Regardless of where you stand on the love-hate spectrum, we've got you covered with ten tips to make your cleaning and decluttering process a breeze while keeping sustainability front and center.
]]>1. Skip the Bleach or Ammonia: You may already have a routine that includes tried and true formulations. As a general rule, skip the bleach and ammonia whenever possible and opt for vinegar or castile soap instead. Both bleach and ammonia are harmful for the environment and should only be used when absolutely necessary. Bleach can seriously harm both aquatic and wildlife1 and if ammonia is in water at high levels, it can be toxic to aquatic animals.2
Vinegar mixed with water in a 1:1 solution can be used for many areas of your home; from cleaning linoleum floors to washing windows, cupboards, sinks and more.
2. DIY Citrus Vinegar Spray: This zesty, all-purpose solution is as easy to make as it is effective.
Combine all ingredients in the spray bottle and it’s ready to use!
3. DIY Castile Soap Cleaning Spray: This castile soap cleaning spray can be used as an all-purpose cleaner, a floor cleaner, for dishes, and more. It cuts dirt and is a powerhouse on grime and grease.
Combine all ingredients in the spray bottle, give it a swirl if using soap flakes, and it’s ready to use.
4. Check out the EPA’s Safer Choice Program: If creating cleaning products isn’t your thing, the EPA has created a resource for consumers and businesses to find products that are effective, safe for humans, and gentle on the environment.5. Keep Decluttering Simple: Embrace the golden rule of spring cleaning: take it one step at a time. Whether it's one room, one closet, one cabinet, or one drawer, small victories lead to big results. I like to do one to two areas per day, depending on how much time I have and how big of a job each area will be.
6. Set a “Number to Reduce By” Goal: Not up for an entire room? No problem! The “number to reduce by” concept is exactly how it sounds: determine the number of items you want to reduce or get rid of out of each space. Maybe its 5, maybe 10, maybe more—see how it’s going and change as necessary. You may start with 10 items in a particular space and then decide you want to keep going and look for another 10.
7. Create a Process for Reducing Sustainably: Keep the environment in mind as you declutter, and use the Waste Hierarchy Pyramid: think through what you can do with items from the top of the pyramid to the bottom. Sort your items into boxes for reselling, donating, recycling, repurposing/repairing, and last but not least, the keepers. The goal is to minimize landfill contributions as much as possible.
8. Having a Hard Time Parting Ways? Whether an item holds sentimental value or you are not sure you will ever use it again, depending on your personality or character, upbringing, background, or other reasons, it can be difficult. Consider creating a 'maybe' box for undecided items. If you haven't used an item in six months, it might be time to let it go.
9. Aim To Keep Items That Bring You Joy: As Marie Kondo has taught us, ask yourself if it sparks joy. Does that piece of clothing make you feel super confident? Do you find joy or have fond memories when you use that vase from your grandmother? In my case, can you use all of those pens and pencils you have been accumulating over the years!? If not, find someone who can use the items instead of them taking up time and space in your home.
10. Make a 1:1 Trade for Each Item You Bring Into Your Home: How did all of this clutter make its way into my home in the first place? Curbing clutter isn't just about clearing out; it's about preventing new additions. Adopt the 1:1 rule—for every new item in, an old one goes out. Just remember to use the Waste Hierarchy Pyramid to continue making sustainable decisions and keep the items you are parting with out of the landfill!
This journey for most people is a marathon, not a sprint. It will take some time to continue reducing waste in your home and so be patient and keep going! In my experience, after a few months of working to reduce the amount of trash in my home, I have found that the recycling bin is often times even more full than the garbage bin. That means I’m making a positive difference and strides in the right direction, right?
Indeed, recycling items is better than them going into a landfill. However, did you know that there are additional, more upstream ways to try and eliminate waste that are even better than recycling? In this blog, you will learn more about the “Zero Waste Hierarchy”1 and the impact that each category along the pyramid has in the grander scheme of waste reduction.
The Zero Waste Hierarchy is an inverted pyramid that identifies, from top to bottom, the different ways to think about prioritizing getting to zero waste. The top section includes closed loop systems. The middle section includes the responsible discarding, recovery or treatment of waste, and the bottom of the pyramid includes the incineration or use of landfill to discard of waste.
Why is this important to understand? The more aware you are of the actions you, communities, and companies can take to follow the hierarchy from top to bottom, the stronger impact we can have on climate change. Let’s dig in!
To start, let’s look at the definitions of the top of the funnel concepts according to the Zero Waste International Alliance:
In terms of how these concepts apply to your daily life, it may be easier to consider a space in your home, a set of routines you have, or a set of items you purchase. For example, one practical way to think about these concepts is with fashion or clothing.
The next section of the Zero Waste Hierarchy includes the responsible recycling, recovery or repurposing of waste, and managing residuals. Let’s again look at the definition of these concepts by the Zero Waste international Alliance:
4. Recycle/Compost: Discards are mechanically reprocessed into products or materials or processed to return to the soil.1
5. Material Recovery (or Repurpose): Salvaging materials after attempts to rethink/redesign, reduce, reuse and recycle/compost.1
6. Residuals Management: Handling discarded materials in a way that doesn’t threaten the environment or human health.1
The concept here that will most likely apply to your daily life is recycling and composting. If you have an item that cannot be reused, then recycling and composting are the next best options.
4. Compost. Compost. Compost. If you have food waste, the best thing to do with it is compost. It helps build healthy soil and putting it in your trash to go to the landfill creates even more greenhouse gases. At Tare Market, we have compost bins, filters and bags.
We hope you gained a baseline understanding of what the Zero Waste Hierarchy is in addition to some helpful tips and ideas around how you can incorporate the concepts into your daily life. First, work to rethink, reduce and reuse/repair, and if these options aren’t possible to incorporate, be sure to recycle/compost and repurpose as much as you can. Let’s go Zero Waste!
Sustainable living doesn’t need to be an all or nothing approach. It can involve slowly incorporating new habits that are more sustainable, and replacing old routines with new, more conscious choices that reduce waste or plastic overall. It has been proven that the more people who choose to live sustainably in one part of their lives, the bigger the impact we as a society can have.
According to The Zero Waste Chef, if one person out of 100 cut all of their waste, that would indeed have a positive impact on reducing waste. However, if all 100 people cut just 10% of their waste, the impact would be ten-fold. (Imagine 164,250 pounds per year vs. 1,642,500 pounds per year!!) Of course, if someone wants to strive to cut all of their waste, that is a great goal—but the point is, the more people who cut out waste, the bigger the impact.
Are you looking to reduce your waste in 2024? Get started with a trash audit, which can lead to even more changes throughout the year.
A trash audit is a great opportunity to look at what kind of waste you are creating in your home. By looking at your trash item by item, you can see where you are creating the most waste and decide what changes you would like to make. We suggest that you attempt to eliminate the items in your trash can that make up the biggest percentage of waste to start, then choose the next item to eliminate after 1 month.
As a very, very first step, make sure you know what can be recycled where you live, and how, and ensure you are doing it correctly. You can call your recycling company or look at their website for guidelines if you are unsure. A trash audit will be less helpful if you’re having to assess things you should be recycling already.
Step 1. Change Nothing for One WeekFor one week (or less if things become clear pretty quickly), go about your normal routine and take note of what items are making up the majority of your garbage.
Step 2. Write it DownI recommend keeping notes somewhere, whether on paper or on your phone, of the main offenders you’ve noticed accumulating in your trash. You probably don’t want to go back on Day 7 and sift through the garbage you produced on Day 1 (yuck!).
Step 3. Analyze Your WasteDo you use a quarter roll of paper towels every day? Do you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods? Do you accumulate large numbers of plastic and/or paper bags from stores? Assess your trash and pinpoint which areas the majority of it comes from on a weekly basis.
