Plastic-Free Living

According to a report in 2017 the world spent about 12 billion USD on paper towels and the United States accounted for 5.7 of those billions. That’s like half. Now we did come up with the concept back in 1907, but half? That’s a huge amount of money and waste. It’s become...

So the sponge in your kitchen today is made from fossil fuel based plastic. Swell! Likely with plastic packaging and toxic chemicals to reduce its appeal to germs. Oh, and you should replace that disgusting mess every month or so and send it to a landfill where it will live … forever. yay…

Ingredients aside, one of the biggest ways the beauty industry harms the environment is through its hard to recycle plastic packaging. Oftentimes, made from mixed plastics, these containers are not recyclable and find their way into landfills or waterways. "In 2018, in the U.S. alone, almost 7.9 billion units of rigid plastic were created just for beauty and personal care products. And the problem is set to get worse." -Plastic Pollution Coalition.

It’s a basic part of everyday life - we brush our teeth. And all the things that you need for your oral health are made of… wait for it… plastic.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), composting diverted approximately 24.9 million tons of waste from landfills in 2018, significantly reducing methane emissions and contributing to soil health improvements across the United States.

There has been a recent debate about cotton bags or totes being more harmful to the planet than plastic bags...what?! 

Since I live a zero waste lifestyle, it is important for me to implement sustainability into our renovations. While there will always be some waste in a renovation, there are still many ways to reduce waste and renovate sustainably!