3 things you can do to save water using 3 containers you already have

I went to Quebec to speak about my lifestyle last week. The Quebecois might not see it as a blessing, but the amount of snow on the ground made me envious... In California, we're experiencing a major drought. And although I brought some 'bad" weather back with me (it finally rained this weekend), Northern California is far from meeting its annual precipitation requirements.

A drought is sad, but it's not all negative: It's made everyone here rethink its water consumption. For our household, it's been an opportunity to tweak a few things. Since adopting the Zero Waste lifestyle, we reduced our water consumption substantially with the tips mentioned in my book, such as applying the rule "If it's yellow, let it mellow", running only full loads of laundry, eliminating thirsty landscaping, installing drip systems, etc. That said, our current desperate situation pointed to some inefficiencies.

Here are three small adjustments we've made or 3 things you too can do to save water using three containers you already have.

Tip 1: A bucket... to flush the toilet 

A bucket collects water in the shower

In previous years, we had a bucket in our shower to collect water while it heats, but having to take it downstairs and outside to dump it onto our plants, we got lazy and eventually stopped doing it.
Today, we brought the bucket back, but we use the collected water to flush the adjacent toilet: It makes so much more sense, it's so much closer than our backyard!
If you've never tried it before, don't be afraid, there is no trick to it: just pour the water into your toilet bowl and whatever is in it, will simply flush out.

The tile grid helps to set the best location for filling the bucket
-we can't spare a drop here!

To keep it from scratching the tile and avoid the purchase of a plastic bucket, we outfitted its bottom rim with a scrap piece of clear tubing, sliced in half .

Tip 2: A tub... to soak dishes (and water plants, if needed)

Our kitchen sink's tub

We used a tub in the sink before the drought, but we had set it on the right hand side of the sink and we would fill it every morning.
Today, we have moved the tub to the left hand side of the sink, under our soap dispenser and faucet. We no longer need to fill it in the morning: it gets filled through washing, straining, rinsing, etc. After Zizou licks our dishes, we use the collected water to rinse them prior to loading the dishwasher. We then dump the water onto ornamental plants outside (once or twice a day, depending on the amount of cooking involved) - that's an advantage of using a mobile tub vs. a double sink to collect water.  The trace of Castile soap in the water also benefits our plants, by keeping fungus and pest at bay (see anti-fungal recipe in my book).

Our tub, placed under the soap dispenser and faucet.

A sink strainer also eliminates the need to run water for the garbage disposal -we empty it into our compost receptacle.

Tip 3: A trash can... to collect rainwater

Our former trashcan as rainwater catchment

The refuse bin is generally a household's largest container: A Zero Waste lifestyle frees it up for better uses than sending resources to a landfill. We've been using ours for gardening purposes: To carry the cubic yard of loose mulch that we get delivered to our house once a year, to contain the leaves that we sweep off our steps and use as weed control, to collect the few weeds that we pull throughout the yard and then put in the compost bin. Since 2008, our trash can has thus been repurposed into a wheelbarrow -sans wheels that is :). But in the winter, it usually rests in the back of the house, only to be used by the occasional weekend house renter. This past storm blew its lid open to collect 12" of rain. Scott marveled at how many inches dropped from the sky (as you know, he is a number's kinda guy), I marveled at how much water I collected for my living wall (as you know, I am a practical kinda gal). It seems that nature took care of things, but we learned from her and will open our lid for, we pray, subsequent rains.

With the water that I collect every week from my herb planter and that we collected with our trash can this week, I have enough water to care for my houseplants this month...

A small bucket also catches drainage from my herb planter

My plant wall thriving with my rainwater/drainage mix

... and at the end of which, we'll hopefully be blessed with more rain!

Regardless of rainfall, my trash can will no longer sit unused, for I have found that, with its lid upside down, it's a great place to deposit the crumbs that collect at the bottom of my bread bag and toaster each week... I'd have never thought that my trash can would one day become a bird feeder ;)

Our former trash can as a bird feeder.

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Ponytail holder update...

Scott gave you an update on the app, I want to give you one on my ponytail holder story...

