Perfectly Imperfect

And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good. –John Steinbeck

One of the biggest changes to our lives has been our embracing zero waste practices.

We have invested in produce bags, glass mason jars with labels, bamboo toilet paper, and composting our food waste thanks to our city’s new compost pick-up each week. We’re still learning, but we think much more about our impact on the environment.

Did you know with the trade war with China many recycled plastics are actually being burned instead?

Did you know your city or area may only be able to recycle certain plastics?

Did you know roughly 50% of food is thrown away in America?

I’ve always been fascinated by food. As a child and college student, it was something that tasted good or was forbidden in our house (I see you, Little Debbie) or was given as a reward for good behavior or grades. If I actually went with my parents to church without rebelling when I was little, then we’d stop for donuts after the service. I had a skewed view of food, and I still struggle with cravings when I’m depressed or bored. (The past 18 months have been really difficult in this way, especially since a HyVee moved into our neighborhood and stocks my favorite coconut milk ice cream…)

I’ve improved my relationship with it since I educated myself about nutrition while I was abroad and trying to lose weight. I understand what fast food and sugar can do to one’s body, and even my “healthy” choices of whole wheat pasta or fat free yogurt were no match for the carbs, sugars, and calories. I understand protein, carbs, and fats, and since I’ve become more active I’m very aware of the effects food can have on physical and mental health. My elimination diets have shed light on my intolerances and triggers, and I’ve been able to wean my husband off some of the empty-calorie foods loaded with sodium he was so fond of as a single man and student.

These days, one of the highlights of my week is choosing our produce box contents. As lovely as my experiences were with Abel & Cole and other similar services in the U.K., I wanted more. I wanted to do more.

Some blueberries from a recent produce box.

Enter Imperfect Produce. They give you a selection of goods to choose from each week depending on what is available. For example, several weeks ago I was able to get organic sweet potatoes, but now those aren’t a choice. However, this week I got not only my usual kale bunches but also a head of lettuce for my husband and some leaf spinach for our smoothies and curries. The quality overall has been great, and I’ve been impressed with the prices on short-coded goods like pasta sauce and kombucha. Plus, it saves me going on a large grocery shop on the weekends.

We’ve also become members of our co-op and use the bulk section whenever possible. Our rice, sugars, oats, beans/lentils, eggs, and peanut butter now comes from the bulk aisle, and we even get milk for my husband’s tea in a glass bottle we can return to the store. We are currently cycling through our cleaning and body products, but we plan on getting body wash and laundry detergent from the co-op, as well. We’ve already started using wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, and honestly they work just as well.

I’m struggling with snack food and beverages. There are a handful of prepared foods (sauces, bread, brown rice chips, etc) that come in packets, and I can’t easily make these at home. Some weeks I don’t have the energy to, anyway. We love La Croix and Bubly, but the cans and cardboard boxes do have to be disposed of in the recycle bin. I don’t trust everything to be recycled these days, so is this actually doing any good?

I will cross the beauty product bridge when I come to it. I don’t know what I will do when my serum or facial cleanser runs out. It’s been a long road to find products that work on my face to minimize breakouts, wrinkles, and extreme dryness.

We are far, far from perfect. But we’re trying. We help to educate others, and being aware of the devastating effects of plastics and other waste materials has made me more conscious of the effect of each purchase. I consider the packaging, the location of produce farms, and how much I really need or want something that’s not in reusable packaging. Every wrapper or tube we don’t throw away is helping our environment, and I don’t think we’ll stop anytime soon.

Here are some great resources and products:

Tare Market: A Minneapolis-based store which carries waste-free products and holds informative sessions and classes.

Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-Friendly Life: A how-to book which goes over various ways and some tricks to become more green.

Imperfect Produce: A produce box shipped to your home. You can customize your box from a variety of organic products, produce, cold items, and pantry staples.

Grove Collaborative: A website which specializes in earth-friendly products. We use their reusable food storage “ziplocks”, wool dryer balls, stuck-on food pan pods, and some of their cleaning tools.