trash is for tossers

i very recently came across a blog called trash is for tossers. i loved it so much i read her whole blog. in one day. the whole thing.

when i moved to salt lake at the end of 2012 my new year's/new house's resolution was to stop buying paper napkins and paper towels. i did buy these paper towel alternatives and loved them. i didn't think twice about buying paper products. for 2015 my plan was to stop buying disposable plastic - specifically ziploc baggies. i have some plastic containers that i can wash and reuse and eventually replace with something like these stainless steel lunch containers.  researching more sustainable ways of living was how i came across trash is for tossers.

i read about lauren before i read her blog. i had sort of heard of the zero waste movement but not really. i'll be honest my first thought when i heard "zero waste" was of an episode of extreme cheapskates i'd seen. i mean i had no idea what her blog was going to be - did she make her own reusable toilet paper and find salvageable food in dumpsters and share bathwater? i was a little nervous.

but as i started reading she just seemed like a fun, personable girl who is conscious of the way her lifestyle impacts our world and is trying to live what she believes. she buys groceries in bulk or at farmers markets with her own reusable jars and sacks, she recycles and composts, she plans ahead, she shops second hand and says "no thank you" to things she doesn't need. she uses toilet paper.

i think what i admire most about her lifestyle is the thoughtfulness that it creates. i've been thinking a lot lately about how we live in such a disposable world (and i'm just as guilty as the next person.) when you can buy a pair of jeans at old navy or wherever for under $20 it's easy to throw them out if they get a rip or a stain. i've been going through my closets as i'm getting ready to move (and still attempting a capsule wardrobe) and surprising how much i have. do i need 6 pair of the same jeans? or 5 of the same white tank top? no i don't.

anyway back to trash is for tossers. i've read other zero waste blogs that tell you how to redo your whole house and what you need to buy and not-so-subtle links to their own book but lauren's blog (i say "lauren" like we're friends but i secretly think we would be... haha.) is so genuine and relatable. she's open and honest and admits it wasn't an overnight process to change her way of life.

if you follow me on instagram you'll know i recently attempted my own zero waste shopping trip and i'm happy to say i was successful. i took some cloth bags for bulk granola, french bread, and veggies and some glass jars for bulk olives and quinoa. when i got to the store (whole foods) they weighed my empty containers and i wrote on the bottom of them with a sharpie so i didn't pay for the weight of the jars. it took a little planning but it was kind of fun. plus there's no impulse buying when you are limiting yourself to buying bulk. there was no bulk chocolate and no bulk coke zero (ugh). so maybe this will be a good thing for my own health as well as the environment.

oh the other thing i loved about her lifestyle was that she lets her fridge go bare. i always hate cleaning out my fridge and seeing all the unused, spoiled food i toss out. since i bought very few perishable items i'm going to see if i can actually use everything up before i go shopping again. i'll let you know if i'm successful.

i don't know if i'll be able to do this all the time but i think i'd like to try. i mean, it's worth trying right? and i'm not going to go through my house and toss all plastic items and replace them with metal and glass - that's hardly environmentally friendly but i can see myself making some changes.

one funny story from my shopping trip: i was checking out with all my jars and cloth bags and the guy was pretty cool about it even though it took a little extra time and so i was telling him about trash is for tossers and how amazing lauren is and i said "she hasn't produced any waste in two years!" there was major awkward silence and he gave me a very strange look and said something like "what? is that healthy?" or something like that and then i was confused and after some more awkwardness i realized i think he thought i was saying she hadn't pooped in two years... what? ugh. no. major awkward. sorry, lauren.