Step 4. Make a ChangePick a waste category you think you can easily tackle first, and change it. Maybe you could simply swap those paper towels for reusable rags. Or maybe you already have tote bags you could start bringing with you when you shop. Especially if you’re a beginner, pick something EASY. Making the first steps easy will keep you going in the long run. I also recommend ensuring that the first steps cost you nothing, by using things you already own (like cutting up some old tshirts to make your reusable rags).
Step 5. Make Another ChangeAfter you tackle the first zero waste swap, tackle another one (and another and another)! It gets easier as you go and you will likely find more motivation as you adjust and create better habits.
Step 6. RepeatYou’ll probably need to do a trash audit more than once as you go along your zero waste journey (they get much easier and faster as you reduce your trash output). Sometimes trash can start creeping back in even when you think you are being vigilant. Or maybe you’re barely producing trash anymore, but you realize a quarter of it is still coming from something you could easily change. Reassessing every so often will help to keep you in check.
Once you finish with the trash audit and are on your way to reducing waste, you may want to think about additional ways you could continue with your sustainable lifestyle. See below some ideas by month of ways you can keep going!
February: Buy reusables: Try to buy fewer single use items and focus on items that can be re-used.
March: Consider creating a “Capsule Wardrobe” by working toward purchasing a thoughtfully curated set of clothing that is filled with mix and match options.
April: Create your own cleaning products by using our DIY recipes, or check out the bulk products available at Tare Market.
May: Reduce food waste and always compost. Shop and cook for what you will use and use or freeze leftovers.
June: Try walking or biking once per week vs driving. Many miles driven each day are to places that are within walking or biking distance.
July: Go plastic free in at least one area of your home—consider items you use for hygiene, in the kitchen, with your pets or when you travel.
August: Shop in the bulk food section so you can buy exactly the amount you need.
September: Buy locally and sustainably, you will be supporting local producers and your local community.
October: Go plastic free dental—check out our toothpaste tablets, bamboo toothbrushes, compostable toothbrush heads and silk dental floss.
November: Learn more about the environment and sustainable living by reading books like The Zero Waste Chef and The Minimalist Kitchen.
December: Reduce or eliminate holiday gift wrap, bows and other paper and décor products that aren’t recyclable.
There are so many ways to participate!! We hope you found the plethora of ideas above helpful—here’s to a more sustainable year ahead!
Sources
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The most wonderful time of the year is upon us! Many people and families will cook their favorite dishes, bake cookies, make candies, attend festive events and holiday gatherings, and give gifts to others, to name just a few well-known traditions.
Gift giving is celebrated by many cultures around the world, and in the United States, gifts come in many forms—from food and clothing, to toys, gift cards, electronics and more.
]]>Gift giving is celebrated by many cultures around the world, and in the United States, gifts come in many forms—from food and clothing, to toys, gift cards, electronics and more. Naturally, when giving a thoughtful gift to a loved one, it is commonplace to deliver it wrapped.
In some instances, wrapping a gift itself has become a type of creative expression. There are a multitude of ways to wrap a gift, with books, articles and videos available to teach you how. Gift wrapping and receiving is a positive experience— and the appearance of a neatly wrapped gift in paper that has glitter, foil and flocking can build even more anticipation of opening the gift to see what’s inside.
Unfortunately, the glittery gloss and fancy finishes often make wrapping paper unrecyclable. Earth 911 estimates that each year, 4.6 million pounds of paper is produced, and 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper ends up in landfills1. Thankfully, there are many eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives that you can consider when carefully preparing the wonderful gifts you’ve chosen.
1. Reusable Gift Bags: Gift bags come in many shapes and sizes and are a great alternative to wrapping paper. One of their top qualities is that they can be re-used year after year – and many are sturdy enough to last many years. When using gift bags, the ideal environmental choice is a completely reusable option, such as the re-usable fabric gift bag set that is sold at Tare Market. Another good alternative is to re-use paper gift bags that don’t have glossy, metallic or glittery finishes.
2. Get Creative with Brown Paper Bags: As simple as brown paper bags seem, they can be a great option for wrapping gifts. Whether using them as is or decorating them yourself, they are a sustainable option that is completely compostable. You can decorate brown paper bags with a marker and add an upcycled ribbon for a more festive look. Visit Emma Courtney Home for details on how to make these.
3. Re-use Shopping Bags: Have you ever gone shopping and walked out of the store with such a nice shopping bag that you don’t want to throw it away? There are many shopping bags that can be re-purposed as they are, or with a simple tweak like creating a design on paper to cover the store logo, if preferred.
4. Fabric Wrap: Wrapping gifts in fabric is in fact one of the oldest ways to wrap a gift. Furoshiki, as it is called in Japan, is a traditional fabric wrap that comes in various sizes and is purposely stretchy in order to wrap around boxes2. It can even be tied so that an additional string or ribbon is not needed. The fabrics are beautifully designed and purposely eye-catching, and it is common courtesy to return them to the gift giver.
5. Newspaper or Tissue Paper: Newspaper or tissue paper can be used for wrapping and both are completely compostable (although the same rules about glitter, gloss or metallic finishes apply to tissue paper as these finishes affect the ability for tissue paper to be composted)3. Either option can work especially well for small sized boxes since one page of newspaper or one piece of tissue paper can often do the trick!
6. Re-use Boxes: Shirt boxes, jewelry boxes, nesting boxes, gift card boxes, electronics boxes… they all can be and should be considered for re-use.
7. Natural Jute Twine or Natural String: Twine or string are lovely alternatives to ribbons and bows as many ribbons and bows are not compostable or recyclable. In addition to natural colored twine or white string, there are cute colored and stripped versions available for holidays and celebrations.
8. Recyclable Kraft Tape: Kraft Tape is a perfect alternative to unrecyclable sticky tape. The Kraft Tape sold at Tare Market is fully recyclable and won’t contaminate the recycling bin. It is easy to tear by hand, is self-adhesive, is non-reinforced, and comes in multiple widths.
9. Getting Crafty with Gift Tags: Kraft Paper or Brown Paper Bags can be great alternatives to sticky, sparkly or glossy gift tags. Simply cut out a rectangle and attach with some jute twine. Another alternative is to re-purpose holiday greeting cards that you’ve received—it is easy to cut out or punch out portions of the card to create a unique design that can be attached to a gift.
10. What about an Extra-Large Gift? It can be difficult to know what to do with extra-large gifts, and sometimes it can be acceptable to not wrap a gift at all! If you want to surprise the recipient, get creative and wrap or draw a picture of the item. Once the gift has been opened, share the location of the actual gift. The surprise will be equally pleasing regardless of whether it is wrapped or not, and sometimes a hand-drawn “stand in” is fun to see too.
We hope you found these ideas helpful as you get into wrapping mode. At Tare Market, we want to make sustainable living convenient and accessible to all, so as a community we can decrease our environmental impact. With our collective efforts in reducing the usage of holiday wrapping paper, we can all make a difference this holiday season!
]]>And where will most people shop this year? According to the National Retail Federation, only 24% of adults report they are planning on shopping at a small business.2 In the rush to snag the best deals and the trendiest gifts, the vital role that small businesses play in providing sustainable options and fostering community well-being often goes unnoticed. We hope after reading this blog post you will consider shopping local and small this holiday season!
Shopping at small, local businesses isn't just about finding unique gifts; it's a choice that can make a real impact on the environment and reduce your carbon footprint. Here are a few reasons why:
Shopping small has a ripple effect that goes far beyond your purchases:
Not only does shopping local benefit the environment and the economy, but it also enriches the lives of the people in your community:
Choosing to shop at small, local businesses isn't just about buying gifts; it's about contributing to a sustainable planet, a thriving local economy, and a closely-knit community. We like to think of small businesses as the neighborhood superheroes of sustainability.
