Video | 4 Easy and Affordable Zero Waste Swaps to Start Today | Zero Waste BookTuber | YouTube Newbie

Hello,
Thanks for joining me today! I have been going zero waste and plastic free for almost 4 years. Here are the first 4 easy and affordable swaps that came to mind. What is your favorite low cost zero waste swap?

-Buy in glass and reuse your glass jars in many ways! (Price of the item, free to reuse)
-Obtain a thermal reusable cup for hot and cold beverages on the go. (Free if found, a few dollars if bought second hand)
-Scrubbers made from walnut shells are a sustainable inexpensive sponge alternative. ($4 for a pack of three, see link below)
-Reusable cloth masks help keep disposable PPE out of waterways and reduce litter. (Free if you already have the materials, $5-$20 bought from local artisan)

I get the scrubbers here: Mighty Nest https://mightynest.com
Full Circle: https://fullcirclehome.com

Cats in this Video: Martin

Blog: http://www.madcatquilts.com/blog
Instagram: http://instagram.com/madcat1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/120401161-ana-mo-shoshin

Please Like, Comment, and Subscribe

Zero Waste Recipe | Our Favorite Summer Meal 2019: (Almost Vegan) Potato Poblano Tacos

Yep, you read that right. We made these tacos a ton last summer! in 2019 our poblano crop was HUGE! The pepper bushes were huge (several feet wide and tall), the peppers were huge, and our taco consumption matched that. But we only got about 6 poblanos this year!

As a final nod to summer, I wanted to have this meal at least once! As usual, I don’t have a recipe for this meal, so this variation is a little different than last year. I didn’t really measure anything, so I will just mark what I used. Scale up or down depending on how many you want to feed. I also only had regular sour cream which keeps this meal form being totally vegan.

Ingredients:
potato (1/2 a baking potato)
sweet potato (1/2 a Japanese sweet potato)
poblano peppers (3 smallish peppers)
garlic (about 4 cloves)
fresh corn (1 ear)
olive oil
tomatoes (a handful of mini ones)
red onion (about a quarter of a small onion)
sour cream
lime
tortillas

Equipment:
knife
pot
frying pan
spatula

Cut potatoes and sweet potatoes into bit sized cubes, boil or steam until for tender. Fine dice garlic, rough dice peppers, tomatoes, and red onion and cook corn off cob, while potatoes are cooking. Add cooked potatoes and garlic into a frying pan with olive oil and fry until potatoes get brown and a bit crispy. After potatoes are crisped, add peppers and cook until tender. Add corn and cook mixture for 2-3 min more. Set aside veg mixture to cool slightly. While potato mix is cooking and cooling combine red onion and tomatoes in a bowl. These are toppings and add a little juice to the tacos so the tacos are not too dry. Place potatoes mix in a bowl for easy assembly. In the same frying pan (no need to clean it, just bush out any chunks), heat the tortillas thru. Assemble tacos with potato mix, tomato mix, sour cream and lime. Eat and enjoy!

Some notes:
- The only reason this is not a completely vegan meal is bc we only had sour cream. Feel free to use vegan cream, cashew crema, or yogurt, to omit all together.
- These tacos are inspired by ones we used to eat often in Brooklyn. The potatoes and poblanos are essential but everything else can be changed. We had corn, so we used that this time. The sweet potatoes were tasty, but it can easily be made without. Add what you have or what you’ve grown. We usually have this with picked red onions, but I hadn’t made any this time. Add black beans, whatever you like.
- This meal would be good over rice, or as a burrito, or as a burrito bowl.

Making your own tortillas and sour cream would have made this a more zero waste meal. I used up the last of some store bought tortillas, but making them myself would have been better. We reused the plastic bag that these came in. The sour cream is also not zero waste as it comes in plastic. When we eat all the cream, we will clean and reuse the container for seed sprouting in the Spring. The peppers and tomatoes came from our garden. The sweet potatoes, corn, and onion were all from a local farmers market. Eating as local as possible helps this meal be more zero waste.

Did you have a favorite meal this Summer or last?

The Joy Of Using Up

The other day I realized that we are almost out of tomato season. It happened quicker this year than last year. But each time we pick tomatoes there are less then the last harvest, more are unripe or rotten before we can get to them and each bush produces less. No more tomatoes and cheese, no more salsa and fresh sauce, no more tomatoes garnishing our salads and pastas. It made me sad.

But then, the weather took a cold spell and I saw a potato. Mmmm, I thought, we haven’t had potato soup in forever!

Part of being as zero waste as possible is eating with the seasons, eating what’s available when it is ripe and fresh. One might think that this is restricting, but really, it’s only the joy of using up. All winter we eat great and hearty winter veg and in the summer, those are set aside to have fresh light summer fruits and vegetables. A perfect balance and nothing is given up.

6 More Months of Zero Waste | September - Back to School!

It’s time for back to school, but this year is a little different for most people for many reasons. For anyone starting on their zero waste journey, this is a great opportunity to practice your zero waste and plastic free skills. For those who have been practicing for years, this is a good reminder to keep learning!

