A Day in My Plastic-Free Life: Part 1

After posting a picture of my December “trash audit”, a Facebook friend mentioned she wanted to follow me around for a day to see how I managed to generate such little trash.

To me, it’s everyday life, so it never occurred to me that others would find it interesting. But after a friend from high school confirmed the intrigue, I started documenting my day.

The most interesting days relevant to my plastic-free life are Friday and Saturday. So, in this post I’ll cover Friday and I’ll go through a typical Saturday in the next post.

GOOD MORNING!

During the weekdays I wake up at 6 am. I brush my teeth using homemade toothpaste, brush my hair, and put in my contacts.

Next, I get dressed. I wear the same 5 outfits in the same order at the office, so I don’t have to waste time figuring out what I’m wearing that morning. No one had noticed I wore the same things until I mentioned it in a time management seminar I was hosting. (Stay tuned for a post about capsule wardrobes!)

On Fridays during the winter I wear jeans and a Karl Lagerfeld sweater. (May he rest in peace.)

I wear an organic cotton tank top underneath the sweater, so I don’t have to wash the sweater every time I wear it. For more wardrobe related tips, check out “11 Tips for an Eco-Friendly Wardrobe“.

I head downstairs and start heating up a bottle of milk for my toddler. My husband prepares breakfast for my older child. He usually makes oatmeal or what we call a “nana-egg” in my house. A nana-egg is essentially a gluten-free banana pancake. You mash a banana, add an egg, and pan fry it.

Everyone eats breakfast, except for me. I’m usually not hungry yet and I try to practice intermittent fasting which means I eat my food in a 12 – 16 hour window–depending on how dedicated I feel.

I eat the same breakfast nearly every day–a mixture of sautéed baby kale, roasted red onions, and sautéed king oyster mushrooms. I make a large batch over the weekend and then pack a single serving for breakfast at work.

I make a cup of mint green tea to bring with me to work and pour a glass of water to drink on the drive. Remembering to hydrate is important!

Since nearly all tea bags contain plastic, I use loose-leaf tea. Plus, I find the quality of the tea is better in loose-leaf form. I use a tea strainer and make the tea directly in my to-go coffee mug.

TIME FOR BUSINESS

I like to keep a minimal and clean desk at work. I have four pictures from one of my favorite artist, Susan Wickstrand. During my time as the Art Gala Coordinator for Surfrider San Diego, I discovered so many talented local artists like Susan. Her artwork is even on the set of Modern Family!

I also keep a few awards, a fancy tea cup, a glass orb with a wave inside on my desk. I have pictures of my family off-screen, next to the awards. After reading the Little Book of Hygge, I added the lights to my cube. As the book suggests, it’s important to make your work space as warm and happy as possible.

I used to always check my work email when I first got to work. I know the majority of office workers do this. You feel accomplished for going through your inbox, but you really haven’t gotten anything done.

After reading Time Management in 20 Minutes a Day, I stopped checking my email first thing. Instead, I tackle the most difficult thing on my task list for the day. That way I’ve already accomplished a major task and it gives me momentum for the rest of the day.

The book also suggests you turn off your desktop email notification–best thing I’ve done in years. I was instantly happier! (Can you tell I’m not a fan of my work email?)

I’ve also found that when I’m doing critical thinking or creative writing that when I listen to a specific song (Cello Suite No.1 in G Major played by Yo-Yo Ma) it signals to my brain that we’re about to start something serious and I find it easier to concentrate. So, during the first few hours of the day I listen to this song on repeat.

THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

By 9:00 am I’m usually hungry and ready to tackle my inbox. I eat the vegetable mix I packed from home and add some hot sauce. Some days I make a cup of decaf coffee using my French press which I keep in my cabinet at work.

Here’s the list of food-related items I keep in my cabinet at work:

• bulk candies
• bulk nuts
• bulk teas
• bulk organic decaf coffee
• hot sauce
• insulated cup
• insulated water bottle
• coffee press
• extra mason jar
• coffee cup
• metal straw
• metal boba straw
• silicone smoothie straw
• fork, spoon, knife
• cloth napkin
• dish towel
• plate
• bowl with lid
• tea pot
• beeswax wraps
• chocolate bars

I know it seems like a lot of stuff to keep at work, but considering I eat two-thirds of my meals at work, it’s worth keeping some extra items to avoid plastic. At the very least having a glass bowl, a cup, and utensils are key.

GROCERY SHOPPING

If I don’t have a meeting, I normally do my grocery shopping on Fridays during lunch. I shop at a local Whole Foods because of their high-quality plastic-free produce. Plus, they have a good bulk section.