Tare Market is a zero-waste store that is on a mission to fight climate change and promote sustainable living. Our wide range of eco-friendly, package-free and plastic-free items includes cleaning products, kitchen essentials, hygiene products, bulk groceries and more. This holiday season, you can make a meaningful impact on the environment and your community by opting for local and small businesses. Join the movement today and enjoy your holiday shopping with a positive twist!
Unfortunately, annual Halloween festivities come with some pretty scary environmental consequences too. While Halloween brings lots of joy, fun and fright, it also packs our landfills with plastics, generates greenhouse gases and creates tons of waste. Here are some chilling facts to consider.
Costume CatastropheWith so many grim statistics, it may not feel like there is much to celebrate. But in fact, you can most certainly enjoy the season in the same way you always have while aiming for zero-waste and helping do your part to preserve the environment by reducing plastic usage and keeping waste out of landfills.
1. Commit to zero waste or eco-friendly costumes—there are so many ways to avoid creating more waste!With a little planning, you will be on your way to celebrating a Halloween that’s less wasteful and more eco-friendly. And remember, a little goes a long way—don’t feel pressure to try and do all five tips at once. Even incorporating one of the five ways outlined above into your holiday can make a big difference toward helping lessen our impact on the planet. And over time, you can set goals to incorporate even more! Happy trick-or treating! 🌍👻
SOURCES
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Born in Cameroon, Roseline moved to Minneapolis at age fourteen. After high school, she attended the University of Minnesota and graduated in 2012. With a background in social work and social services, starting her own candle-making business was not always the plan. She once took a candle-making class while on vacation and brought her new skills home with her, where she began learning and experimenting with making her own candles. She hosted a candle-making party for friends and family in December, 2019. Since minimizing waste and recycling are important to her, she provided repurposed jars for her guests to make their candles in.
As word about her hobby began to spread, Roseline started receiving messages from friends and strangers alike asking to buy her candles. Her next step was setting up a website so people could purchase her candles online. During spring and summer 2020, with more free time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she began to focus more effort into making candles from her home. She officially registered her business in August 2020, and her success and reach have only increased from there.
Since then, Roseline has opened her own storefront, Roseline’s Place, in Northeast Minneapolis. Alongside 25+ delicious fragrances of 100% soy candles, you can find locally crafted goods from other sustainable makers in her space. One of her goals is for every item in her store to be plastic-free.
When Roseline’s candles arrive at Tare Market, they are delivered personally by Roseline or a member of her team. They come packaged using BPI-certified compostable materials and recyclable tape. By purchasing one of Roseline’s candles from us, not only are you supporting two local, women-owned businesses, you are also supporting a zero waste, closed loop production system. Once you’ve thoroughly enjoyed your candle, return the jar to us for a discount off your purchase of a new candle. We return your jar to Roseline, who reuses them endlessly to make more candles.
We are so thankful for Roseline and the work that she does, not only for our local community, but for the zero waste community as a whole. She has shown us that with creativity, you can reduce your waste and indulge a little, too. Show your support by connecting with Roseline on Facebook or Instagram, or by bringing home one of her candles today.
Written by Rachel, Tare Market Store Manager
Sources:
http://millcitytimes.com/news/small-business-spotlight-roselines-place.html
https://spokesman-recorder.com/2021/07/15/black-business-spotlight-roselines-candles/
]]>Self care rituals shouldn’t create stress or damage the environment. Luckily, caring for yourself and the planet aren’t mutually exclusive. These 3 simple, low waste recipes utilize biodegradable, plastic-free ingredients that are easy to come by.
]]>It’s safe to assume that since you’re reading a zero waste blog, you’re likely more conscious than the average consumer about the environmental impacts of common self care products and their packaging. Those facial sheet masks? So easy to use, but they’re destined for the landfill. Bubble bath? How can I relax when I’m worried about what will happen to that plastic bottle when it’s empty?! (Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea.) Self care rituals shouldn’t create stress or damage the environment.
Luckily, caring for yourself and the planet aren’t mutually exclusive. The 3 simple, low waste recipes below utilize biodegradable, plastic-free ingredients that are easy to come by.
Adapted from Healthline.
If you can’t resist the smell of coffee, you will love this body scrub. While you can certainly use fresh coffee grounds, make this recipe zero waste by repurposing used coffee grounds. Sugar is an optional ingredient, but gives extra exfoliating power to your scrub. Coconut oil acts as a natural moisturizer.
This zero waste scrub can be used on the face or body. It exfoliates, unclogs pores, and leaves your skin soft and bright.
Did you know we offer package-free, organic coffee beans in bulk at Tare Market? Choose your favorite from Tiny Footprint or SK Coffee– two of our favorite local, sustainable roasters.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Mix the ingredients together until well combined. Apply the scrub to your skin and gently rub in circular motions. Rinse off with water when finished.
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman.
If your hair is feeling dry and lifeless, that’s a sign that it needs some added moisture. Hair masks help revitalize your locks, giving your hair a healthy shine while reducing frizziness and flyaways. This hair mask is oil-based, which means a little goes a long way. It can also double as a hair oil. See directions for more details.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Mix ingredients together and put into a dropper bottle. If using it as a hair mask, with dry hair, scrub the oil into your scalp, and work it through to the ends of your hair. Leave the mask on for 15 minutes or overnight. (Protect your pillowcase with an old towel or t-shirt if you’re worried about oil stains.) Follow your normal hair washing routine in the morning. If using it as a hair oil, place a few drops onto your palms and apply lightly to damp or dry hair for added moisture.
Adapted from Wholehearted Eats.
If you’re someone who has trouble falling asleep at night, taking a warm bath might be the new bedtime self care ritual you need. Warm baths and showers help regulate your body temperature prior to sleep, which has been shown to improve sleep quality.
Adding bath salts to your soak can help promote even deeper relaxation. Bath salts are perfect for treating muscle soreness and tension. Once you’ve mixed together the base ingredients in this recipe, experiment with different scents and add-ins until you find your perfect combination. The sky's the limit!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Add ½ cup bath salts to a warm bath and soak for 20 minutes to promote relaxation and relieve muscle tension and soreness. Remember to rehydrate with a big glass of water once you’re done soaking.
If you love self care rituals but DIY solutions aren’t your thing, don’t worry– we’ve got you covered. Check out our personal care & wellness collection for a diverse assortment of eco-friendly, zero waste goodies that are sure to fill your self care bucket.
At Tare Market, we love recipes that utilize low waste, package-free ingredients that are affordable and planet-friendly. This plant-based red lentil chili is vegan (or vegetarian, depending on your toppings) and so delicious– omnivores will love it, too. It’s perfect to cozy up in front of a fireplace or your favorite TV show with, or to serve when you’re feeding a crowd.
]]>Winters in Minnesota get long, and sometimes it feels like there is no end in sight. You forget what warm feels like and what the trees look like with leaves on them. While we (unfortunately) cannot control the weather, we can choose to fuel our bodies with hearty, nourishing meals that warm us from the inside out. At Tare Market, we love recipes that utilize low waste, package-free ingredients that are affordable and planet-friendly.
THE DAY BEFORE: Cook the dry kidney beans using the method of your choosing before starting the steps that follow. Check out this how-to guide if you need some assistance.
Step 1. Saute the onion and red pepper for 3-4 minutes in avocado or coconut oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Step 2. Add the garlic powder and diced jalapeno to the pot along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Step 3. Add 2 tbsp of chili powder, 1 tbsp cumin, smoked paprika, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and water. Stir to combine, then increase the heat to medium high and heat until the mixture reaches a low boil.
Step 4. Add the red lentils and reduce the heat to bring the mixture down to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked through.