Back to school means new text books, new notebooks, new supplies. But make it zero waste! Once you’re used to thrifting and foraging, it’s easy to find school supplies second hand. Family and friends might have pens and notebooks they will not use (almost everyone has a surplus of pens somewhere in the house, right?), thrift shops and rummage sales usually have school supplies. Backpacks, school clothes, lunch boxes, water bottles, and other supplies are easy to thrift. Keep your eye out for yard sales! Pens, pencils, paperclips, and rubber bands are surprisingly easy to find dropped on the sidewalk. A quick sanitize and they are good as new. Most college bookshops have almost all the books in a syllabus second hand. Make sure you are donating your books at the end of each semester!

We can work at not using plastic and not generating waste while we are in school, too. We can pack our lunches, use digital media, avoid the campus cafe and bring our coffee from home. Many hand outs can be recycled, or reused. Art supplies for projects can be foraged, borrowed or culled from “junk”.

The other opportunity we have while going back to school is to educate anyone and everyone who might not be familiar with zero waste. When we lead by example, when we reach out to answer questions, or notice when people are surprised at our choices and make the effort to talk about and explain them, we are starting the seed that could grow into someone else’s Zero Waste Journey. It’s important to talk about your zero waste choices when ever and how ever you can! Teaching others about the perils of waste and plastic is an exciting avenue for our knowledge.

Back to school is a time to educate others about zero waste, but it’s a good time to educate ourselves as well! Even if you’re not in school, the school season is a good time to pick up a new book, delve into research on a subject you want to know more about, or talk to someone you’ve been meaning to about their lifestyle.

It might seem daunting when you have life milestones, like going back to school, sending your kids to school, or whatever circumstances you might be in near the school year, to stay zero waste. But thinking ahead, putting aside convenience, and remembering our overall goal for ourselves and the planet, will make your back to school one more step our our zero waste and plastic free journey!

If you are new to this series, here’s what we are working on for this 6 month block. Follow along or pick and choose challenges to try.:
June 2020- Say NO, Say Yes
PLASTIC FREE JULY
August 2020 - Carry No Disposables
September 2020 - Back to School/Educate
October 2020 - Beach Clean
November 2020 - Hidden Plastic
December 2020 - Repair Before You Replace

We started our tackling new zero waste challenges six months at a time in 2019: January 2019 - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February 2019- Declutter Everything
We went thru what we have to declutter and reduce.
March 2019- Switch to Paper
This month we moved to paper to get one step closer to reusables.
April 2019- Compost
Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and prevent it from reaching the landfill.
May 2019- Meatless Monday
One of the best ways to improve the environment is to stop eating factory farmed meat and industrial fish. Small steps lead to big change so this month we gave up meat (or dairy or fish) for at least one day.
June 2019- No Bottled Water
We gave up bottled water as an avenue to give up more disposable plastic in Plastic Free July.
July 2019 - Plastic Free July!
Go plastic free this month!

In late 2019, we continued our journey to becoming more zero waste:
November 2019 - Zero Waste Kit
We created a zero waste kit to help us be more zero waste in our day to day life.
December 2019- No Gifts
We took Dec to give no gifts and get no gifts.
January 2020 - Clothing and Fast Fashion
This month we explored what fast fashion is, and how we can stop buying it forever.
February 2020- Use Mass Transit
The shortest month seemed like a good time to explore alternatives to driving our cars.
March 2020 - Bathroom Make-over
You’ve swapped out a few items to more sustainable choices around the house. It’s time to tackle a full room.
April 2020- Grow Your Own Food
April marks the start of spring in the continental USA, and when we can start growing food easily. But there are many ways and time to grow your some of own food.

Mad Cat Garden | August

Another month, flown by! Summer garden is almost gone! We never had much luck with sunflowers, but in August we got a really nice one from our wildflower bed. The squirrels loved it too and once the head of the flower got heavy enough to bend, the squirrels ate every seed.

We had similar luck with our few beautiful strawberries. None were had by us, but birds and squirrels reaped the benefit. We have gotten our strawbs to a good place. They much prefer pots, we find, but are sending out shoots and runners so we must come up way to encourage them to grow new plants.

Something else the squirrels love eating are our raspberries. Our bush has quadrupled in size this summer, but we haven’t seen a single ripe berry.

We have two water barrels that were both gifted to us, and this summer we have used their content as well as rainfall to water the garden almost exclusively. It’s a nice feeling not to turn on the hose. I’m sure this is having an effect of some of our plants, but being a new gardener, I’m not sure what it is. Our tomatoes and peppers are producing well, but by the end of Aug are looking a little scraggly. This could have something to do with the water situation.

This is a year of experimentation and we have done so much. Peppers from saved seeds, some in pots, some not, lettuce, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, zucchini, chard (the squirrels ate it all before it could grow more than a few inches), soy beans, onions, potatoes, wildflowers, new things for us to grow, or new methods of growing. A lot of things we are letting go to seed, in order to observe, or save. Many things have worked and we will try again next year. Some we plan to plant again asap for our fall garden. A new crop of radishes are planted, some using seeds from earlier this year. I want to try ginger and garlic in the fall.

Our yard looks crazier and crazier, especially when it’s not mowed, but it is a paradise of growth, a maze of meals. And we wouldn’t want it any other way. The greenhouse makes it all the more intese, but we haven’t even finished or starting using it. It will prolong our season, I’m sure.

