Buy what you need
Want what you have

While making the grocery list last week, it was noted that we had some cornmeal...so polenta went on the menu. I wasn't so sure how these ingredients would come together, but thought it was worth a try. It turned into something a little different than what I had envisioned...in a delicious way. I don't want to forget this combination, so here it is.  :) 

Zero-waste Polenta Dumplings + Chickpea Stew
part of a red onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped not peeled
chickpeas
tomato sauce or chopped tomato
cinnamon
salt
pepper flakes
polenta (1/2 cup cornmeal + 1 Tbsp. butter + 2 cups water)
cheese, grated

Saute chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato sauce (or chopped tomato), chickpeas, carrots + spices. Add water to almost cover the ingredients + simmer (with the lid on) for around 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, make polenta by boiling water + butter. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium, pour in cornmeal + whisk until bubbling up...remove from heat. Whisk to make sure there are no lumps, cover + set aside. Assemble + top with a bit of grated cheese (because cheese always makes Julia smile).  :) Enjoy!

Love,
Jane

I'm trying to embrace my natural-ness as much as my comfort allows.  :) For me...right now, this means that I don't wear makeup most days. I spent years battling acne, so it feels quite liberating to go without makeup. That being said, I appreciate that make-up can be helpful. This is just a personal story...not any sort of prescription. 

History :: I started wearing face powder when I was in sixth grade by (well-meaning) suggestion. I'm assuming that my acne started then. As the years went on, I wore heavier foundation under that powder along with blush, lipstick, mascara + eyeshadow...every day. Big hair + nail polish was part of the look of the day as well. I started to be afraid of swimming with friends (we lived in a town on the shores of Lake Michigan), for fear of being caught without my "face" + hairstyle. I received the (unwelcomed) nickname of "glamour girl" at my hospital job as a teenager. All the while, I dreamed of having clear enough skin + thick enough hair to just leave all of the makeup + hairspray behind. 

Baseball cap ponytails were a favorite hairstyle during my sleep deprived college days. I stopped wearing lipstick when I couldn't resist kissing my babies all the time + didn't want to leave my lips all over them. I stopped wearing eye make-up quite so much when I started wearing glasses. I feel like the glasses add some definition there + sometimes feel like my mascara-ed lashes look a little odd magnified behind glasses. As my skin cleared, I wore less + less make-up. 

Less waste :: Zero-waste makeup options do exist, but can be quite pricey + involve packages in the mail (which are not without waste + transport impacts). As I move toward zero-waste, I realize that one of the best ways to reduce my waste is simply to use fewer products where possible. Last summer, while I had my summer glow + as I did my zero-waste check-in...I realized that I was hardly wearing make-up at all. I decided to just put it away + see how it went. I kept my blush, eye shadow + mascara...just not in the top drawer. I haven't really looked back. Most days, I just apply some face cream (in the cold months) + lip balm...done.

Acclimating :: I found that there was a bit of an adjustment to "seeing" + accepting myself without (or even with less) makeup. When we see a friend that we are used to seeing only with makeup...without makeup...we notice. The same goes for when we see someone who usually doesn't wear much makeup...and seeing them fully made up. We just notice. It's mostly about being used to a look. I'm now used to seeing myself without makeup...and I'm good with it, because it is me.  :) Today, my most likely (but not at all usual) additions would be a little bronzy blush + a little brownish eye-shadow. (I tried bulk cocoa + cinnamon, but neither seemed to show up at all.)

Eye training :: Another help for me is admiring confident, intelligent, beautiful, inspiring, talented, empowering women who (at least sometimes) embrace the natural look. I've always been most attracted to this look + tried to emulate it with make-up too. As I peel away another layer, I especially notice photos of beauties without eye make-up. I love a good smokey eye, but there is also so much beauty, confidence, acceptance, generosity + joy that shines through a bare face.  :) I am so grateful to all of these women for sharing theirs with me. I came across these beautiful words...and since I had just written this...reading it brought tears: "It feels good to truly love yourself the way you are. Where you are. As you are." Thank you, LaTonya. I'm trying to let that sink down deep.

