I am an unschooling mom of four children (all cloth diapered & early potty trained.) We have always been both frugal & environmental. We do worm composting & recycling. We shop at farmer’s market and at our local grocery co-op. We eat-mostly-whole foods. We lived in a cooperative house for four years. But I recently read No Impact Man and felt I could do more. I want to show the world that just because there are more of us (family of 5) doesn’t mean we have to use more resources. I want to show that I can instill these values in my kids to help make the world a better place.
Here two things came together. Our love of art & my concern about garbage. I am currently saving our “clean” garbage that is not recyclable or compostable, I plan to make some paper mache (using local flour) and beginning a garbage sculpture. This is still in the early stages, but you can check out my progress (remember I have four kids, things progress slowly here) at my blog called Quixotic Mama (www.yogapantsmama.com)
Most of what dog and cat food consists of, especially the dry stuff, is a hybrid corn. Corn is bad for the dog and cat. The corn industry uses a great deal of toxic and non-renewable resources from fuel to fertilizer, and from a plastic coated bag to a metal can for that corn to make its way to the shelf and food factories. My wife and I have been making our own dog food (which does not contain corn) for a few months now and it actually costs us less than buying regular dog food. The dogs like it seem to be healthier, we don’t have the extra trash from the dog food bags/cans and we can buy ALL of the ingredients (except the oats or rice) locally. its extra work, but very possible.
Buy less - instead of instantly going to buy something, make it a habit to sit with the idea for a day or two to see if you can live without it - always buy used first if you must buy.
Compost your food ‘trash’
Don’t use plastic bags of any kind
Use cloth napkins and kitchen towels - but only if you buy used
Stop using ‘wipes’ and disposable cloths of ALL kinds - fake fragrance, made of paper, contain chemicals, etc.
Stop using paper towels - carry a “personal towel” and/or cloth hankie like the Japanese do to use in public restrooms, etc.
Use (used) cloth handkerchiefs instead of tissues/Kleenex
Catch your letting-the-water-run-to-get-hot water and use it to water plants, drink, etc.
Use permaculture on your land/lot - to maximize the water on your property
Stop using plastic containers to store and carry food
Take your own (local) lunch instead of using carry out and take out containers from restaurants - save money too
Use natural essential oils for home and personal fragrance instead of “Glade” type fake scent, plastic containers, etc.- they come in recyclable, glass containers and don’t pollute the air or the land fill once empty
Put wadded up newspaper in the bottom of your trash can to absorb odors. They can still be composted in most cases if you are not putting food wastes in your trash
Stop using bleach - it kills ‘bad’ bacteria, but also the good ones too
Stop buying all those stupid, toxic, specialized cleaning liquids/chemicals for the home - you only need vinegar and baking soda or one natural, concentrated bottle of Dr. Bronner’s for the entire house and all types of cleaning - including bathing.
Go “no-poo” - the hair and scalp don’t need shampoo and sometimes not even conditioner - less chemicals on the planet, fewer plastic bottles. If you must have shampoo, buy the ones that are not in a bottle (search Etsy.com)
Stop buying new cars - even the so-called “energy efficient” ones are strip mining somewhere to get the metals to use in their construction
Use hemp and bamboo and/or recycled, one-use papers - eg: toilet paper
Recycle all your construction materials when renovating your home - fixtures, wood, tiles, etc.
Buy your home construction and fixture materials from the same type of place
Stop buying lotions, fancy face cleansers, etc. and use coconut oil for lip balm, moisturizer, face cleanser, etc.
JUST SAY NO! I know that some people will look at you weirdly and still try to put your items in plastic bags, even when you tell them no, but still refuse them. Many times I had to actually take my items out of the plastic bag and put them into my own bag.
Also, if you have something that might leak and you absolutely must use one, get only ONE!
Do you really need 5 bags for a cartoon of eggs, milk and bread?
Hello,
My husband and I have been deeply inspired by this project! As environmentalists and struggling, wanna-be minimalists, my family set-out on an adventure to be “Fasting Consumers” this year.
