Zero Waste solutions

One of my cohort (who is incidentally vegetarian) is doing her thesis on zero waste.

We don't buy trash bags, we use grocery bags then recycle the bags. We usually have more recycling than trash, and also compost and take it to campus.

It's popular here to get a discount for getting drinks in Mason jars. I don't mean to sound like a hipster, but I'd miss the Mason jar culture here if I moved. I'd like to see if it's in Berkeley, I suspect it might be.

We swap clothes here, I sometimes find dresses by the side of the road in free piles and have attended a clothing trade party.

My bedside table, mirror, desk and desk drawers are all gifts left by the side of the road or from friends.

I own a steel straw that I carry in my purse and for school supplies I refill the same binders with new bio paper. I try to buy used books or rent.

I could definitely make less trash. Last semester my vegan roommate kept all her unrecyclable trash of four months in two large jars.

Because I like treats like vegan cheese mainly. But I do recycle the containers or reuse them for storage.

At the new place I work they have a toilet engineered so you wash your hands on the back with clean water as it refills the tank.

I need to buy cloth produce bags. I reuse and recycle but that would be better.

All of my feminine care is washable instead of trashable.

I try and still feel like I make trash. I buy recycled toilet paper when I'm not low on money.
 
Huh, I completely forgot about this post/thread.

This store never did open up. But it's supposed to open in June of this year.

It's going to be a zero waste store.

Two years ago there used to be a Zero Waste stall at a local Farmer's Market. That particular Farmer's Market lost its space to some new construction. They then moved one Farmer's Market north and then when Covid closed that one they went to a delivery service. I haven't seen them again at any other Farmer Markets. but I haven't been to that one North of here in a long time. And I don't think their delivery service went anywhere.

Anyway they are now opening a brick and mortar store in my town. Same website as the one I posted two years ago.

Most of the grocery stores around here took out their bulk food bins. So I will be interested in checking out if they will have them at their store. I would buy soaps from their farmer market stall. but its not like I buy that much. And this year I made the switch to laundry detergent strips which I think make the most economical sense. That just leave dish soap.

I bought some reusable produce bags at the farmer's market. I'll got there when they open and get some bags and soap and just look around the store.

 
I'm going to go this Saturday for the Grand Opening.
My initial plan was to just get a feel for the place and buy some Dish Soap.
but I they just made their website work and there are so many things I want.

 
Went to the grand opening on Saturday.
They had a decent size crowd. Free coffee if you brought your own cup.
And yes Ms Byrd was the same woman I met years ago at the San Mateo Farmer's Market. It turns out she has been working the Burlingame market since... but I have been there since covid.

Lots of bulk food items. Soaps, cosmetics, tea, coffee, candy. Lots of spices which I didn't expect.
Some of the stuff seems expensive. Coffee seemed to be too expensive. Not sure about the tea.

I bought some dish soap and some chocolate covered pretzels.

IMG_1229.jpeg
 
Went to the grand opening on Saturday.
They had a decent size crowd. Free coffee if you brought your own cup.
And yes Ms Byrd was the same woman I met years ago at the San Mateo Farmer's Market. It turns out she has been working the Burlingame market since... but I have been there since covid.

Lots of bulk food items. Soaps, cosmetics, tea, coffee, candy. Lots of spices which I didn't expect.
Some of the stuff seems expensive. Coffee seemed to be too expensive. Not sure about the tea.

I bought some dish soap and some chocolate covered pretzels.

View attachment 27206
OMG I love chocolate pretzels! How is it I always think of wanting to make things with ingredients I don't have :fp:. I have sooo many things--no pretzels
I must say, it's depressing to find things that are so much more environmentally friendly cost so much more. Like there were these "Ugly chips", something like, that touted how they were made from things that would otherwise be thrown away. They literally cost about twice the price of all other chips :dismay:.
 
Although my city has been collecting compost from homeowners for years they were very slow off the mark for apartment buildings.

Each homeowner gets a little bucket for food waste. they can dump it into the "compost bin" they are provided. Most homeowners have a compost bin already.

there was a lot of hesitancy to do a compost program for apartment buildings. and I can understand it. In my apartment's recycling bin I often spot the wrong kinds of things in it. If a homeowner makes a mistake they might not even pick up the bin. I think there might even be fines. But what do do if some knucklehead in an apartment building screws up. And screwing up a compost bin can have serious issues.

anyway the pilot program was successful and I got my little bucket last week. I keep vegetable scraps in my freezer (for broth) so I was very surprised on how fast I filled up my little bucket.

3 min to 4 minutes.

Not that it affects me. but I learned years ago that you don't/can't compost meat. Meat would attract bugs and other vermin. I guess it is different in a commercial operation.
 
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This is both a zero waste AND a climate change news article.

Just found out that California approved the most sweeping restrictions on plastics in the nation.

There was going to be an initiative in the fall. the threat of the initiative provided the industry reps reasons to meet and negotiate. They did get two extra years to put their changes into effect.

Some of the things the law mandates

  • By 2032, plastic producers must reduce the amount of plastic in packaging by 25 percent.
  • All single-use packaging, including paper and metals, has to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. The law also mandates that California raise its recycling rate for all plastic products to 65 percent by 2032.
  • The law shifts the costs of recycling infrastructure, recycling plants, and collection and sorting facilities to packaging manufacturers
  • Plastics manufacturers must pay $5 billion into a fund over the next 10 years that would mitigate the effects of plastic pollution on the environment and human health, primarily in low-income communities.