Values :: What do I want to communicate with my appearance? What do I really want to do? I'd like to communicate that I am approachable, kind, compassionate, loving, friendly, down-to-earth, + yes, have a sense of my own style. I'd like to be ready for a walk or a picnic or a smooch or a squeeze or a laugh so hard + long that it makes tears stream. Not saying that any of this can't be done while wearing make-up...just that none of them are make-up dependent.  :)

We women are unique beauties + every freckle, scar, + wrinkle is part of that. We are our own + each other's harshest critics, but we can choose to celebrate one another (+ our own skin too) instead. Wear makeup, if you like. Don't, if you don't want to. We all deserve to feel good in our skin. 

Loads of love to all of you beautiful friends,
Jane

This is a controversial topic, and I'm pretty sure that my opinion will not line up with popular thought.  :) We wash all of our dishes by hand. A few reasons:
-We don't have a lot of dishes.
-Pots + pans + collander + wooden spoons + my grandma's milk glass mixing bowl have to be hand-washed anyway.
-Pre-washing dishes + then having to inspect + scrub them after they come out of the dishwasher uses time + water (+ is annoying).
-Might as well just wipe a washcloth over it + be done, if pre-washing/rinsing food off of it anyway.
-Each one in our tribe washes her/his own plate + utensil + one pot or bowl directly after eating + it's all done...quickly + painlessly. 
-Washing dishes right away takes less water than waiting until the food is dried on.

We've been doing dishes this way since Julia, our younger daughter, was seven...and only waited that long, because that's when the idea came to us. Jo encountered this method at a friend's house + we've done it the same way ever since! Thank you, Anushka!  :)

In pursuit of a zero-waste soap option, I've tried making my own liquid soap (with poor results). I've tried castile soap as well (which also comes in plastic bottles- whether bought in bulk or not), but don't like it because it's oily, expensive + doesn't lather. I don't like it for my hair (same reasons), and I find no need for it in my cleaning solution. 

I buy the biggest jug of dish soap that I can find at the grocery store + consider it bulk. I then refill a smaller soap dispenser about 1/4 full at a time, because I find that a full bottle dispenses too much soap + we go through it faster. This one bottle of soap works for dishes, hands, and hand washing intimates too. One drop is all it takes.

Love,
Jane

There's nothing wrong with possessions; it's just that they have value to us only when we use them, engage them, and enjoy them. They're nouns that mean something only when used in conjunction with verbs. ~Rob Bell in Love Wins

Just a bit of window shopping for spring...and oh, there are some achingly beautiful creations out there! These female makers are hitting all the right notes. Cue the soundtrack + bring on the sunshine!

All lovely photos via links.

Love,
​Jane

I've been extremely encouraged to see so many people (online) join the zero-waste movement recently! It is incredibly exciting!! Each of us can create SO MUCH trash in a week...month...year...lifetime. Our efforts toward zero-waste most certainly make a difference! Yay!

What I've also noticed in the all this newfound excitement over zero-waste is that it seems to have become ever more often an opportunity for consumerism. The photos most often involve a new stack of tiffins or a pristine collection of wooden brushes or a beautiful stack of folded produce bags. There are posts galore reviewing bowl covers + cotton rounds. I'm not necessarily opposed to these items...but I am opposed to the idea that this presents...which is that you need a lot of new stuff to begin living the zero-waste lifestyle. Yikes. 

The whole point is to lessen our impact on the earth. This, in my opinion, begins with "less" not more. Also, I feel like presenting this version of zero-waste will give some friends the idea that it is beyond their means...and that they can't start until they have all the stuff.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Anyone can start right now! It's not about buying a new toothbrush + dumping the old one. It's about using that old one up + then, when you'd be replacing that toothbrush anyway...choosing a compostable one instead of a plastic one.  

-For groceries:
Gather up any tote bags scattered around the home...most of us have a few. Start washing out + collecting jam, salsa, + spaghetti sauce jars. Look around for cloth drawstring bags from gifts or purchases like shoes, sheets, etc. Ask mom or friends if they have any extras. 