The challenge: buy absolutely nothing (except for groceries, and because of your inspiration we’re trying to be very mindful of what we buy) for all of 2014.
We have two children, a 6-year-old and a 1-year-old, and we live in Toronto, ON. My blog is www.thefastingconsumer.com
Thanks for all the inspiration!
Sincerely,
Bronwyn
I went to our local landfill in Texas…(Texas Maryland) and what I found out was upsetting. At the dump they have sections for metal(large pieces), a section for computer equipment, section for refrigerators, dehumidifiers, A/C units and anything that uses freon or other type heat exchange compound via evaporator coils) a trailer for tires, section for TV’s, one for grass and other yard waste (no bags, hoses, rocks, earth or doggies poop{there is a signs that says no dog poop}) then theres a section for recycling plastic(hard plastic they will not take plastic bags, Al cans, paper/cardboard, light bulbs, Motor oil, antifreeze, power cells(lead acid batteries, lithium ion, silver, mercury, dry/wet/mix cells {AAA-D and 6b) and final trash. I ask the Super how much do they make selling some of the things people dump,(I saw as I drove by large pieces of Aluminium, brass, and insulated copper and Al wire) the super said they have to pay to have everything except the metal removed, and they make only a few pennies a pound at best on the steel. My mouth almost hit the floor, Al is worth 55-60 cent per pound, brass about the same, insulated copper $1.25-1.70 a pound, stripped copper(Cu w/o the plastic jackets) yield $2.75-3.55 per pound. That aside b/c I understand it would take more manpower and time to separate the metals and that is the last thing a government work wants to do(that would be WORK). Again that aside the lead acid batters yield around 30 cents a pound, and they are already separated. Also and this is one of the big ones, the computer processor and other equipment/parts, I was told that it is one of the most expensive stuff to get ride, second only to rubber tires. E-cycle is the recycling and scraping (for profit) of electronic equipment, call e-scrap. This is a very large and valuable market b/c all computer mother board, finger board, memory chips, processors and such are made using gold, silver, copper, aluminium and other valuable metals. This can be a time intensive operation b/c the computer desk tops(or laptops, I pads, think pads, cell phones, etc.) must be disassemble and the circuit boards, memory chip, CPUs, add on cards, and such must be removed (Motherboards 3.75-4.50/lbs, memory chip $5/lbs, add on card/finger board $6/lbs CPUs anywhere from $10-$110.00 per pound b/c the internal wiring is made w/ a lot of gold {pre 1998 have much more gold content then current, largest amount is 4.4-5.2 grams of gold per processor [at 28grams per oz. that 1/7-1/8 of an ounce of 24ct gold w/ gold around 1600-1800 dollar an ounce…well you do the math]) Again there were only 2 chip types made w/ that much gold and was in the late 80 early 90, most pre 98 cpus have about .8-1.7 grams per processor core (yet even if it is 1 gr or 1/28 oz that about 58 buck for 1 chip (using 1600/oz gold price.) of course you cant just pry it open and pull out a gold nugget so you must sent them to reclamation plants to extract the metals. In addition to the above mention part they also e-scrap the hard drives(made w/ small amount of platinum) are worth 55-65 cent per pound, DVD drive only 25-35 cents. There are other places that w/ take e-scrap and many w/ take the entire computer(you dont get as much as you would if you stripped it down yourself yet again government workers will work hard so as not to work.(at the land fill they really do just sit on the chairs and do nothing, unless you ask them to do something that is and then they will just point you in the “right direction”, there is one man out of the 6 or 7 at the dump that does do something and that guy is the one who check your drives lic. to make sure your Baltimore county resident before you can dump you trash he has to lean forward to peer into your vehicle to as to see what your throwing away(none of the other areas check ID just trash){side not:kind of funny you need ID to dump trash yet you do not need any form of ID to vote a person into the white house, the most powerful nation in the world leader is elected by those w/ no need to prove they are who they claim name, no address verification, no ID, nothing, just walk in to a voting center tell them what name you go by this time around, vote, then go to the next center and use another name and vote again . {my great grandfather voted 3 times in the ’62 election, he was a brilliant man, may he rest in peace Wm. C. Brian 1860-1959[died before ’62 yet voted 3 times, truly an amazing man I ask if any who read this can do that,..lol(he was actually at Lincolns funeral, I never met the man and I am sad I didn’t (he also put the first electric motor in the U S’s first sub in 1899. Sorry im off on a tangent. Oh yeah, the MRP recycle center is within walking distance of Texas landfill and they pay around 3.50 per lbs for all circuit board, and around 10-15/pound for all processors, since they dont actually retrieve the metals them self they pay less yet you can send them almost any e-scrap (oh cell phones are worth about 3-8 dollars per phone). That is why I dont understand why texas doesnt set up a deal w/ MRP and get paid good money to have