Back in March this year, I hosted my first of several reusable produce bag sewing meetups. During that initial get-together, a group of us sewed about 50 bags in one afternoon. People took some of the bags home to use, I donated a handful to the kitchen in my intentional community and the rest I […]
environment
Take Action on Climate Change to Cope with Your Grief
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” — William James To live without hope is to cease to live.” — Fyodor Dostoyevsky You have to show them that there’s a better way. You need to inspire them like you inspired me! You need to give them hope.” — Barry, Sausage Party […]
How to Sew a Bento Bag
Family, friends and coworkers, please stop reading now… I’m making these cute bags for everyone on my gift list this holiday season! Bento bags for all! Produce Bag Sewing Meetups I started organizing sewing meetups earlier this year to make cloth produce bags to give away at the Sunnyvale Farmers’ Market. I’ll be there on […]
Please Do not Turn Zero Waste into Another Consumer Lifestyle
Every week, at least a few companies contact me about a “fantastic opportunity to collaborate” and peddle their wares for them on here, wares that apparently no zero waster can live without. I can’t possibly respond to all the messages I get, so I generally ignore these pitches—even for products and services I might like. […]
Ditch the Produce Wash and Use Baking Soda and Water Instead
Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons?” — Dr. Jane Goodall I buy organic produce at the farmers’ market from small local producers who: grow a variety of crops […]
A Brief History of Recycling
“You must recycle everything.” That’s what I sometimes hear when people learn that I don’t generate any trash. In reality, I rarely recycle because I rarely buy anything in a package that I could put into a recycling bin. I bring my own packaging with me when I shop at the farmers’ market and bulk […]
Lose the Plastic not Your Mind During Plastic Free July
Plastic contamination has reached every corner of the planet. And while many, many organizations and individuals have been working on the problem of plastic pollution for years, thanks to David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II and National Geographic’s June issue focused on plastic, awareness of the crisis has finally reached mainstream consciousness. Plastic Free July this […]
Freestyle Cooking: The Recipe for Eliminating Food Waste
According to a recent USDA study, Americans waste 1 pound per person per day at the household level. Now I basically live and breathe waste. I would like to insert the word figuratively into that statement but with plastic pollution in our water, our air, our soil and our food I cannot. Even with my crossed-the-borderline […]
5 Ways to Persuade People to Break Free from Plastic
Perhaps you recently watched Blue Planet II and learned about the catastrophic effects of plastic pollution on our oceans and marine wildlife, you heard a story on the radio about plastic microfibers in almost all drinking water or you read today’s British report which predicts that plastic debris in the oceans will increase by threefold within the […]
The Church of Zero Waste
I was raised in a devout Catholic household, although we kids could skip mass if we felt sick enough to warrant a trip to the ER. I attended Catholic school from kindergarten all the way through the end of high school (I did love my kilt). We knelt around the living room regularly to say […]
Someone Tell Me How I’m Missing Out
If you read environmental news, you may have stumbled across articles within the last week or so on a new type of edible straw. This article from Fast Company contains some unfortunate wording about these alternatives to wasteful, single-use, ocean-polluting plastic straws: It’s not about the consumer sacrificing anymore, it’s about the consumer having fun and […]