Reducing

After Wednesday's garbage horror-show, I decided to look through the kitchen and see what the most egregious wastes of packaging are, and begin thinking about how to eliminate some of that waste. The most obvious are things that are double packaged- cans in a box, boxes in a bag, things with cardboard sleeves...

Our biggest contributors to trash and recycling:

• Beer
• Baby food
• Snacks (Rice Krispie Treats, Jello, granola bars, etc.)
• Pop
• Macaroni & Cheese (I get this from Costco. It is pasta and cheese powder packets packaged in the 15 individual boxes then wrapped in plastic.)
• Anything frozen from Costco (egg rolls, burritos, etc.)
• diapers (these create waste in themselves, but come wrapped in 4 plastic bags in a box)
• cleaning products

I think the easiest way to tackle this without becoming completely overwhelmed is to find low-waste replacements to these things as they run out. What is going to end up happening is we'll make a lot of things from scratch at home. I feel a bit nervous about that, because I don't have a lot of time now, but hopefully we can make this work.

One thing I can try right away is toilet cleaner. We just ran out and we have four bathrooms, so we go through quite a bit of it.  

Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda

1 cup of vinegar. 

Soak, scrub, flush.

I can buy the baking soda in bulk without the packaging, and the vinegar in a large bottle. I am going out shopping today and I'll try it. Results to follow.