them recycle the e-scrap instead of paying someone else to removed it and then they get paid even more money for the e-scrap, it makes no sense…So, to make a short story realllly long, I decided to take this upon myself to less texas’s large amount of computer scrap so that they dont have to pay someone as often to remove it. How do I do this well first I actually went to the super and told them about the MRP and other company’s to which I got no interest, he didnt even look me in the eye b/c he had just spit on the ground and his spit was of more interest to him then saving the state more(actually making the state money)(I’m serious about the captivating spit). I then ask if I and a few other could come up her at the beginning or end of the shift or even after the shift and sort through, this got his attention, “NO NO NO cant have no people allowed up here, we cant have you people salvaging our trash.” Why not, you all are wounder, if a person place his trash out for pick up it then becomes public property(i.e. anyone who wants it can have it, we use to pick up newspaper bundle together when I was a kid in boy scout b/c we sold it to an insulation firm who treated it so as to be fire resistant and anti fungal and then shredded it really well and then blew it into peoples attics, and house walls for its insulating factor as well as it inexpensiveness.) So, anyway how is texas’s trash any different then my neighbours trash he place by the curb. Nothing that I can tell…and heaven forbid if someone else were to be able to use another mans garbage to help or better himself or his living conditions that would be just, just..well I don’t know I would natural say that it is good for old stuff to be used again by those who can’t afford the new stuff. The other reason I wanted to get access to the e-scrap was that I wanted not only to e-scrap the old junkers for money I wanted to refurbish(if needed) the laptops and other parts and then give them out to my students who do not have any computers at all (I am a teacher in the Baltimore City area, very poor, all black, and very needy of certain luxuries and a computer is a valuable item to have, in that it is a portal to almost limitless knowledge. Not being able to use this vast wealth of materials was unacceptable, so I decided to become E-Robin hood I would steal from the…..the…the trash bin and give to my students (In class I made a reward system, those who did well on test, constantly did homework, did extra credit, help others, as well as other things, would earn e-reward point, that would go toward the purchase of an electronic apparatus(I did give them some flexibility to request a certain type of e-item, however I cant predict what I will find when I go, so I never promise a specific item. However many times I would find things of value that I would put aside for a special reward like a birthday or Christmas(I have over a dozen laptop in my house right now, oh don’t worry all data on the hard drives I either destroy and replace w/ one I buy or get from places like salvation army, good will and others who sympathize w/ what I do and give thing that do not sell or they have to many etc. or I use shredder programs then reformat and reinstall the OS and the drivers on to the hard drive) on these special days there has been more then a few times I was the only person who had given some of my student any gifts at all on these special days, and it is soooo nice to see the radiant smiles of true JOY that I am honoured and bless to be witness too. I also have been told that the parent use the computers more then the kids in some of the situations, these same parent thanked me over and over for the amazing gift, b/c it open a huge new world to them, where there were able to compete in the job market much better b/c they now had the ability to go online and send resumes to places that only dealt w/ email. Many got jobs and eventually bought their daughter or son a new laptop so they could get the latest and fastest. I also had one student come back after a number of years and told me that she was going to college with a scholarship b/c of that old beat up laptop gift that allowed her to become familiar w/ computer, the internet, and the vast information that was now hers to use as she needed to aid her in reaching her goals. Another went into the IT field b/c of that same type of gift. I tell you teaching is hard especially being a white male in an all black school, where disruptive poor performing student who fail a test will call me a raciest, or a Nigg*r hater (which I hate the word regardless of who ever uses, why do the black youth call each of Nigg*r that or N*gger this or whats up my N*gger I dont understand, and when I tell them not to use such a word w/ such a bad stigma and history to it, they say “shut up white boy, I say what I want U cant stop me.” Yet I tell them that only the uneducated use such words, a disrespect, and shameful word that should no longer have a place in out society, and yet those same people who were belittles, insulted and dishounored, use it on an ever day occurrance not reliesing that it hurt some who have experience the verbal abusive way it once was used, and in some situation has left a permanent mental inner scar that has never and will never fully heal. To those who use such word as greetings, insults, confrentationally, aggressively, mean spirited and abusive I ask them what would your grandmother do to you if you called her a N*gger or even used that word in her presence. Almost all of them either shut up or say grandma would beat my bottom till I was red and could sit no more or at least not for awhile.