This is a typical grocery haul for me:

• milk in a glass bottle (the dairy reuses the bottles)
• apple juice (glass bottle, metal lid)
• croissants (bakery section)
• gummy fruit snacks (bulk)
• chia seeds (bulk)
• raisins (bulk)
• pineapple
• apples
• limes
• shallot
• ginger
• garlic
• red onion
• avocado
• cremini mushrooms
• king oyster mushrooms
• bananas
• carrots
• Chinese eggplant
• lemongrass

I like to use the mesh produce bags for produce so it’s easier for the cashier to see what’s inside.

I like to use these organic cotton produce bags for bulk foods. When bulk shopping, you need to give the bulk codes to the cashier so there’s no need for them to see what’s inside.

For a refresher on bulk shopping, check out “Bulk Shopping for Beginners”.

I drop off the groceries at home and head back to work.

LUNCH TIME

I usually pack the previous night’s dinner for lunch. Oftentimes there are catered lunches at work and there are always extras. I bring my own plate to grab extra food and bring it back to my desk to eat with my own utensils.

SAY HI TO MY BUTCHER, PHIL

After work I pick up meat for the week. I buy meat at a locally owned grocery store because Whole Foods stopped letting me bring my own container.

Only about 20% of our meals have meat. I generally buy about a pound of chicken thighs at the butcher counter and have them put it in a to-go soup container I had left over from when my husband picked up Ramen.

What I like about my local grocery store is the people. My butcher’s name is Phil and I learn a little bit more about him and his family each week. A lot of times we are so transactional with people we come in contact with that it’s nice to see a familiar face and really talk to them.

DINNER TIME

On Friday nights we generally go out to eat. Depending on where we go, I might pack a few extra items for the kids like water bottles and fruit. In our “adventure bag” (fancy name for a diaper bag) we always have reusable utensils and cloth napkins.

SHOWER

I love how minimal my shower looks since I no longer have branded plastic bottles “screaming” at me. Simplicity is one of the many benefits of minimalism I talk about in “Plastic-Free, Zero Waste, and Minimalism“.

For shampoo and conditioner I use LUSH bars which I can get package free at their store. And for my body I use bar soap which I can get package free at Whole Foods. I go into more details in “Plastic-Free Showering“

PUT THE KIDS TO BED

We give the kids a bath every other night and then read books, sing songs and put the kids to bed by 8 pm.

BLOG OR NETFLIX

Most moms I know make their entire adult life happen in the few hours between when the kids go to bed and when they go to bed. After the kids have gone to bed, I generally work on my blog or set up a few things for the next day.

After putting my laptop away, I usually watch something on Netflix with my husband. We just finished Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. It was so good but made me really hungry.

BRUSH TEETH & READ

I try to start my bedtime routine at 9 pm. Oftentimes this ends up being 9:30 but I try to head up to bed early so I can eventually read through the stack of books on my nightstand and in my Kindle.

I used to buy used books through Amazon because it was cheaper, but I stopped doing this because of the packaging. So, some of these are leftovers from buying used books. For a while I also checked out books at the library (a great free option) but I stopped doing my lunch time library visits when I started running during lunch. Other physical books I purchase because I heard the author speak and wanted them to sign it.

I met former CEO of Planned Parenthood and author of Make Trouble, Cecile Richards at a conference in San Francisco.

At an ocean conference I met World Champion surfer and author of the Code, Shaun Tomson.

Now I mainly buy e-books for my Kindle. I love that I can fit hundreds of books into this tiny device and the screen looks like paper so it doesn’t strain my eyes.

In 2018, I made a goal to read one book a week. Being an overachiever, I read 68 books that year! Part of the fuel for this challenge was that I signed up for BookBub. It’s free to sign up but very dangerous! You select different categories of books you like, and they send you either a daily or weekly email with all the books on sale in those categories. The books are all less than $2.99!

And these aren’t bottom of the barrel books, these were bestsellers I had on my list but never got around to buying. Sometimes I would end up buying two books a day! Eventually, I had to create a system for screening them. For example, I would only buy books that were less than 300 pages and had a 4.5-star or higher rating.

I’m still trying to work my way through all the books I bought that year. Like I said…dangerous.

GOODNIGHT MOON

I usually go to sleep at 10 pm. I’ve always needed my eight hours of sleep ever since I could remember…some things never change.

What does your day look like? Did seeing my day give you some ideas on how you can reduce plastic in your day? If so, tell me in the comments!

For related and random posts, check out:

• All My Trash for the Month of December
• Plastic-Free Dental Care
• Simple Guide to Plastic-Free Grocery Shopping