In that post, I set out to share with you how one ponytail holder was enough for me: How when we live with less, we better track and care for our belongings, including trivial items. I shared how the same ponytail holder has served my needs for close to a year, and why I was considering switching to French metal barrettes when it wears out.  But then, many of you commented, emailed instructions on how to make my own or offered to send me their extras ;)

"When it eventually gives out, go onto Freecycle and see if you can find someone who will give you just one ponytail holder. Heck, I have too many ponytail holders - unused, even - and need to purge. I'll send you one if you like!"

I realized that I failed as a blogger to get my point across. Heck, The point of that post was not to beg for extras nor do I need Freecycle for a ponytail holder: I can just bend down and pick one up from the street if I choose to keep wearing them... they are everywhere. I have since collected visual proof for fun.

I have found 100 hair things... in parking lots (the most common place), in national parks, at the beach, on a public bathroom floor, on a university campus, on sidewalks, during Coastal Cleanup... a renter left one hanging on my nightlight, a friend dropped one on my steps ;) ...

What did I do with all of these? I picked them up and donated them.  But I did put one aside for a good use... 

I had been waiting three years to grow enough hair (i.e., a 10-inch ponytail) to be able to donate it. This week, I reused an envelope to ship it off to Art of Wigs, which upcycles hair into wigs for cancer patients (it's the only company I found that would recycle hair that has been highlighted in the past).

We usually compost our family's hair but I found putting it to a good use to be so much more satisfying... And my shorter hair, has already saved me on shampoo, conditioner, water and electricity! It's all good ;)

What will you be upcycling this week?

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In the life of a ponytail holder...

I had a scare last week: For a day, I thought I had lost one of my most prized possession. You might ask: What would that necessity be?

my ponytail holder repaired

In my previous home, my bathroom was as big as my current kitchen and dining room combined (a real waste of heating and space considering that we used it only twice a day for only a few minutes). Its cabinets and drawers stored countless products that I had deemed necessary, such as miracle creams, makeup, colorful nail polishes, nail polish remover, Q-tips, cotton balls, rubbing alcohol... and a dozen ponytail holders.

Then when I moved to a small house and came to question the need for everything I owned, I eventually looked at my pile of ponytail holders and wondered: Would I ever use them all at once? Do I need all of these? I realized that I had been caught in the what-if; that I simply held onto the arsenal just in case. What was I afraid of?  Maybe running out or maybe limiting possible hairstyles. Since I had outgrown my pigtail years and knew that I would not wear more than one at once - ponytails and loose buns were already well ingrained into my daily routine... I decided to challenge myself: To stick to a single one (donate the others to resist any temptation to grab another option) and see how long I could make it last.

With everyday use to keep my hair tied when I cook, eat, garden, wash my face over the sink and keep my hair from getting wet in the shower every other morning, the metal-free band split in half within a couple of months, leaving me with a full head of uncontrollable hair. Crushed that my experiment had come to an end so quickly, I went to the store, out of habit, as we instinctively do to replace a broken object. But with my consumption habits changed, my view on the selection available at the store had changed too. And when I realized that to purchase a replacement required purchasing a bundle of twenty, I refused to go along with the marketing trick. Shopping is voting - and in no circumstance, was I going to participate in such gluttony.

As I often do when I cannot find an "acceptable" product (i.e., one that matches my lifestyle beautifully), I returned home empty-handed, looking for a solution to present itself. It always does, I found out. I immediately reached for a pencil and attempted to weave it into my hair, but my fine texture would not allow for such cool trick (I have always admired heads that can pull that off). Then, I simply twisted my hair into a knot and tucked the end under to make a device-free bun, one that could last a few minutes as long as I stayed in place, but this was not a sustainable alternative considering my activity level. Eventually, I pulled out the broken ponytail holder from my landfill collection and looked for a way to repair it: I simply knotted the two ends together and with a great sense of satisfaction, tied my hair back. It worked! and with this small victory, the challenge would go on. Amazingly, I found that my repair strengthened the design while retaining its elasticity. And so for ten months I went on wearing it, giving it a dedicated space for storage and diligently keeping track of it.

But on my vacation last week, moving from one condo to another disturbed its whereabouts. I thought I lost it, disappointed that such relationship, a year's worth of effort, would not earn a showcase in the glass jar containing our annual trash tally...