Step 5. Add the cooked kidney beans, another pinch of salt and pepper, and the remaining 1 tbsp each of chili powder and cumin. Stir to combine, then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
Step 6. Add more salt and pepper to taste, then serve. See serving suggestions below.
Serve your chili over rice or quinoa. Top it with any combination of your favorites, like fresh cilantro, avocado, and corn chips, or, for those who eat dairy, cheese and sour cream. Enjoy!
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]]>A few years ago, there was an image circulating around the internet of a mason jar filled with trash. This tiny jar represented the amount of trash sent to landfill by one person living zero waste over the course of a year– an entire year! As inspiring as that is, for many of us, it’s quite daunting and frankly, unrealistic. It’s important to have goals in your zero waste journey and to consistently strive for better, but as author Anne-Marie Bonneau says, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” It doesn’t matter how you start– just start now, and start somewhere.
First up… let’s talk about how to green your grocery shopping routine. There are many easy ways we can make our grocery shopping experiences more eco-friendly with a little planning and preparation. The best part is you can shop more sustainably using items you probably already own.
Creating a zero waste shopping kit is a step towards ensuring you are alway prepared to shop your grocery store in a sustainable way. Want help getting started? Check out our Market Bundle– it’s got all the essentials.
Key items to include in your zero waste kit are:
Keep your zero waste shopping kit where you will need it– in your car, in the pocket of your backpack, or on a hook by your front door. Maybe you need to make multiple shopping kits! The goal is to have your reusables with you when you need them without much extra effort or planning. This may take some trial and error, but you will find a routine that works for you in time.
It is estimated that the average American household will accumulate approximately 1,500 single-use shopping bags each year. Plastic bags are not biodegradable; they break down into smaller pieces (microplastics) over time and leach toxic chemicals into our fragile ecosystems. While paper bags are often seen as environmentally superior to plastic due to their compostability, significant energy, resources, and chemicals are still used to create them (1).
This is why reusable bags are an essential in your zero waste shopping kit. Anytime we refuse a new item because we are reusing an existing item, we reduce the demand for creation of new items, thus reducing our overall consumption of energy and raw materials. The more times you reuse your bags, the lower their carbon footprint will be!
Over 400 million tons of plastic are produced globally each year. Roughly half of this is for single use items (2), and about 36% is packaging (3). Since everything produced requires energy and resources, by reducing the number of packaged items you purchase, you are reducing your environmental impact.
Many grocery stores offer a bulk section with unpackaged non-perishable grocery items, cleaning products, and personal care products. By bringing your own containers for bulk shopping and refilling them over and over, you should notice a significant decrease in the amount of trash or recycling you're wheeling out to the curb.
While it’s tempting to buy shiny new containers to fill, it’s more sustainable to reuse existing items like mason jars, yogurt tubs, peanut butter jars, and soap bottles– search your house and get creative with items you already have.
Can’t find anywhere local to shop in bulk? Check out our bulk offerings and have sustainable, package-free goods shipped right to your door. Even our shipping materials are repurposed. Once you receive your order, take advantage of our Return & Reuse program.
When it is not possible to purchase an item in bulk, consider packaged options carefully. It’s generally better to opt for items packaged in aluminum or glass over plastic.*
Almost all plastics have the “recycle” symbol on them, but only 5-6% of plastics are actually recycled in the US, and as they are recycled, they degrade in quality. Glass and aluminum, on the other hand, can be infinitely recycled. This means that to produce plastic, virgin materials (derived from fossil fuels) are continually being looped into production cycles, whereas glass and aluminum packing can be more reliant on recycled materials.
*Note: Sustainability is challenging to assess when you consider all aspects of production and distribution. In this post, we are focusing on the post-consumer environmental impacts and recycling potential of these materials.
At Tare Market, we are passionate about supporting you wherever you are in your zero-waste journey. If you are new to the movement, welcome! It’s never too late to start. Here are 5 easy steps to kickstart your #PlasticFree2023 so you can live with less this year and beyond.
]]>One way to live with less is to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle. In a nutshell, this means you:
At Tare Market, we are passionate about supporting you wherever you are in your zero-waste journey. If you are new to the movement, welcome! It’s never too late to start. Here are 5 easy steps to kickstart your #PlasticFree2023 so you can live with less this year and beyond.
Before we can reduce our waste, we have to face it. Conducting a trash audit will help you gain awareness of what you are sending to the landfill and identify areas of your life that are producing the most waste. You could do your trash audit one of two ways:
Once you know which items you throw away, categorize them. For example, you might sort your trash items into cleaning, personal care, food, and storage categories. The categories you choose can be unique to you and the patterns you see during your trash audit. Remember, the goal is to understand what consumption patterns are producing the most waste in your life.
Based on your trash audit findings, set a specific goal for yourself or your household. Keep in mind that a modest goal you accomplish is better than a lofty one that you abandon. Here are some examples:
Every zero-waste journey begins with a single swap. Use your goal to determine a starting point that feels approachable.
If you are swapping out disposable items, maybe you start by purchasing a shampoo bar to replace your plastic bottle. Upping your zero-waste coffee game? Swing by Tare Market or your local co-op to pick up some coffee beans in bulk and a reusable coffee filter. If you want to reduce food waste, start by adding a couple easy recipes into your weekly rotation and shop accordingly. See which ingredients you can purchase in bulk to avoid food packaging waste.
The important thing here is to make small, incremental changes instead of overhauling your entire life in one go. Keep it manageable.
If you’re feeling stuck, seek inspiration! Check out one of our store locations. Our staff members are always excited to share what we’ve learned, and love to help you find low-waste solutions that fit your lifestyle– no judgment, we promise. We’ve even put together zero-waste bundles designed specifically to help you eliminate waste in different areas of your life.
If visiting us in person isn’t an option for you, you can visit us online to see what sustainable alternatives are available. Our Instagram is also a great place to join in for our live sessions to discuss zero waste tips and to see what others are doing to live more sustainably.
As you make small changes throughout the year, we hope you share them with the people in your life: friends, family, coworkers, social media followers, whoever! You never know who your new lifestyle might resonate with– sometimes it’s the people you least expect. If you inspire even just one other person to make a sustainable swap, it’s worth it.
Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram or Facebook to show off your progress! We’ll be celebrating with you every step of the way.
Written by Rachel, Tare Market Nokomis Store Manager
]]>Reduce refers to minimizing the waste being generated through day to day activities. This is part of what Tare Market is all about; helping people to reduce unnecessary plastic by offering package-free or lower-waste alternatives.
Reuse stands for making the most of products and resources, so that their potential doesn’t go to waste. This could mean reusing something over and over again, finding a new purpose for something, or giving it to someone else who can still make use of it.
Reducing and reusing are the best ways to ensure less waste. However, in reality it’s inevitable that we all eventually end up with some kind of material to dispose of. This is where the final R for recycling fits in. When it comes time to dispose of things, we have two options.
The first is a linear option where we discard things as trash and send them to landfill or incineration. This is the end of the line for these products: they can’t be reused and so we have to extract more resources to constantly replace them.
Recycling, on the other hand, is a circular option: we send away products that can be processed and turned into something new, avoiding the need to entirely replace all of those materials from scratch. This is a much better option than landfill, but it’s important to know a few things about recycling:
Despite these issues, recycling is STILL the best way to deal with materials that can actually be repurposed into new things. If you’re wondering how you can up your recycling game, let's delve into some local resources.
For starters, check out the excellent Minneapolis and Saint Paul guides on exactly what you can recycle in each city.
Beyond regular recycling services, here are some extra options in the Twin Cities.
At Tare Market we have several Terracycle boxes that accept different types of recycling. Terracycle is a company that aims to eliminate waste entirely and specializes in recycling hard-to-process materials that generally aren’t accepted at municipal recycling centers. The type of collection boxes we offer differ depending on what we have available, but if you’re curious just give us a call at our Nokomis location (612-200-9274) or Northeast location (612-353-4236) to find out what you can recycle right now.
