Spreading the news of less.

There have been several times that I have had the opportunity to talk to others about living a life with less consumerism and making life better. 
I am always happy to tell someone why I do what I do. Some people ask, and sometimes when people give me strange looks I volunteer the information. 
Here are some examples. Maybe you can talk to people you know easier than you think. Heck, I'm ever talking to strangers. But, I think a stranger is just a friend I haven't made yet. :)

1. While on the cruise, I saw a lady reading "the life changing magic of tidying up" by Marie Kondo. We talked about how decluttering has changed my life I asked her how she was liking the book and told her that it would become addictive.  She laughed but then she had some questions about how my life changed. I explained to her abut the capsule wardrobe that I do. She said she needs that in her life, but didn't ever know how to start it before.  She was excited about starting when she got home.  We talked about the book and she asked me if anything else in it was helpful. I told her that I can clean faster, because I got of all the unnecessary things hanging around and that life is more peaceful. And that alone is worth it to me. She was really encouraged to start but she didn't want to start with clothing. I urged her to start with clothing. I told her that I know it seems hard, but you don't have to give it away if you aren't ready to. I told her to just pack it up for awhile and go through it later. I told her about project 333 and she was interested in that. She might be a believer when she gets home. I really hope that she sticks to it.  We talked a bit longer about her personal situation (which I won't go into here) and I offered her some advise and websites to look at if she did happen to get stuck. She was all smiles as I left to get into the hot tub. Hey, this was a cruise after all!!
2. Almost every single time that I go to buy groceries, whether I am at the farmer's market or the grocery store, people ask about my bag I'm carrying. I made a reusable bag from a dog food bag. I tell them how I made it if they want to know. Or I show them the material,Duraflex is woven plastic, and how strong it is. I fill it up and it holds up to the weight of it without being too much of a strain for me to carry. If I were making one for someone else I might make it smaller though. Occasionally, someone will ask if I will make one for them. I'm thinking about making extras and taking them with me and leaving them in my truck so I can do this or even sell them. It might be a nice extra source of income. Since most people aren't into or don't know how to sew. 
3. I am a part of a ladies bunco group(It's a dice game.) and after the game we have a yankee swap. I've been slowly switching over to eco friendly wrapping paper. Most ladies use the paper bags, so I've been thinking of making a few fabric bags to give out as well. I think they might hold up better. I made a furoshiki, for February's spring theme, and added instructions a few seed packets and an African Violet. I'm really hoping to increase awareness in my circle of friends. I just don't want to be pushy about it. 

So, three examples of how I am spreading the zero waste lifestyle. 

I just don't want people to be stuck in their consumer driven lives and not realize that there are other (better, in my opinion) options. I hope that this encourages you to talk to other people. 

My zero waste goals

I've always been a weirdly eco viking hippy. (I really meant to type vibe-ing, but strangely viking works...) I've always thought that just recycling my plastics, cardboards and a lot of composting would be fine. Enter the work of Bea Johnson's "Zero Waste Home." This book was surprisingly easy to read and I learned quite a bit from just the first chapter. I've been seeing 'zero waste' on a few of my minimalist boards that I read and contribute to, but I hadn't fully researched it.  Now, I've read it and I'm a believer. My life is totally changed (for the better I think, and for the betterment of the planet)

My DH is not convinced about some of it. He doesn't understand why we can't just keep recycling everything. But, if I implement a new plan with enough information he goes with it. I do have to give him time to adjust to the new idea but I think that's understandable. Don't we all need time to adjust to a new habit or idea in life?

I want to waste less resources, time, money, and leave a healthy planet behind for the next generation. Plastic is just bad news all around. It doesn't bio-degrade into useable compost or soil like most things do. It photo-degrades, which means that it will break down into particles in the soil, water or air and make it more and more toxic as more particles are accumulated. Why did we make this stuff??  I do think that people are starting to see that using so many plastic things and throwing them away (Where is away?) is just not sustainable. So many companies are now charging for plastic bags or giving a discount if you bring your own reusable bag(s.) Some cities in the US are talking about banning plastic bags.