With this kit, you can shop the bulk section. Just start with what you have. Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. I didn't start out with + still don't use glass jars to shop. Read more about my rationale here (I'm still shopping with those same plastic bins). The jars can hold your bulk purchases, leftovers, cooked beans, lunch, cheese, snacks, drinks...

-In the kitchen:
The following is a list of things that I have nothing against, but don't have or want: 
-beeswax paper/cloth bowl covers (a jar works great...or put half of an avocado or apple or watermelon face down on a plate..put a plate on top of a bowl- or bowl on top of a plate to keep leftovers in the fridge)
-all the pretty brushes (I don't like all the little grimy bits that get stuck in the bristles, so washcloths + rags work for us)
-tiffins (we have lots of jars)
-individual produce bags (everything can go together into a bigger bag)
-roll of snap together cloth "paper towels" (use spent tea towels or cut up an old tee for rags)

-In the bathroom:
Use up what you have. That might take quite a while + that's great! This allows time to really consider whether the product is a necessity, to do the research, to save up, + to replace each item with a product that creates less waste as each runs out. 

If someone has fun buying a couple new items to get started decreasing their waste...ok. I get it. I find my set of matching jars lovely. But I fear that presenting zero-waste in terms of a shopping list is just another excuse for consumerism (not unlike the popularity of capsule wardrobes as an excuse to purchase a whole new set of clothes each season). 

Conspicuous consumption is the biggest creator of waste in our society. It's exactly what zero-waste is fighting + I get a little peevish about its creep into the zero-waste community. My point is only that a shopping list is not the most important thing about starting zero-waste. The most important thing is to begin.  :)

Love,
Jane

Spring! It's still a bit cold here...but the days are longer. I haven't put away my sweater coat yet...but I'm ready. A few weeks ago, I put together a small work wardrobe on a whim...to figure out how it might look for me. I learned that not only could this wardrobe be useful for work...it could work for my life as it is! The one key lesson I took away was this: A small wardrobe benefits from choosing pieces that are not too dressy + not too casual. By choosing pieces that could be worn to make yogurt and to make a presentation...outfits that could be just as comfy while reading a book at home as they would be going to the ballet...less can do it all!

I didn't set out to make a shopping list, but I did keep coming back to that little collection as I was thinking about what I'd be wearing this spring. Too casual might be the current issue in my closet...so the linen jacket stood out as a comfy piece that could dress up an outfit in a way that would still feel like me. I was able to locate the exact jacket on ebay for $30 (second hand). The jeans felt like a silhouette missing from my wardrobe, in a color that I don't think I've tried before, and again they would elevate my pieces just a bit. (Hopefully, I can keep them clean!)

So here are the pieces that I'm wearing this spring:

tops ::
cream sweatshirt
black sweatshirt
olive button down shirt
navy tee
human tank*

bottoms ::
tan sarouelles 
cream jeans* 

one-piece ::
jumpsuit 

layer ::
linen jacket* 

footwear:
flats
trainers
clogs

possibly/probably also:
pact tanks
indigo long-sleeved tee 
striped 3/4 sleeved tee
denim jacket
olive pants
​leggings

*new pieces in 2018 
​
Notes ::
-Temperatures vary during these months, so fabric weights + styles vary as well.
​ (sweatshirt + jeans + trainers = warmer. tank + sarouelles + clogs = cooler.)
-Layers. In the transition months, I'll often start the day with a layer on + want bare arms as   the day goes on. My long sleeved tops can work as layers with a tank underneath.
-I only have one short sleeved top, because it goes from being cold enough for a sweatshirt   to warm enough for a tank quickly. Tanks layer well + are useful all summer long. (This   might be different if I spent my days in a more temperature controlled space.) 
-Long sleeved tees are on trial. If they don't layer well under and over...they probably don't   earn their spots in my simple wardrobe. 
-Shoes are important in the small wardrobe. They switch the vibe of an outfit effectively.   (jumpsuit + tank + trainers = casual. jumpsuit + linen jacket + flats = a bit more dressy)

Love,
Jane

Photos via links (if no link- mine).