Got a dusty old laptop sitting around that doesn’t run anymore? Electronics are often difficult to recycle given the variety of different materials involved and the difficulty of separating these out. Luckily in the Twin Cities we have access to businesses like Tech Dump and PCs for People that will recycle items like laptops, tablets, hard drives and cellphones, for free! They can also accept bigger electronics like TVs for a small fee.
Did you know that you can recycle plastic bags and film? This shouldn’t go in your home recycling cart, but you can bundle together bags and drop them off at plenty of collection sites around the Twin Cities including Cub, Lowe’s, Lunds & Byerlys, Kohl’s, Target and Walmart. Make sure the bags/film are clean and dry first! You can include plastic of the kind that stretches when you pull on it, but you can’t recycle the type of non-stretchy bags used for salad, frozen food, candy, snacks or chips. For guidance, check out the Plastic Film Recycling website. About 80% of the plastic bags and film in MN are collected by just one company that repurposes this material to make decking and yard furniture.
You can even recycle contact lenses at many local optometrists throughout the Twin Cities, be sure to ask next time you’re in for a checkup! There’s also a map of participating sites - who knew!
One of my favorite ideas for recycling is to look for small businesses that can reuse materials you have sitting around at home. A perfect example is Roseline’s Candles, who can take old glass containers off your hands and fill them with beautiful candles. Contact Roseline through her website or via Instagram @roselinescandles to organize! Similarly, if you know other small businesses, consider asking if they could do with old mailing pouches or packing materials you might have at home before tossing them in the trash.
Another hot tip just in time for summer: we also collect used safety razor blades to be recycled through Albatross’ blade take-back program! So if you have made the swap to a zero waste razor, we will happily take your used razors and send them off for recycling.
As always, hopefully this has given you some useful tips and inspiration to ramp up your recycling game. See below for bonus links to additional reading.
For a deeper dive into recycling issues in the Twin Cities, check out this Mpls.St.Paul Magazine article on wish cycling.
Head to Eureka Recycling’s Learn and Take Action page for extra tips on what you can do.
For more information on how to recycle hard-to-recycle items, take a look at Hennepin County’s Green Disposal Guide.]]>The Zero Waste lifestyle, as inspired by Bea Johnson, is about decreasing your impact on the earth using the 5 R’s – refuse what you do not need, reduce with you do need, reuse by using recyclables, recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse, and rot (compost) the rest.
Composting your food scraps is one of the most sustainable things that you can do. The more that I delve into composting, the more I learn about how positive the affects of composting are for our air, water, and soil.
Not sold? Here are my top five reasons to compost:
Want to start your own composting system?
Composting is EASY. You literally throw your carrot tops, potatoes skins, lawn clippings, and banana peels into a container and in a few months you have soil. Okay, it’s not that easy, but it is pretty simple. Check out the visual below for a list of items that should and should not be added to your bin. And one tip – the smaller the food scraps, the quicker they will decompose. For additional tips, check out howtocompost.org.
Living in an apartment or other small living space?
If you are living in a small space but don’t want to throw your food scraps into the landfill, you can help by collecting your food scraps to turn into compost. Most people in a small space are worried that collecting their food scraps will make their place smell. But as long as your container seals, odor shouldn’t be a problem. To get started, choose a container to hold your food scraps. Your container can be as simple as a 5-gallon ice cream bucket with a lid, or something that is specifically made to hold organic waste, like this compost bin. Place all of your food scraps into your container.
Your next step is to find a place to take your scraps. A few options are:
If you can’t find anyone to take your waste, a system like a Bokashi might be for you. Bokashi composting is an anaerobic process that relies on inoculated bran to ferment your kitchen scraps. At one point in the process you will need a place to bury your fermented waste, so if you have a small patch of ground available to you, Bokashi might be a great option.
Have more space, such as a house and backyard?
Again, to get started, choose a container to hold your food scraps (indoor) and a second container to hold your compost (outdoor). When your indoor container is full, empty the contents into your outdoor container. If your outdoor container is self-turning, turn it whenever you think of it (you cannot turn it too much!). If you need to turn it by hand, get out there with your shovel whenever you can and manually turn the compost over so that all of your scraps are getting mixed together. The more you turn, the quicker your food scraps will turn into usable soil
You can get very technical with your compost, measuring out specific types of food and adding lawn clippings, leaves, water, etc. to get the perfect compost. Personally, I throw everything into one bin, turn it when I can, and in about a year I have usable soil for my garden and potted plants. Bea Johnson of The Zero Waste Home calls this “lazy composting” and I think that is the perfect name.
Here are products I recommend to help you in your composting journey:
What are your thoughts on composting? Any tips or suggestions for others?
Are you local to the Twin Cities? Here are some additional composting resources.
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My name is Soph, and I am the manager at Tare Market in the Northeast neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am passionate about zero-waste living and I am consciously and consistently adjusting my routine to minimize the amount of trash I produce…and I live with three roommates who curmudgeonly resisted my efforts for a long time. I know I am not the only one to experience this additional strain. Maybe you share a dorm room with a very kind person who has a habit of filling your shared trashcan with cotton balls and granola bar wrappers. Or perhaps some of you live with parents who have had the same shopping list since 1986 and their routine is just as vintage. And maybe sometimes you take your neighbor’s kid out for ice cream and lament the short-lived usefulness of the plastic spoons that admittedly help to improve the amount of dessert that ends up on the kid’s face and in her hair. I have experienced all these moments and have felt powerless in the face of our cultural routine of trash. After moving in with my current roommates, I decided to lead my household in our transition to zero-waste. And after much trial and feedback, I have determined three ideas to start with: product swaps, thoughtful container choice, and preparing for your daily needs.
Swaps
The easiest way to start reducing the amount of waste produced by your household is to swap to reusable or biodegradable versions of products you already use. Routines and rituals don’t have to change at all, only the objects you use to perform them. For example, one of my roommates prepares a pot of coffee for the house every morning (a routine for which we are all extremely grateful), and he used to use a paper cone to filter the coffee in our Chemex. When we switched to a Coffee Sock filter, there was slight protest at first because yes, it does take extra time to dump the grounds into the compost bin and rinse the filter. But ultimately this process takes less than 30 seconds, the coffee tastes better because there is no paper aftertaste, and we don’t have to keep buying filters.
When swapping products, I would recommend finding a sustainable alternative that is as close as possible to what your household already uses. When I was looking for a plastic-free solution for toothpaste, I discovered and fell in love with Unpaste tooth tabs. I found them so practical and easy to travel with—but my roommates couldn’t get over the difference in texture from regular toothpaste. Ultimately, we settled on David’s toothpaste. It’s the same consistency as any other kind of toothpaste, but it comes in a recyclable aluminum tube and includes a recyclable aluminum key to help you get every last squirt of toothpaste out of the tube.
Swapping for lower-waste alternatives does not have to feel like reinventing the wheel; there are products that look and feel just like the things we’re used to and opting for these versions can make the transition to zero-waste feel a lot more comfortable and manageable.
Containers
An important thing to consider—and this might be obvious—making sure that your reusable containers are clearly labeled with the name of their contents makes it easier for everyone in your household to stay in-the-loop with your packaging-free purchases. A few months ago, I picked out a pretty-looking bottle from the community jar kiosk at Tare Market, where we keep containers donated by customers. I filled the bottle with apple cider vinegar, not paying any mind to the fact that the bottle was labeled as “French Vanilla Syrup.” Long story short, my roommate ended up with a particularly tangy “vanilla” latte the next day. A piece of tape and some sharpie ensured that no one made that mistake again.