"...[Plastic bags] sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They line bathroom trash bins. They carry clothes to the gym. They clutter landfills. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. They clog roadside drains. They drift on the high seas. They fill sea turtle bellies. 

"The numbers are absolutely staggering," said Vincent Cobb, an entrepreneur in Chicago, Illinois, who recently launched the Web site http://Reusablebags.com to educate the public about what he terms the "true costs" associated with the spread of "free" bags. He sells reusable bags as a viable solution." (Source)

So plastic bags are banned from my house. This is just one of many reasons I'm changing our life. 

Zero Waste Goals

1. Switch every family member over to using reusable bags. By keeping the bag/bags in the car we can just grab them when we go to the store. My DH doesn't go to the grocery store very often, but I want him to have a bag to use if he goes to the hardware store or picks something else up from town. I'm working on making a man appropriate bag for him. (More on that later)
2. Stop using the plastic bags in the produce section. I have actually already instituted this one, but sometimes I forget to bring them with me. They are now kept in the truck with my reusable bags. 
3. Stop junk from coming into the house. I already blogged about how I stopped the junk mail through different sources. This is the next step of that. I'm going paperless with our bills and bank statements. I don't really even use the bank statements. When we do the budget I use the computer, so why have I been wasting these resources? I'm also refusing things I don't need or want. 
4. Compost all paper that does come into the house. This is me being realistic here. I know that I am not going to be able to stop ALL the paper from coming into the house. Just tax documents and old paperwork alone could give me an aneurysm. So, I have instituted a plan with my DH for him to spread all paper that he wants to "throw away" it will take some time, but I know he will get it. All the shred paper gets taken to the compost heap to rot. 
5. Shop at the Co-op in town for bulk items. I'm still making my cloth bags for this and I want to go buy some things that I need there, but I'm putting it off for now until I finish the bags. Since this store is 20-30 miles away it's not a quick run over and get what I need every day kind of thing. It just requires a bit more planning on my part. 
6. Switch to "ReUsies" instead of plastic storage bags. (In case you don't know what it is.) I have a set of 2 and one extra that I use, but I am going to get a few more that are zippered for small things like grapes that fall out of the velcro bags. 
7. Stop using disposable head razors. My Step-Father gave us his old safety razor. I bought new blades for it, a badger shave brush and some fancy soap for my DH to try it. He has a lot of disposable heads to go through so it may be awhile before he tries it. I'm also hoping that he likes the closer shave it gives. I use an epilator and a hand held electric razor. 
8. Get more serious about composting. I know that there are more things in this house that I've been "throwing away" that could be composted. The hair that gets caught in the shower. (I have a lot of hair, says my DH), the vacuumed hair and dirt from the rugs, and the paper I mentioned. 
9. Switch to using handkerchiefs instead of tissue. My DH is not so sure about this one. I seem to blow my nose a lot and how many do I need to carry and how do I carry it? This is the one that scares me the most and we have a few boxes of tissue to use up before it becomes an issue. I actually do have a vintage hankie that I bought at an antique store because I loved the embroidery on it. I need to get some for DH and a few extras for me, but it will be awhile. Since we have 6 boxes of tissue. (This is going to make more space under my bathroom sink too!) 
10. Stop my trash service. This one step would save me $30 a month and it would force me to figure out other ways to recycle and be more proactive about our waste. 

These are goals and I plan to implement small changes to work towards them. Nothing is going to happen overnight. But, I want to be the change that I desire in the world. So, here I go. 

Valentines day (2015) quilt and dress.

This is from Valentine's Day 2015. I am still not finished with it, but I am so close. Since we will not be in MN on Valentine's day I haven't had the motivation to finish it all the way. I'm hoping that you will see it on 'Me Made 2016' this year!

Hi friends!

