Update week is coming to an end, although, true story, I love a theme.
Quart jar coffee: My quart jar and straw combo from my zero waste emergency car kit have been getting quite a workout this week, thanks to hot temperatures and my never-ending thirst for Liquid Gold. I’ve been trying to pay attention to the kids in the coffee cart and their reaction to my jar, and I get one of two reactions consistently — they either tell me how cute and crafty my jar is (I’m not sure coffee qualifies as a craft, but if it does, sign me up!) OR they act like it’s totally normal and don’t say a word. I don’t mind either way. I mean, it’s nice to hear how adorable my (very plain) jar is, but it’s also nice to think that so many of us are taking reusables to get our coffee that it’s become too commonplace for comment.
Thank you, buzzfeed.com, for coming through when I forget to take a picture of my own dang coffee.
P.S. Logistics: I get my coffee, twist on the lid, and then add the straw when I get to work. The jar is too big to fit in my car’s cupholder, and the last thing I need is coffee everywhere but my mouth.
Uh, what’s up with my deodorant?: So … Okay, this is going to be awkward to write and read because we’re treading into too much info territory here, but I feel compelled to report honestly and fully. (Occupational hazard.)
My homemade deodorant is making me stink.
I’ve been doing a lot of research into why this is, and I’m still kind of at a loss. At first, I thought it was the peppermint oil I had added a couple of weeks ago on a whim. But when I googled “is peppermint oil making my armpits stink” (you guys, the things I type into that search engine … ), I found NOTHING that suggested that was actually the culprit.
Does peppermint oil cause skin irritation? Yep, apparently so. Does it help with digestive issues? Also found articles on that. Just huffing it to help with a stuffy nose? Also a (totally sketchy) thing. Headaches and other issues related to overuse? Sure.
But not ONE THING on it causing BO.
I’ve learned that it could be stress or diet. (I’m always stressed, and my diet never changes because of my food allergies.) That maybe it’s my body detoxing from years of purchased deodorant use. (I could buy that one if I had been a regular user. Admittedly, I am not … I just mostly use it in the summertime for obvious reasons. It’s always caused a lot of underarm irritation, which is why I’m traditionally sporadic with the stuff.) That body odor gets a bad rap and we should embrace it. (Uh … no.) That it could be bacterial, and apple cider vinegar might help (like applying it to your pits).
But all I really know for sure is this: I don’t usually smell bad, and yeah, okay, I have to stick my nose into my pits to smell anything, but I’m already that tall weird lady with the jars — I don’t want to be the tall weird lady with the BO.
Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Because I’m scratching my head over here.
Thinkin’ ahead: Have I mentioned we have 30 blueberry bushes on our property? (Because that’s how many would fit in that space. Or that’s what Eric tells me.) We share them with Eric’s brother’s family, but still, that’s a lot of berries.
This variety is called “Chandler.” It only takes 8 to make a pie. 😉 That’s a quarter, by the way.
Which is amazing.
Anyway, I’ve been looking into my options for freezing the things, and although I’ve seen a lot of ideas ranging from reusing yogurt containers to milk cartons, I’ve also read how those are potentially not the best way to store precious cargo longterm. A couple of years ago I tried reusing cereal liners, but that was a bust — freezer burn and fast. I thought maybe I could try again using Eric’s FoodSaver (he used to grow a lot of hops, that’s another post for another time), but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of potentially ruining it as cereal liners aren’t exactly recommended. Totally understandable.
So I’m just sticking with glass jars. Pros: I have a ton of them and they’re food-safe. Cons: They do not lay flat and stack like plastic bags. So they take up more room.
Another con is I’m trying to clean out the freezer in preparation for this year’s haul — I want to defrost it — which is hard to do when you’re sticking jars of blueberries in there all the time.
I do plan to make blueberry jam for holiday gifts, but my dishwasher is down for the count, and as that’s how I make sure my jars are squeaky clean, and as I am hypersensitive about potential anything in said jars, that’s not an option just yet.
Hey, Mom, can I use your kitchen?
