lifewithnoplastic-blog

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My 2019 resolution was to learn about and reduce single-use plastic waste. 🙏Thanks God this blog/diary held me accountable and by the start of 2020 I can proudly say that I made a huge progress💪 Yet the more I learn the more I realize how much more can be done, so my 2020 resolution is to give up single-use plastic at all and help others.

If you’re looking to ditch the plastic this new year, I’d say you need to be ready to spend time preparing things. 😌 In fact, it’s all about prep and pre-planning can be tough... nonetheless it’s a matter or habit. I realized over the last year that some things were just my routine and once you make an effort to set up new routine everything falls into place. 🧘‍♀️ Secondly, don’t beat yourself up if forgetting something! It was a revelation of last year for me! If I forget my reusable coffee bottle one day, I forgo my caffeine and that will make me remember, next time! But if I really need a coffee, I’ll just buy one without thinking that I’m failing on my commitment but rather concentrating on how far I’ve gone already!

P.S loved that pitch by Hasan Minhaj. What to focus on in 2020 (starts from 4:05)

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All in! 🎰 No more plastic shampoo bottles🧴I bought several Lush shampoo bars 🧼 and so far I’m very happy with this choice! It does last longer than the average bottle (the company claim it is an equivalent of 3 medium size bottles), it smells yammmmy 😋 and it’s easy to take with me whereever I’m traveling. Just add this cute case for only $2 and you can use it forever ❤️ Give it a try!☝️Please let me know if you are aware of any other brands like this in the USA.

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Today I came to visit the company which vision I adore so much #TerraCycle! ♻️ Can’t be any happier 😃

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My home-made zero-waste paradise. Shout out to www.sevananda.coop bulk store in Atlanta for being so convenient and to its staff for helping me out to figure out the steps 🙏 🌱

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I love stores like IKEA! I feel like I belong there! I feel like I’m not 1x1 with all the residual packaging after my purchases but there is always someone who can get my back💪

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Since the beginning of this plastic free journey my views have changed drastically on what the journey is about. Plastic free life has no simple straightforward solution and eventually will challenge the very basics of your beliefs in life. I (surely just like many of us) first thought that the easiest and the most fair alternative to plastic is paper and all it takes is simply to replace my plastic use with paper substitutes extensively. As right as it may sound at first, you need to give it a second thought!

Ditching single-use plastics drives an uptick in paper use, that is theoretically swapping one massive environmental problem for another - deforestation!

The more attention you pay to environment, the more obvious it become that the real problem is not plastic, gasoline or styrofoam but our inability to shop according to our true needs and to see the bigger picture. Therefore by the 8th month of this transformation I’m more focused on reducing my waste rather than recycling it, no matter it is plastic or anything else. Below are some useful questions to ask yourself anytime you feel like buying stuff:

⁉️ Do I really really need it?

⁉️ Can I borrow it?

⁉️ Can I do-it-myself?

⁉️ Can I buy it used?

⁉️ Is there more sustainable version of what I want to buy?

90% of your purchase is gone, it’s it? 😌 Now enjoy saved money 💴 and your positive impact to our 🌎 Well done!

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I see this post all over the internet, and it makes me sad, to say the least if it. This pack, though is an eco-initiative, is made particularly of plastic inside and on top, what makes it even harder to recycle♻️ Why not to use washing powder in cardboard boxes instead?🤷🏼‍♀️

Sometimes a step back is a step forward.🚶‍♂️

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🎉Today I planted one 🌳 in just 56 mins! Check this amazing service called www.ecosia.org🎉

I’m committed to use it as my default search engine and raise money for trees planting. 45 searches equal to one 🌱

Planting trees is a cost-effective way to tackle urban air pollution and raising temperature that causes ice melting process in Arctic

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Today I saw a Walmart customer buying a dollar birthday card (wrapped in plastic envelope) who asked for plastic bag so that he could carry it to his car which was parked right outside. My heart shrinked...

