Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! Actually, every day is Earth Day for us. So you may be wondering where I recycle. As an apartment dweller, I don't have curbside pickup. And there is no drop off within miles. So what do I do?

Target

A few blocks away there is a Target. It's easily within walking distance. There are bins inside the store. They take glass, aluminum, plastic bottles, and there is a separate bin for soft plastic bags. This includes packaging, shopping bags, cereal bags, bread bags, and other plastic wrap.

Publix

It's Publix's fault we can't ban plastic bags or styrofoam meat packaging in the first place. However, there are bins outside the front of the store. The bins are: foam egg cartons and plastic bags. Not as much as Target, but it is a start.

City Drop Off

There are drop off bins throughout the city. They are all at least a 20 minute drive from any angle. It's crazy! I do not want to drive that far when there is nothing else in the area. So I pack a laundry basket with my recyclables and about every three weeks I will take the journey out there.

So those are the three places I go to take my recycling.

Dumpster Diving - First time

I went dumpster diving for the first time a few days ago. I went in the early morning, after I dropped my daughter off at the bus stop. I went to our neighborhood dumpster. We have no recycling facilities and no donation pick-up. So sometimes treasures can be found there.

This haul contains: 4 wooden utensils, 2 bowls, 2 Pyrex measuring cups, a measuring cup set, a glass Oster blender, a glass bowl and lid set, a sandwich/lunch keeper, and a can opener.  I was worried because my old can opener stopped working, but now I have a brand new one! The blender works! I have always wanted my own blender. It is so nice to have a high quality glass blender.

I opened the bowl set. It was previously sealed up in plastic shrinkwrap. There are five bowls and five lids. They've never even been touched before. I'm using one of the bowls for salsa right now.

This was a great find and I encourage everyone to try dumpster diving at least once. In the USA, if someone throws something out, it is now in the public domain. However, you must pay attention to "no trespassing" signs.

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was my birthday. All I wanted was to go to the Japanese Ice Cream Store. It's amazing. They make the ice cream right in front of you. I got chocolate ice cream with kit kats and mochi served in a waffle bowl. Nothing says zero waste like a bowl you eat yourself. It was amazing.

Yesterday was also the Pokemon Go community day featuring Mareeps. So I need to show off my shiny Ampharos. 

I'm going to take a trip out to the country this week. There's a succulent nursery there. I can't wait to pick out some succulents for the house.

Broward County Recycling... or not

Broward County is east of where I live. It turns out that a lot of its curbside recycling for residents is actually being dumped at the local dump. They said they don't have the facilities or staff to recycle.

This includes glass bottles. Glass should always be recycled. It can be used again and again without losing any quality. Which is unlike plastic. Florida has set a goal of recycling 75% of its waste by 2020. However, they count trash burned in incinerators (to create energy) as recycling.

That's why it's important to reduce what we buy, and use what we already have. Recycling is obviously not the answer. But what are we supposed to do with all the plastic that already exists?

Hearthstone pillow completed!

I finally completed my large Hearthstone pillow. I have made a smaller one a few years ago, but this one is the size of an average bedroom pillow.

First, I've had these blue starry pajama pants for a long time, but they don't fit me. I wanted to use them to create something special. I used grey polar fleece to make the Hearthstone. Everything is hand sewn, on account I don't have a sewing machine.

 First, here's the pajama pants I've been wanting to use.  I cut out the hearthstone swirl freehand and sewed it onto the fleece.

 Here's the completed first half, or front half. I sewed another half onto the back, then stuffed it with pillow fluff. This ended up being a lot cheaper than purchasing a novelty pillow from the store.

The final product. It is so comfy and soft! I am proud of this creation.

Update

Nothing much to report today. I have been walking to the grocery store instead of driving. It's really convenient because it's about a ten minute walk. It also prevents me from buying too much because then I have to carry it home.  I did buy a few more silicone straws. I ordered a hamper off Wish and it came today. Hopefully my daughter will learn to put her clothes in it.

The animals I have seen in my backyard since I moved in are a deer, several raccoons, a possum, an armadillo and lots of peacocks. Peacocks are very loud all the time. Especially in the morning.

Zero Waste Fails

Zero Waste is not truly an obtainable thing, but we strive for it. Progress, not perfection. But here's how I failed in the past week.

We went to a restaurant and ordered drinks. Normally they don't come with straws so I don't ask about it. But the waiter brought us the drinks with plastic straws already in them. Shaking my head.

We don't have recycling pick up in our area so I have to drive 20 minutes to a recycling facility. I brought them several glass jars that I didn't need.  I needed to store some meat in the freezer, and I was told that glass is the best way to store. Oh Well! I already recycled it all.