Updates on updates: Monday’s comments on TP made me smile — you guys really are my tribe. I thought I’d get nailed on my TP hate, but what I got was understanding — and a great suggestion about bidets. I broached the subject with Abby while we were washing dishes Wednesday evening (she’s my sounding board because she’s brutally honest, so I can get an idea of how the rest of the Walker Four will take things), and she wasn’t as horrified by the thought as I’d expected, although she also wasn’t jacked. She was worried about what people would think when they came over and saw this weird contraption in the toilet, wondered exactly HOW it cleans, and vocalized a general feeling of being uncomfortable with the idea. Well, those are valid concerns. But not insurmountable.
I haven’t talked to anyone else in the family about it. (Eric will find out when he reads this post. Hi, darling!) But I’m totally … my interest is piqued. It’s not number one on my list (oh, God, I didn’t mean it like that), but it’s on the list.
… And I’ve decided it’s okay to retire my soap from Wednesday’s update since it’s causing me to breakout. It’s now in the shower. Thank you for reminding me that I don’t need to martyr myself for the sake of the project.
Zero waste pest control: Skilly got a mouse last night — in our room, gross — and didn’t bring it up to the bed to show us, as is his usual MO. (There’s nothing like being woken from a sound slumber at 2:30 a.m. with a half-dead mouse on your bed, being pounced on by an overzealous kitty.) I was like, Good boy, Skilly, that’s zero waste! He seems rather pleased that he’s helping the cause. (Okay, yeah, this is a stretch. BUT HE’S SO CUTE.)
Next up: A very zero waste Fourth of July. 🙂
I planted blueberry bushes when we built our house but just last year they really started producing tons of berries. I knew I wanted to freeze them because I use them in my smoothies 5 days a week. I had been buying frozen blueberries and saving the zip top bags they come in so last year, I froze my berries on a cookie sheet then transferred them to the used bags. We do have an extra freezer so I had room to store the berries and the empty bags – I just roll them up, flatten them and rubber band a bunch together. Not ideal, but…..
… But clever! Points for reusing and reducing! And probably refusing, since you’re not buying new bags. I think that’s a great solution.
My fave “natural” deodorant is milk of magnesia spread in my pits. Some company sells it with a fancy roller, but I just use my hands. The downside is the plastic bottle. Maybe a pharmacist somewhere would sell it to you bulk style in your own jar?
I have never heard of that! Intriguing!
I have head great things about this too but have never tried it. Our local tea and herb store recommends this and even sells it with lavender essential oil mixed in with it.
Okay, now THAT is cool. We have a tea shop … I may need to get over my extreme tea prejudice and just see what they’ve got going on in there. 🙂
About the soap – one zero waste cleansing option that I use for facial cleansing is a combination of oil cleansing and oats which I blitz in my blender into a powder. The oil cleansing is zero waste if you can get oil in bulk – otherwise you can at least buy it in glass.
The method I use in the evening is a version of double cleansing (Google it!). I do an oil cleanse first, massaging it into my skin and then steaming it off with a hot cloth. Then I take some of the oat powder in my hand, add warm water to make it creamy, and massage it on like a cream cleanser and rinse off. It’s a little messy to get off, but oats contain saponin which is a vegetable-based soap-like substance, so I think there’s some actual mild cleansing action going on.
In the morning, I use the oats alone since I’m not trying to remove makeup or sunscreen.
I can’t comment on the acne issue because I have acne all the time regardless of what I use! But I feel like this method of cleansing is very gentle. Sometimes the problem with soap is a pH issue, I believe, and the oil+oats method avoids that problem.
Interesting! I have a load of calendula oil that I just made — I was using that as a makeup remover on a cotton ball (not zero waste!!!), but I didn’t think it was doing anything, so I gave up and just went back to soap only. I’m going to try just massaging it into my skin and see what happens. I’ve also never heard of just dry ol’ oats as a cleanser, but since they’re in actual packaged cleansers, it makes sense. The mess is the only thing I’m not sure about — I really hate cleaning my sink after cleaning my face. 😉
Thank you for sharing!
