Woooooooah, we’re halfway there, wOAh! Livin’ on a prayer!
The singing may be a bit pre-emptive, as I’m not exactly halfway there, but I’m so close I can taste it! I’m actively working on several items on my 25 Things List, which will be checked off the list shortly, and will ultimately bring me to the halfway point of my list.
The last month has been a whirlwind, which is why I’ve been slow to upload my California blogposts, and why I’ve been a bit absent. I’ve been busy working on my list, including the following items…
I moved!
This is one of the bigger factors in why I haven’t written in a few weeks. In combination with a particularly busy time at work, I managed to do a deep dive through my belongings, donating and getting rid of items I didn’t want or need any more, and packed everything else up into boxes. Then, I drove everything an hour away and began settling into my new apartment!
There are still a handful of things I’m working on before I’m fully settled in, but for the most part, everything is in its place, and I’m loving my new digs.
A few highlights of our new space: we are blessed to have outrageous vaulted ceilings because we’re on the top floor of the building, which means our apartment feels super spacious and wonderful. It also echoes loudly anytime I laugh, which is quite often.
We also have this super sweet balcony. Kate, my roommate and aforementioned 25 Things List buddy, was very insistent that we had some sort of balcony or patio in our apartment. It wasn’t anything near the top of my list, but I have to admit, our balcony is one of my favorite parts of our apartment.
We set it up with pretty string lights, and let me tell you, it is a mood out there when night comes around. It’s lovely. And – our balcony faces the only tree in front of our apartment complex, so it feels like we have a bit of privacy.
We also have these super comfy wicker chairs that I am in love with. The word “comfy” is not sarcastic in that sentence – I know wicker doesn’t have a reputation for comfort, but the chairs are shaped in a way that makes it super easy to lounge in them comfortably.
Good call on the chairs, Kate.
We also have a hot tub and an indoor pool at our apartment complex, and it’s beautiful and fun and wonderful and I love it. Big water fan over here.
I mean, just look at it.
The next item I’m close to checking off is a result of my big move.
I’ve gone pretty zero waste.
There’s still significant progress that could be made, but Kate and I have made leaps in our zero waste journey.
When I first started this portion of my 25 Things List, there were a few areas I knew that I wouldn’t go entirely zero waste in, which were: makeup, skin care, and hair care. I don’t use many hair products or skin care products, so I felt that it would be ok to continue using my favorite products selectively. I’m also a bit of a makeup snob, and have spent years nailing down my favorite products, so I am not wishing to begin looking for zero waste makeup. That may change some day, but as for now, I feel that the changes I have made and will continue to make in other areas of my life are extremely significant, so it’s alright to give myself a break in those other areas.
So what’s my current status in my journey on the categories that I am going zero waste in?
Well, the only category to really tackle is food. Kate and I are definitely working on it, but I think we can cut down on the waste involved in this area a little more with time.
We’ve started using mason jars to store cut up fruits and vegetables, as well as any other food items that need storing. Kate uses metal containers to bring meals to work, and we don’t use any plastic Tupperware to store food that we’ve cooked; we only use glass or metal.
We also live near an amazing co-op called LakeWinds, which has several bulk options. This means we can purchase things like flour, sugar, tea, trail mix, and a variety of other things without using any waste! We simply bring in our mason jars, fill them up, weigh them, and pay by weight. No plastic, paper, or any waste involved! It’s pretty nice.
LakeWinds also let’s you buy other products in bulk, like soap and detergent. We’ve started using their detergent, which is super powerful, and it works pretty well! We’ve also invested in wool dryer balls, to use instead of dryer sheets, for the loads of laundry we dry here and there. We’re mainly using drying racks to dry our clothes, instead of wasting energy expended through a dryer.
LakeWinds also sells shampoo and conditioner in bulk. To date, I’ve been using Lush products as shampoo and conditioner. I’ve been growing increasingly unhappy with my Lush conditioner bar, and wanted to switch things up, so I’ve decided to give the LakeWinds shampoo and conditioner a try. We’ll see how it goes! I may just return to Lush yet.
Other items we’ve cut out: paper towels and paper napkins. We exclusively use regular towels for any cleaning needs, and use fabric napkins when needed.
