When I Should Be Studying

Now that 6 months of 2019 are over I feel as though I should post an update on my zero waste goals for this year. I recommend that before you continue reading this blog post that you read the original which will be linked here . In this blog post I shared my initial ideas for each goal and how I planned on achieving it. Roommates There have not been any significant changes regarding my efforts to reduce the amount of waste that my roommates produce. We are still recycling all items accepted by our city. I would like to further encourage my roommates to not use single use plastic when buying produce and other items from the grocery store. They have reduced the amount they use by not using a plastic bag at all for produce or just for large items or things that only come in plastic like grapes.  Sustain As mentioned in the initial blog post, Sustain is the environmental/sustainable club that I am a member of. The campaign that I focused most on while in school was to elim...

On my blog I have shared my 2019 Zero Waste Goals . One thing I have strayed away from talking about is the areas in my life that I struggle with and why these areas are a struggle for me. In this blog post I am going to share the different parts of going zero waste that I am stilling working on and how I plan to change these habits. If you are new to my blog you may not know that I am in my second year of getting my Environmental Studies major and Environmental Education minor. Okay, let get into my zero waste struggles. Frozen Food The area in which I struggle that most to reduce single use plastics is in food packaging. I can't be too hard on myself because I have switched to buying somethings not in plastic, but there are still some food items that I continue to purchase that are in plastic packaging. The freezer items in my weekly grocery haul that come in plastic are deli ham, frozen chicken tenderloins, vegetables, pepperoni, and pizza crusts. For some of these items ...

As a New Year's Resolution for 2018 I wanted to reduce the amount of waste I was creating and start implementing zero waste practices and products into my life. For example over the past year I have been able to reduce the amount of paper I use significantly. For more on how I did that as a planner check out my blog post  Switching to a Digital Planner-Paperless Planning . The amount of waste I produce in the kitchen has also been reduced. As an environmental studies major and environmental advocate, I want to make even more sustainable changes in my life. The following blog post will describe the goals I have for 2019 regarding zero waste and sustainability and how I plan to achieve each goal. Roommates As of August I moved into my first apartment and am living with three other young women. I have been able to encourage them to recycle by providing a bin for them to put recyclables that are not accepted by our apartment, but there are still areas that I would like to educat...

As someone who is trying to reduce her waste and live a minimal as much as possible, I am always concerned with the gifts that I am going to be given. I have family and friends who are always giving me gifts that I either do not have a need for. When it comes to receiving gifts I never forget to take into consideration that thought in which they put into picking out a gift for me, but I still struggle with the fact that I usually do not need anymore things. So for the sake of the upcoming holiday season, I thought I would comply a list of zero waste or minimal waste products. Gift Cards grocery store, movies, iTunes, thrift stores, Hulu, Spotify, Apple Music, Netflix, ThredUp When it comes to giving gift cards make sure that it is to a store or place that the person receiving the gift card to is already a frequent customer. If you know that the person you are giving the gift card to has a favorite grocery store or a more expensive grocery store that they don't always like...

Previously on my blog I have talked about how I am on a journey to reduce the amount of waste I generate. My reasons for doing this center around the fact that I am working on a degree in environmental studies and am very passionate in living a life focused on the idea that it is humans responsibility to preserve the environment so it can provide resources for further generations. If you are interested in reading more about my response for certain environmental issues check out my blog post An Environmental Studies Student's Response to No Toys For Christmas . I also have a blog post on How to Limit Your Waste During the Holidays . Tip #1 This first tip is one that I highly recommend and have found to be very useful in my efforts of reducing the amount of waste I generate while traveling. By making a packing list and checking your luggage twice to make sure you have everything and anything you might need. Doing this you can decrease your chances of having to purchase somethi...

As someone who is an environmental studies major I am very passionate about sharing and educating on anything and everything to do with how people can work towards protecting and bettering the world we live in. Over the past year I have been implementing zero waste practices into my life. Currently I am not living 100% zero waste. With that being said I have complied a list of four of my favorite zero waste products for those who are just starting to work towards zero waste and for those who are just looking for products that are overall better for the environment. All of the products listed below can be found on Amazon. Bamboo Utensils Bamboo utensils are a great alternative to using plastic silverware. By eliminating the use of plastic silverware you are lessening the amount of waste that is being sent to the landfill or recycling center. Aside from the fact that bamboo utensils are beautiful, they are also reusable and biodegradable. I make sure to always carry a set around wi...

This blog post is going to explain why I have switched from paper planning to digital planning. I will also be sharing my favorite digital planning tools and how the first three weeks of planning digitally went. Why Make the Switch to Digital Planning? The reasons I switched from paper planning (traditional planning) to digital planning range from financial to functional. As someone who is working on her environmental studies degree, I am always looking to make changes in my life that benefit the environment instead of harm it. Over the past six months I have been working towards going as paperless as I can. What this means is that I am finding alternatives to traditionally paper products. While taking a look at my life and where I use the most paper I found that planning is one of the areas of my life where I was using and disposing (always recycling) large amounts of paper. So I made the decision to try out digital planning instead of traditional paper planning. Read the next...

As someone who is working towards her environmental studies major, I have been working to find different ways in which I can practice sustainable living while living in a dormitory. I have complied a list of a few different tips and tricks that you can starting using while in a college dormitory and continue to implement into your life afterward dormitory living.  Tip 1 So that I did not have to purchase a coffee mug and a bowl, I found a coffee cup that is big enough to function as a bowl. Not only am I not making two purchases, but I am also practicing a minimalism by using this one product for two purposes. The first mug is similar to the one I purchased. Before going out to purchase a new mug try scouting out thrift stores. Purchasing from a thrift store is a method of shopping helps you to reduce your ecological footprint. Tip 2 Instead of using paper plates and plastic silverware, purchasing plates and silverware is another tip t...

Gift bags and tissue paper Use gift bags and tissue paper for wrapping for as many items as you can. My family switched from wrapping paper to gift bags a number of years ago. Why? For starters we find it easier and less stressful. Also we reuse the bags year after year. Labeling Gift Bags When it comes to labeling presents I purchase To and From stickers from the Dollar Tree, one pack has lasted us at least three years now. I stick the sticker to the string on the bag so we can just peel it off and the gift bag is ready to be stored for next year. Plastic Gift Bags A suggestion for presents that are too big for gift bags are to purchase the plastic gift bags, Dollar Tree also sells these. To make it so the bag can be reused just tie it closed to a satin ribbon or ribbon that can easily be untied. Making Gift Bags Stylish Another wrapping idea is to use decorate paper bags. This can be used to package small presents. You could either purchase colored, patterned, white o...