Though it can be fun to make plans for bulk shopping and search for the perfect little jar for Earl Grey or the perfect tub for dried mangoes, this is another instance where you don’t have to start from scratch. You can refill the containers that you already have—those that may already be correctly labeled with their contents. Chances are, you have a soon-to-be empty bottle of laundry detergent sitting on your washing machine or a lingering jar of peanut butter on the shelf with one last spoonful inside. Bring these to Tare Market or to the bulk section of your local co-op and refill them over and over again! And your housemates will already be familiar with the jugs, bottles, and boxes, so there will be no confusion over what’s what.
Take Time to Prepare Together
An important step to reducing your household’s waste is to plan and prepare for what you will need throughout your day and week. This can seem like a big adjustment because, rather than swapping objects within the same routine, you and your household will have to slightly adjust your routine to accommodate for communication and planning time—but even so, it’s only a few minutes per day and week, and it makes a huge difference.
At my house, we risk producing the most waste in our kitchen, specifically from packaged foods. We started with a discussion about people’s work schedules and routes through the city to determine who picks up which items and from where. Considering everyone’s individual routine, we were able to map out who does the weekly Tare Market haul, who stops by the co-op to pick up produce, who reminds that person to bring the cotton produce bags, and who goes to Costco to get the last straggler items in bulk. It took a few tries to smooth out the process (and for everyone to remember their reusable shopping bags), but we’ve settled into a good rhythm. And, although it was not an easy transition for everyone, it makes each of us feel good to have a personal responsibility toward our home co-operation.
We also take turns making dinner and therefore share the task of prepping each other’s lunches. There are three of us who eat lunch away from home, and so we know to prepare and pack extra portions every night. It’s small rituals like this that make a huge impact on our household waste—we help feed each other so that no one is scrambling the next day to find something to eat and eventually settling on a store-bought granola bar or pasta salad. We eat our yummy leftovers and then come home to put our lunch containers and Stasher bags in the dishwasher to use the next day.
Accountability is on the flip-side of preparation. Even if you make a concerted effort to plan ahead for your needs, a gentle reminder can still be helpful. My roommates and I like to go on walks and little excursions together. When we walk over to our local coffee shop, I bring my collapsible coffee cup and remind everyone else to bring their mugs and thermoses. Likewise, when we go out for a picnic, I always have to be reminded to bring a container for food scraps—like a mini compost bin—to carry apple cores and carrot butts home to our green bin.
It can be tough to plan and communicate with the people you live with. We’ve certainly had our roommate spats at my house, as I can imagine you have had with your cohabitant(s). The most important thing to consider is that people make mistakes, and it doesn’t mean that they’re not trying to adopt new habits or that they don’t care about the environment or about their impact on it. Someone will forget their shopping bag, their reusable straw, or they might forget their lunchbox and leave it in the fridge. This is all okay, and it happens to everyone! Be gentle in your encouragements to the people you live with, because the most important thing is that we all remain motivated to keep trying, to keep improving, and to grow together. This brings me to…
Compromising
It’s necessary. Every person is different, has different needs and different preferences. I tried for months to go paper towel-free and have my household rely on rags and Unpaper Towels. I even offered to launder them myself (though I admittedly struggle to remember sometimes). My roommates, though sympathetic to the plight of trees and forests, just can’t shake the habit of buying and using paper towels. So we compromised: I use my cloth alternatives, they continue to use paper towels, and they compost the used ones (so long as they didn’t wipe up anything chemical or animal).
Likewise, it’s hard to deny that Doritos and Sour Cream & Onion Lays are the ~perfect~ snacks to accompany a late-night game of Mario Party. (Perhaps I’ve lost some of you on this one, but I’m sure your housemates have a beloved snacking-and-entertainment combo, too.) These crunchier snack foods are typically not sold in bulk because they go stale so quickly, and thus we accumulate chip bags at my house. Though I’m not thrilled with this waste, I can usually find a Terracycle box somewhere in the city where I can recycle the wrapping and it will eventually be processed into something useful. These compromises allow me to advocate for other positive changes at home—because people are less-inclined to work with you when they’re hangry for their favorite things.
Every Little Bit Counts
Maybe you’re only able to successfully swap one or two items in your household. You’ve convinced the roommates about toothpaste tablets, but they draw the line at floss. You’ve gotten your kids hooked on dried pineapple, but they still ask for their puffed cereal every now and again. And your mom’s favorite iced tea only comes pre-bagged, but she now uses a metal straw to drink it. Guess what? One little change is a HUGE step forward. Any bit of plastic or single-use trash that we can eliminate from our waste stream is a victory for our community and our planet. It is noble and difficult to put effort towards cutting down on your waste, and even more so to try to change the habits of those around you. Making these zero-waste options convenient and accessible for your housemates, clearly labeling containers to eliminate confusion, preparing together to accommodate everyone’s needs are all essential in the endeavor of reducing the trash produced by your household.
And during this transition, as with all group undertakings, be kind to one another. We need everyone on board to make positive, incremental change, and that starts with how we relate to each other. Because, after all, human beings are just as much a part of the environment as our beloved lakes, forests, beehives, and herds of deer. To care about the health of nature is to care for each other—so be patient, work together, and grow.
]]>Here’s a recipe for a favorite fall soup, substitute in anything in your fridge that “must go”!
Yields 6-8 servings :
– 2 tablespoons olive oil (available in bulk at Tare Market)
– 2 cups squash or pumpkin
– 2 cups chopped carrot
– 2 cups chopped potatoes
– 1 cup green lentils (available in the Tare Market bulk aisle)
– 1 cup wild rice blend (available in the Tare Market bulk aisle)
– 1 medium chopped onion
– 3 cloves garlic
– 6-8 cups vegetable or chicken broth
– 2 teaspoons mixed Italian herbs (available in the Tare Market spice aisle)
– 1 tablespoon cumin (available in the Tare Market spice aisle)
– 2 cups chopped greens, like kale
To cook in the crockpot – place all ingredients, except for the greens, in a crockpot on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. Add the greens and re-cover with 30 minutes left to go.
To cook on the stovetop – sauté carrots, onion, and garlic in olive oil until onions are soft. Add in the remaining ingredients, except for the greens, and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 30 minutes and add the greens with 5 minutes left to go.
Serve with plastic-free bread and enjoy!
]]>I am lucky enough to have a community on Instagram that ranges in age, education, geography, etc. I asked this community about their best zero waste tips and tricks for college-age kids. Here are the best answers (and there are many!)
Looking for more resources? I highly recommend checking out the Post Landfill Action Network, a fantastic resource just for students. And one of my favorite YouTubers, the Girl Gone Green, has a video about going zero waste in your dorm.
I hope these tips help you live more sustainably. Please share with others to spread the word about zero waste living.
We’ve been taught that using disposable materials makes our lives easier. Instead of having to wash something, you can simply throw it away. We have gotten used to using a Ziploc bag just once and then tossing it into the trash and feeling just fine about it. But in reality, using disposables typically costs the consumer more time and more money (don’t even get me started on the environmental costs…) than a reusable alternative. In the example of Ziplocs, you will spend more time going to and from the store to purchase that bag of Ziplocs every other month then you would in washing a reusable option. Instead of buying a box of 500 Ziplocs every other month, you buy one reusable option one time. This one reusable option means one upfront investment that you never have to repeat. And you save yourself the carbon footprint of having to drive to the store to purchase something disposable.
If you are willing to make small swaps, there are alternatives for most of these common plastic products you find in your kitchen. Here are some swaps that I have made that made a big difference in my life.
