The one with the cloth napkins

 One obvious, and relatively easy, trash reduction change my family could make was to stop using paper napkins and switch to cloth. I heard cloth napkins were easy to find at local thrift stores, so I intended to go do some shopping. I really did intend to do that. Like any day now. 

The napkins I already owned

I wanted to buy some cloth napkins that were not "special." Something my family could use every day. Something I wouldn't worry about getting stains on etc. 

I do own some cloth napkins. I bought them over ten years ago when I bought the table cloths I use most of the time. To be clear one of these table cloths has been on our table every day for years. They've been washed many times and had all kinds of things spilled on them. But somehow I thought the matching napkins would be more vulnerable to damage? And by matching, I mean they are made of the exact same fabric. 

Finally, I decided we should use some of the matching cloth napkins. I knew exactly where they were, in a cupboard close at hand. I could have easily reached for them anytime.  I took them out of the open box they were carefully arranged in on the shelf. I pulled out four to add to the table. This felt good. We were not going to be throwing away any paper napkins tonight!

And that's when I saw it, the little green label still stuck to the napkin I had bought more than ten years ago. Wow, I've really never used this napkin before?  Spoiler, it wasn't just that one. All of them still had their original stickers. They were so "special" I had never used them at all. Total #facepalm moment. 

Now, instead of a napkin holder full of paper napkins in the middle of the table, we have a stack of folded, clean, fabric napkins, that just happen to exactly match the table cloth. Full disclosure, often they are clean enough to use for multiple meals before getting tossed in the wash basket. 

I've removed the labels (and price tags) from all of the cloth napkins we own, and they are all in full use rotation on the dining table. Some day, I may find myself at a thrift store buying more,  but I have reason to believe these napkins should be good for at least a decade. 

The one with the Veggie Box: Getting Produce from my local CSA

In 2009 I started getting fruits and veggies from a CSA (community supported agriculture). This is a farm in my county that puts out a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce. I get one every other week. For about $30 I get a box with a dozen or so different kinds of items. I'm lucky enough to live in Southern California, so the variety and quality of this locally grown and organic produce is wonderful. 

My February 2023 CSA Box Contents

Before I got a box, I sometimes frequented farmers markets. I know many people enjoy that experience, but I didn't. I struggled to make on the spot decisions about which produce to buy, and I didn't like that I had to remember to go there weekly, within a pretty narrow time window. And it was a time consuming process. It din't fit in my life well when I had two small kids. So, I was thrilled when my friend told me we had a local CSA delivering to our neighborhood. 

I still need to remember to pick up my bi-weekly veggie box. (In all honesty, my husband is usually the one who picks it up from a neighbor's porch a few blocks away.) And I still spend time unpacking and processing the contents. But I like the serendipity of discovering that I like things I would never have chosen to buy. I like to consistency of knowing I will have produce. I like having a selection of seasonal items chosen for me. And when there is something in the box we don't like (looking at you fennel) we drop it in the swap box and another neighbor will pick it up. 

There are several advantages of having one local pick up spot for all the CSA customers in our neighborhood. One is the aforementioned swap box. People leave items they don't want and others take them. Another is the simplicity for the farm in having one drop off point. A third is that if someone doesn't pick up their box, it gets gifted by the drop off host to another friend. (Way better than leaving produce rotting on your porch because you forgot to cancel a delivery.) The food comes in large waxed boxes. We just open our box on the porch, transfer the produce to our own bags and then collapse the boxes for the farm to reuse.

It's prepaid, but I can skip a box if we will be traveling. The farm publishes a list weekly of what to expect to find in the next box. This helps me plan my weekend shopping trip. My son likes broccoli, but I won't buy it at the store if I'm expecting some in our CSA box. 

Every CSA is different, some include eggs, some drop off at your door. Some offer more variety, some less. The important thing is to find one that is local to you, fits your time constraints, budget etc. And when considering the budget part, remember that joining a CSA will reduce your grocery store bill, and maybe even make it possible for you to go shopping for food less often. With the perishables coming through the CSA, I make fewer trips to the store now. 

I want to make less trash

I don't think anyone really wants to make more trash, but I want to start making deliberate choices in my life style that will create less trash. This blog is my effort to document that process. I doubt I'll ever be one of those folks who gets all the way to zero waste. I'm realistic enough to admit that. 

Nothing on this blog will ever be Pinterest perfect or Instagram arranged. This is my real life. The real choices I make and any cool things I figure out, probably long after others figured them out first. 

My interest in creating less waste has been growing for a while. It crept in with a reusable water bottle, metal straws, and the shampoo bar a friend gave me. Then it was about having less single use plastic in my lunch box, and wondering about other places I could replace plastic and trash in my life. 

Even though I've been slowly moving toward less waste for a long time, I'm now realizing that I want to do more; examine each thing I buy in terms of it's sustainability, life span, and end of use plan. 

Stick with me. I'll write about some of the changes I've already made and bring you along as I tackle new ways to reduce my waste stream.