I recently saw this family on the Today Show that pretty much doesn’t throw anything away (you can watch the video below to see the story). They buy from the farmer’s market… barely buy clothes… bring jars to the store to buy bulk food… cloth bags for groceries… etc. While doing a little research for this post I read many opinions on how this family has chosen to live. There are quite a few people that seem to be almost mad at the way they’ve chosen to live. Well, I commend them. It’s hard, but shoot if they can do it: that’s awesome!
There is so much waste out there! How awesome that this family is working to live this way. I find them to be very inspiring. Even though I’m not really ready to go that deep into living waste free… I can change little things in my life to help create less garbage (the hardest part would be getting Mike to join me… he hates bringing bags to the store. :}). Some ideas I’ve had for how I (and maybe you) can live this way:
– Buying handmade: While not everything handmade is made of recycled items… it’s not mass produced and that’s a step in the right direction in my mind.
– Thrift shopping: Some of my favorite items I’ve found through thrift shops! I do still love Target and getting brand new clothes… but, I don’t think I’d miss it too much if I didn’t buy brand new clothes. Little tip: the Goodwill near me gets the leftover Target clearance items. Brand new… but, Target couldn’t sell them. 🙂
– Reusable bags: Keep a large supply of canvas shopping bags in my car. This way I’ll be sure to always have them. I also have a tiny bag that bunches up into a strawberry shape… this I keep in the diaper bag.
– Take the time to recycle: Sometimes it can be so annoying to clean out that old peanut butter before you recycle a jar… but, that’s one less thing in the trash.
– Cloth diapering: As of right now (thanks to my Tiny Treehugger sponsor) I am cloth diapering half of the time. I have 5 cloth diapers. I use disposable at night and when there are no clean cloth diapers. We’ve actually saved quite a bit on diapers this last month!
– Cloth napkins: We’ve been using cloth napkins for about 2 years now. It’s no hassle at all. We barely ever use paper towels… we have them for emergencies. 🙂
– Buy biodegradable: If you just can’t get yourself to go the cloth diaper route… I recommend Seventh Generation of Nature BabyCare diapers. They’re not 100% biodegradable… but, are better than other brands. Some companies are also packaging their products in biodegradable packaging too.
– Don’t use paper/plastic/foam dinnerware: Having a BBQ? How about some reusable plastic plates? Some reusable utensils? It may be more work to clean them later… but, less waste AND in the long run money would be saved. I have paper plates just in case we need them… but, I haven’t bought a new pack in 2 years… 🙂
– Shop the bulk food: I don’t mean Costco… I mean the unbagged food section. Bring those cloth bags and load them up. Bulk food is usually cheaper anyway! No packaging means less cost for the company.
– Buy local: Not only are you supporting your local economy… but, you know where the product is coming from.
– Ask yourself, “Do I REALLY need this?”: I ask myself this all the time… that’s when my brain has a little fight with itself between telling me I need it and I don’t… I know I don’t need to buy Ruari a bunch of new toys or me new furniture (or shoes… well, maybe I do need the shoes? ;D).
So, this whole blog post is just my opinion. I just wanted to share my thoughts and any tips (possibly inspiration) to anyone that’s been thinking about all the waste they put into the world.
❤ Chelsey
