Yesterday, at Sprouts grocery store, I saw more people than ever shopping the bulk section with cloth bags! Fantastic! I was delighted, and give huge props to Sprouts: they’ve started selling their own cloth bags and are using marketing to encourage their use.

However, people seemed confused about how to mark the PLU number on their bulk items. A few were using twist ties (wasteful!) while others were writing the numbers on their grocery lists. I offered up my washable marker once or twice, and the recipients seemed slightly perplexed at why I cared about their grocery shopping experience, but also grateful.

My point here is, even whey you’re trying to reduce your waste, there can be a lot of logistical roadblocks. So to keep things as simple as possible, here’s my 10-step guide to buying low waste groceries:

• one // Make a list. Divide it into sections:

  • bulk items

  • produce

  • deli

  • “middle of the store” items
    

• two // At home, gather your materials:

  • cloth bags for produce and bulk

  • a washable marker

  • large reusable grocery bags

  • empty glass milk containers (if applicable)

  • a couple sturdy containers for the deli counter (if desired)
    

• three // Go to the store. Walk or bike if you can!
  

• four // Stop in the bulk section for any products that were on your list. You want to make sure you have enough bags for the things you really need. Use your washable marker to write the PLU code in large numbers on the outside of the bag, and then fill with the desired amount.
  

• five // Shop produce. When you’re putting your produce in the cart, place it away from your bulk items so any moisture from the produce doesn’t touch the washable marker on your bulk bags. Put things in reusable produce bags if they fall into one of these four categories:

  • You’re buying several of one item (eg. apples or oranges); this will help the cashier weigh them.

  • You’re going to eat the outside of the item and don’t want to wash it (I put many items directly in my cart: cucumbers, cabbage, apples, peppers… but I wash them before eating).

  • You’re buying different types of a similar food. For example, I like to try many kinds of tangerines and oranges. It can get confusing for the cashier if they have to sort by type. (And sometimes you might be charged more if they lump them all together under the code for the most expensive type!)

  • The item is delicate. Such as lettuce and other greens, broccoli, stone fruits, pears, mushrooms, etc.
    

• six // Shop the middle of the store for low-waste items such as:

  • Pasta in cardboard boxes.

  • Legumes and other items in aluminum cans.

  • Sauces, salsas, and juice in glass containers.

  • Beverages in cans.
    

• seven // Return to the bulk section to use up your remaining bags (as desired). Look for items you commonly eat that are on sale or other new treats you might want to try. The beauty of bulk is you don’t have to buy very much. I often get just a handful of something new to see how we like it.
  

• eight // Go to the deli counter and politely request they put your meat or cheese in your own container(s). I’ve never had anyone say “no” to me here in Denver, but I’ve heard it can be difficult in other cities depending on their health codes and ordinances. I do, however, stay close by and watch carefully to refuse any plastic they might slip in. Often the deli worker feels weird about putting the sticker directly on my container so they try to put it on a plastic bag and hand that to me. Obviously, this defeats the purpose, so just enthusiastically tell them they can stick it right to your container!
  

• nine // Hit up the dairy section for milk, eggs, butter, etc. I buy local dairy milk in reusable glass bottles. I always check the back of the fridge for ones with later expiration dates. I also buy two cartons 18 eggs every time I go to the store. Eggs keep for a long time. Butter is unfortunately hard to buy without packaging. I buy the biggest package available; sometimes you can get a pound of butter in one wrapper instead of 4 individually-wrapped sticks.
  

• ten // Check out. Watch carefully so the cashier doesn’t put a rubber band on your eggs or put something in a plastic bag. Sometimes they have questions or comments about my reusable bags, but usually they just figure it out. I assume they experience all kinds of quirky behavior with patrons!

I’m always up for talking about all things low waste with anyone who is interested. I know many people who want to decrease the plastic in their lives, particularly in their kitchens, but are unsure how to get rid of it completely. The “final frontier” for many seems to be figuring out how to de-plastic their food storage in the refrigerator.