Our first home grown zucchini looked like a duck. We’ve eaten a lot since them in Aug. We have tomatoes every other day or so. Our favorite way is fresh cut with mozz cheese and vinegar or in simple sauces, or fresh over pasta with garlic and olive oil. We eat a lot of peppers, pepperonchini, shishitos, poblanos (although our crop this year is nowhere near as prolific as 2019). Our new favorite method to enjoy is blistered with a horseradish cream dipping sauce. We’ve had edemame, pananella salad, zucchini parm.

Due to social distancing we have not given away as much as last year, not shared as much. So we have had to come up with new ways to eat or preserve veggies. We are not great at it yet, but hope to get better.

We have had a very mild Summer here and I’m interested to see what September will be like.

What have been your biggest crops this year? What are you favorite garden meals? Have you been able to share with friends and family?

Bullet Journal Check In | Sept - Looking for New Book Inspo

September is here and my current bullet journal is almost used up so I have been seeking out what I will buy next. It’s like back to school!

The first thing I did was go thru some notebooks I’ve gotten second hand to see if one of those would work. My first choice would be to use one that I already have. I recently found a wealth of old sketch books and journals that I had gotten very many years and many years ago. Last year I picked up a handful of notebooks at a rummage sale. But alas, none dot grid, unfortunately and I really want to continue using a dot grid.

My normal next steps would be to go get thrifting! But since that’s not as easy as it used to be and since I’ve only been to the thrift once in the last 6 months this isn’t the best option for me right now.

So, on to the internet to start seeking out a sustainable option. I have used and really like the Decomposition notebooks before, so that’s a possibility. I had the oyster dot grid two BuJos ago and really enjoyed it. Being spiral bound was super easy to get to all the pages and the large format was nice to work with and design.

I took a look and enjoyed the Catskills design, too. This is dot grid but has too few pages, I think. I like my journals to last a good long while if possible. The exception I make to that would be a thrifted journal. Better to make do in that case.

I’ve seen journals and notebooks with paper made from reclaimed and recycled construction stone pop up a few times and I am intrigued! There are quite a few brands now: Karst looks interesting. All the stone paper lists smoothness as a quality and advantage, but that’s not my favorite when it comes to writing and drawing.

I might be most interested in the Cognitive Surplus notebooks (top photo). The covers are so pretty! I love the designs, the price is quite nice and they are made in the USA.

One factor that is important to me when choosing a notebook online is to avoid amazon. I’m trying hard to wean myself off that site.

I’m not sure what I will pick, but I only have a month to figure it out! Are there any sustainable, recycled journals and notebooks you have used and enjoyed? Are there any you would recommend?

6 More Months Zero Waste | August - Carry No Disposables

6 More Months of Zero Waste is where we explore how to create a more zero waste and plastic free lifestyle one monthly challenge at a time. Zero waste is the goal, mindful reduction and exploration of less waste is the action.

We talk a lot about disposables in this series. We’ve switched from using plastic bags to paper or reusable, we’ve given up plastic bottled water, we try to carry our zero waste kit. 2020 has made all these things harder.

Maybe you were really good about bringing your own coffee cup but now they cafe won’t let you use them. Maybe always had your reusable bags, but now the grocers wont touch them, maybe you got take out in your own container and now you can’t. What a bummer.

But for the rest of August, let’s pledge to carry no disposables. Things are a little more relaxed in places so many coffee shops will let you bring your cups again, or stop in at a spot where you fill your own. No more take out containers: let’s eat at home, or dine out safely. We can always bring our own container for left overs!

Sticking to reusable will be hard going for a while longer, but the sooner we start making reusables the norm again, the sooner others will follow. Remember, switching to a more zero waste life style isn’t about grand sweeping changes, it’s about the small change we can make each and every day.

If you are new to this series, here’s what ew are working on for this 6 moth block. Follow along or pick and choose challenges to try.:
June 2020- Say NO, Say Yes
PLASTIC FREE JULY
August 2020 - carry no disposables
September 2020 - back to school/educate
October 2020 - beach clean
November 2020 - Hidden plastic
December 2020 - Repair before you replace

We started our tackling new zero waste challenges six months at a time in 2019: January 2019 - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February 2019- Declutter Everything
We went thru what we have to declutter and reduce.
March 2019- Switch to Paper
This month we moved to paper to get one step closer to reusables.
April 2019- Compost
Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and prevent it from reaching the landfill.
May 2019- Meatless Monday
One of the best ways to improve the environment is to stop eating factory farmed meat and industrial fish. Small steps lead to big change so this month we gave up meat (or dairy or fish) for at least one day.
June 2019- No Bottled Water
We gave up bottled water as an avenue to give up more disposable plastic in Plastic Free July.
July 2019 - Plastic Free July!
Go plastic free this month!

In late 2019, we continued our journey to becoming more zero waste:
November 2019 - Zero Waste Kit
We created a zero waste kit to help us be more zero waste in our day to day life.
December 2019- No Gifts
We took Dec to give no gifts and get no gifts.
January 2020 - Clothing and Fast Fashion
This month we explored what fast fashion is, and how we can stop buying it forever.
February 2020- Use Mass Transit
The shortest month seemed like a good time to explore alternatives to driving our cars.
March 2020 - Bathroom Make-over
You’ve swapped out a few items to more sustainable choices around the house. It’s time to tackle a full room.
April 2020- Grow Your Own Food
April marks the start of spring in the continental USA, and when we can start growing food easily. But there are many ways and time to grow your some of own food.

