I recently interviewed Greg Ellis-Valencia, Executive Director of One Cool Earth, a non-profit in San Luis Obispo, California, that builds and maintains school gardens. The organization currently oversees 18 of these educational gardens. It has also worked with these schools to build the largest student-run zero-waste program in California schools. If you live outside of […]
plastic pollution
Welcome to 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 […]
Go Plastic-Free This Year (Or Close to It)
If you’ve arrived at this blog, you’re probably aware of the plastic pollution problem so I won’t spend time discussing it. You can read recent news on that here, here and here. Instead, I’ll discuss changes we can make in our own lives. Individual choices may not seem like much in the face of this disaster but […]
5 Reasons This Zero-Waste Blog Focuses on Food
I started this blog over three years ago and in that time, I don’t think I’ve explained why I focus on food. The short answer This quote comes from the introduction to a section on food in the book Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken: Livestock […]
15 Ways to Reduce Waste in School Cafeterias
Recently a concerned mom asked me if I had any ideas to reduce waste in school cafeterias. When my email back to her grew longer and longer, I realized I had better just write a blog post on the topic. Since money is always an issue, I’ve grouped these waste-reducing ideas into three categories: ideas […]
Start Your Plastic Free Journey Here
Updated 06/26/21 Want to break up with plastic but don’t know where to start? Start Here Top 3 Ways to Break Up With Plastic 50 Ways to Get There How to Shop 1. Bring your own cloth shopping bags. Opt for natural fibers when you choose bags. Synthetic materials shed tiny plastic fibers in the […]
10 Alternatives to Bottled Water and Soda
If you do nothing else to reduce your waste or if you want to start on the zero-waste, plastic-free path and don’t know where to start, consider cutting store-bought bottled beverages. The gazillion plastic bottles these drinks leave behind create an environmental mess that Big Soda expects us—the consumer—to clean up for them. In addition, because […]
9 Tips for a Successful Plastic Free July
Updated 06/28/22 Think about it…why would you make something that you are going to use for a few minutes out of a material that’s basically going to last forever. What’s up with that? — Jeb Berrier, Bag It movie Plastic Free July kicks off Friday. For the entire month, millions of people around the world will forgo plastic. […]
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. […]