I have talked about buying, selling, borrowing and donating stuff on Facebook here before. Between Marketplace and local buy/sell/trade groups, there is so much quality clothing, toys, furniture, home decor, you name it, that it seems crazy to buy something new without at least looking there first. But the group I want to talk aboutContinue reading “Week 16”
Category Archives: Challenges
Week 15
85 percent of textile waste in America becomes trash Due to their synthetic makeup, clothing that is disposed of does not decay Americans are buying five times as much clothes as we did in the 1980s, due to fast fashion’s constant churn of new, low-quality clothing One pair of jeans requires up to 2,000 poundsContinue reading “Week 15”
Week 14
This week was my birthday, and I got the No. 1 thing on my list: a membership to our local co-op! Mississippi Market has three locations in St. Paul, and is the place to get organic, local and bulk foods. A lifetime membership is only $90, and comes with quarterly coupons, special member pricing onContinue reading “Week 14”
Week 13
When people first get started trying to reduce their waste, they usually think about buying less stuff that they’ll eventually have to throw away. But as I’ve started to learn over time, responsible disposal is only part of the equation. Even if you recycle, compost or reuse whatever it is you bought, it doesn’t cancelContinue reading “Week 13”
Week 12
Cooking, cleaning, sewing: Those skills we were supposed to learn back in Home Ec class did not stick with me. I begrudgingly cook and clean when I absolutely have to, and I can maybe sew on a button, but that’s about it. When I first got into zero waste, I would see posts and classesContinue reading “Week 12”
Week 11
An addition 1 million tons of trash are thrown out every week between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Merry Christmas! Our holiday was spread out over a week this year due to family travels, so today we opened our gifts from Santa and immediate family. The kids got everything they wantedContinue reading “Week 11”
Week 10
“Be the change you want to see in the world” Mahatma Ghandi I know, I know. This is the most overused trope of all time. But stay with me here. I’ve been at this thing long enough now that friends, family and colleagues are starting to believe that I may be onto something, and nowContinue reading “Week 10”
Week 9
Roughly one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted every year (stopwastingfoodmovement.org); in America, it’s 40% (savethefood.com) Food waste accounts for 8% of global emissions (rubiconglobal.com) Food waste that decomposes in landfills releases methane, which is at least 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide (Washington Post) It was just over a yearContinue reading “Week 9”
Week 8
The average washing machine uses over 40 gallons of water per load (nps.gov) The dryer uses over 4 times as much energy as the washer (energy.gov) Scented laundry detergents and dryer sheets contain carcinogens that get into the air through laundry vents (washington.edu) This week is going to be a challenge and recap in one,Continue reading “Week 8”
Week 7
Over 165 million people shopped over Thanksgiving weekend in 2018 (Forbes) Black Friday pulled in a record $6.22 billion in online sales last year (Adobe Analytics) 2019 is expected to be the first ever $1 trillion holiday shopping season (eMarketer) Despite growing interest in minimalism, buying secondhand and resisting the urge to consume consume consume,Continue reading “Week 7”
Climate 52 