Why I Buy Secondhand

Last week, I went to a thrift store for the first time since March. That’s 5 months of no thrifting. That’s a long time!! That also means I went 5 months basically not buying anything besides groceries or food. And luckily, I found just want I was looking for! Right in the front of the shop, I found some cute little dishes, perfect for cat bowls.

In recent years, I’ve moved to mostly buying second hand items. The last new thing I bought, that wasn’t food or art, was a frying pan over a year ago. I already loved thrifting, but when zero waste became more important to my lifestyle, thrifting became more important as well. The more I thought about waste, the more I thought about the way things are made. Who makes them, how those people are treated, the waste that goes into production, packaging, mailing, shipping, shopping, and consumerism. And I had a realization: Basically everything I might need already exists.

Think about that for a minute.

The reasons I buy second hand is bc I don’t need to buy new.

Buying second hand reduces waste, gives items a second (or third, or fourth, etc… ) life, and saves money, among many other things.

Next time you need an item, take a minute to see if you can source it second hand! That thing you need is already out there, waiting for you to find it.

Plastic Free July is Over - What's Next?

OK, you made it through Plastic Free July - good job!
What did you give up? What did you find was hard about this challenge? Or was it easier than you thought?

But what's next?

That's up to you, of course. You may choose to do something you didn't get to do for the month of July, or you may choose to continue to do something you started during PFJ. If you are planning to continue on the Plastic Free journey, here are five ideas to try next:

-Give up single use plastic water bottles
This is a tough one for a lot of people. Maybe you still buy bottled water. Now is the time to get a reusable water bottle and never look back! 

-Have a trash audit
Save your trash for a week or some period of time and see what you are throwing away. Once you see what you are wasting, you can see where to reduce your waste. 

-Have a recycling audit
Same idea as above but with your recycling. A good thing to keep in mind is that glass and metal can be recycled almost an infinite amount of time, but plastic can only be recycled once or twice before they go to the landfill. 

-Pick a disposable plastic to give up forever
Maybe you gave up plastic straws for Plastic Free July, go ahead and give them up forever! Or if you already integrated giving up plastic straws already, pick plastic bags to give up next, etc..

-Choose food not packaged in plastic
Hopefully, if nothing else, PFJ made you more aware of all the plastic that is used in daily life. Once I started thinking about plastic, I realized it was everywhere!! An easy start to refusing disposable plastics is to pick unpackaged foods. Skip the cauliflower in a plastic bag and buy unpackaged broccoli instead. (or find cauliflower unpackaged at a different store). 

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Now that you are thinking about the plastic and the waste in your life, there’s so many little steps you can take to reduce. Plastic Free July is a great start, but don’t stop there, the sky is the limit!

For more inspiration, check out our 6 More Months to Zero Waste Series!

Mad Cat Capsule | Summer 2020 (July, Aug, Sept)

This year of capsule wardrobes started on a high note, but by now, Summer, I’m kinda blah on it. At the beginning of the year I felt rejuvinated about my caspule, lately I’m unmotivated for anything that takes me out of the house. Even thinking about leaving the house fills me with ennui. While making my capsule I have to think about where I’m going and how I’m going to use the capsule. All I really want to wear these days is biker shorts and a tank top. Loungewear, cutoffs, oversized tees. But the reality is that I do need to leave the house sometimes. So here’s what I came up with for my Summer Capsule Wardrobe.

10 t shirts - AA green crewneck (10+ years old, ethical), elephant band tee (6+, local artist), ford crop (vintage, thrifted), minutemen tee (10+), Happy Bday Sandwiches! (handmade, thrifted, 10+), grey hypo color (vintage), grey AA crewneck (10+, ethical), california raisins (vintage, thrifted), talulas cream tee (5+, local biz), talulas pool party (local biz).

8 tops - talulas baseball (local biz), white sheer geo print (thrifted), white floral (thifted), white longsleeve (10+), linen floral (thrifted), silk floral (vintage), holey stripe (10+), xx.

8 tanks - circle flower (10+), unicorn (5+), green stripe (found), floral crop (10+), grey (10+), black (10+), Surf crop (10+), xx.

2 sweaters - grey cardigan (vintage, hand me down), green (5+).

4 dresses - silver (thrifted, ethical), black and white (5+, ethical), bird (8+, small biz), xx.

2 skirts - black (10+, small biz), blue short skirt (5+).

3 pants - black “linen” (5+), blue joggers (hand me down), xx.

5 shorts - cut offs (vintage, thrifted), levis “cut offs” (3+), white (5+), grey biker (5+), anchor (vintage, thrifted).

6 jeans - white (thrifted), green (thrifted), teal (thrifted), everlane blue (sustainable, ethical?), fray bottom (thrifted), xx.

I left a few blank spaces in there, bc I haven’t had a chance to go thru all my back up clothes, yet. I wanted to leave room to find a few more items and shop my closet. That leaves this capsule right around 50 pieces, which is pretty normal for me.

