How To: Host a Zero Waste Dinner Party
I am starting a new job this week, so to celebrate I wanted to host a dinner party. The idea can seem a little daunting, and understandably so. The hours of preparation and the cleanup are tiresome enough. My solution? A potluck! It makes playing hostess so simple, affordable and fun. Everyone gets to bring something that they love to…
Storing Leftovers Without Waste
I am sitting on my couch feeling good. The kind of good that only comes after you have consumed Thanksgiving leftovers with more voracity than Thanksgiving dinner itself. I am soooo happpyyyyyy. Okay, anyway. Leftovers. My family always has leftovers and we all fight one another to take them home. But, if not prepared, leftovers can be synonymous with copious…
Zero Waste Travel Kit
Traveling makes me think of the section in the pharmacy filled with mini-versions of conventional hygiene products at escalated prices. When I used to use them, I would settle for a shampoo that I didn’t really like, a deodorant that I would inevitably toss or forget about, and some other tiny supplies that would just be thrown out after my…
My Trash Jar: Two Months of Trash
Here it is. All of the trash that I have produced over the past two months. The contents: (bold is new this month) One package of Organic active dry yeast from when I made some ginger beer (I now buy yeast in bulk) Three safety seals from vitamins that I purchased (my doctor told me that I was vitamin D…
A Zero Waste Holiday Season
It’s Friday night and i’m feeling crafty. I was inspired by a light, well, more specifically a lightbulb that burned out today. WARNING: do not do this with CFL bulbs, if they break they could release mercury, I am using an incandescent bulb! After creating less than a palm full of trash over the past two months, I didn’t want…
Construction Waste Reuse in NYC
In New York City, construction and demolition waste accounts for 50+% of the solid waste stream. OVER 50 PERCENT OF THE SOLID WASTE STREAM!!!!! This is insane. I had absolutely no idea just how much waste construction created until I crossed paths with the Program Director of Build it Green, Justin Green (what a last name!) and visited their reuse center in…
My Trash Jar: One Month of Trash
This is all of the trash I have produced in the past month. A bunch of produce stickers (the worst), one price sticker from Whole Foods when I bought unpackaged bread, one plastic baggie (it was from before I started my Zero Waste journey, but it is unusable now so it would go to landfill, one yellow plastic “PULL” thing,…