Swap: Ziploc Bags for Stasher Bags
Ziploc bags are mighty handy little things that often have a terribly short window of use before they get thrown out. Instead of a plastic single use item, consider a Stasher Bag made of silicone that can be washed and reused thousands of times. Stasher Bags have a strong seal and come in different sizes and colors, making them easy to cook with or take your food on the go. I like to use the sandwich size ones for on-the-go snacks like trail mix and I like the half gallon size for meal prepping with chopped veggies, marinated meat or frozen fruit pieces. Switching to a reusable option will take a bit more effort, but you will be rewarded with far less plastic in your trash can. If a Stasher Bag isn’t appealing to you, you can also pop snacks into a reused jar. I often toss a jar of carrot sticks in my bag to take to work, knowing that once finished, I can just wash and reuse the jar again.
Swap: Plastic Cling Wrap for a Food Wrap
Another swap you can make is to do away with cling wrap and replace it with a beeswax food wrap that will function in exactly the same way without the waste. Wax food wraps will work just as well on anything that you’d usually use cling wrap for, and once finished you can simply rinse with lukewarm water and lay out to dry (hot water will melt your wax!). Another nice option if you have leftovers or food in a bowl are silicone covers that stretch over the top of the bowl and can be washed and reused countless times. Side note, these are also perfect as splatter covers if you’re reheating leftovers in the microwave – just leave a small steam vent open on one side and you’re good to go, no more mess!
If you are on a budget, you can also simply put your leftovers in a bowl and top with a saucepan lid or a plate. This solution might not be fancy or good looking, but it works and creates no waste! I recommend you think creatively about what you already have in the kitchen that you can put to work in the place of single use plastics.
Swap: Paper Towels for Unpaper Towels
Did you know that the US uses 13 billion (with a B!) pounds of paper towels every year? That’s the equivalent of 270 million trees. Every. Year.
Crazy, right?
Now, paper towels are convenient for cleaning and mopping up spills around the kitchen, but not so great in terms of sustainability, especially when they’re being used on such a huge scale. Though they aren’t made of plastic, lots of water and energy goes into creating a paper towel.
They aren’t just a waste of environmental resources, but also of money. In 2017 Americans collectively spent around $5.7 billion on paper towels – a product that gets used for 3 seconds before being tossed away. The EPA estimates that paper makes up the biggest share of municipal waste in the country, meaning that all those resources and money are often going directly to landfill.
Consider replacing paper towels with cloth Unpaper towels or a super absorbent, reusableSwedish Dishcloth – plant based and fully compostable once it reaches the end of its life. (I also love them as an alternative for cleaning glass as they’re streak free and won’t leave behind residue or fluff). If you are on a budget you can also make your own paper towels by cutting up old rags or a t-shirt into squares. Keep the squares in a basket or jar on your counter for easy grabbing. All of these options can be used around the kitchen in place of paper towel and simply washed as needed, rather than tossed away. Save yourself the money and resources you otherwise would have spent repeatedly on paper towels!
Swap: Parchment Paper for a Silicone Baking Mat
While we’re on the topic of wasteful paper use, let’s talk parchment paper. It is, of course, baking season as the winter months approach, and there’s nothing more annoying than getting your cookies stuck to the tray. Here to the rescue are Silicone Baking Mats that protect bakeware and make sure nothing sticks. As an added bonus they can go from fridge, to freezer, to oven, to microwave, to dishwasher – you get the point. Not only are they made of high-grade silicone that can be recycled, unlike baking paper they don’t come made with ‘non-stick’ toxic chemicals, and they aren’t designed to get tossed after a single use! Instead you’ll be able to reuse them again, and again, and again…
Armed with these handy swaps, you too can cut down on plastic and waste in the kitchen!
While you’re here:
For more ideas on eliminating waste from the kitchen and during food prep, check out Zero-Waste Chef.
Read Simple Ecology’s post on why switching to silicone is a good idea.
Check out Ocean Conservancy’s take on paper towels.
]]>In today’s world, many products are designed to be linear. That is; we buy them, we use them and then we throw them away at the end of an often short lifespan. This leaves us as consumers back at square one; having to constantly re-buy products that we’ve used only once or just a few times. I’m sure you can think of plenty of examples: cotton balls, Q-tips, Ziploc baggies, parchment paper…. the list goes on.
Having to replace even cheap everyday items can add up financially. Not to mention you also have to buy the garbage bags, pay for your waste to be hauled away, etc. And the worst part is, many of these products will never decompose.
Let’s consider the alternative to single use items (aka sustainable/reusable/low waste/zero waste products). Some of these will have a larger upfront investment, but will save you money over time because they’re meant to last rather than be tossed away and replaced again and again. This requires you to think about some purchases with a different mindset; to recognize them as the longer-term investments they are.
Stainless steel safety razor vs. Generic plastic razor
Say, for example, that you typically use a plastic razor at home. This probably costs $5-10 upfront, and might have a few disposable refills thrown in with your initial purchase. In about eight weeks you will use up the disposable refills and they will go straight into your trash. Then you will have to buy more disposable heads, which can be upwards of $20 for a pack of four. You are locked into a continuous cycle of having to buy more replacement heads.
What if you were to invest in a better alternative that saves you money and doesn’t contribute to the landfill? Say a safety razor, like these Bareaya or Albatross models that take a stainless steel razor blade. The razor itself is a larger upfront cost than it’s plastic counterpart, but once you’ve made the switch you can ditch expensive plastic refill heads for LIFE. The only thing you will need to replace are the steel blades, which costs just cents each. The best part is that stainless steel razor blades refills are 100% recyclable (yahoo!). So not only do you save money, you save trash from being generated. (Fun fact: you can drop your old stainless steel blades at Tare Market and we’ll send them to Albatross to be recycled into silverware!).
Single-Use Face Rounds vs. Reusable Face Rounds
You know those disposable cotton rounds you throw away after a single use? Why not replace them with something designed to last you a lifetime. Take these super-cute face rounds for example. A 20 pack will set you back $15.99 and they should last you practically forever. Use them for whatever you like, toss them through a wash and they’re ready to go again and again. On the other hand, if you buy disposable cotton rounds, a pack might only cost about $3.50 upfront – but you need four to five packs a year. At that rate, the reusable face rounds are already becoming better value for money, especially if you’re using several a day. Once you get beyond a year, reusable face rounds beat disposable hands down for value.
Single-Use Q-Tip vs. Reusable Last Swab
Think of the same scenario with cotton swabs: something that we tend to consider a dime a dozen for good reason; a box of 500 will only set you back about $4. Maybe this is why we throw away literally millions of disposable swabs a day without even thinking about it. But what if for the price of three boxes of disposable swabs you could buy a silicone LastSwab intended to be reused for life? These are designed for you to only have to buy them once, and they won’t generate waste in your bathroom every single day. Whether you use a LastSwab to clean your ears or touch up makeup, once you’ve reused it year after year it works out as better value for money than replacing disposable swabs. You can tick them off your shopping list and never spend another cent on them. Plus, think of all the precious bathroom cabinet space you could free up by not having a whole box of plasticky swabs laying about.
Disposable Paper Coffee Filters vs. Reusable
Now, how about in the kitchen. Are you making your morning cup of coffee with a single-use paper filter? If you’re drinking a daily cup of joe then consider investing in a set of reusable Coffeesocks. These go for $12.99 for a set of two, and can be rinsed, dried, and reused again and again. A set of 100 disposable paper filters, on the other hand, is around $4 depending on the size and shape of the filter. At one filter a day, by the end of a year the two options are roughly the same value for money, but one generates waste while the other does not. Extend this calculation beyond a year and the Coffeesock clearly comes out on top for value. Not only are they organic and easy to clean between uses, unlike their paper counterparts, Coffeesocks will last for hundreds of brews and aren’t made with toxic chemicals. Besides, there’s nothing worse than going to make your morning coffee and realizing that you’re out of filters….
I hope this has given you some inspiration to see your zero waste swaps as investments that can help you to cut down on consumption and save money over the long-run. Remember: reducing and reusing is often cheaper than continually replacing, and definitely better for the environment!