This has definitely been my journey: I figured out how to buy food without plastic, but then once I was home, I would put my carrots or salad greens in a (reused) plastic bag or plastic container to store them. But in the past 6 months, after reading more about the health concerns of plastic, I’ve been working to de-plasticize my fridge. With some trial and error, I’ve figured out methods that work. There once was a time when we stored food for long periods of time without plastic. It is possible, people!

I also recently discovered the amazing website Save The Food. It’s devoted to ways to minimize food waste, which is a HUGE problem. Their section on storing food is phenomenal; they give lots of plastic-free storage solutions. Search by item! And don’t waste your food.

But to save you some time, here’s a quick rundown of how I’ve been storing produce without plastic (alphabetized by item):

Apples // Leave loose in the crisper.

Broccoli // Cut stalks at the bottom and submerge in water to store in fridge. I use a loaf baking pan.

Brussels Sprouts // Store in the fridge in an open container such as a jar, bowl, or breathable bag.

Carrots // Submerge in water and store in the fridge. I use a baking pan.

Celery // Give stalks a fresh cut and then stand upright in a jar with water in the fridge.

Corn cobs // Wrap in a damp towel and store in fridge for 1-2 days.

Cucumbers // Wrap in a damp cloth and keep away from apples in the fridge.

Green beans // Store in the fridge in an open container such as a jar, bowl, or breathable bag.

Green onions/scallions // Put in a breathable bag or open container.

Kale, lettuce, chard, herbs // Wash leaves and give bottoms a fresh cut. Store upright in a pint glass or jar, as you would flowers in vase. Keep in fridge.

Mushrooms // Store in a breathable bag or open container. Use ASAP.

Radishes // Wash and cut off greens. Put in the fridge in an open jar with just a bit of water in the bottom.

What are your tricks and tips? Please share!

Changing your consumption habits is often massively complicated by the large corporations that dominate the retail landscape. Big “box stores” and major chains seems to sell everything in plastic or other non-recyclable packaging. To decrease your waste, seek out the smaller, local retailer. The one who cares about not only their bottom line, but also the earth. Although, they do, probably care about their bottom line, they just know there’s a great market out there for people who want high-quality produce that aren’t super bad for the environment!

Anyway! Here are some great spots to get zero-waste supplies in Denver:

Joyfill // 3842 Tennyson Street / Berkeley
Lots of beauty products. Soaps. Kitchen and bathroom supplies. Fantastic owner.

The Zero Market (inside Stanley Marketplace) // 2501 Dallas Street, Aurora, CO 80010
All the things, minus food. Essential oils. Soaps. Bath + beauty. Teas. Kombucha. Containers. They make many of their own products, too, like deodorant and toothpaste.

Homefill (inside Modern Nomad) // 2936 Larimer Street / River North
Beauty, cleaning, and household products. And pet treats! This RiNo spot is convenient for urbanites to fill-up, since many other stores are outside the city center.

Eco Mountain Modern Living // 4350 Alcott Street / Sunnyside
Not strictly refill; they stock a range of “eco-friendly, toxic-free and sustainable products.”

Capital Tea // 1450 S Broadway / Capital Hill
Tea! Get your own tea ball or pot and enjoy loose tea without plastic. Did you know almost all tea bags (even those that don’t look like it) contain plastic?

Sprouts Farmers Markets // various locations
My favorite bulk section for food. They’re increasing products all the time are are very receptive to customers bringing their own bags or jars. Some products are only available in organic or non-organic. Great spices too and some teas.

Lucky’s Market // 3545 Wadsworth Boulevard / Wheat Ridge
Ok, if this was closer to my house it would definitely beat out Sprouts. Fantastic bulk section! Most containers are pull down ones, which makes filling up cloth bags or jars very easy. They carry some foods you can’t find elsewhere like specialty flours, orzo, dates, soybeans, and candy.

Whole Foods // various locations
WF is ok for bulk. It varies a lot by location. Union Station is great for bread and meat, but their grains etc. is limited. Check your local store.