I kept a similar color scheme to spring; cream, peach, green, denim, white, teal, some black and of course, grey. I love how my three masks fit perfectly with my capsule. As always when making this post, I finalized and took out a few pieces. Getting everything out of the closet to photograph and count always brings the capsule into sharp focus and shows what doesn’t quite fit, or inspires for a few more items.

I didn’t include shoes in this capsule bc I have only been wearing an old pair of flops that have recently died (RIP), and an old pair of vans that are on their way out. Since my flops are no longer, I’ve been taking the opportunity to go bare foot more.

I’m interested to see how this capsule serves me for the next little over 2 months. Did you make a Capsule Wardrobe this season?

Something New: Writing Letters to Companies

A few years ago, I wrote a letter to my favorite pasta company, Bionaturae. They make the best commercial pasta, in my opinion. It’s tasty, easy to cook, and gets perfectly al dente if you cook it correctly. Since I was just starting my zero waste and plastic free journey, I really wanted to find alternatives to using products with so much plastic packaging, but this pasta is something I didn’t want to go without. I wrote and asked if there was any way I could get their products plastic free? Perhaps they sold in bulk? Perhaps I could buy directly from them? The answer I got back was a not-overly-polite “no”. It wasn’t impolite, but it wasn’t enthusiastically polite, either. I had intended to write more companies but this flat no made me a little discouraged. I wrote a few more letters here and there, but largely gave up on the idea.

A few weeks ago, I was buying my favorite pasta again and was so pleased to find out that the are changing the packaging to use less plastic!! I had resigned myself to recycling the bags this pasta came in, but the new packaging is far less plastic and mostly cardboard! Now it will be easier to recycle or even compost parts of my pasta packs.

I don’t really think my letter had anything to do with the change, but maybe it did! Maybe lots of people asked the same thing and that facilitated the change?

Either way, writing letters to your favorite companies asking them a few simple questions couldn’t hurt!

So now, I’m back to writing letters. I recently wrote to one of our favorite bread makers, Martin’s Potato Bread, to ask what ethical practices they use for their workers and in their factories. They are a family run business that is made in the USA, they only use non GMO ingredients, so in my mind they are already showing that they care. I asked if they had any plans to make a vegan version of their products. I would feel way better about buying vegan potato rolls!!

The same day, I wrote to a flip flop company I had purchased from a few years ago. I need a new pair of flops, but I’m just not sure what to get. This company is among several companies often listed for making sustainable flops. They do use sustainable practices for harvesting their rubber, but do they use ethical practices for the people harvesting? They make an interesting point, that recycled flops, often made from spent tires, are only delaying the inevitability of them ending up in landfills and not biodegrading. The rubber they use biodegrades. But since nothing biodegrades naturally in a landfill, I wanted to know if they had other suggestions for disposing of the flops?

I haven’t heard back from either company yet. But hopefully I will! What questions do you have about some of your favorite products? What do you want to know before you buy something new? I encourage you to ask those questions!

Urban Foraging Diaries

I’m not sure where I first got the idea to pick things out of the trash. But I’ve been doing it for a long time.

I will always remember a particularly gorgeous lime green velvet swivel easy chair. I remember seeing it as I was driving home, retuning a few hours later, delighted that is was still there, wrestling it into my car, giving it pride of place in my room, later moving with it to NYC, it getting scratched up and ruined by the cats, and the day I had to sadly put it back out on the curb, really trash this time. I added years and years to that beautiful chair’s life and it brought me years of joy.

When the pandemic started and we realized that we couldn’t go thrift shopping any more, we started paying more attention to when the big pick up days for garbage were around us. We were going for nightly walks anyway and had spotted a few cool things out out on the curb. Bc of Covid 19, it took us a little while to get comfortable, but eventually we picked up a few items here or there. We use gloves, or wash our hands after, and let the objects sit outside for a few days or clean them well before bringing them into the house.

Now we go out on the days we know to scout. Most weeks we don’t get anything, but sometimes we hit a small jackpot. We’ve gotten many planters and pots of all sizes, a baseball bat, wood for various projects, a large sun umbrella, and more.

Last week we picked up a well loved dining room side board. We plan to cut the top shelf off and use it on our green house. The top is warped and the wood there is splitting, so cutting that off won’t be a tragedy. It’s clear that this piece was stripped, refinished, and stripped again. Then left for a long time in a basement or shed. But it has plenty of life left in it!

It might seem weird to pick something our of someone else’s trash, but if an object is still useful, it’s far better for it to go on being used. So let’s not call it garbage picking. Let’s call it urban foraging.

Have you found treasure in other people’s trash?

BYOS (Bring Your Own STRAW)

Getting rid of plastic straws and plastic bags will not save the planet, but every little bit helps.

The zero waste and plastic free movements are not just about bringing your own straw or using reusable grocery bags but everyone has to start somewhere. Learning to say no to a plastic straw is a greaat starting point to saying no to other disposable plastics. It’s also a great exercise in going without. Learning to carry a reusable grocery bag is an exercise in mindfulness. We have become a society obsessed with convenience and getting everything we want exactly when and how we want it. But if we have chosen to advocate for the environment, convenience is something we have to give up. Making due and going without is a big part of living a zero waste, plastic free lifestyle. Taking on that responsibility is a huge step in the right direction.