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Moving can be stressful😰… Not only for you, but also for the environment. At first I was so excited about my new destination, but only until I started to pack and waste stuff that I can’t take with me whether it’s something too old to be taken or something too expensive to transport. To say I planned to throw away a lot is to say nothing: cutlery, tables, shoes, exotic cleaning products used once, unpacked party kit, cocktail mixer and so on. My inner self rebelled against such a waste for two reasons. First, if you think about it, most of items to waste usually consist of plastic details; second, almost none of them could be placed in our recycling dumpster - they were to cumbersome. Besides, some of these things clearly lived their life, but others were in quite good conditions and it was a pity to let them go into oblivion. 📦

Sometimes we assume that a salvage value is no value. Yet there are so many people out there who still can’t afford even cheap essentials, they may be happy to get a table for free even in poor conditions. Although I was skeptical, I decided to try to give those things away. Thanks to nowadays technologies give-aways are easy as never before. And guess what? In the following 36 hours after I posted, all the things I advertised were gone! Not only I managed to prolong the life of those items, I also met so many grateful people who due to their financial struggles could only dream about new study table for their kids. And now they have it for $0!

These are the apps I found to be most useful:

💡 Letgo: has the most extensive customer base, I found that here things with small price ($4-7) turn over faster. Here you can sell everything from books to used cars.

💡 Offerup: worked best of all for me, I felt like users of this platform expect to get things for free, so I just followed this insight and it helped me to get rid of 3 bulky items in just 2 hours.

💡 Varage Sale: I didn’t sell here anything, but I’m confident it is because my commodities-to-sell where not really gender specific. If you have something appealing to female audience, ‘Varage Sale’ is the way to go, I believe.

💡 Facebook marketplace: lots of messages, but little effectiveness ! Because people uses FB as a network of contacts it’s an easy channel to communicate, but I’ve noticed people actively looking for (even free!) stuff. They search casually and from what I saw mostly for electronics (which I had none to offer).

💡 CPlus Craiglist: honestly, Craiglist’s app here is just to tell you not to use it! Every time I try to use it I get into weird stories like email phishing… This time I had no success there either. 

The mail conclusion I made upon my sales campaign was actually to buy more eco-friendly furniture in my next apartment and not to buy anything that I can really try to live without. Because nothing is more contrary to the no waste mission than constant consumerism.

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Seen it today in a book store 📚 Couldn’t walk away because this view was so satisfying! 😍This is a kids’ book about our environment, recent pollution problem, renewable energy and plastic recycling. What a nice way to raise your child! Young parents, here you go:

“What A Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting Our Planet” by Jess French (link)

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Myth vs Reality

Recycling can be hard. Indeed it requires you to be conscious about how you chose/buy/use/reuse/waste things. If you’re serious about your commitment, then basically “recycling” is always at the back of your mind. But what is also important, is not to be too crazy about it so that other just tag you as “nerd”🤓✋

I was so happy to find out that removing labels before recycling cans and bottles is not that much of importance... (Pheeew, I get hours of my free time back🤘) Long story short, most of the recycling processes includes a heating process where any labels and glue are burned away♨️

Important❗️Please check this with your recycling provider. Some of them will require the removal of labels before ♻️

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Last weekend I went for 🍣 sushi with my friend. We sat at the served table and he grabbed 🥢 right away, saying “Look Stacy, how disappointing they don’t care about environment”. Not that I was shocked my definitely puzzled as those chopsticks were actually aluminum. So I asked why does he think they don’t care and made me laugh and sad same time😄. “These sticks aren’t wooden” he said!

We may be used to think that eco-friendly things are wooden or paper-made whereas in reality true eco-friendliness is not to make unnecessary things in a first place. Think about consumption about all those things that you buy just out of habit. Do you really need them?

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The discovery of this week for me was the fact that plastic bags and film tape aren’t really recyclables👀 Everything that is made of plastic by default was assigned to ♻️ in my mind. Apparently that is not true. Items like plastic bags, wraps and film require a different collection system and processing equipment than the common curbside “green” trash tanks. The right way to recycle these items is to return them back to retailers, such as Target, Walmart and etc. They provide collection bins usually in front of the main entrance. Check it out next time you do groceries 🛒

Check out

📌Earth911.com

📌PlasticFilmRecycling.org

to find out what plastic is ok for your home recycling bins.

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I finally convinced my apartment leasing company to start recycling program🎊 that what I got in my mailbox today from them: separate collection of waste bags.

Ironically the bag is made of plastic 🤷🏼‍♀️

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So happy to find a bulk store next to my place today! It actually turned to be waaaay cheaper then packged products! 💵 ⚖️

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There are no recycling-friendly trash containers next to my home, so I have to sort out things and bring glass, plastic and cans to these containers in downtown. It’s time consuming, no doubts, but gives me a lot of satisfaction and feeling of achievement on the days like this!

What is right not what is easy🤷🏼‍♀️ But I believe it will change one day✌🏻