Zero Waste Changes in May

In just a month we’ve made a whole swag of changes to our lifestyle to bring us a step closer to living more sustainably. There is still a bunch of changes to make, but I’m feeling really positive about this journey, and what it’s teaching our children.

Here are some of the improvements we’ve made in May.

Kitchen

  • Consistently buying F&V from Charlie’s – and specifically buying ugly produce where possible, and requesting no plastic.
  • Consistently shopping at the bulk store for relevant groceries.
  • Made note of any groceries that I couldn’t buy bulk, or in a recyclable container. This list will be used in later months to either stop buying them, or find a suitable alternative. For example, this month I bought spaghetti in a cardboard box instead of in the plastic bag. It was more expensive, but my son specifically requested spaghetti over regular pasta shapes (which we can get from the bulk store). It would be easy enough, and easily zero waste to just make my own spaghetti (I already own a pasta maker), but it turns pasta from a quick “oh gosh, I can’t be bothered making dinner” kind of meal into a “okay guys, we need a few hours in the afternoon to get this done!” I would like to experiment with freezing spaghetti, as that would make it a more “easy” dinner…
  • Compost is going well. Have had to trouble shoot it a few times, but that’s going pretty well! Will need to consider a second compost of some sort as this one is already almost full!

General

  • I sewed those cloth bags for bulk dry goods, but my sewing machine died half way though, so I need to get that repaired to finish them off.
  • Sewed some extra shopping bags from some favourite fabric.
  • We moed house this month and didn’t use any new boxes (just got second hand ones off Gumtree) or any packing material – we just used the towels, sheets and clothes we already have!
  • Significantly downsized our home. This is important in keeping us more accountable for our space and what we bring into it, but also not using more than what we need.

Improvements to make in the coming months:

  • Stop buying grocery items that don’t come in appropriate packaging
  • Next Summer – bulk buy tomatoes and turn into passata to freeze (so save the bottles now!)
  • Start to shop at op shops for clothes instead of new shops
  • Put together a take out pack of plate and cutlery to go with water bottles. We started at a new playgroup this week that provides morning tea, but they use a lot of disposable crockery etc., so it would be ideal to bring out own. I have a bunch of wet bags I bought a few Summers ago, and I think that’ll be perfect to store this stuff in in our car. It won’t leak anywhere!
  • Thinking of reduced plastic ways to start our new veggie garden
  • Explore making a few of my own beauty products, or buying sustainable alternatives. I don’t use many beauty products other than face wash, exfoliator, deodorant, and mascara so hopefully this won’t be too hard…
  • Explore more sustainable ways to art…

1 thought on “Zero Waste Changes in May

  1. Pingback: Zero Waste Changes – June & July – Climbing Tree

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