Mouthfuls Pet Store // 4224 Tennyson Street / Berkeley
Pet treats!

Food waste is a massive problem in the United States (and in many other countries). A recent study reports that on average, each American wastes a whole pound of food every day. There are so many problems with wasting food, but if it’s not being composted, it’s especially bad.

Landfills are not aerated for organic matter to break down. Therefore any natural waste in a landfill creates methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide. According to the (pre-Trump) Environmental Protection Agency, landfills account for 34% of all methane emissions in the U.S., meaning any un-composted organic matter is contributing to climate change. And in case you haven’t heard, the forecast for the earth’s future is a toss-up between bad and terrible.

For a few years now, I’ve been patting myself on the back for composting all our food scraps. But lately I’ve realized, there’s actually more I can do. For centuries, people used up nearly 100% of all food products out of necessity. But today, some of us are lucky enough to enjoy an economic position where we have the luxury to throw away food.

I’ve been trying to find ways to use up more of my food scraps. This winter I’ve gotten really into making candied orange peels. I save the peels in a container in the fridge, and once I have enough I make a batch which lasts for a couple weeks. They’re delicious plain, on yogurt, or even on ice cream! They’re not going to save the world (unfortunately!), but they’re saving me money, and if you don’t have access to compost, this is a great way to reduce your methane footprint!

Candied Citrus Peels

~4 cups of citrus peels (oranges, blood oranges, tangerines, lemons, pomelos…)
4 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/4 fresh lemon juice

one/ Slice the peels to desired size. This might be strips or bite-sized chunks. It’s good if you leave a little of the fruit on the peel, but if you’ve consumed the whole fruit, that’s fine too!

two/ Boil a large pot of water. Once boiling, add the peels and boil for 2 minutes. Then drain the peels in a colander and rinse with cold water. Repeat this process twice more (3 times total). It’s important to do this so the peels aren’t too bitter.

three/ Rinse the pot and add the 4 cups of water. Stir in the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add the peels, cover, and reduce the heat so that the syrup simmers very gently for 1.5-2 hours. Stir occasionally during this time.

four/ Once the peels are soft, remove from the heat and let the peel sit in the syrup at room temperature overnight (~10 hours).

five/ The next day, spoon the peels and the syrup into a jar with a tight lid. Store in the fridge.

six / If you want dried candied peels, remove pieces from the syrup and lay them on a rack or plate until they are the desired texture. Store in a jar in the cupboard.

Note: I’ve tried reducing the amount of sugar, and the result is very meh. I recommend using the full 2 cups of sugar!

There was a fantastic piece on Colorado Public Radio earlier this week about recycling. CPR and two listeners went to the Alpine Waste and Recycling facility and talked with Brent Hildebrand, the Vice President of Recycling.

My friends regularly ask me about whether or not they can recycle X. The tricky thing is that the answer is highly dependent on where you live and what facilities your city has. When we had a friend from Germany visit a few years ago, she was shocked we couldn’t recycle potato chip bags!

To summarize some of the info in the CPR piece, combined with questions I think are on the minds of many, here are my top 10 recycling tips for DENVER. Chances are the system in your city is similar, but not identical. For example, Denver is one of the only cities in the US that can recycle coffee cups! (But you should still ditch disposable cups for a real one!)

10 Tips for Effective Recycling (in Denver):

one/ Clean it. But just a little. Jars and cans don’t need to be 100% free of food residue, but they should be lightly rinsed and empty of all food. A can half full of beans will be problematic for recycling machines, but a bit of nut butter residue is no big deal.

two/ Take off caps if they’re made from a different material than the container. Remove metal lids from jars. Remove plastic caps from glass bottles (like soy sauce). Plastic tops can stay on plastic bottles.

three/ Plastic smaller than 2 inches will not be recycled even if it has the recycle symbol on it. Small caps, contact lens cases, tiny toys, etc. are filtered out during the recycling process and go to landfill.