One of things that strikes me about a more sustainable lifestyle is that it places more responsibility on the individual; to make due, to go without, to find alternatives, and do better for themselves, the planet and our global community. That’s a big responsibility, a big commitment. And it’s not always easy. But no one is going to hand us that, we have to achieve that task for ourselves. Sometimes it seems impossible. Sometimes it seems like too large a task. But by breaking it down into easily achievable steps, we can do a few steps every day until we achieve our overall goal.

Now that it’s gotten harder to bring your reusable items to many places, at least you know you can always bring your straw! (and flatware, and napkins, etc…). We cannot count on shops and restaurants doing the right thing by getting rid of plastic, we can’t expect them to forgo the health and safety of their patrons for the health and safety of the environment under the world’s current conditions, and we cannot rely on big corporations to take a long term view on the safety of the planet and our global community (they have money on the mind instead). But we can choose to fight for what we want instead of sitting back and being passive. As consumers we can make the right choices and take responsibility on ourselves. Instead of using plastic cutlery at a restaurant, we can bring our own reusables. We can refuse a plastic take away bag, and use a reusable bag we brought ourselves. We can say no to a plastic straws, but no one needs to go with out, simply bring your own.

What is Plastic Free July?

And What Are We Doing About It?

For the last 3 years I’ve posted about Plastic Free July. Each year, people all over the world take place in the exercise of giving up some sort (or all) non-reusable plastics (single use, disposable) to help reduce disposable plastics on a global level and raise awareness towards a plastic free lifestyle. Visit the official website to learn more about it.

“Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?”

My first Plastic Free July in 2017, I was testing the waters, learning about the movement and working out how the zero waste lifestyle could be part of my life. The following year, I was more able to incorporate PFJ into my life. By 2019, I was making lists and getting stuff done. This year, it feels easier than ever to make plastic free changes..

At first glance my Plastic Free July to do lists might not have that much to do with plastic. But the fact that disposable plastic is so insidious in our daily life means that almost everything we do daily is some how connected to single use plastic or plastic waste.

We didn’t have to sit down and have a brainstorm about what to do this year (but we did make a list, of course!). Our big challenge for PFJ 2020 came organically from an idea we had had for a while. We had be researching and talking about giving up store bought cheese (which is bad for the animals, environment and inevitably comes in plastic), for a while, so PFJ was the perfect time to put that plan into action.

This might seem like a very small thing to do. How can the act of not buying one thing help the world? But if everyone made a choice to give up one item of disposable plastic, it would have a huge global impact, and if we all give up the same item, for instance, disposable plastic bags, or straws, or water bottles, well then we wouldn’t have to worry about those pollutants or the ripple effect of problems they cause at all any more.

PFJ isn’t about doing it all, getting everything right. It’s about making a mindful, intentional effort to be better. To do better. It’s about a easy month long challenge to break into a more sustainable plastic free lifestyle. Plastic Free July can be a great jumping off point for anyone interested in leanring more ahout this movement, or the push you needed to get started.

Since we at Mad Cat Quilts already break up our journey to reduce waste into month long challenges, Plastic Free July is easily incorporated. How will you celebrate and challenge yourself this month?

The Joy Of Using Up

This is an ode to small batch, hand made, bar soap.

We have been using a conventional bar soap for the last few months bc we got it as a gift. It was nice enough, lemony in scent, lasted a long time. But the other day, when I switched back to a bar made by a local, small batch brand, it was a revelation. It was immediately apparent how much better this bar was.

The smell, the suds, the softness!!

The joy of using up a conventional product is one of the great pleasures of switching to more sustainable hand made items. It might be subtle, or revelatory, or purely intellectual. Knowing that you are making a change that’s better for you and the environment and your community gives a little thrill.

I’ve talked about how much I love bar soap before, how it’s one of the easiest and most obvious sustainable swaps you can make but also one of the nicest and more luxurious for your personal care routine. If you haven’t made the switch yet, I highly recommend doing so today!
Here are my favorite soap companies:

Blue and Gary Bath Time Rituals (pictured below)
Big Spoon, Little Spoon Soaps
Chagrin Falls Soap and Salve

Summer Capsule Wardrobe Inspiration

I’m having a little trouble getting motivated to make my Summer (Jul, Aug, Sept) Capsule Wardrobe this month. I usually start planning towards the end of the last month of the quarter, and by the first month of the current capsule I am pretty set. Finalization happens as I write my capsule blog. But this month, I’m like eh about it.

I thought this would be a good time to do one of my favorite things: watch capsule videos on youtube! If you’re not feeling making your capsule this quarter, or if you’re looking for a little closet inspo, you might enjoy these creators and videos.

The Anna Edit (video posted above) consistently posts Capsule Wardrobe videos every few months, and I love them. Her videos might not be drastically different each season, but I love how happy she gets when she brings out old favorites.

Jaime at Mademoiselle, like The Anna Edit, has a vastly different style than I do, which might be why I like their videos. They both buy many clothes, usually new, which is something I literally never do. I really appreciate the attention to detail and the reasoning and perserverence with which Jaime approaches her capsules. She posts a lot of 10x10 challanges, but I also love her weekly outfit videos.

