Working my way to eco friendly


I know that the way we live in America is often see as wasteful. While I have never seen pollution and waste as someone else’s problem, I have fluctuated through periods of more effort to reverse my carbon footprint. When I first got into eating healthy, it was all about organic everything. I do not have a tree of money in the backyard, so that model of eating is not long term sustainable. I have also come to learn that it is expensive to be in the organic farming world, but you can still get quality food and humanely raised animals from smaller farmers, often for less money. The little two kids have been learning more about recycling and the effects of our litter and pollution on the lives of animals, like the cute polar bears. Jack has even been interested in the melting of ice caps at the North Pole, and the effect on our world.

Recently, I was reading about the greenhouse emissions from cattle farms. Did you know they produce more pollution into the air than all of our cars combined? One of my favorite mottos is Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, do better. I feel this is a perfect example of that. I have been experimenting with getting my meat from different companies, and I really want to look at getting a half cow this year. We have tried Simple Grocer and Butcher Box. The thing I dislike about Simple Grocer, they send the meat in a styrofoam box. Butcher Box is biodegradable, which is a leg up for me.

One of the reasons that I have loved Simple Grocer is that they carry Pederson Farm meats. Their sausage is the only soy free chorizo I have found to date. We have a Whole Foods nearby now, so I am going to make the switch and pick up a monthly order from there instead. I need to be more responsible, where and when I can. I feel that I shouldn’t continue to support a company that is so invested in the quality of meat being sent but hasn’t made adjustments to their packaging.

Another change that I am making is my Amazon shopping. I love the convenience of Amazon, but the amount of boxes is too much. They recently have added a Amazon day feature. Everything I order will get delivered on one day. I really like this approach because I don’t need the things NOW, I can wait and get all the things together.

Speaking of Amazon, I recently took a survey with them where they asked about the importance of vitamins in a recyclable container. I feel like that should be of more importance to me. I am not partial to my particular brands, so I am going to be switching to all recyclable bottles for my supplements. I am not sure I can do that for the kids, but I will investigate. I know the Garden of Life brand is glass, Sundown Naturals and MRM are both recyclable bottles. I am going to be doing some research, but would love any of your advice or input.

The next purchase for me is waste free toothpaste. I found bite toothpaste bits on instagram, of all places, and will be purchasing them. Some companies make a toothpaste powder, so you wet your brush before putting it into the powder. These bites, however, you bite into to create the paste. I have looked into more natural based toothpaste before, but this is more about the waste of the tube. These come in glass bottles, making them totally waste free.

I have been buying toilet paper, in bulk, from Amazon subscribe and save for years now. I get a giant cardboard box of plastic wrapped sets of rolls made from trees. Some companies, like Who Gives A Crap, offer rolls that are individually wrapped bamboo paper. They are not cutting down the trees to make the toilet paper and they are not using extra plastic to wrap the rolls. We have a stock of regular toilet paper in the basement, so I have a while before I make the switch. Another company I am looking at is Bim Bam Boo Tree-Free Toilet Paper. Again, any experience is a huge welcome.

I would love to minimize the waste of my shampoo and conditioner, but that is not going to happen just yet. I use medicated shampoo. I make sure that the conditioner and soaps are all gluten and parabeen free. I imagine that the waste free may be better quality than basic soap products, but I am not sure. The hand soap in my bathrooms are refillable pumps. We use the DoTerra OnGuard hand soap, and I do recycle the refill bottle.

I would love to see the meal delivery places use re-usable bags. I have shopped with my own bags for so long, but we utilize Shipt often. It kills me the number of plastic bags that are being sent to my house. I try to bring them to the grocery store to recycle, but that isn’t enough. I don’t need all those plastic bags to deliver my food. I think I am going to ask my next shopper to not use plastic bags, and see what happens.

Where are you trying to leave a smaller footprint? What tricks have you learned to be more eco-friendly? And how have you gotten your husband on board? I am pretty sure I’m going to have to gradually make these changes so he doesn’t fight too hard. Good thing I’m in charge of buying most these types of products!