Deodorant – I used to America my own with baking soda and document oil. I ended up with odor AND oil stains on the shirts on a hot day After much researching, I started using Purely Great. It’s not zero waste, but they list their ingredients on line if you want to try to mimic the recipe. It works and I smell good all day long. Just have to stir the ingredients every time before use.
For berries, after freezing on cookie sheet, we put them in glass lock containers. These are rectangular shaped for easier stacking. My grandparents used to store their berries in 1L milk cartons in the freezer.
Sorry for the autocorrects.. I used to make my own
Oh, autocorrect! We love technology! Anyway, yeah, after this issue, I can easily see why someone would turn to something packaged — having to worry about stink isn’t as fun as you’d think it would be. I will see if that deodorant is something I can mimic… my list grows!
Another option that super sensitive skin hubby uses – he rubs white vinegar into his pits and let’s them dry with arms up (some lovely smells as the bacteria die). He then washes off the vinegar with a wet cloth as the vinegar can be irritating if left on.
LOL! Oh, I can just imagine! Literally because I tried that too and it was gross. 🙂 But I just did it at night to see what would happen … I didn’t think about trying it during the daytime and washing it off after it dried. (Because yeah. Irritating is right.)
Deodorant musings–why not the crystal deodorant, does no one sell that without packaging? works super well on my husband and lasts a year. Julia Roberts doesn’t use any deodorant, just washes her armpits in the bathroom a coupla times a day. However, maybe her peers are afraid to give her honest feedback and she actually stinks all day.
would it fall under your zero waste rules to ask a friend to chip off a large chunk of her crystal deodorant stick for you to use?
YOU ARE SO NICE. I’ve been wondering about crystal deodorant, as it keeps popping up when I do searches for homemade deodorant. It’s nice to hear it works for your husband and your friend. I’m going to check out the natural foods section of our grocery store — they carry some weird stuff and are open to suggestions — and there’s also a natural foods store that I’ve been meaning to wander through. We’ll let your friend keep her deodorant intact, but seriously, what a generous thought!
Hi! Just thought I would input on the deodorant issue. I tried so many natural and homemade deodorants and nothing worked. By the end of the day I would smell so bad I couldn’t stand myself. Now I use the crystal which I love. I have used it for years. At times if we are just hanging around home for a weekend not going anywhere I might skip a shower or two (shhhhh….) and even after a few days I can’t detect any armpit odor (I’ve made my critical teen daughter weigh in and I pass the sniff test with her too). Admittedly I buy the crystal at the grocery store in a plastic container that looks like a solid deodorant type stick…but this thing lasts forever, at least three to four years (unless you drop it!) I have seen it in some organic farmer’s markets in our area without the plastic. They put it in a muslin bag when they give it to you so that is zero-waste since you can reuse the bag. It is important to keep the crystal dry. I keep one near the shower so I just swipe on after I shower before I dry my pits. If I do need to moisten it I am careful to hold it upside down under the faucet so none of the water runs back down into the container and wet it just enough so it will glide over my skin. I am a big believer. Hope this helps! On another decreased plastic note our entire household recently ditched the disposable razors and switched to the blade safety razors..have you tried those yet? Even said critical teenager is using one now and she loves it!
Thank you! Those are great tips!
I haven’t broken down and gotten a safety razor yet, but that is another thing I’ve been looking into. I have one of those Venus razors that I got before Abby was born — just have to replace the heads — but I really think it’s time to let it go, and I like the idea of the safety razor. Glad to hear it’s working for your family — I’m not a particularly careful shaver and the thought of that thing does freak me out a bit. 🙂
Nah…it sounds much much scarier than it is! I am not a careful shaver either. It is much less irritating to the skin and gives you a much closer shave too. My daughter went from having to shave every day to being able to wait a day or two in between. The biggest difference is you don’t put pressure on it like you do with the light plastic disposable. Let the weight of the razor give you all the downward pressure you need. Also hold it at a 30 degree angle to the skin. That’s it. And you don’t need canned shaving cream, fancy brushes or other tools anymore either. Just a good soap…it doesn’t clog like the disposables so you can use soap or conditioner. Check out Ariana from Paris To Go…she has a GREAT article on shaving with safety razors! We bought the Edwin Jagger if that helps you any.