four/ “Extra” plastic doesn’t need to be removed, but it won’t be recycled. Plastic windows on envelopes or plastic film on the outside of a jar or bottle don’t need to be removed before you place the item in your recycling bin. However, this non-recyclable plastic will be filtered out during the sorting process, so it’ll end up in the landfill.

five/ Random metal is generally not accepted in single-stream recycling. Aluminum cans are HIGHLY recyclable and a fantastically sustainable material. Aluminum and tin cans are pretty much the only type of metal you can throw in your single-stream (purple) bin. All other metals need to be taken to a special facility.

six/ SOLO cups are not recyclable. Find some reusables for your next game of beer pong. Many single-use plastic cups are not recyclable. Try out bringing your own cup when you go out!

seven/ “Compromised” paper cannot be recycled. Think: pizza boxes or glittered paper. Paper gets turned into a pulp to make new paper, so if the paper is soiled this process won’t work. Remove embellishments on your kids’ art projects before recycling. Remove the greasy parts of food containers (they’re compostable) and recycle what’s clean. Similarly, very lightweight paper (tissues, paper towels, napkins, tissue paper) is too far down the paper chain to be recycled. It’s compostable.

eight/ You can never recycle plastic film or bags in your curbside bin, even if they have the recycling symbol on them. Recycling gets extra confusing because companies want you to think their packaging is recyclable. Manufacturers will throw a recycling sign on their packaging even if it’s not accepted in single-stream systems. For example, this dumpling bag pictured has a recycling symbol on the bag, but it’s from China, so of course they don’t know what our recycling system is like! In Denver, and most cities in the US, plastic film and bags have to be take to special facilities to be recycled. They’re a terrible problem for recycling plants like Alpine, so don’t put them in your bin!

nine/ Most shipping materials are not recyclable. Amazon has gotten some bad press lately for it’s bubble mailers. They’re using fewer boxes and more plastic wrap which is obviously terrible. Try to combine orders to increase the chance it’ll ship in a box (or better yet, just buy local as much as possible!). As for the plastic packaging you receive, the best bet is to reuse or to take them to a drop off location (find out where these are by Googling the info on the packaging).

ten/ Research your options for recycling “hard to recycle” materials. There are many drop off locations for these items. Things like clothing, technology, metals, styrofoam, and much more can be reused if you find the right place to take them. I’m planning to eventually put more info about this right here on my site, but in the meantime Google is your friend. If you can’t reuse it, try to find a new home for it before you throw it in the trash!

Denver Recycles has a great searchable directory to tell you how to dispose of anything you’re unsure about!

Ok, what did I miss? Recycling is incredibly complex. What materials puzzle you?

I love food: Trying new foods. Going out to eat. Ordering Chinese.

But you know what I no longer love? Take out.

Since becoming more intentional about avoiding single-use packaging, going out and ordering food has become more stressful. When I don’t feel like cooking, the option of ordering take out is not a suggestion that puts me at ease. It does quite the opposite.

So, what to do? Here are five ways I avoid the terribleness that is single-use foodware:

I rarely order “take-out” or “to-go” food. This might initially sound like a bit of a downer, but honestly I feel alright about it. Food never tastes as good when you order it as it does in a restaurant. And all the new delivery services are expensive. Plus, take-out food isn’t usually the healthiest. When I’m feeling lazy about making dinner, we eat something super simple like a frittata, baked potato, rice bowl, pancakes or granola. Even if what I come up with isn’t healthy, at least it’s a lot cheaper than take out.

I order pizza. Yep, that’s our main source of delivery. Pizza. It comes in a box that is reusable (great for poster making!) or compostable (the greasy bottom part). Just make sure to ask for no condiment packets and NO “PIZZA SAVER” (that silly plastic table they put in the center of the pizza.

I BYO utensils and cups. I always have small metal cups and reusable utensils and straws in my bag. This way, if we go to a restaurant to dine in, but they’re using disposables (the worst!) then I can still minimize my waste. The cups come in handy for splitting beverages amongst the kids. Or at an event where they’re serving wine in a plastic cups! I have about 10 of them that I bought at H-Mart. Asian grocery stores are a great place to find stainless steel cups and plates.

