, jam, pickles, sugar/salt scrub, balm, lemoncello, toothpowder (with recipe attached)

Or a bulk item (cornichons, olives, maple syrup, toffee pecans, chocolate malt balls).

Homemade candles, soap, and paper are also great “out of the jar” alternatives.

-Shopping your home: Regifting (and there is nothing wrong with that!) or giving something you already own when you know for a fact that the recipient will appreciate it. I have a dedicated drawer for that purpose, it gets filled and used all year long.

-Buying used at a thrift store or on Ebay. For the latter, make sure that the item is used by checking the “pre-owned” option in your Ebay search.

-Using the smallest gifts and bulk treats to fill stockings instead of stuffers.

-Selecting gifts that tighten family bonds (family “experiences” or used board games for example).

-Greening Santa: Santa brings only one gift per family member. It comes unwrapped because Santa cares about the environment and his gift is easily spotted among the other (family) wrapped presents. The benefits of the “one special present” go beyond the obvious...equality among children of different financial background, modesty, smaller wish lists, less stress on Santa!

-Avoiding the mall until January: Not only better for your carbon footprint (driving, new stuff purchased), but also your sanity, stress level, creativity and wallet. Challenge yourself to do without!

GIFT WRAPPING:

-Purchasing or making reusable gift bags from fabric scraps (or redesigned lone socks and pillowcases) sends out a green message to your recipient. The attached tie also eliminates the need for a loose ribbon.

-Purchasing or making Furoshiki squares (28x28) and learning some easy-to-follow tricks on how to artfully wrap in fabric. The elaborate knots and tucks also eliminates the need for a loose ribbon

-Using a gift to wrap another. A t-shirt, a sweater, a kitchen towel can wrapped just about anything and serve a double duty (a gift and wrapper in one).

-Reusing what you already have, if lacking the previous wrapping alternatives: Papers from your recycling bin (your kids can quickly paint some designs on them), children's artwork, a washed meat wrapper, newspaper or paper bag if you are still allowing these into your home ;).

-Using leaves as gift tags or anything in your recycling bin that can be cut into a small rectangle.

DECORATION:

-Reusing a potted plant that you already have or purchasing one that can become your yearly alternative to the Christmas tree. I use a tall topiary. The first year, it seemed odd (an adjustment), now we can't imagine going back to regular trees.

-Vouching to not buy yet another ornament. We rediscover our holiday decorations every year when we unpack our dedicated crate, and we always have enough!

-Making consumable decorations such as a homemade gingerbread house (with treats available in bulk) or a string of popcorn as garland (feeding it to the birds after the holidays, thanks to Dori and Val for the suggestion) for as long as the kids enjoy participating in the making.

-Using seasonal whole fruit, whole vegetables, yard clippings or leaves to adorn the table.

CARDS:

-Emailing your holiday wishes. Last year, I made plantable cards (it took me a week of work and lots of stamps), this year I will email our wishes. It's the thought and the content of the message that counts.

-Sending the cards that you do receive for reuse (as mentioned last year) to St. Jude's Ranch Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, Boulder City, NV 89005. It supports a good cause too!

-Choosing recycled and recyclable materials, if you do choose to send out a card. Keep in mind that photo paper is not recyclable.

TRADITIONS:

-Supporting your Zero Waste efforts with meaningful traditions vs. the wasteful, stressful and complicated activities of the season (Zero Waste not being just about stuff management).

-Being kind to yourself by simplifying your traditions: Consider less cooking, using your everyday china and glasses if your fancy set requires hand-washing, eating out, going for a hike if weather allows.

-Being kind to others by:

1 - Being kind to yourself,

2 - Freeing a parking spot by avoiding the mall ;)

3 - Applying “Acts of Kindness” to your holiday season: participate in a homeless soup kitchen, sing carols in your neighborhood, write a Thank You card to someone whose services you appreciate (your friendly baker for ex.?)...

To hear more about Zero Waste Holidays thru a thick french accent (I hope Santa will think of getting me an accent reduction class), you can check out my recent podcast on More Hip than Hippie.