Meghan’s wardrobe, approach to shopping, and lifestyle is far closer to mine but her fashion style is so different. I love all the bright colors she wears and how easily she purges items! I also love the ease and comfort she exudes when talking to the camera. She often approaches her videos as if she were your big sister and I want her to me mine.

When I was watching vids to get inspired I watched so many! But I think the three above creators are a good overviews of several ways to clean, declutter, challenge or capsule a wardrobe. Who do you most identify with? Who are some of your favorite Capsule Wardrobe youtubers or bloggers?

When was the last time you decluttered your closet or changed over your capsule?

6 More Months of Zero Waste: June - Say NO, Say Yes

6 More Months of Zero Waste is the series where we tackle problems in our everyday lives to become more sustainable, more practical, use less plastic and create less waste.

What a weird time to be alive, huh? And what a hard time to be on a zero waste journey.

Over the last few months, a lot of our zero waste practices have been challenged. Shops and cafe have stopped accepting reusables. Restarants have moved to only take out, with all the plastic packaging that entails. Supermarkets have done away with bilk bins. Disposable masks and gloves literally litter the streets. It all adds up to be very disheartening and demoralizing for those trying hard to fight plastic waste and waste in general.

BUT there is still hope!! Some wonderful side effects have come from the pandemic; carbon emissions are down so much that scientists are actually able to study them in new ways, sound pollution is so lessoned that ornithologists can study bird calls as never before, the canals in Venice Italy are clearer than they have been in a century, light pollution is down, animals are retuning to cities and towns that should be their habitat not ours, and many people in many fields have taken this time to come up with new innovations for a more sustainable future.

As nature tries to rebalance, so must we. Here are some ways to balance a negative with a positive.

Say NO to using plastic bags at the grocery. My grocery will allow reusable bags, as long as I bag them myself. I know people who have put all items back in the cart, no bags, until they reach their can and can bag the items there. Say YES to continuing to use reusable bags.

Say NO to take out. Although we want to support local businesses during this time, we must sacrifice it to some extent when they use all plastic and disposable to go items. Say YES to finding your local spots that use paper or cardboard (pizza is always a good option!). And say YES to cooking at home more!

Say NO to disposable masks. Say YES to buying from an artizen making reusable masks or say YES to making your own!

Say NO to big box stores and groceries for food, plants, or what ever else you need, whenever possible and say YES to local farm markets or stands. Many of these types of locals shops have expanded their inventory at this time.

Say NO to driving, going to the gym, or seeking entertainment in malls or shopping centers. Say YES to long walks, staying local and staying in or around your own home and fining fun activities to do (victory garden anyone?) even AFTER lockdown. For several months we were forced not to do these things, now that things are reopening, you can choose not to do them.

Say NO to shopping for items online and YES to making due with what you have. Or borrow items from friends. Or urban forage.

Say NO to fast fashion and YES to ethical alternatives like online thrift shops. Better yet, say YES to shopping your own closet, decluttering as you go!

Say NO to spending money for the sake of buying and YES to thinking about saving in new ways. For some, the stay at home order and forced furlough or unemployment as well as having to change spending habits have have given people new insights in where and how they spend (and waste) money.

Say NO to thinking only how this time effects us, and YES to how it effects everyone on a global level. A small way to do this is to say YES to wearing your mask in public and continuing to self isolate even after the lockdown is lifted. Another is to donate, volunteer, or come up with other ways to help those more greatly effected then yourself.

Say NO to going right back to NORMAL and say YES to committing to coming up with a life that is more sustainable, more mindful and more fulfilling for YOU.

For our 6 More Months of Zero Waste this months, let’s remember to take what we have learned to balance and carry it with us into the future. Balancing a no with a yes in a sustainable lifestyle is a helpful practice that we can use and share now and many years from now.

What are some other things, activities or ideas that you have balanced during this time?

If you are new to this series, here’s what ew are working on for this 6 moth block. Follow along or pick and choose challenges to try.:
June 2020- Say NO, Say Yes
PLASTIC FREE JULY
August 2020 - carry no disposables
September 2020 - back to school/educate
October 2020 - beach clean
November 2020 - Hidden plastic
December 2020 - Repair before you replace

We started our tackling new zero waste challenges six months at a time in 2019:
January 2019 - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February 2019- Declutter Everything
We went thru what we have to declutter and reduce.
March 2019- Switch to Paper
This month we moved to paper to get one step closer to reusables.
April 2019- Compost
Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and prevent it from reaching the landfill.
May 2019- Meatless Monday
One of the best ways to improve the environment is to stop eating factory farmed meat and industrial fish. Small steps lead to big change so this month we gave up meat (or dairy or fish) for at least one day.
June 2019- No Bottled Water
We gave up bottled water as an avenue to give up more disposable plastic in Plastic Free July.
July 2019 - Plastic Free July!
Go plastic free this month!