I take a container everywhere. I always have a little bag, beeswax wrap, or container in my bag for food. If we eat out and there are leftovers, I slide them into my container. Never once have I gotten any negative comments or looks from a server or fellow diner. It works great; you can even take the extra bread! Health codes have provisions about restaurants touching your container. But they can put it on their plates and then YOU can put it in your container. So, even if you don’t want to dine in, you can still order “for here” and then just take it with you!

I usually use an old plastic container because it’s light. But my favorite are the Onyx stainless steel containers. If you can’t find them at a store near you, order (with free shipping!) from the Package Free Shop!

I tell restaurant workers and managers how I feel about single-use foodware. Last month, in California, Berkeley City Council unanimously passed a groundbreaking ordinance aimed at reducing the use of single-use disposable foodware. Restaurants are now required to use real plates and cups and utensils for customers dining in. For takeaway, containers must be compostable and come only at a 25 cent fee. And that’s not all! The city is working on implementing a program of reusable to-go containers with pick up and drop off locations around the city.

This is an example of how real change will happen. We need our systems to fundamentally change. I haven’t started pushing the Denver City Council yet (frankly, our city has a lot of other issues to address first that Berkeley probably addressed in the 1990s), but telling restaurants that I don’t like their single-use foodware is a good place to start. Just last weekend we went to a great local restaurant and our only complaint the whole meal was the plastic drink stirrer in a cocktail.

Demand what you want as a consumer!

One of the main reasons people buy food in packaging is for convenience. Right? That’s why I used to. Individual servings of chips, applesauce, granola bars etc. make it easy to pack lunches for yourself or your kids. Therefore, when you “give up” these individual packaged snack foods (which I would obviously recommend you do!), it can feel a bit daunting to have to come up with other snacks.

As a first step, you can always try just buying the food you like in the larger size…not zero waste but less packaging. But if you want to take it a step further and try to eliminate the packaging altogether, fear not: there are still tons of snacks available!

Easy “finger” foods:

• Pasta (maybe tossed with some pesto)

• chopped veggies

• apple slices

• chickpeas or lima beans (make your own from bulk or buy in cans)

Foods that come in their own “packaging:”

• bananas

• oranges

• lychees (find at Asian markets)

• snap peas

• hard-boiled eggs

Foods that come in bulk*:

• sesame sticks

• nuts

• dried fruits (mango is usually a hit!)

• peanut butter pretzels

• granola

• trail mixes

• plantain chips

• popcorn

• veggie chips

• dark chocolate pieces or chips

• chocolate-covered fruit or nuts

• “real fruit” gummy bears (these are basically fruit snacks)

My favorite recipes for snack foods:
Most of these are freezable either after they’re baked or in their pre-cooked form. Keep a stash of any or all in the freezer for your snacking needs!

• Candied Orange Peels

• Chia and Quinoa Flatbread

• Flax and Oat Breakfast Power Muffins (also works with sweet potato or pumpkin in place of banana)

• Vegan Cheez-Its

• Saturday Morning Blender Waffles

• Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Cookie Balls

• Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Breakfast Cookies

• Banana Breakfast Bars

• Scallion Pancakes

• Crunchy Roasted Chickpeas

Snacks/recipes I want to try:

• Multi Seed Crackers

• Onigiri (Japanese Rice Balls)

• Homemade Potato Chips

A few weeks ago, we had some good friends over for dinner. I was planning to make Yotam Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake (which is divine!) but our friends were avoiding flour. I had some kale I wanted to use up, too, so I started searching the internet for just the right recipe. I never found it. Instead, I just made this. It turned out well! I recommend doubling the recipe in two pans so you have twice the food for the same effort! Nicely uses up a full head of cauliflower and kale too.