I did find the ponytail holder after all, stashed in a pocket for safe keeping between moves. But considering the materials used to manufacture the band, I know that it won't last another year and it will eventually join the other articles of bad design, contained in our jar. The elasticity is not what it used to be, and I will soon have to surrender it, but when I do add it to our yearly landfill collection, I'll have a story to tell ;) Overall, things that are made to quickly fail on us, make me angry. For my own peace of mind, when my ponytail holder is no longer usable, I'll vote against ephemeral crap and consider going back to the french barrettes that I use to wear as a kid. They are made of metal and they never failed.

With the Zero Waste lifestyle, nothing is too little to declutter or repair. Smart consumption entails taking care of the stuff that we have, before we run to the store at the first sign of loss or breakage, and learn from our mistakes so that we do not blindly vote for poor design, again and again.

What purchase will you make differently when it needs replacement?

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Cleanliness Standards Revised

"U.S. consumers spend nearly $1 billion a year on antibacterial products that aren't necessary" according to Mother Nature Network.

In our increasingly germa-phobic society (where people go around carrying Purell on their key chains), we are pounded by advertisement for disposable products promising a cleaner, thus healthier life: Tissues, bottled water, antibacterial wipes and the latest… Kleenex's Disposable Hand Towel (!?).

For such products to make it on the market in 2010, proving that some manufacturers are either clueless about their role/impact on the environment or simply ignoring it for the sake of their wallets, is one thing, but perpetually preying on our primal fear of getting sick and misleading us with bogus information is another (one of the reasons why I do not miss TV).

"Regular washing of bathroom hand towels does not ensure clean hands." Kleenex says...

With absurd quotes like this one, coming from (or shall I say, sponsored by) an industry leader, no wonder why our society has trouble letting go of the disposables... we have come to believe that a higher standard of cleanliness would make us healthier.
The cleaner, the better...
But have we reached the point where we're too clean for our own good?

It is apparent that since disposability has hit the market and entered our homes, our standards of cleanliness have gone extreme. Sadly, living up to these made up standards and fitting "socially acceptable cleanliness" are costing us our health (killing the good germs) and that of our planet (depletion of resources through production and pollution through disposal).

Finding the right balance between squeaky clean and hygienic seems to be in order.

We have been steered away from reusable products, and led to think that these were somehow gross, so here are 10 standards, revised for TheZeroWasteHome:

It's OK to:

1. Actually, it's not just OK, it's a must...: Switch from your antibacterial products to natural soap (Don't breed the "superbug").
2. Wear clothes more than once: I admit, it took me a few months to get used to it. Your clothes should not make you self conscious if they have stains or smell, so use your sense of smell to guide you if you're stain free.
3. Wash your hair every other day: a little cornstarch can serve as a dry shampoo (sprinkle on your hair, massage in, and brush out) between washes.
4. Let it mellow, if it's yellow: I confess, I do not let it mellow and flush when I have people coming over.
5. Blow your nose in a handkerchief: tissues are only a recent invention, people lived without them before us. And remember, a hankie being a personal item it is used only for you, so they're your own germs.
6. Use the Diva Cup: Get over your skepticism and fear of the cup; if you can insert a tampon, you can insert the cup.
7. Hold off on your weekly sheet washing: If you went to college, you know your immune system survived less frequent washes. In Europe, people air out their sheets between washes. The word "sanitizing" is actually synonym of "airing out", in french crosswords.
8. Use and reuse a cloth napkin between washes: We use napkin rings to tell ours apart: so simple and yet, it helps us go longer between washes (once a week).
9. Clean your house with vinegar, castille soap, baking soda and reusable cloths (instead of Comet, 409, Windex, Dawn, Scrubbing Bubbles, Tilex, Lysol, bleach, etc...): Seriously, that's all you need to keep your house clean.
10. Accept a stain on the kitchen towel that you just washed: Stop fighting stains on items that are meant to be stained. Kitchen towels don't have to be spotless.

I have to say that I used to be obsessed with the whiteness of my kitchen towels, worried that my cleanliness would be judged by their spotlessness. I then realized that the impact of repeat washes and bleach, were not worth it, and that my time would be better spent elsewhere.

