Zero(ish) Waste Choices I’m Making

As I mentioned in my last post, reducing our waste has always been a passion for me. We are not perfect, we do create trash. This especially happens when we are busy or stressed. Less waste just takes more work. I was very inspired by Ana Lucia (trail name Eco) who did an inspiring job of creating very little waste when hiking the PCT last year. I know that I definitely do not have the same self discipline when hiking (skipping town food if it comes with plastic trash!), but I figured there were things I could do before the hike to make a difference.

Toothbrushes and toothpaste

We switched to bamboo toothbrush’s (cut off for John, kids size for me) and packed toothpaste tabs. We use the Bites toothpaste at home already, so it made it easy to pack. I like them after they have been exposed to the moisture and have gotten soft, John likes them hard – so we each have our own tin. I’ve tried the floss and honestly it was not my favorite. For the hike I’ll take travel floss gifted from the dentist on each visit.

Energy squares

We are very lucky to live near a store that has bulk goods. I was able to use my own bags for dry goods like quinoa and TVP to use for meals. We were also able to get a variety of energy squares to put in our mail drops. They are a blend of dried fruit and nuts or seeds with all different flavors. I even made a few bags of Lara bar knockoff with dates and cashews. This is to try to avoid the wrappers from granola bars and fruit leathers.

Cnoc bottles

We are switching from a water bladder to water bottles to be like all of the other cool kids. But really, a water bladder makes it harder to track how much water you have and refill without emptying half your pack. Most people use Smart Water bottles, but they do have a life span and are meant to be thrown away. Cnoc makes a bottle shaped like the Smart Water bottle, but are collapsible and longer lasting. I’m reserving judgment on this one though – we have had a few disasters when pouring out of them because they collapse at inopportune times.

Compostable bags

I made a significant investment into compostable bags to replace our vacuum seal/ freezer ziploc bags for food. The food system that makes us happiest is having individually bagged dinners that just require the addition of boiling water. No pot to clean and it’s easy to save leftovers. (For me, John is more likely to eat his dinner, snacks while waiting for dinner, and then dessert.) I bought the green compostable bags instead of ziplocs (turns out they are only compostable in commercial facilities – but I have to believe they are still better than just regular plastic). For snacks I bought a reusable bag that fits in my fanny pack with a cute “Feed me!” dinosaur, and for everything else we used ziplocs that we have had for years. I’m also using a hiker wallet instead of a ziploc baggie.

Tie dyed shirt and hat

One often overlooked way to be zero waste it to re-use what you already have. The last time I hike the Colorado Trail I had a pale pink sun shirt and a now faded light purple sun hat. I wanted a new shirt and hat because if you are wearing the same thing every day, you want to really like it. Instead I turned it into a craft project and bought a bright pink polyester dye. Yes, there is now the waste of a plastic bottle that I’m sure won’t actually be recycled even though I put it in the recycles. But for me, zero waste is a constant compromise while trying to keep creating less waste in mind. One craft project later and I now have a really cute tie dyed sun shirt and matching hat. And bras because I’m an enneagram 1.

If everyone stopped to consider what little changes they could make, a little would add up to a world of difference.