Going Green on a Shoestring

Yesterday some friends and I made our own deodorant and re-filled these empty deodorant tubes! We followed my sister-in-law’s recipe that she swears by. I’m so excited to test it out over the next month!! Stay tuned.

2 years ago we bought some nice, expensive, non-stick pans hoping they would last a good 5-10 years or so with proper use and care. Well, it’s been only 2 years and the coating (probably toxic) is flaking off. I’ve slowly come to the realization, that ALL coated cookware, whether it’s ceramic or other high quality non-stick, the coating WILL inevitably come off and the pans will be garbage. SO, I’ve decided to switch to all non-coated cookware. So far I’ve got a nice 8 and 12 inch cast iron and I’m considering getting a stainless steel pan as well. I’ve gotten the hang of cleaning, seasoning and maintaining the cast iron. I find the process to be therapeutic in a way, and I’m sure my cast iron pans will last generations! It feels good to have quality cookware that I care about maintaining for the long run. Cast iron is also GREAT to buy second hand and easy to restore if rusty. My 8 inch and 12 inch pans are both second-hand purchased for $20 and $35, respectively. I just can’t think of a better option! They are affordable AND they last forever. Let me know if you have any questions about cast iron! I know they can be intimidating at first, but it’s well worth it.

So pumped to have this new, affordable zero waste option so accessible at several local shops! This is called the soap stand and it dispenses dish soap and laundry detergent into your own container! It was so easy, fast AND it’s even cheaper than buying the product off the shelf. 💯👌🏻🤩

These leaf plates were perfect for our picnic on Bowen Island! They are made 100% of leaves: no glue, adhesives or chemicals so we could toss these straight into the compost! 🍂 Because these are made of leaves and not paper pulp, no trees are actually sacrificed through the manufacturing. 🌳

If you’re not planning on providing reusable dinnerware 🍽 at your next fam jam, consider this sustainable option by , a local company in Vancouver! 🙌🏻

Here’s some more info about these amazing products:

🌱 Made of Shorea Robusta leaves. No trees were cut to produce these.

🌱 A few leaves are put together with small bamboo twigs to make a layer. 3 to 4 layers of leaves are put in a mold and briefly heat pressed to create the finished product. The natural wax of the leaves is released during the process to stick the layers together.

🌱 No other ingredients in these so they compost easily in a few weeks, like any other organic matter. Plates and bowls are stitched together with bamboo sticks, so no glues and chemicals used.

🌱 Can be used for hot, cold or liquid foods.

🌱 Yes they can be used in the microwave! You can warm up your leftovers – no problem.
@ Bowen Island, British Columbia

If you’re like me, you’ve been wearing contact lenses a lot more. Summer weather has been great and mask wearing at work = fogging after every breath 👎🏻. I’ve learned a few things about contact lens related waste in the past few years. This company in particular manufactures their lenses using reusable quartz molds! Other companies use disposable plastic molds so with every lens made, there are two pieces of plastic waste generated. ☹️ There are also great recycling programs for the lenses and these little packages through . I collect my lenses and blister packs in a container at home and drop them off at the office every so often. Reach out to your eye care provider to see if they have a contact lens recycling program! I work in the eye care field so ask me anything about this type of waste!! 🤗

We acquired this container second-hand only to realize the lid would not work; the rubber seal was missing making this lid practically useless.... I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out so we searched catalogue to see if we could buy a replacement rubber. Nope. 😒 I decided to post online to see if someone could use this before throwing it out 😭. AND someone apparently had the same container with intact rubber seal but two of the flaps had broken off. Now he can put the rubber seal in this lid and have a functioning container 👍🏻. Sometimes just pausing to think “could anyone else use this?” before we instinctively aim for the trash can pay off! 🙌🏻😁

Finally got around to doing this! Do you ever use a tablespoon of tomato paste and then have a half used can of tried up paste in your fridge? 🙋🏼‍♀️ well I do! I scooped some into my ice cube tray and now I have pre-portioned tomato paste for 6 more dishes! 😍

Experiment time! Trying some wild fermented pickles! We’ve done kimchi, sauerkraut and ginger beer before but this is a first for us! 🤞🏻Have you ever tried wild fermentation? What a great quarantine pastime!

Thanks for the curb side pickup. Sad I couldn’t use my own jars but thankful our pantry can be stocked with the essentials for more home cooking and baking! I spent about an hour topping up my jars! Swipe for the after photo. 😅 also glad that I can recycle these bags in BC. @ Bulk Barn

I’ve been using my time at home during this COVID-19 pandemic to get back to my sewing machine! I upcycled an old black bedsheet into these comfy summer shorts! Let’s hope things settle down by the summer so I can actually wear these outside! 🤞🏻. Anyone else feel the creative juices flowing during self isolation? On another note: can you guess how many hours I put into these? 🤣

https://trib.al/XnBXas0

BYOB: Sobeys to eliminate plastic bags at check stands in Canada starting Jan. 31 Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Company Ltd., estimates the move will eliminate 225 million plastic check stand bags – just over 1,200 tonnes – every year.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/01/canada-boreal-forest-toilet-paper-us-climate-change-impact-report?CMP=share_btn_fb

Wiped out: America's love of luxury toilet paper is destroying Canadian forests Major brands’ refusal to use sustainable materials is having a devastating impact on forests and climate, new report says