Guest Post: Iced Coffee to go

So, my sister Taylor wrote this guest post over a year ago, and somehow I have not actually posted it yet. So though another summer's nearly over, here's her story of how she makes iced coffee to go with less waste and less cost than buying it at Starbucks! 

Since I'm a guest blogger, I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm Steph's little sister (by 20 months) and I am currently starting my second year of medical school. Steph asked me to write a little bit about one of my wasteless practices. I've picked up a lot of her habits, but I came up with this one all on my own.

I wasn't a coffee drinker until my senior year of college. My biochemistry professor's soothing voice at 9:30 am was enough to necessitate a daily dose of caffeine. But I quickly realized that drinking hot coffee on the way to class was not an enjoyable adventure. My roommate drank the Starbucks bottled Frappucino Coffee Drinks, so I figured I'd give them a try. You could pick them up pretty much anywhere on my undergraduate campus that also sells hot coffee. They worked great, but they cost a pretty penny.

I realized that I could just reuse the glass bottles and use my own coffeemaker at home, saving time, money, and countless glass bottles. It's a simple process: just make a cup of coffee the night before you want to drink it, pour it in the bottle, add whatever else you like in your coffee (milk, sugar, etc.), and place it in the fridge UNCAPPED. In the morning, twist the cap on, give it a shake, and you're ready to enjoy.

They're better than the Starbucks made ones for many reasons:
-You don't have to spend daily $$$ in the store
-You can make whatever flavor coffee you want, Starbucks brand or not
-You can make them the night before, meaning they are fresher than the Starbucks version that have preservatives
-You can also make a bunch for the week, and keep your fridge stocked
-You can reuse the glass bottles over and over

I currently use Starbucks Veranda coffee with Coffeemate Fat Free Vanilla creamer, because that's what I like for hot coffee too.

Now that I'm in medical school, I've started using this method for my afternoon caffeine, because at least 2 doses are necessary. I still make them the night before, and then just stick them in my backpack to drink at the library. They portable, pretty spill-proof (keep them upright though), and they taste good cool/at room temperature if you can't keep them refrigerated.

I also do this with iced tea, I just use Snapple bottles. I don't recommend using the same bottles for tea and coffee, because you can't get them as clean as you want sometimes, so you don't want your tea to taste like coffee or vice versa.

Disposable to Reusable, Part 1: Food, Kitchen, and Shopping

When I talk to people about trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle, they almost always ask me for advice and/or say 'oh it must be so hard!'.  The first thing I tell them is to start where they can, and that the easiest place to start is by picking something that's supposed to be disposable and replacing it with a reusable thing.  So here are some of the ways I've switched from throwing away to reusing!

Two of the easiest places to switch to reusable items are in the kitchen and on shopping trips.  

Reusable grocery bags are the base level.  If you do nothing else, do this.

I have more, but they're in the wash.  FYI, its a good idea to run these through the wash after every one or two uses.  It keeps bacteria from building up on the bags.  That's why I use cloth bags, instead of the plastic ones.

I made rags out of t-shirts I'd cut up for other purposes.

I also have some made from old towels.
 

I picked up cloth napkins from yard sales.

I actually have 6 more of these white ones, but they're stained.  Colored ones are better for hiding stains.

Then reusable produce bags and cloth bags for produce or bulk foods.  I'm actually known at my farmers' market for bringing my own produce bags all the time -  almost everyone else uses plastic ones (!!!)

The mesh bags are these from Flip & Tumble.  You could also make your own if you're savvy like that - my Grandma made my cloth ones out of her quilting scraps.  The rice bag came from a friend - I told him about my shopping habits, and he said he'd bought rice in this cloth(ish) bag, but wasn't going to reuse it.  So now it's mine!


Finally, I fill glass jars with dry goods instead of buying pre-packaged foods and spices.

Some of these jars used to hold other things, and I've reused them, while others I bought new.  Many spice jars in particular were purchased already filled, and I just refill them when I run out.

Look out for Part 2 next week!

Smelly experimentation

I ran out of deodorant 2 weeks ago.

I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to test out a natural deodorant.  That means going without an antiperspirant for the first time in a long time (maybe ever?).  I felt some trepidation, but I'd like to move towards less plastic and chemicals.  And less cost.  Also, apparently aluminium can be pretty nasty, but I'm still researching how much of an effect it really has.

I'm testing out two deodorants.  One is Tom's of Maine, the other is homemade deodorant.

I've mostly been using Tom's deodorant, their lavender scent.  Its not plastic free by any means, but at least they leave out that silly little cap that other antiperspirant companies put inside the main cover.   And the entire container is made of #5 plastic, recyclable through Preserve's Gimme 5 program.  Granted, based on lack of evidence on their site, I think they might use virgin plastic to make them in the first place.

After a week and a half, it's alright.  It's not perfect by any means - I'm debating buying an additional stick to keep in my office because it tends to fade mid-day.  And after a gym visit? Hoooo do I stink.