By lowering our modern squeaky clean standards, we can refocus on what matters most... spending time with our loved ones, cooking healthy food, or lending a hand to save the Earth.

Note to Kleenex: In a house where none of your disposable hand towels are to be found, we've amazingly survived yet another winter, free of colds...

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What about meds?

People who visit our house feel like they've hit the jackpot when they see our "pharmacy" container: "Ah, ah! Do I spot packaging over here?" they ask teasing.

Medications have been hard to eliminate of course, but we've found ways to reduce our packaging here too. In the process, we went thru some trial and error. One of them was finding natural medication in bulk at Good Earth, where you fill your jar and pay by the ounce for decongestant, flu relief or echinacea. Besides the fact that these were really expensive, they did not even work! Well, at least not as well as the regular drugstore stuff.

Since then, we have found a balance between natural alternatives and drugstore products. Here again, it's all about paring it down to essentials (you knew I was going to write that). Sincerely, is there a point in keeping medications that do not work or are expired?

Every family has different medical needs, but here is what we did in our home:

• We took expired meds to our pharmacy
• We now keep only a minimal supply
• There is no way around the occasional plastic prescription bottle and it's illegal for pharmacies to refill them in CA, but our pharmacy takes them back to recycle them (#2). I figure they have a better chance of getting those recycled than we do thru our household recycling.
• We choose tablets (pain reliever, for example) in a glass or at default a plastic jar (usually a recyclable #2), instead of the tablets individually wrapped in aluminum/plastic and then a box (that's what I call obnoxious packaging).
• Although they are cheaper by the count, we do not buy jumbo size medication jars, they expire way before we can finish them.
• We choose metal tubes instead of plastic (Arnicare is magic on bruises)
• We invested in a Neti pot (Santa gave one to Scott this year, picture above): Great to clear out your sinuses with just water and sea salt.
• We researched and tested a few natural alternatives: I forage Yerba Santa in the winter for its decongestant properties (tea), but many plants are available in bulk at health food stores also. For example, you can make a corn silk tea for prostate relief, a senna leaf tea for constipation relief or an oatmeal bath for skin relief. By the way, you can also roll a fresh California bay leaf in your nose to relieve a headache – I agree, it's a great look:) or eat a small amount of local honey each day to relieve allergies. I also found this cough suppressant recipe (all ingredients available in bulk), but we have yet to try it (Knock on wood that we won't need it for a while): 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1 T honey, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 2 T water mixed in small sterilized jar.
• Instead of plastic band-aids, gauze and surgical tape work fine. We use hydrogen peroxide as an antiseptic on small scrapes and cuts before we let them air dry or apply surgical tape directly on deeper cuts. How often do you really need a band-aid? My son thinks that band-aids are a cure to any "owie"... but a smoothie works just as well. Update: Per a nurse's email: "Hydrogen peroxide is not recommended on wounds anymore. It may (with reservations) be diluted and used to clean, initially a very dirty wound but is actually damaging to healthy tissue. Tea tree oil or honey products are a natural antimicrobial alternative". Old fashioned Lugol's iodine has also been mentioned on the forum.
• We do not use everyday antibacterial products, most contain Triclosan, and only make bad bacteria stronger. As Mayo clinic warns: "Antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product's antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future."
• To answer a question from a couple of readers, we do not take vitamins. Like Michael Pollan (in his book, "In Defense of Food"), we believe in a varied diet instead... but I did take them while pregnant and we might reconsider them when we're older.
• We believe in moderate sunscreen use (we worry about skin cancer as much as vitamin D deficiency). I do use it on my face everyday, for vanity reasons;), but we use clothing as sun-shield as much as we can (the rays penetrates it in a small percentage), and use sunscreen for prolonged exposures on our bodies. When we're out of my favorite, we'll give this recipe a try. I just have to find zinc oxide in bulk...

Do you have some natural remedies (that work) to share?

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Zero Waste Recipes

These are recipes of items that I have not been able to find in bulk or as a refill, items that our household “can’t live without”. We have tried and tested many recipes but these are the ones that have made the cut because they tasted good and worked best for us (which is why I won’t give the instructions on how to wash your hair with baking soda, or make cheese from kefir). Most importantly my recipes only require very few ingredients (all available in bulk, except for the yogurt starter) and are easy/quick to make. Every home is different: you might not find the toothpowder to your liking, and can find more options (with more ingredients) online. Experiment, have fun and make quantities that last!


