Zero-waste offers opportunity for creativity + innovation...both personally + communally. I get so excited when people decide to solve problems that we face in the zero-waste community! When we started shifting toward making much less waste, our only option for compostable toothbrushes would have had to be shipped from Australia. I was thrilled (not overstating it!) when the Kumar family stepped up + figured out how to bring bamboo toothbrushes to the USA!
I was so excited when Klean Kanteen figured out how to offer stainless steel water bottles...even down to the inside of the cap! More recently Jodi worked hard to bring us dental lace + hasn't quit until she could bring us not only refillable containers, but compostable dental floss! (My enthusiasm, + the fact that I had some with me, brought laughter at a zero-waste talk I did recently, when I got to answer a question about dental floss!)
Innovation toward less waste is fantastically exciting in things that we use every day! There are a few tools that I am extremely grateful for...but zero-waste is not about buying more stuff. It's most often about solving waste issues with creativity, ingenuity + the willingness to do without when necessary.
When I gave up using cling-wrap, I was a little nervous about what I would do without it. Mostly I ended up grateful to not have to deal with that crazy stuff anymore! I have not really run into a previously cling-wrap solved situation that couldn't be solved with a bowl, plate or jar already in my cabinet. Half of a cantaloupe can go into the fridge cut edge down on a plate...nothing more is needed. Same for half of a pitted avocado (we eat the side that the pit sticks in)...or watermelon, etc. Just eat the refrigerated half in the next day or two. Alternatively, the fruit could be cut up + put into a large bowl with a plate on top of it...or into jars for lunches in or out.
I was a bit hesitant about putting food in cloth. I thought there would be lint on it or that it would get dried out. Both of these things are somewhat true...but don't really pose a problem. :) Lint from a clean cloth is clean, minimal + can be picked off. A bagel wrapped in cloth for lunch is not going to be in that cloth for long...so the level of drying out is inconsequential.
Jars make my need for other containers disappear. Wide mouthed jars are my favorites + make filling them or eating from them a treat.
Collective innovation when necessary...personal innovation always!
Love,
Jane
I was so excited when Klean Kanteen figured out how to offer stainless steel water bottles...even down to the inside of the cap! More recently Jodi worked hard to bring us dental lace + hasn't quit until she could bring us not only refillable containers, but compostable dental floss! (My enthusiasm, + the fact that I had some with me, brought laughter at a zero-waste talk I did recently, when I got to answer a question about dental floss!)
Innovation toward less waste is fantastically exciting in things that we use every day! There are a few tools that I am extremely grateful for...but zero-waste is not about buying more stuff. It's most often about solving waste issues with creativity, ingenuity + the willingness to do without when necessary.
When I gave up using cling-wrap, I was a little nervous about what I would do without it. Mostly I ended up grateful to not have to deal with that crazy stuff anymore! I have not really run into a previously cling-wrap solved situation that couldn't be solved with a bowl, plate or jar already in my cabinet. Half of a cantaloupe can go into the fridge cut edge down on a plate...nothing more is needed. Same for half of a pitted avocado (we eat the side that the pit sticks in)...or watermelon, etc. Just eat the refrigerated half in the next day or two. Alternatively, the fruit could be cut up + put into a large bowl with a plate on top of it...or into jars for lunches in or out.
I was a bit hesitant about putting food in cloth. I thought there would be lint on it or that it would get dried out. Both of these things are somewhat true...but don't really pose a problem. :) Lint from a clean cloth is clean, minimal + can be picked off. A bagel wrapped in cloth for lunch is not going to be in that cloth for long...so the level of drying out is inconsequential.
Jars make my need for other containers disappear. Wide mouthed jars are my favorites + make filling them or eating from them a treat.
Collective innovation when necessary...personal innovation always!
Love,
Jane