I've also experimented with making my own deodorant, inspired by Miser Mom, Dogs or Dollars, and the Clean Bin Project.  I just mixed equal parts coconut oil and baking soda to start with, and I can't say that was a success.  I got a rash under my arms, and it hurt all day.  I've heard of others having the same problem, and apparently adding cornstarch helps.  I'm going to keep experimenting on the weekends, so when I get a hold of some cornstarch we'll see how it goes.

Toothpaste woes, Toothbrush win?

I'm almost out of toothpaste, so I decided to try switching to Tom's of Maine.  I got the cinnamon flavor, as I dislike mint for the most part.  Unfortunately, I had a very painful few days before I gave up on it.  The toothpaste burned the inside of my mouth.

At first I thought that the cinnamon was very strong and I wasn't used to it, or just changing to a new toothpaste for the first time in years, or maybe my gums were having a sensitive day.  But it happened again, and again, and finally after 3 days of trying to use the smallest amount possible I decided it wasn't worth it any more.  Even a day after I stopped and went back to my old toothpaste, parts of my mouth are still tender.

I sent Tom's a message, asking for a refund, and they've agreed.  It's only a few dollars, but it's the principle of the thing.

I also got a new toothbrush, made by Preserve and purchased at Trader Joe's.  It's made of recycled yogurt cups, and comes in a plastic sleeve that serves as a pre-paid mailing envelope.  The idea being that once you use the toothbrush, you put it back in the package, tape the thing closed and mail it back so it can be recycled through Preserve's Gimme 5 program.  If I have to get a toothbrush, I'm a fan of this plan. 

Small Sucesses: Bulk Spices

After last week, anything would have been exciting, but this week I finally made it down to the 4th Street Food Co-op, which is in downtown Manhattan, about a 45-minute subway trip from me.  Why go so far? Because they are a full-on sustainable, organic, and bulk store.  Not just nuts, granola, flour, and sugar.  They had bulk spices, pasta, a bunch of different types of flour (whole wheat, gluten-free, etc), and shampoo and other household products.  I bought rolled oats and whole wheat pasta, plus three different spices.

The best part was I could use jars, not just bags.  At Fairway and Whole Foods, the bulk section was completely self-serve and there was no way to tare my bags, much less anything heavier like a jar.  At the Co-op, I tared my spice jars at the counter, and then took just what I needed from the bigger jars on the wall.  I didn't bother to tare the cloth bags I used for oats and pasta because they hardly weigh anything.  My love for this place means I'm living without cinnamon for a few weeks because they were out, and after paying so little for spices in my own jars, I can't bring myself to walk into a store and pay $4.

Did I mention the cost?  $7 $5.50 for spices, pasta, and a lot of oats.  I also bought soy sauce and a new storage jar, which took the cost up to $11.50.

And, if I'm being honest, it was great to go to a place where I didn't have to explain myself.  Where the cashier was appreciating the store anew after 6 weeks in another state where she actually had to buy food in packaging.  Where nobody commented on my bags.  Bulk is an absolute way of life in that little store. 

Small Successes: Slow and Steady

My attempts to reduce my waste while living at home have been met with a variety of reactions, from understanding to misunderstanding, from helpfulness to laughter and scorn.  When I tried to institute cloth napkins back in May, that last pair of reactions was the most prominent.  T thought it was gross to reuse them but wasteful to wash them if they'd only been used once (to clarify, at that point we had 8 napkins total, for 4 people).  Mom thought having to wash them was a pain in the rear.  Dad, after a while, confessed to me that he actually liked using them.  And more and more recently, everybody has used the cloth napkins.  As I've acquired more, I think their continued presence has helped my family feel like they're commonplace and ok to get dirty.  And sometimes everybody used paper ones and I would just silently exchange mine for cloth. 

But this. I came home Tuesday with a set of napkin rings and a some more new(ish) napkins from the thrift shop, and I looked at the middle of the kitchen table.  I realized that something was missing.  Can you tell what it is?

The paper napkin holder is empty.  I don't know when it was emptied, I think it may have actually been last week.  But it definitely stayed empty for at least three days.  Not much, but it's a start.

(This happened with reusable grocery bags as well, near the end of my high school days.  I bothered my parents to buy a few, and then kept bringing them along as often as possible, and now we have a fleet of them.  By the time the bag tax rolled around a year or so ago, we didn't even have to change our routine.)

Related to this, I've finally gotten around to getting napkin rings for the family.  I found a set of 5 wooden rings for 25 cents at the thrift shop, and have now decorated them with sharpies to distinguish each person's ring.

Small Success: Replacing Tissues

This will be the start of a series: every Thursday I'll post one small step I've made towards less waste in my life.  Generally, it will be something new I've done that week.

This week, cloth tissues! I use tissues a lot (who doesn't?) and they make up a large portion of the non-food waste that I produce.  I made these replacements using old t-shirts.  I started by very exactly cutting out 8.5 inch squares,  and then I just gave up and cut them approximately.  I'm keeping them in an empty tissue box, which I may or may not decorate.  I haven't gotten a receptacle for them yet; right now I have to chuck them across the room into my laundry basket.