Bathroom

Tooth powder:
2 tb baking soda
1/8 ts white stevia powder
In a parmesan shaker
(for my shaker pictured, it takes 16tb baking soda, 1 ts stevia)

Hair Spray:
2-4 lemons sliced
Cover with water
Simmer for 30 min
Strain
Pour in spray bottle
Add 1tb rhum or vodka

Vitamin E balm:
1 tb beeswax
4 tb vitamin E (a friend gave me some but you can find sesame oil in bulk. It has a high concentration of vitamin E, and does not carry the strong smell)
Pour in small tin (got mine from Container Store)
Let cool
I use this balm on under eye, lips, hair tips, and home applications that call for Vaseline, like greasing up our attic ladder...

Lip/Cheeks Stain:
Cook beets, as you normally would, in a bit of water (eat the beets)
Reduce the left over juice until it thickens
Add a splash of vodka
Pour into a glass roll-on


Laundry/Cleaning

Ironing Starch:
1 pint water
1 tb cornstarch
In a spray bottle

Drain Cleaner:
¼ c. baking soda in your drain
Followed by ½ c. white vinegar

Multi Purpose Cleaner:
1 ½ ts. castile soap (optional, for scent)
3 ts. white vinegar
4 c. water
In a spray bottle.


Kitchen
Mustard:
Soak ¾ c. yellow mustard seeds in ¾ c. white vinegar + ½ c. white wine, in a canning jar
Blend (immersion blender) with salt and 2 ts honey
Add water to reach your preferred consistency

Vanilla Extract:
Combine 2 vanilla beans chopped, ½ c. brandy, ¼ water
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Hot Sauce:
Blend ½ c. chiles (serrano or jalapeno), 2/3 c. vinegar, 1 ¾ ts salt
Steep for 3 days
Strain
Pour in glass bottle

Soymilk:
Soak 2 c. soy beans overnight
Drain
Blend (immersion blender) with 12 c. water
Strain and squeeze in handkerchief into a large pot
Add sugar and vanilla to taste
Bring to a boil
Boil for 10min
Let cool
Pour in a glass (Straus Creamery) milk bottle
Lasts a week

I was making soy milk for my older son only, who does not like the taste of regular milk, but as I noticed his use decreasing over the last few months, he finally told me that he had had enough of it and did not want it anymore... He added that it would save me time... what a sweet mama's boy.

Yogurt (you need a thermometer):
Heat oven to 100-150, turn light on
Heat 4 c. milk on the stove to 185F
Pour milk in a French or mason canning jar
Cool milk to 110F
Add yogurt starter or ¼ c. yogurt that you already have
Put in oven, turn oven off, keep light on (to keep temp at 110F)
(to save energy, you can also drop the jar in a 110F water bath in a closed pressure cooker)
Wait 4-6 hrs
Refrigerate

(You can also make cheese from your yogurt, by hanging it in a handkerchief and letting it drain... it's a lot of milk for a tiny bit of soft cheese though, not economical when you use Straus Creamery milk)

I am not making yogurt on a regular basis anymore either, I can't seem to get past the starter's packaging and am hanging onto my last packet. I hope to find yogurt starter in bulk soon!

On my way to make more hot sauce! (my bottle looks pretty low on the picture...)

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Zero Waste Bathroom

The fastest way to get to Zero Waste here, is to find alternatives to your disposables: Remove your bathroom trash can...whatever lands on the floor is what calls for an ersatz. Here are the changes we've made.

-Toilet paper: Yes, we still use it, at least until we get solar on the house and drying washlets on the toilet bowls. For now, it's TP; 100%recycled and unbleached, individually wrapped in paper to bypass the common plastic wrapper on multiples, while we wait for better packaging options to come up on the market. Evergreen is packaged in cardboard but is only sold online.

-Antiperspirant: Switch to a solution of baking soda/water/lavender essential oil in a stainless spray bottle or an alum stone (I bought mine in bulk in France, but you can find some here too). The latter lasts a year and also works on healing small razor cuts.