(one said he had his mouth rinsed out w/ soap, he had to keep a bar of soap in his mouth for 10 minutes each time he used that word or a curse word, when I heard that I thought now thats really OLD SCHOOL, and I loved the thought of this 90 year old black grandmother standing next to this 13 year boy who was leaning over the bathroom sink w/ a bar of soap in his mouth mumbling I’m sorry grandmother I aint going to do again, over and over, it really made me chuckle to myself. I love the black older generation the grandmothers and grandfathers of the black culture have my high respect, and when I met such a women or man I will always give them the respect they are due and address them as a young person should talking to one who is more senior and experienced, that is I treat them w/ respect and call them Mister X or Misses X. They are the strongest group w/in the black community and unfortunately I am seeing less and less of that stoic, responsible, disciplined, strong and loving character trait in the generations that are following the grand old group. They are the ones who hold many of the black families together, they are the core and the keystone to that family unit, and many times once they pass that family unit dissolves and breaks down into multiple fractured family units instead of one cohesive family, with no ties to the past or each other and no long supports, helps, nurture and loves one another as a family should. Yet I can not tell you how much joy those few good student who truly enjoy to learn and are eager to listen give me. I receive great joy and happiness when I am at a school function surrounded w/ my students that it make those hard days disappear in the positive energies radiating from all the young student coming up to talk to me or to ask me to walk around w/ them, it is so lovely yet I can say that I feel this way even more so when I am not a school function, yet rather I am alone at the store shopping for food, or hardware and all the sudden BLLAAAMMMM I am plowed into from behind or the side by this small recking machine of love, who then is wrapping their arms around me as tight as they can w/ their head buried deep into me and when they look up w/ a beautiful smile and Hello Mr.Brian. I love that….I really really do… I don’t know much about drugs b/c they are not my thing, yet that feeling of love, respect, happiness, and genuine trust and a desire to be near me, makes my head spin and heart dance, if thats not a drug then I don’t know what a drug could do to make me feel better. Damn I’m off on another tangent, anyway I e-cycle discarded machine so that those who do not have anything of the sort, can. I know I am not suppose to say this b/c it wrong, yet…… God Bless all of you, and may you continue in your valiant quest to reduce or eliminate the damaging impact that we humans have been inflicting upon this luscious beautiful blue/green garden that we call Earth. God say to man I have give you this planet w/ all the creature great and small to do w/ as you will, yet we are no long the infantile human race we once were, we have grown up and matured on the whole as one race of human that are coming together to share our knowledge our strengths, our skill, our compassion and our love. We must strive forward looking beyond the simplest thing that once separated us a species. Now we are to see not the size, weight, color, or gender of the one before me but rather the heart, soul, mind, resolve and dedication that is what truly makes up a man and defines him, and in doing so will see the greatness in each one of us and will be able to combine our strength and will power to make this world a better place, and no long will we treat out mother Earth as a baby does a diaper nor will we treat it like an immature uncaring youth, believing that whatever we want we get, no matter what we must do to get it, no matter how wasteful or damaging we are, b/c as long as we get what we want we are happy and nothing else matters. As a whole we humans have gone through both these evolutionary/developmental stages to reach where we are today, still very young and definitely not a full grown responsible man or women, we are not yet truly adult in the world, yet we can and are striving to become these almost mythical humans called adults, for some see it beyond anyone grasp while others it is at their very finger tips, as we stretch out our hand even more we shall pull those who have limited vision and resolve. For as we stretch out our bodies we will grow and mature, painful as it is we will push on through and reach the other side of manhood. Then we will have the understanding compassion, love, dedication, resolver, will power, and the drive the strength needed to complete a symbiotic relationship with mother earth consuming only what is needed, and restoring what we consume in excess so that more maybe here once we have passed on. For a man will not just minimize or eliminate his impact or rather the foot print that he will leave behind as he walks through the snow covered fields, he was live as one with the earth so that as he walks through the snow fields more snow shall fall b/c he walking and b/c he is who he is.