It's been crazy this month. I'm making a quilt for the valentine's day silent auction at our church. All the money goes to the youth group on their mission trips this year. I'm happy to help them out. Although I wish I wouldn't have taken on such a big project. Oh, well too late now. I'm enjoying making it. I'm playing with triangles a lot lately. I love how you can turn them different ways with different patterns and you get some different designs in the quilt. Like the 'X' that showed up in the Block of the Month pattern a friend and I are doing, the triangles in the 'Wild Rose' pattern that I'm working on from the quilting retreat. It's a simple idea and doesn't take a lot of fabric. Pinwheels are another thing that is just triangles together. (I'm working on one of those too, but still working on cutting out the fabric for it. I will post on it later too.)

These are the colors that I'm doing. I made up a pattern that comes out looking like a heart on a different background. I'm sure that someone had made it up before me as it is not terribly hard, but I don't know who and I'm not looking it up.

Here are some in progress shots. I wasn't too concerned with this since I was trying to finish it up fairly quickly. But, this gives you some idea of how involved this project was/is and how stupid I can be sometimes. 

                                      

As of Feb 9th I have 4 more days to finish it up and give it to the church and I'm about half way done with the squares. 

I am making 46 heart blocks and 4 corner blocks with some of the leftover blocks. 

All the squares laid out, before sewing them together. I know some of the whiter blocks look like they are running together here. But they look better in person. 

 Here are a few of the heart blocks and my corner block. 

Getting ready to go out on Valentine's Day. It was cold! 9F.

We had a great time. Even though I didn't get the quilt finished. Or the dress. 

I'll get to them. But, I'm trying not to stress out about little things like this anymore. 

I'm very excited to finish both of these projects. I've stayed up late into the night working on the quilt so far. And I'm sure that I will have the same issue with the dress. But, Valentine's day was a great night. 

Buying Clothing that lasts

I know I just posted about replacing some clothing, but I want to talk a moment about quality.
I hope by now you have all purged yourself of unnecessary clothing and shoes. But what do you do when your things wear out on you? Do you have a favorite brand that you go to when you need something or do you find yourself wandering aimlessly around a crowded mall looking for that perfect thing? I don't know about you, but I hardly ever find what I'm looking for at a mall. I end up stressed out, hungry, irritated by battling all the people inside and looking for a parking place is a nightmare. Oh, and my personal favorite? Traffic! UGH, it makes me just want to stay home. Well, since we are reading this on a computer, I'm going to assume we all have access to the internet.

I shared that I recently purchased my new clothing from L.L. Bean. They have a guarantee program for all their products. The jeans that I bought fit me almost perfectly. I find it harder to find clothing that fits me since I'm high waisted and my waist to hip difference is about 9".  I think most companies make clothing for ladies with larger hips and thighs.  I have a slightly larger waist and smaller hips and thighs, it makes buying pants harder. These are SO close that I actually feel comfortable.

I digress, there IS a brand out there that is going to fit you better or make you feel better about yourself. You just have to take the time to find it. I read a lot of online reviews about clothing and looked at some other people's blogs about how clothing fit them. Then I looked at their pictures and tried to decide if they had a similar body shape to mine. That is how I decided to go with L.L Bean. Yes, it took a bit of time, but short of making your own clothing (Which I do as well sometimes.) You aren't going to find a great fit on the first try unless you get really lucky.

Even if you find something that is close to fitting, it might not fit you comfortably or the way it was designed to fit. With certain clothing items you can take them to a tailor and get them fitted for your body. You will feel better in those items and you will really notice a difference. I bought a pink dress from modcloth.com and I had to tailor the shoulders so that it stayed on me and didn't expose too much of me. But, now it fits a lot better and I love wearing it. (It's the long pink dress in my spring/summer capsule. You can see it in this photo, but I was wearing a cardi since it was a chilly valentine's day.

About shoes- Most shoes are disposable products. I took my black malibrans to the shoe repair store (cobbler) only to be told that they are not repairable. I'm looking for shoes now that I can buy once and repair over and over. These particular shoes I have had for 5 years and I wore them a lot when I worked in the office. The soles are cracked and crumbling rubber. It's turned hard and the cobbler said that he could replace the soles but it would just come right off because of the way they were made. This makes me so sad. I have a few more pairs of shoes with the exact type of soles and I know that their days are numbered as well. I paid a lot for these shoes, but I don't think I will be buying another pair. (*UPDATE* I went to the Fluevog store and they have a special cobbler they use. They are taking my shoes to be repaired and I have high hopes for them.) I did have them repaired when I ripped the leather on the side. My cobbler in SC fixed them and I went right on wearing them.