We also use a homemade all-purpose cleaner, which we store in a reusable glass bottle. It’s made of water, vinegar, and eucalyptus essential oils, and I’m not going to lie – it does not smell great. But, it gets the job done, and there is no waste involved!
We also purchased these really cute dish scrubbers (or should I say scrub-bees?), which are compostable.
I bought them from this shop on Etsy.
Additionally, I’ve moved to reusable tissues, which are basically just hankies. If hankies were good enough for my grandpa, they’re good enough for me! I got the tissues from this shop on Etsy, and also have a stash of vintage hankies in case I’m ever in a pinch.
I bought this really beautiful vintage gold tissue holder, and I store all of my reusable tissues there. The tissues are really soft and have worked super well so far! I keep a basket by my bedside where I toss the used tissues, and then throw the whole load in the washing machine to clean them.
The vintage tissue box makes zero waste look pretty luxurious.
I’ve made a handful of other small changes along the way, but my final zero waste move (for now) is one I’m pretty proud of: I’ve started shaving with a safety razor.
I use the special gold Odin edition of the Vikings Blade. It’s a pretty boss shaver.
I initially was intimidated by the idea of using a safety razor, because even though “safety” is in the name, they look pretty hardcore, and I’m not a huge fan of nicking myself whilst shaving. However, while watching zero waste videos on YouTube, I saw several women talking about how easy the shavers are to use, and how there’s a secretly misogynistic strain of zero waste that makes women zero wasters feel like they can’t handle shaving with a safety razor, as it’s “too intense,” they “might hurt themselves,” and safety razors are “for men.”
I realized that was exactly what I had been thinking – that I shouldn’t buy a safety razor because I was a woman and these kinds of razors were for men. Having been appalled by my sudden lapse in feminism, I decided to say screw the patriarchy, and went right to Amazon to buy myself the highly masculine-marketed Odin’s blade. Nothing like the Norse god of war to help you get a nice close shave.
So anyway, I meticulously watched videos of people demonstrating how to set up your shaver with the blade, and explaining how to shave without cutting yourself, feeling slightly nervous but also excited.
When I got the razor, I used it without hesitation, and it worked like a dream! It gives you a really close shave, and I haven’t cut my legs once! The key is to not rush it, and make sure you use shaving cream. I ordered a vintage-looking shaving cream that smells like almonds and looked like it came in a tin (more zero waste). Unfortunately they misled me and it totally came in a huge plastic container. Never again, Crema de Barba. I see you.
I was doing really well on another one of my goals, but fell off the wagon this week.
Get into a regular sleep schedule.
This is the number one item on my list, mainly because I felt like it would be the easiest to achieve – but it’s not. It turns out I am able to make a million excuses to myself as to why I should stay up later. It turns out that I always regret that in the morning when I’m tired and zombie-like.
For awhile there, I was doing really well: going to sleep at 9:30 p.m. and waking up at 5 a.m., which is my goal. However, this past week, I was getting home later in the evening, which meant I had very little free time to accomplish my daily goals before hitting the hay. As such, I stayed up later than I should, and didn’t wake up as early as I wanted. Next week is a new era, though!
Here are a few other goals I’ve made headway on, or have actually crossed off my list:
- I’ve begun working on a game plan for starting an after-school writing group for kids.
- I raised the auto-deduct on my student loan payment to help reach my goal of paying off half my loans by 25.
- I’m attending the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta next weekend – watch for a blogpost on that soon!
- I’ve officially made it to half of the state parks in Minnesota! I definitely did a happy dance about this. There are 75 total, and all the parks left are on the outskirts of the state. This means they will definitely involve a full weekend trip to hit. I’m working on crafting blogposts for each of the parks I’ve visited and haven’t posted about yet, so keep an eye out for that.
- I visited a nostalgic place (or three) from my childhood with my mom. I’ve also got a blogpost in the works for that adventure.
Technically, I’m just over one-third of the way there in accomplishing my list. However, I’m hoping I can make it to the halfway mark by the end of Fall.
Stay tuned for more adventure!
Want to read more about my 25 Things list? Click here for more adventures.
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