Olivia for the Ocean

March started off like every other month. I was learning from my previous month’s plastic audit and finding new ways to reduce my plastic footprint. Then the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak happened. And while it hasn’t totally blown up my trash audit, you’ll start to see some hints of the effects of COVID-19 in this month’s audit.

A few reminders of the rules. This is just my trash not my whole family’s (although they don’t generate too much more than this). Normally, I do not include my family’s trash because I am not with them 24 hours a day. So, I can’t expect them to be vigilant about saving their trash. Since half the month started this way, I’m sticking with it way of conducting my audits. At least for this month…we’ll see about April.

I do however save any trash generated from feeding my family meals at home. So, while I don’t drink milk (being basically lactose intolerant) my kids drink a lot of milk. So, the milk caps are technically trash that my kids generate but I add them to my trash since I decide what they eat at home.

So, now that we’ve covered the ground rules, let’s dive in! Here’s all my trash for the month of March!

While still pretty good, there’s noticeably more trash than last month’s trash shown below.

Let’s break it down into each week to see what I learned.

Week 1

At the beginning of the month I had used my last bag of frozen peas and decided to instead replace it with loose spinach that I could get plastic-free at the farmer’s market. I usually use frozen peas to make homemade mac and cheese for my kids.

But since my farmer’s market is closed, there will be more bags of frozen peas until COVD-19 has passed.

I also used the last of our liquid dish soap refill. This has been one of the more tough replacements in my house. Since I do nearly all the cooking, my husband does most of the dish washing. So, the dish soap has to be approved by him. I’ve tried using liquid Castile soap but it didn’t cut grease enough and it was much more expensive.

I also tried making liquid Castile soap from a bar of soap, and that ended up having the consistency of runny snot. Not so pleasant. I’m exploring the idea of a Vegan Dish Washing Block, but I’ve heard mixed reviews about it’s ability to cut grease and how expensive it is compared to the size.

So, until then, I’m living with our dish soap refills. We probably go through one of these every 3 months. But with orders to stay at home we’ve been washing more dishes…we will see how long the new bag lasts.

Finally, I recently tried these glass jars of yogurt with a foil seal. They’re a cute-sized cup for my kids, so when the yogurt is gone I peel the plastic label, crumple the foil lid into a ball to be recycled and wash out the glass jar.

Week 2

As I talked about in the 5 Outfits I Wear to Work, I update my capsule wardrobe twice a year. I usually buy a few pieces to replace items that have worn out.

In March, I bought an organic cotton dress from Pact. (Use this link to get 20% off your order.) I’ve also been trying to swap out my synthetic fiber dresses with organic cotton ones. When you wash your clothes, microfibers shed off of all your clothes, flow into our sewage systems, and eventually into the ocean. Natural fibers from clothes made of cotton, hemp, and silk will naturally degrade but synthetic fibers made from polyester and nylon act like plastic in the ocean because they are plastic. So, it’s important to choose natural fiber clothes where possible. For more tips on an eco-friendly wardrobe, read this.

Next, after posting my last trash audit on Instagram, one of my followers, told me that they sell yeast in glass jars. I was able to find one at my local mom & pop grocery store! Thank you, @honeyfacehome!

Finally, hard Italian cheese like Parmesan and Pecorino Romano are the only cheeses I can’t get from my local delis. So, I do the best I can and get them in Costco in huge wedges. I usually go through about four of these huge wedges each year.

Week 3

This is the first week where the San Francisco Bay Area had a shelter-in-place order. Our farmer’s market was closed so I couldn’t get my usual leafy greens and fruits without plastic. I ended up getting leafy greens at Whole Foods which always comes with plastic tags.

The week before, I stocked up on Girl Scout cookies. I figured the cookie to plastic ratio was small enough that it was worth it…at least until I figure out how to make them. 🙂

Week 4

As a treat for my kids, I bought some Longan fruits from the local Asian supermarket. We usually only eat these when my mom visits us, but since they would be at home all week I thought it’d be a treat. My kids devour these.

I also bought a few wedges of snacking cheeses after finding out about the shelter-in-place order. I considered buying the whole wheel of cheese to save on the plastic but it was $70 and I figured I should save some for others.

I also needed lemongrass for a recipe but both stores I went to didn’t have any, so I had to settle for frozen lemongrass which came in a big plastic tub and had tape around the lid and a plastic pull tab.

Week 4.5

In the last part of the month, I ordered some flip flops online since I couldn’t go to the store. Before that I had checked at my local outlet and couldn’t find exactly what I wanted. Having been a beach lover for years, I’m quite picky about my flip flops and have worn Reef ones for years.

In my first trip to the grocery store during the stay-at-home orders, I got a large block of cheddar cheese at the deli. But since I didn’t recognize the employee, I didn’t want to ask her for the special request of placing the cheese block in my beeswax wrap. I figured it’s a stressful time to be working at a grocery store and I didn’t want to make it worse.

Takeaways

The main takeaway this month was that I need to search harder to find a plastic-free solution for dish soap and Parmesan cheese.

Also, given the circumstances, I’m going to have accept the lack of availability of things I’ve always been able to get plastic-free. With my farmer’s market closed, I’ll have extra leafy green tags and with my grocery stores being extra cautious, I’ll have to accept some plastic with my cheese wedges. The best I can do is to find larger blocks of cheese to minimize packaging.

What do you think? Have you seen a difference in your trash since staying at home? Tell me what you’re seeing in the comments!

For related and random posts, check out:

• What I Bought For a Potential Lockdown
• What I Learned From Saving My Trash for a Month