I dream of having more than an "almost Zero Waste" Christmas. With simplifying and adequate preparation, I truly believe that my dream can come true. Last year, I dreaded the season, this year I feel ready and excited to face it! Bring it on!

Any more ideas to reduce waste during this coming holiday season?

What about Halloween?

I received a few emails and comments asking how we plan to celebrate Halloween. Frankly, I really have a hard time with Halloween. I like the activities, but in a perfect world, the celebration would be a non-commercial, waste-free, treasure-sharing (see “treasures” below), costume festival, that I would fully support. Until then...

Our kids are still at an age where they want to share the fun with their friends and join them in trick-or-treating. And yet, I want to keep the tradition as sustainable as possible. But how? When in doubt, I apply the obvious rule: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot. After discussing an approach with the kids, here is the plan that we came up with:

REFUSE:

-Plastic toys or favors when trick-or-treating, the kids will pick recyclable or compostable items instead.

REDUCE:

-Instead of doing a whole neighborhood, we plan to trick-or-treat one street. It helps being invited to a party before or after to reduce time spent going door to door.

REUSE:

-Costumes: Coming up with a homemade outfit is our first choice but it is also a challenge in a minimalist home (probably the only downside of living with less). When we strike-out of ideas, we go to the thrift store, and on the spot choose or make up a costume. I expect thrift shops to be most busy this time of year!

By the way, I am not crazy about dressing up for Halloween: I have enough fun reinventing my wardrobe everyday of the year ;)

-As you would expect, we keep our decorating minimal (What can I say: I did not grow up with this tradition), with just a few tiny pumpkins that I make into a soup the next day and serve sprinkled with its roasted seeds.

-We plan to participate in the Halloween Candy Buy Back for the non-recyclable treats, this year for the first time. This is the most motivating program I have found for my 2 boys to give away their candy;)

RECYCLE:

- When possible, the kids will choose treats in cardboard: Dots, Milk Duds, Nerds or Raisins (but I doubt that we'll run in many of those).

COMPOST:

-To state the obvious, the rinds of our pumpkins used for making soup will get composted.

-I made a watermelon brain for a potluck buffet tonight. Hopefully, it will get completely eaten. If not, and if it gets too picked on, I'll take the leftovers home to compost.

In case you were wondering, our front door is 36 steps from the street, so by nature we do not get trick-or-treaters (sometimes, life just simplifies itself;). If we did, this website gives some good alternatives to candy. Here is the revised list with my waste-free favorites, in alphabetical order:

Food items ("treats"): Boxes of organic raisins, Fruit (like mandarins), Licorice Root Stick (I loved to chew on these as a kid).

Non-food items ("treasures") are also a great alternative to treats: Bracelets made with a natural fiber or yarn, Coins (US or non-US: I know my kids would get exited about getting a penny), Feathers, Lavender sachet, Polished rocks or skipping stones, Printed items (jokes, word games, word search or cross word puzzles), Seashells, Seed packets or plantable paper, Soap (unpackaged of course), Stamps from foreign countries.

How do you celebrate Halloween with your kids?

a Zero Waste Christmas or almost...

Well, my most dreaded day of the year is over: Christmas day and all the potential waste and extra consumerism that it entails. We did pretty well this year (better than the last), but there is also improvement for us to work on (it will be part of our new year's resolution).

Here is what we did:

• We've used our patio topiary as a Xmas tree for the last 2 years (it looks great in our minimalist modern home), lit with LED lights on a timer and decorated with mostly vintage ornaments from the Alameda antique market. We did not buy any ornaments or new light strings this year (yeah! that's a 1st)
• For greetings cards, I made homemade plant-able envelopes (thyme seeds) with a picture in it (that part and the stamp need improvement). The greeting was handwritten in a folded envelope, which eliminated the need of a greeting card and reduced the amount of paper and labels used.
• We gave homemade consumables in a returnable or reusable jars (jams, pickles, quince paste...)
• We gave gift certificates for services (manicure, movie tickets...): My personal favorite present this year came from my husband who gave me coupons for dinners out and undivided time with him (much needed for decluttering)
• We mostly gave used items: I like to label these "vintage", it is better accepted than the words "used" or "from a thrift shop"...handkerchiefs, brand tee shirts or jeans, board games, sports equipment
• If we had to buy a new product we chose one with minimal or no packaging: A converse shirt with a cardboard and jute tag (both compostable) - but a plastic sleeve with 3 buttons in it... I miss the days when buttons were always sewn onto your garment (it is easier to find when you need them and you don't have that extra wasteful bulk on the tag), socks with a cardboard wrapper (but a small plastic hanger), a bike and engraved luggage tags (both naked and free of tags! yeah!)...
• I have kept all cardboard boxes/sleeves that I received from eBay shopping, I reuse them when I sell on eBay, Amazon or ship presents
• We did not use any virgin wrapping paper: We used newspaper cutouts (my son loved the USC player pictures I chose for him), our Xmas dinner meat wrapper (see item to be improved below :(, paper bags that have made their way into our home (could not stop the neighbor from giving me a full bag of fruit last month), shipping packaging (we received a used book from amazon in a plastic envelope, it was white and a red ribbon made it pretty), packing paper from a UPS delivery, and this year Santa did not wrap his own presents (Santa is trying to be greener, I told the kids)
• I am making paper cards (hostess gifts) from some the used paper wrappers, we recycled the rest
• We used ribbons and twine that we already had and kept them for next year
• We used paper tape if needed
• In January, we will send the greeting cards we received to: St. Jude's Ranch Card Recycling, 100 St. Jude Street, Boulder City, NV 89005.

What we should and will improve on (our to do list for next year):

• Vouch to only buy used: with planning we could have found a used bike for our son on Craigslist
• Let the kids shop for all of their cousin's presents at our church Xmas boutique (used items donated by members of the church), it reuses stuff and donates money to a good cause at the same time
• Request minimal packaging when purchasing used on eBay: I received a tee shirt that was wrapped in a zip lock bag (people still use these?) and wrapped again in an envelope for shipping... A BAG IN A BAG
• Make sure that an item is used when buying on eBay (I bought a wooden monopoly game, I thought that it was used and it came all shrunk wrapped)
• Not use any papers mentioned above to wrap our presents, I will make reusable gift bags from pretty fabrics/cloths from the thrift shop to encourage friends and family to not use store bought wrapping paper
• Let friends and family know about our zero waste efforts (this blog will help I hope), so they know not to give us any packaging or item that is not compostable at best or recyclable at worst (i.e, plastics)
• Talk Grandma into giving used
• Get my duck and rabbit meat (Xmas dinner) in jars, my husband went to the store and came back with a wrapper. Both were cut up at the counter and could have fit in 1.5L jar.
• Find an alternative to landfill for hard meat bones that my dog can't chew
• Find an alternative for the non recyclable picture of the kids in my greeting cards, I love getting and participating in the greeting cards exchange each year and love to see how kids have changed. But perhaps I will be ready for electronic next year...
• If I send out another greeting card though, I shall choose for a minimal stamp. I did not think much it when I bought mine this year, but I ended up with HUGE stamps. what a waste

So, what's in my trash this week?

• Plastic cork from Beaujolais Nouveau (damn it!), the wine was good though. Note to self: email Georges Duboeuf for alternative to their plastic corks... screw top? and double check wine bottle corkage before buying
• Duck and rabbit bones (they would kill my chihuahua) wrapped in the meat counter wrapper. Note to self: That's the last one
• Lego packaging: the boys each received a brand new set from grandma, the box and baggies (#5) seemed recyclable but the sticker sheets and plastic accessory holder did not. Note to self: Call recycling center and ask if the sticker sheets (and USPS stamp sheets) are recyclable
• Wrappers of cough lozenges. Note to self: find a recipe for honey candy for the kids coughs
• Dirty wax paper wrapper of a breakfast roll. Note to self: Husband needs additional training

Not too bad considering that the average American fills their trash cans 25% more between Thanksgiving and Xmas than a typical 5-6 week period according to ecomom.com.

Final Note to self: Post my declaration of Plastic Independence and allegiance to Zero Waste so that my readers (if any) know what the heck I am talking about! ... to be continued.