This is so funny, I re-read and re-read your comment to see why you thought I was so nice (I am, but how do you know that, lol)? Ok, I figured out the misunderstanding–I said is there any way you could ask your friend (not my friend) to break off a chunk of her crystal deodorant. heeheehee, this tickled me so much!
Oh! That makes WAY more sense! 🙂 I was like, wow, her friend must be super cool with strangers just asking for a hunk of a deodorant crystal. As I like to say at work: Details are boring!
We own a pick-your-own blueberry farm (500 bushes) in NC. The jars sound like a great idea but I would freeze the (unwashed) berries first on a baking pan and then transfer them to the jars. You probably already know this but just thought I’d share 🙂
I will ALWAYS listen to an expert! Our berries are situated next to a cherry orchard, and there is drift spray associated with that, so I like to wash them. Or does freezing just take care of that? I’ve always kind of wondered why you’re not supposed to wash them first.
Thank you!
Oh, well we don’t put any pesticides on our berries but if you are getting a drift spray I would say maybe wash them when you pull them out of the freezer before you use them.
Here is some info from Driscoll’s website: If you plan to freeze your blueberries, don’t wash them before freezing, which can make their skins tough. Instead, pack your blueberries into freezable containers or freeze them on a cookie sheet and then pack them into containers as soon as they are frozen. Seal the container and keep frozen until you’re ready to use them. Be sure to wash the thawed blueberries prior to use.
I’ve been very keen on the reusable coffee mug/jar for my coffee. But today I asked myself a deeper question. If I’m trying to cut back on waste, should I really be going for coffee so often? Wouldn’t it be better to just make it at home? I’d save on gas to get to Starbucks, and save a lot of money on the coffee itself. Anyway, the question really struck me and I thought I’d ask if you’ve pondered this one yourself. Thanks for always giving me food for thought!
This is a great question, and one I struggle with, too. Every day I bring coffee to work — at the very least, my 16 ounce travel container, and, depending on the day, a pint or even quart jar of backup coffee to warm up in the office microwave. (Our office coffee is terrible, and I’m a complete snob.) I work downtown, and our trendy little tourist trap has 3 coffee shops in walking distance. Again, depending on the day and my schedule and stress level (because coffee is my go-to therapy in all situations), that lure can be high. THEN there’s the Dutch Bros. coffee cart on the Heights, a couple miles from the office, where the coffee tends to be sweet and cheap and plentiful, and gives me a good excuse to get OUT.
Oh, and I just keep loading up my plastic coffee cards when they run out. For some reason, I get a lot of those things as gifts. 😉
But still, I wonder. I mean, yeah, sometimes I walk, but, like last week, I chose to drive to the coffee stand so I could get quart-sized iced Americanos (our downtown shops think a 16 ounce iced drink is plenty. Amateurs!). There’s the gas to get there, the unknown factor of how these establishments get their beans, cream and whatevers, and then just the complete waste of money. (You can’t tell me it really costs $4 to make an iced Americano.) I’m lucky because it seems to be a thing here to make coffee drinks in reusable measuring cups, so I’m not trying to use a mug and then still having cup waste on my conscience anyway.
On the weekends, I’m not tempted — but then, as an introvert, I’m all people-d out and just want to be at home and, as we’re out in the boonies, there’s nothing around anyway.
So I just go round and round with myself. I COULD be totally strict about it (and I probably do need to cut down anyway. When the kids know your order before you even drive up to the window, that might be the sign of a greater problem) … but it’s coffee. It’s my one treat.
This does remind me, however, that I have a great iced coffee “technique” that I need to share here. If you can make yummy coffee at home (and have enough hands to bring it with you to the office, ha), it’s easier to resist the temptation.
(Wow, bet you didn’t think you’d get a novel, did you? Sorry about that. I like words and love coffee. And I’m not sure I even answered the question, now that I reread what I wrote.)
Thank you for your thoughts and comment! I appreciate it.
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