Waste Free Wednesday

In reading Going Green Mama blog, I was directed to The Green Parent blog and Waste Free Wednesday. This appeals to me, as you may have noticed. Here are some Waste free Wednesday tidbits from the more shallow recesses of my mind.

• In December, I offered to hand-toss 7 pizzas for the Sophomore boys Christmas party. I loaded them up and delivered them at about the same time as the cars from the local pizza joints for the other classrooms. I returned to the school a couple hours later at dismissal, dismayed at the distraction of piles and piles of empty pizza boxes in the trash outside the school. At least 30 of them, maybe 40. I walked into Mr. Pfaff's homeroom to collect my pizza pans and cooler. I pointed out the window to the debacle of the Leaning Tower of Pizza Boxes, and Mr. Pfaff said, "I know," sadly. The 10th grade boys are still calling across the grass at me, "Great pizza, Mrs. J!"
• Wednesday is my shop day, generally, and is the genesis of all Zero Waste programming in our family - and yours. Before you purchase it, hold it out in front of you and ask yourself, "Where will this go when I am done with it?" "Will I use it, really?" "Who really needs this?" I skipped shop last Wednesday, because I looked around and - I had overshopped the week before. There was no need to go. Think carefully- will you really eat all that lettuce before it goes bad? Will you really benefit from those cereal bars? Why do you get 6 gallons of milk- do you NEED it or can you drink water? Budget your food. It will benefit your waistline and your bottom line as well as create less waste.
• Speaking of lettuce... I took my kids' more worn out teeshirts that just weren't really fit for public wardrobe anymore. I cut off the sleeves, cut off the neckband, and then sewed up the bottom hem. If you don't sew, try cutting the bottom hem into fringe, then knotting it shut. I use these for all my produce bagging now. No more thin plastic film bags that never held enough produce for a family the size of ours, anyway. I've had people ask me, "Aren't you paying for the bag since they weigh more than plastic?" At my HEB, I can weigh my produce and print a sticker before I put it in my bags. At my Sun Harvest, they give me a 5 cent credit per bag, so I figure it evens out. My larger tote bag that I use to carry home 22# of oranges or apples- well, the store clerk offered to compare its weight to the honey jars, and sure enough it is the same as the small honey jar. So she tares the scale for me, based on the weight of the honey jar which is programmed into her system.