Most people don't know that they can get their shoes repaired. It seems like mostly men's styles are repairable. I do have a few pair of shoes that I know I can take to get repaired if something happens to them. But, these *might*(hopefully not though) headed to a trash heap. I'm just happy that I bought them used and still got 5 (almost 6) years out of them.

Now I am searching for a pair of repairable shoes. I'm thinking about some I found on etsy.com or a par of doc martens. I'm not sure which one I would get the most wear out of though. I need something dressier for date nights, vacations, and church. But, comfort is HUGE to me. Plus, if you think about it you want to make sure that you can get the best shoes that you can afford. Your entire body depends on your feet.

I hope that you will think about upgrading your shoes and clothes as the time comes. Quality over quantity.

To me part of being a minimalist is having good quality things that I can depend on for a lot longer than cheap disposable things. I eschew plastic anything, I buy repairable if at all possible, I try to keep as much out of the landfills as possible,  and I look for companies that treat their employees right, overseas and here in the USA, when I need to replace something.
These are my reasons for doing a capsule wardrobe and trying to have quality pieces. Yours may look different. Maybe you have lots of children so plastic is easier to clean or to keep from breaking, or maybe you can only afford to buy a piece at a time. Whatever it is make it fit your life and make sure that you know why you are doing what you do.

Putting a stop to junk mail

Today I'm going to talk a little about how you can live a zero waste (or close to it) a little easier.


I don't know if you've heard of Bea Johnson, of 'zero waste home', blog and book. (I suggest reading her book, it's really insightful.)

You can find more information about a zero waste life at her blog here.

She talks about zero waste in 5 steps, all to be done in order. The first is refuse. She talks about refusing what you don't need. Junk mail is something we don't need and most of us don't want. You can get off a lot of those lists!

There are 2 ways to get rid of, or at least lessen, your junk mail. 

1. You can stop receiving credit based or 'pre-approved' credit cards and insurance offers. 

A lot of companies will use your credit information to decide if you would be a good candidate for their services. My issue with this is that more people are looking at my information, and that I don't want their services. You do have the option to opt-in after you opt-out, if you do decide that you are interested in their services. 

You have he option to keep those pesky insurance and credit card offers out of your mailbox!

You can choose 2 options with this opt-out. You can fill out the online form and be off the list for 5 years. Or you can fill out the form and print the paperwork to send in and be off the list permanently. 

If you choose permanently, you still get put on the list for 5 years once you fill out the paperwork, until they receive your form in the mail. 

No more insurance letters in my mailbox! 

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi

2. You can opt-out of direct marketing 

The website is pretty easy to navigate and you can opt out or opt back in at anytime. (although, I never want to see that wasted paper again!) You do have to register your mailbox(address) to use this service, but I have seen a great reduction in my junk mail from signing up for this.

https://www.dmachoice.org

Bonus!

This is not strictly junk mail, but junk calls are just as annoying. I can remember sitting at dinner when I was younger only to have the telephone ring and it was someone trying to sell something! So annoying, but now you can put a stop to that!

3. You can get on the 'Do Not Call Registry'

This website is for the United States only, but some other states have  a separate registry. With a little bit of searching you can locate those too. While the service will reduce unsolicited calls it does not stop solicited calls, market research calls, silent calls or overseas calls. It will still greatly decrease the number of junk calls that you receive. 

https://donotcall.gov

I hope that you are thinking about how much trash we are creating, especially here in the USA. The resources that it requires to make more plastic bags, bottles or even to recycle them is more than we should be paying. There are limited resources on Earth and we have been using more of them in the past 100 years than the whole of humanity. This insanity must stop if we expect to leave our children and the next generations anything!