I love to live small and recently moved into a loft with my boyfriend in downtown Portland. We’ve been really trying to reduce our impact and lead healthier lives. Some things we do:
-Live in a LEED certified building-all of our appliances are high efficiency
-Live within walking distance to work and only use our car about once a week
-Got rid of our cable (we have more time and money!)
-Make our own cleaning products using vinegar, borax and Dr. Bronners. (we put our soap in foaming bottles-it makes it go a long way!)
-Buy local produce when we can as we are in walking distance to farmers market
-Try not to buy packaged food and when we do-reuse the containers to store food or grow plants
-Reuse bags for bulk products
-Use cloth napkins and towels instead of paper towels
-Don’t use garbage bags-use small bins instead
-Growing herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, strawberries on our patio
-lots of natural light so we don’t need to turn on lights during the day
-rarely eat out at restaurants
-Buy a lot of our furniture and some clothes secondhand
-Carefully consider new purchases
-Do not have microwave
Some Things we want to do:
-make our own laundry detergent
-Grow more foods and see what we can grow indoors during the colder months
-Eat less meat
-Drink less or no coffee (that’s a tough one for me!)
-Cut down even more on buying packaged foods
-Find natural or make my own good hair products (haven’t had much luck yet :/ )
-Use fewer and ALL natural beauty products
-Use less water
-Buy more local foods like meat and eggs (it gets pricey though!)
-Not take the elevator
We got rid of so much of our stuff and are trying hard not to replace with new stuff. I love being able to clean in a short time so we have more time to do fun things! I love not worrying about a ton of belongings and realized I only use a fraction of what I own anyways. We feel healthier by not eating packaged foods. Eating what’s in season has allowed us to try new recipes and has been really fun. I love our simple and small way of life 🙂
I’ve started making my own deodorant. In thinking about how to cut back on consumption and waste, this seemed like an easy way to buy less plastic and keep that same plastic out of the landfill…I use a recipe from the book Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World, by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen. All you need is olive oil, beeswax, and a few essential oils to make it smell nice - better for your body (no harmful aluminum), better for the environment, better for your bank account. That, my friends, is a triple threat.
Most of us wash our vegetables, even though we buy organic. It’s just more reassuring, right? Well, instead of wasting all that pure precious water, you can put a basin (or a large pot) under the faucet when you wash the veggies. Even water with “veggie-wash” in it will be okay for plants in small doses. So I use it to water the house plants. Or to simply let dishes soak: which helps use less water to clean them later. The Basin also catches water that you let run to get hot or cold, so we have one for the bathroom sink too. This water can also be used for hand washing clothes, mopping or even flushing toilets. I kind of felt like a fanatic at first, but now when I read about how little fresh water there actually is on our planet, I certainly do sleep better for it!
I started a green initiative at the last three companies I worked for. I bring in cotton towels for the kitchen, get metal cutlery from goodwill and hide the plastic knives/forks and I bring in a compost bucket that I take home to empty and clean once a week. Then I encourage my bosses to go green and replace candescent light, add auto off switches and we just got a nest to reduce heating/cooling usage. Next I have to tackle employees who are refusing to undestand the meaning of recycling and the ‘blue bin’.