Cauliflower + Kale Frittata {GF and dairy free}

½ medium head cauliflower (about 1 1/4 pounds or 3 cups), trimmed and chopped into bite-sized florets
½ bunch of kale, de-stemmed and chopped - separate stems and leaves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup finely chopped parsley
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Pinch of cayenne, if desired
Freshly ground pepper

one/ Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the cauliflower and boil until very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the cauliflower and transfer to a bowl of cold water.

two/ Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the onion and chopped kale stems. Cook, stirring, until the onion and kale soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add in the garlic, and stir together for about 30 seconds.

three/ Preheat the broiler function on your oven.

four/ Add the cauliflower and kale leaves, and sauté until kale starts to wilt. Sprinkle veggies with spices and mix.

five/ Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add a tablespoon of water and/or milk to increase the volume.

six/ Pour the eggs over the cauliflower and kale mixture. Spread the eggs evenly amongst the vegetables. Cook on low until the bottom starts to set.

seven/ Place pan under broiler until the top of the frittata is fully set and starting to brown.

Learning to make yogurt in the slow cooker has changed my life.

Ok, that might be an overstatement. But not by much. Yogurt was a huge source of our packaging waste. I tried making it a few times on the stove but it was so tedious and it boiled over and I was defeated. Then I learned on one of my FB groups that you can just use the slow cooker. WHAAAAA amazing.

So without further ado, here it is:

The Simplest Slow-Cooker Overnight Yogurt

one/ Pour 1/2 a gallon, give or take, into your slow cooker.

two/ Cook on LOW for 2.5 hours.

three/ Turn off heat (do NOT “Keep Warm”) and let it sit for 3 hours.

four/ Stir in 1/2 cup of “starter” yogurt. The first time you make yogurt, use store bought plain yogurt with lots of active culture listed on or under the ingredients. The next time, you can use some of your previous batch to make the next batch.

five/ Wrap or drape the slow cooker in a blanket and let sit approximately 12 hours. Alternatively, you can put the slow cooker pot in the oven with the light on. You just want the yogurt to stay slightly warm all night so the cultures can do their magic.

six/ The yogurt will be “done” when it is slightly firm on top. At that point you can place a fine mesh colander in a bowl, and pour the yogurt in. This will create a thick “Greek-style” yogurt. I store the thick yogurt and the whey (liquid part) separately. I add some whey back in to smooth out the texture. I also use whey for baking (it’s great in waffles!).

Sometimes, when I read “zero-waste” blogs or Instagram accounts, I think to myself “well, easy for them to have just a Mason jar of trash when they don’t have kids.”

There’s definitely some truth to the fact that having children increases the amount of waste you produce. Tiny humans need things, and sometimes those things come in plastic packaging. However, the dominant parenting culture in the US often sends the message that the tiny humans need more things than they actually do. Moreover, marketers are constantly trying to convince parents that certain products will make our lives easier.

The truth is, more stuff rarely makes your life easier. Less stuff is the way to simplify! So, if you’re trying to cut down on your family’s waste, here are nine easy steps you can take:

one // Register for less. It’s been 7 years since I was pregnant with my first, but at that time, as soon as you were pregnant you started creating your baby registry. It was exciting. It was a way to prepare. A way to materialize an important life event ;) Despite being aware of the pitfalls of too much stuff, I still registered for too many things. I’m not sure exactly what I’d do differently if I could go back in time, but I know there are ways this cultural phenomenon could be adjusted. So much baby stuff could be procured from friends or second-hand stores. Maybe there’s something else you could ask your friends to gift you?

two // Use CLOTH wipes! The wet wipe has become ubiquitous. Any time one of my children has a runny nose or a messy face, another well-meaning parent will offer me a “wipe.” I sincerely appreciate the gesture, but on the inside I cry a little that wipes are so readily available. They are so bad for the earth. Single-use water bottles or disposable straws get used for longer than a wet wipe, and many of us have come to realize how awful those items are for the environment. I am not alone in this opinion: the UK is currently considering a ban on wet wipes.