-Razors: Lucky me, I got it all lazered off six years ago (well before we tried to reduce our waste), but my husband still grows facial hair. He shaves with a reusable stainless razor handle and dries his disposable razor heads after each use, that way, each one lasts 6 months. When he has used his last disposable head, he'll switch to a safety razor. With solar, he'd probably go electric. 2/10/12 Scott has been using a double edge razor for a couple of years now. By drying the blade between uses, a pack of 10 blades should last 5 years.

-Shaving cream: Switch to a rich soap, shaving soap (wrapped in paper) or soap of Alep (I found mine in bulk in France, but middle eastern stores would carry it).

-Shampoo and Conditioner: Switch to bulk, I refill liter size bottles. If your hair is short, you also have the “no-poo” option: rinse your hair, massage baking soda in, then rinse, with vinegar for shine. I gave up after a 6 months trial on my long hair... I now “poo”.

-Body/face soap: Switch to bulk liquid castile soap or a package-free hard soap (best option since less packaging is involved in the making and selling)

-Toothbrush: There are no right answers out there yet. The choice is yours. Recycline (made of yogurt cups, packaged in a travel case, recyclable #5, but plastic), Terradent (replaceable bristle pads on a plastic handle, over packaged), Radius (replaceable plastic head on a recycled handle, too much non-recyclable packaging), and Swissco (wooden and packaged in a travel case but not a US product).

-Toothpaste tube: switch to a homemade tooth powder with baking soda and stevia (see recipes), in a glass parmesan dispenser.

-Dental Floss: Switch to a brass gum stimulator with a rubber tip.

-Cosmetics: Reduce. Cosmetics are my biggest Zero Waste issue, but I have reduced it down to 5 packaged items (cream, kohl powder, brown pencil, mascara, sunscreen powder) and 2 homemade substitute (cocoa powder bronzer and homemade vitamin E balm). While I have yet to find the first 5 items in bulk (on my on-going research list), I can recycle their containers at Origins. Read your labels, watch out for the dirty dozen, and check your cosmetics score on skin deep. If it’s good to you it’s good to the Earth too. 2/10/12 I thought this required a much needed update... The only thing I now purchase in packaging is a glass bottle of SPF tinted moisturizer. The rest, I either make (mascara, kohl eyeliner) or have eliminated (powder, brown pencil). What can I say? I am a work in progress;)

-Nail Polish : Switch to a nail clipper, stainless file and balm. After 15 years of using nail polish, I've gone naked and noticed that the ridges on my nails have miraculously disappeared. A bonus, since I can now also forego the buffer. My homemade vitamin E balm makes my nails shiny on demand and works on eyes, lips and hair. Nail clippers and stainless files come package free at the beauty supply store.

-Q-tips: Forget about them, they are not good for you anyways. Do your research.

-Feminine products: Switch to the Diva Cup and Glad Rags (I made mine from an old flannel shirt): Do I see some frowning? These require an up-front investment and take a couple months getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you won't go back to disposables.

-Hairspray: Switch to lemon water in a spray bottle (see recipes). Amazingly simple and simply amazing.

-Exfoliators: Switch to baking soda or oatmeal for the face and salt for the body, all found in bulk.

-Mask: Switch to bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc...), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.

-Contact lenses: My husband is still attached to his (laser can sadly not cure his condition), the packaging of the lenses and that of the cleaning solution are recyclable and by using them only on occasions, he doubles their wearability.

You can also...

• Compost hair and nail clippings: My son believes that he is greener than the rest of us because he bites his nails and does not waste them :)
• Put a brick in your toilet tank, it will reduce the amount of water used every time you flush. You won’t notice a difference (until you see your water bill) and you’ll forget it’s in there.
• Collect water in a bucket while your shower heats, water your plants with it.
• Use zero waste cleaning: Microfiber cloths for mirrors, hydrogen peroxide white vinegar for mold, baking soda as scrub, a mix of baking soda and vinegar as drain cleaner (see Zero Waste Cleaning).

Your turn to Zero Waste your bathroom.
Ready, set, mellow! ...if it's yellow.

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