In late 2019, we continued our journey to becoming more zero waste:
November 2019 - Zero Waste Kit
We created a zero waste kit to help us be more zero waste in our day to day life.
December 2019- No Gifts
We took Dec to give no gifts and get no gifts.
January 2020 - Clothing and Fast Fashion
This month we explored what fast fashion is, and how we can stop buying it forever.
February 2020- Use Mass Transit
The shortest month seemed like a good time to explore alternatives to driving our cars.
March 2020 - Bathroom Make-over
You’ve swapped out a few items to more sustainable choices around the house. It’s time to tackle a full room.
April 2020- Grow Your Own Food
April marks the start of spring in the continental USA, and when we can start growing food easily. But there are many ways and time to grow your some of own food.

On My Mind On Friday Morning

Another photo essay about windows.
I love the idea of having items that might be considered obsolete long into the present day! What old or “outdated” device are you still holing on to?
Here’s another list from NJ News on spots to visit around the state. And if you are planning on braving the beach, here’s a list of how much it will cost you.
Yesterday I wrote about thinking about what you want to keep from your time on quarantine, here is an interesting article about what some people will continue to hold dear.
I don’t love Treehugger’s new website, but they still have great articles. Here’s one about gearing up for Plastic Free July! It shares a lot of the same tips as I would.

Zero Waste Product Review: Safety Razor

I bought a safety razor a few years ago. I don’t shave much.

It took me a while to switch over to a safty razor, even though they make way more sense than disposable razors. I reused all my disposable razors until they could not be reused any more, disposed of them, bought a safty razor, then found more disposables hidden away in a closet or something.

That’s one of the problems with all sorts of disposables that people don’t really talk about. Thier insidious and ubicutious nature. Not only do we not think anything of throwing them out, we think nothing of buying more. How much money have people wasted on buying more razors, when they already had some, more hand cream bc the new one smells nice, and more q tips or hair ties bc do we have enough? I can’t remember, and more shampoo bc why not? Many argue that a sustainable lifestyle is more expensive, but if one takes a longer view we see that that is clearly not the case.

When I did finally start using this razor, back May of 2019, I was really nervous. For some reason, using a razor with a removable blade seemed way more dangerous then a razor where the whole thing is disposable. The first few times I used it, it felt really weird. I went really slow. I gave myself razor burn from going over the same spot slowly several times. I feared shaving my underarms.

A little over a year later, I wonder why anyone would ever use a disposable razor? It’s so easy to use a safty razor! I do all the things I did with a disposable (shave all the spots, dry shave, etc…), but it’ doesn’t create waste! After the adjustment period, I would say a safety razor is just as easy to use as any other I have tried. I haven’t had to change the blade yet, and I expect, as long as I keep it dry, and with my infrequency of shaving, I won’t have to for a while. I use the QShave razor, which was only about $14 at the time. Considering with a little care, this and it’s extra razor blades will last me many years, it’s a steal. I’m sure I will have to buy additional blades at some point, but no time soon. I’m not sure QShave is the best, so I would check out a few and see which you like. I am confident that anyone can make this swap tho.

In conclusion safety razors are great! Very easy to use, affordable, and sustainable. If you don’t have one, make sure to get one!

My Number One Tip for Quitting Fast Fashion

This is an easy tip:

DON’T BUY FAST FASHION.

Fast fashion is bad on many levels. The environmental and human impact is enormous. There are tons of resources for you to see all of it. You might want to start with my simple definitions surrounding Fast Fashion, and other fashion terms.

But avoiding fast fashion is easier said than done. As with almost everything in the sustainability movement, it starts with a mind-set shift. We must move away from the idea that we need to constantly be buying new clothes, that we need to keep up with changing trends, and the idea that having a lot of cheaply made and purchased clothing is better than having a few pieces that we love and that cost more (and therefore, hopefully, were made humanely with the environment in mind). We must also change how we think about clothing at a basic level. We are consumers and our first thought is about ourselves. We must move away from our first thoughts of “that would look good on me”, “that’s so cute!”, “that’s on trend”, “I need this item”. and think about where our clothing comes from. Who made this item? What conditions were they exposed to? What impact did it have on them? On water supplies, on animals, on the earth? Once these become questions you ask yourself before buying you are less likely to buy unnecessarily. The impact fast fashion has on the world becomes an impact on you as well. But this may take time and certainly takes a lot of effort.

So while you are figuring out how to make that mind-set shift, here is my number one tip for quitting fast fashion:

STOP GOING TO FAST FASHION STORES.
In real life and online.

Vintage clothing labels.

This is the one big thing that really helped me kick my fast fashion habit; I stopped looking to shop fast fashion. I stopped visiting the mall, target, stopped going to online shops. Stopped looking at sales and deals. Mostly I stopped looking at clothes at all, unless I was in my own closet or at the thrift shop. Since we are consumers, we are conditioned to look at sales, we are taught that merchandising and deals are important, that having more will make you feel better and shopping will make you happy. But we need to reconnect the human and environmental cost of the things we buy. That cheap, trendy, top is not just a inexpensive pleasure for you to have. That top was made by a real person who most likely worked in horrible conditions, used water that could have saved someone from thirst or hunger, shipped across the world leaving pollution and destruction in it’s wake, excreted microplastics into the oceans and air, and finally will be thrown away and end up in a landfill or burned to create even more waste. By changing the way we think, and eradicating the temptation of looking at fast fashion, we break the hold that consumerism has on us.

What has helped you quit or reduce buying fast fashion?