The solution is simple: carry a little bag of cut up rags (made from old clothes or towels!) in your diaper bag, add water, and you have a wet wipe! Cheaper, too. Not to mention, a wet cloth arguably works better to clean a soiled bum. And if you feel like you just can’t give up a wet wipe for a poopy diaper change, maybe you could try to use fewer throughout the rest of your parenting day. It never has to be all or nothing!

three // Rethink convenience foods. Plenty of kids have made it to adulthood without eating a goldfish cracker. Honest! And babies learned to eat before puffs that come in plastic containers existed. And don’t even get me started on pouches of pureed foods (in short, they’re bad for kids’ health and bad for the environment).

Give your kids real food. Bananas and oranges come in their own “wrapper.” Apples are easy to transport without getting squished. Dried fruit tastes a lot like fruit snacks. Nuts are full of protein. Of course we all love crackers and pizza and mac and cheese from time to time, but remind yourself that babies and kids can usually eat the same foods you enjoy.

four // Use what you have. This is kind of a no-brainer, but it’s good to keep reminding yourself that before you had children you likely had most of the things you needed to live, and many of those items can also be used for children. Marketers want you to think you need baby-specific everything, but honestly how different are baby nail clippers from regular nail clippers? And are baby wash cloths softer than the wash cloths you already have? This logic is widely applicable. Before you buy something, ask yourself if you already possess something that could serve the same or similar purpose. But if you don’t…

five // …Borrow + buy used. So many people have babies. And all those people buy baby stuff. And then, their babies grow up. They don’t need their baby stuff anymore. They’d love to sell it to you! Or maybe even give it to you. When I wanted to get Willa a Bumbo, we shuddered at the thought of millions of Bumbos in a landfill. Just picture that for a second…. As a world, don’t need that many foam seats! So I found a used one through our neighborhood parents’ group, and made friends with the gal who sold it to me too! If you can’t find what you need from family, friends, or neighbors, hit up your local consignment stores or Goodwill. There are also lots of Facebook groups to “buy nothing” or you can purchase used clothes on online/app options such as: thredUp, Kidizen, Swap.com, or Poshmark.

six // Buy milk in glass bottles. Some kids don’t drink milk. But some kids drink a lot of milk. If your family likes dairy, try to find milk in reusable glass bottles. The glass goes back to the dairy to be refilled. Hurray for a circular economy moment! In Denver, you can find this milk from a local, organic dairy (their milk isn’t yet marketed as “organic” because they’re in one of the final years of an almost decade-long process of getting organic certification). You can also use their milk to make delicious homemade yogurt (if you’ve ever had Noosa yogurt, it’s made from their milk, so clearly it’s a good choice for yogurt!).

seven // Say “no thanks” to cheap plastic toys. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones you get at birthday parties or school carnivals or at the dentist. These toys serve barely any purpose. They’re fun for a minute, and then they break and/or are forgotten. Just save the whole hassle and teach your kids to say “no thank you.” This goes for balloons and stickers too! Some might say “what’s the harm?” But I say, “What’s the point!?”

eight // Make your kids share. If you have more than one child, don’t aim to have multiple versions of everything. Of course we all want our kids to learn to share, but this can be applied to more items than we might realize. Water bottles. Lunch boxes. Swim floaties. An iPad. Your kids will benefit from realizing that resources are finite and they don’t always get their own everything. In our family, the things we buy for the kids are to be shared right away. If they receive a gift for a birthday or holiday, they can decide they don’t want to share it for one week. But after that, everything is to be shared. (This family policy is a work in progress for us…of course the kids are changing all the time, so we’ll keep revisiting the rules. But overall, I want to promote the idea that we share things and each member or our family doesn’t always need their own specific things.)

nine // Go to the library. Books take up space. Printing books uses trees. Kids “favorite” books change all the time. Buy a few you love, and then go to the library for fun new ones. This isn’t rocket science. (You’re all like, “duh!”) But take it to another level and look for a toy library in your area. We have one in Denver, and it’s amazing to be able to check out toys for a few weeks and then take them back for something else that's new and exciting. I’ve even heard that some cities have baby wearing libraries. Awesome.