Learn more about the mission of the creators of the LastSwab here.
Watch a how-to video on how to use CoffeeSocks and the benefit here.
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Everyone is at their own point on their own journey: don’t feel the need to compare yourself to others. Some people have been zero-wasting for a long time and have had the time to adapt their habits and consumption to fit in with this lifestyle. If you’re new to reducing waste, remember this is a marathon and not a sprint, so don’t sweat it by comparing yourself to others.
Don’t be intimidated by feeling the need to change everything at once. Many people discovering zero waste feel the urge to overhaul their entire lifestyles overnight, an impossible task that sets you up for frustration and failure. While it might be tempting and exciting to dive in head first and rush out to buy a bunch of sustainable products, small, gradual changes are more achievable and over time you’ll see what swaps work for you. There are plenty of small changes that can be made to set you on the right path without feeling overwhelmed. For example, if switching from conventional toothpaste to bulk tooth powder sounds like too much all at once, why not opt for an easier switch to a recyclable toothpaste tube like David’s? This is still a lower waste option and is more likely to stick with you if it fits better in your lifestyle.
Welcome to part 3 of our zero waste kitchen series! This time around we’re focusing on how to keep your kitchen sparkling the zero waste way.
Check under most people’s kitchen sinks and I bet I know what you’ll find: a whole lot of plastic. Plastic tubs of dishwasher tablets, plastic spray bottles full of cleaners, plastic sponges and brushes. So much of this is hard to avoid because almost everything that we use to keep our kitchens clean either comes packed in or made of plastic.
Make no mistake, it has taken me a long time to overhaul my kitchen and habits to reduce waste in this area. In fact, it’s an ongoing process. The best first step is to use up whatever you already have and then find a better alternative that doesn’t have to come in single-use plastic.
Once you’re ready to switch to a lower waste cleaning solution, an easy way to do this is to visit us at Tare Market, where you can stock up on a range of different cleaners. Depending on the type of cleaner you’re after, an old, clean spray bottle could be the perfect thing to bring in and refill. If you don’t have one, fear not, we have glass spray bottles available too!
For squeaky clean countertops, we have our bulk all-purpose cleaner. It’s plant-based and safe to use on all sealed hard surfaces. The best part is that it doesn’t have that nose wrinkling scent of ~500 chemicals that many harsh cleaners do. I refill an old spray bottle with it once every couple of months and love using it on my kitchen countertops and stove, knowing that it handles spills without containing toxic nasties.
If you feel like a bit of DIY, we also carry Castile soap that can be used as a base to make a whole range of different cleaners. For a great basic recipe, see our previous post on making a Castile soap cleaner here.
It’s not just counters we can help within the bulk department; our newest cleaning product is a bulk floor cleaner, that comes in a refreshing (but not overpowering) lemon scent. It can be used on all sealed surfaces and you simply dilute a quarter cup in a gallon of water. You can also use it at full strength to spot clean stains. I usually refill this into some kind of bottle that I can easily pour the right amount from when I need it.
Now, let’s talk about dishes. We can help with bulk dish-washing liquid, solid dish blocks, and dishwasher powder that you can put into your own bottles and tubs and keep refilling. Hurrah for no more single-use bottles!
When it comes to cleaning implements, usually plastic reigns in sponges, scrubbers and brushes. Instead, how about cute Eco sponges made of repurposed fairtrade coffee sacks and cotton? They’re safe to throw in the dishwasher or washing machine whenever needed and contain no plastic. Or we have plenty of fully recyclable/compostable dish and bottle brushes from Redecker and EcoCoconut. These brushes are either made of coconut or Tampico fibers. What’s Tampico you ask? It’s a natural fiber originating from Mexico and usually made from agave plants, how cool!
With alternatives like these, you won’t be sending microplastics down the drain as your plastic sponge breaks down.
Remember, at the end of the day the goal is to lower your waste, not to be perfect immediately. Start by gradually shifting away from wasteful products, and you’ll be on your way to a low-waste kitchen in no time!
For more DIY advice, see Lisa Bronner’s helpful blog here on what you can (or shouldn’t!) mix with Castile soap.
If you feel like listening over reading, tune in to this story from MPR on plastic pollution in our water.
]]>I don’t know about you, but I’m a big New Year’s resolution kind of gal. I love to set goals for things that I’ve been wanting to do but haven’t made time or effort for previously. The new year is the perfect time to commit to new habits, or kick old ones. I don’t aim for life alternating changes, but a few little tweaks here and there. I am always looking to up my zero waste game, and making a new years resolution to do so is the motivation I need in 2021.
If you’re looking to include some sustainable resolutions in your list this year, here are some ideas that I am utilizing that I hope are helpful to you on your zero waste journey.
Have you ever thought about how many plastic bags you use at the supermarket in a year? Make a goal to use cotton produce bags rather than plastic this year. There are so many non-plastic options: from large cotton tote and string bags to carry all your groceries home, to mesh bags for loose produce. Even if you only use a cotton bag twice a week, that’s 104 plastic bags avoided for the year, go you!
2. Commit to compost
Starting to compost my food scraps was my resolution last year and I finally achieved it by signing up for an organics recycling drop off site this year. My motivation was knowing that we throw out millions of tones of organic waste every year that goes straight to landfill where it produces methane – a greenhouse gas many times more powerful than carbon dioxide. In Hennepin and Ramsey Counties an estimated 25-30% of our landfill waste is organics, so there’s plenty of room for improvement in the Twin Cities.
Whether you start a compost heap in your backyard, or sign up for city organics collection or drop-off locations, this resolution will have a huge impact on turning your waste into a positive resource instead of contributing to more waste and emissions. Check out the Hennepin and Ramsey County websites for more information about composting resources and locations in your area.
Read Tare Market Founder Amber’s blog post “Composting – Why and How” for more information.
3. Say yes to buying bulk
Bulk is beautiful! Buying in bulk cuts down on wasteful plastic packaging and gives you the freedom to buy as much or as little of a product as you need. Co-ops around the cities and Tare Market have plenty of bulk items to keep you in stock, so why not make a resolution to try buying in bulk this year? If you’ve never tried buying from a bulk section before, come in and chat with us and we can show you the ropes. Or read my recent blog post, How to Shop Our Bulk Section.
4. Pledge to make one zero waste swap
Overwhelmed by the idea of trying to overhaul a habit that’s hard to break? Instead of stressing, commit at the start of the year to making just one zero waste swap from a single-use product to something reusable. Take some time in January to figure out what swap is going to work best for you and then invest in your replacement. It could be as easy as using a bamboo toothbrush instead of a plastic one, or a reusable Lastswab instead of plastic swabs…there are so many good choices out there!
5. Try something new
Whether you’re new to zero waste or have been trying to live sustainably for a while, there’s probably one swap or change that you’ve been hesitating over. For me it was using bar shampooand conditioner: I had never tried it and was frankly skeptical it would work for my hair, so I wrote it off as a viable option for a long time. When I finally decided to give it a go, I discovered that my assumption had been totally wrong and it actually worked amazingly well in my hair – I learned to love the process of using it. So perhaps your resolution can be to tackle that swap you’ve been hesitating over, after all, you’ll never know till you give it a try!
We know that 2020 has been a hard year for many, and a challenging time to try and reduce waste. So, whatever New Year’s resolution you end up deciding on for 2021, congrats to you for deciding to make the world a better place one small change at a time!
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For more inspiration check out these links:
For a dose of positivity to carry you into 2021, read Planet Ark’s roundup of the best environmental news stories of the past year.
Set yourself up for success with this guide on how to make good New Year’s Resolutions.
Read up on maintaining a sustainable lifestyle during COVID for some extra motivation.
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