With apologies to George Orwell… I work at an English factory (a small publisher) and in my past wayward life, wrote marketing copy on the side. So I know how powerful language can be—powerful enough to entice you to part with your hard-earned cash to buy things you don’t actually need and that might actually […]
Rants
My Zero-Waste World: The TMI Post
In recent interviews, people have asked me if I follow zero-waste practices in aspects of my life other than food. The short answer: Yes but besides food, what else is there? The long answer follows. Food I’ve got this one covered on this blog. Essentially, to go zero-waste in the kitchen: Put together a shopping […]
Pictures at an Aquarium (or Why I Went Plastic-Free)
Last week during spring break, my daughters, a friend and I headed down to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My journey to plastic-free living, followed by zero-waste living (basically the same thing) began with my concern over the plastic pollution choking our oceans and its inhabitants. I decided I had to get plastic out of my life. […]
17 Simple Tips to Clean Your Kitchen, Plastic-Free
When we first went plastic-free, cleaning presented a big challenge. How would we wash our dishes without plastic bottles filled with dish soap (not to mention filled with microbeads)? Sponges, made of plastic, come wrapped in yet more plastic. And how would we dispose of wet, stinky garbage? We found pretty simple solutions for all of […]
6 Self-Centered Reasons to Reduce Your Waste
A zero-waste lifestyle may conjure up images like the Albrecht Dürer woodcut below, The Penitent, with plenty of self-flagellation, a diet consisting of mere bread and water (when not fasting), hair shirts, medieval dregs—basically a wretched life of perpetual self-denial. When I decided to go plastic-free, I merely wanted to avoid contributing to the colossal plastic pollution problem in our oceans. I […]
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A Hot New Diet and One Food Resolution for 2016
People often ask me which diet I follow. Vegetarian? Paleo? Raw? Gluten-free? Pescatarian? Omnivore? Vegan? I don’t actually adhere to any specific diet. I simply eat food. I do stick to some strict rules when choosing the food I eat, however. I buy: Local Seasonal Organic Pastured (eggs, dairy and the small amount of meat we […]
DIY Zero-Waste Meal Kits
I understand the appeal of meal-kit services like Blue Apron. You go online, choose a dish you want to “cook” and the pre-measured ingredients and accompanying recipe appear on your doorstep in a neat and tidy cardboard box. After a long day at work, you don’t panic over what to make for dinner, you don’t shop, […]
5 Activities for Buy Nothing Day, Formerly Known as Black Friday
Updated 11/27/20 Buy Nothing Day (previously known as Black Friday) may come around just once a year but you can embrace it year round. Adbusters launched the day in the early 1990s to protest the consumer madness that kicks off in the U.S. (and now all over) the day after Thanksgiving. You can read more […]
5 Ideas to Toss in the Trash Instead of More Stuff
1. Perfection Thank you to Karen from the blog Farminista’s Feast for inspiring this post. A huge amount of fruit and vegetables goes to waste simply because it fails to meet the strict cosmetic standards of grocery stores. On a post I wrote recently about ugly apples my daughter bought to make pies, Karen commented […]