Happier at Home: The Zero-Waste Challenge, Kitchen Edition - Remodelista
Several months ago, when I posted about Bea Johnson and her Zero Waste Home (in which she and her family of four essentially live waste free), there was a stream of comments from readers both embracing and questioning the idea. At home around the dining table with David and our two children. Each of us picks a different cup/glass/bottle that we’ve started keeping on the kitchen counter and now use throughout the day, vastly reducing the dishwasher load. Photograph by Mathew Williams for Remodelista. Ceramic yogurt pots from Sonoma Creamery Saint Benoí®t repurposed as coffee cups at the Stable Cafe in San Francisco. Bea, our role model, is also big on bulk shampoos and conditioners like Dr. Bronners Castlle Soap and suggests making your own toothpaste. I like this recipe from naturalist Shiva Rose for toothpaste. Caffeine: I pick up a late morning coffee at my local coffee shop and use my ten-ounce We Are Happy to Serve You ceramic cup (see below). My ceramic Greek Coffee Cup: $12 from Uncommon Goods. Water is in a metal bottle from Sigg, but I note that this one was a freebie and is probably lined with plastic (still, at some point you have to let go). Our favorite lunch tote is the Aluminum Box Mini from Sigg; $31.99. I have a lunch meeting and order a ginormous kale salad; I end up taking half if it to go, generating a box. David picks up a sandwich for lunch served in-store on a paper plate with excessive paper napkins. A linen furoshiki, a giant dish towel of cotton hemp, made by Ambatalia and ideal for storing bread. I drive to Whole Foods equipped: I have my baggies for grains, net bags for produce, and cloth bags for the lot. A variety of the bags I arm myself with for a trip to the store. I had finally moved on from buying tomatoes in cans to tomatoes in... ...jars (because of the BPA from the plastic liners in cans; see Treehugger on the topic). I’m amazed, and exhausted, by the endless decisions that need to be made. Bea favors Le Parfait jars for buying meat (and ice cream). Bea suggests Reusable Cotton Make Rounds (which she happens to sell); I could be persuaded. Linen Dish Covers made by Ambatalia are available at Quitokeeto; $58 for a set of five. I had naively thought that by making my own cleaning solution, repurposing rags for cleaning, and drying laundry on a line that we were ahead of the game.