Saturday was a fun-filled day for us: we travelled to Dallas for the day and got a few things off our to-do list. Little E desperately needed some warmers clothing, like long sleeve shirts and sweaters, so we headed to H&M to pick up some of their organic cotton and recycled clothing from their conscious collection, which I love. I know we could have probably bought secondhand, but I prefer that little E wears clothing that is free of pesticides and toxins that is found in conventional cotton.

Whole foods is one of my favorite places to buy food in bulk. They have everything organic you can imagine, so I am usually on cloud 9 when we go!

Whole Foods is one of my favorite places to buy food in bulk. They have everything organic you can imagine, so I am on cloud 9 when we go! After Whole Foods, we headed over to my favorite restaurant, Chipotle, for lunch and found out that they are now serving up organic cilantro in their rice. This of course made me smile. The restaurant did not take our reusable glassware, so we had to take their bowls which are compostable. J.P and I had a discussion on what has the larger environmental impact: reusing the same glassware that needs to be washed every time or using a brown compostable container that we can toss in the compost? I do not have an answer yet, but, if you do, please share!

1-PURCHASES

Groceries

Whole Foods

• 2 cucumbers
• 2 bunches of celery
• 2 bottles of komucha
• Cashews in bulk
• Almonds in bulk
• pumpkins seeds in bulk
• 3 bunches of bananas
• 2 bunches of kale
• Raisins in bulk
• Dates in bulk
• 2 vegan cookies
• Carrots in bulk
• Apples in bulk
• Romaine lettuce
• Vegan chocolate chips in bulk

Non-food items

• Dr.Bronners peppermint soap
• Dr.Bronners’s teat tree oil soap
• Organic floss
• Preserve kids toothbrush
• Burt's bees toothpaste

Sub-Total: 200.00

Restaurants/Entertainment

• Wednesday: J.P went to Chipotle  for lunch 7.85
• Thursday: We went bowling with friends. It was 38.65 for bowling and rental of shoes.
• Saturday: We were in Dallas and did Chipotle for lunch 16.62 for the 2 of us.
• Sunday: We were too tired to move. JP went an picked up pizza 32.48

Sub-Total: 95.60

Material Items

• Clothing for little E from H&M 118.00
• 12 small farm/wild animals made from recycled wood and non-toxic materials for little E. She actually barley has any toys, mostly books. We thought she needed a little something from Santa. 99.01

Sub-Total: 217.01

Total: 512.01

2-COMPOSTING

This week’s weigh in for composting was 11.4 lbs. I juiced almost everyday, but I tried my best to use the juice pulp when I could instead of putting it right in the compost bin. We had to start a second bin, which is sitting nicely in the freezer until Wednesday when I go and pick up our last CSA basket of the year!

3-RECYCLING

The only recycling we had this week was the stupid junk mail we have been receiving and some boxes. We are most probably going to reuse the boxes so they will probably eventually be recycled just not now.

4-TRASH

The trash this week comprised of: veggie/fruit stickers, plastic banana wrap, receipts, plastic from Kombucha bottles, tape from some boxes and some random plastic.

5-TRAVEL

I  didn't end up taking little E to “The little gym” for her weekly class because she had a bit of a runny nose and I didn't want to get any other little ones sick too. As mentioned above, we did drive to Dallas for a few things: H&M, whole foods and to visit the Dallas Arboretum.

The total distance traveled was 321.87 km (200 mi).

We filled our gas tank with 12 gallobs this week for 40.00

I think we had a pretty good week over all. It seems to come as second nature to avoid buying products that come in excess packaging and want to buy items in bulk and glass opposed to plastic. I feel as though the changes we are making will not only be for the duration of the project, but a lifestyle change.

I am loving this project and feel so good about doing it. On Saturday, a lady stopped us as we were leaving Chipotle and asked if we brought all our own utensils and glassware etc. This sparked a 5 minute conversation on waste. She said she found it admirable how we were trying to reduce our waste. I left that conversation feeling good and happy that someone understood what we were doing. Thank you lady we met outside Chipotle (hopefully you are reading this) for not rolling your eyes and making us feel good about our lifestyle choice!