We arrived safe and sound in Montreal on Thursday for our 2 week visit back home. We have spent the last 3 days with family laughing, eating and unwrapping gifts. We asked our family to consider waste-free gifts for all three of us and we were pleasantly surprised with the thought that went into the gifts.

The most unique gift wrapping job was auntie Fiona using her old university notes to wrap little E's gift! Genius! I hope she passed the class though because it is all in the recycling. Little E received so many great gifts that were waste-less and eco-friendly. She had a star designated in her honor and the best thing is in June and July you can actually see the star on a clear night from Texas. Money was donated to World Vision on her behalf to purchase books and textbooks for children in need, she received 3 toys made from recycled milk jugs, little books made from recycled paper, and organic cotton clothing!

After we received our basket from Lufa farms, we still needed to buy groceries to fill any needs that the basket did not cover. Unfortunately, most of the fruits and vegetables are shipped from the U.S and come wrapped in plastic. We tried to find as many fruits and veggies in bulk, but it is difficult. That is why we love our Lufa farms basket so much-  little packaging is involved.

1-PURCHASES

Lufa farms basket

• 2 romaine lettuce heads
• 3 celery roots
• 4 cucumbers
• 2 small container of tomatoes
• 1 bunch of spinach leaves
• 3 butternut squash
• 4 apples
• 2 bunches of dill
• 3 orange peppers
• 6 jalepeno peppers
• 2 bags of beets
• 2 jars of organic blueberry jam
• 1 cabbage head
• 2 bunches of chives
• 2 garlic cloves

Sub-Total: 80.00

La Moisson health food store

• 1 bag of carrots
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 3 lemons
• 2 avocados
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 cookie
• 1 jar of peanut butter
• 2 loafs of sprouted bread
• 1 bag f sprouted tortillas
• 1 can of BPA-free chickpeas
• 2 bunches of bananas
• 4 pears
• 1 large bottle of Kombucha

Sub-Total: 100.00

Restaurants/Entertainment

• Wednesday: We went to Chipotle for dinner 14.48
• Thursday: We went to Chipotle for lunch 14.48

Sub-Total: 29.98

Received

Little E:

• Green toys “Tea set”
• Green toys “Sandwich set”
• Green toys “Recycling truck”
• Organic cotton purple stretchy pants and 2 matching shirts
• A set of tiny books made from 98% recycled paper and soy ink
• A donation made on her behalf to World vision for reading book/textbooks for children
• A star named after her

J.P:

• 2 coins for his collection

Me

• A donation made on my behalf to World Vision for a family to have an eco-stove
• A gift certificate to La Moisson, the local health food store

Both:

• 2 passes to see a movie
• iTunes gift cards

Sub-Total: Free

Total: 219.98

2-COMPOSTING

This past week we were able to compost and will continue to do so while we are home for the holidays. However, we will not be weighing the compost since we are moving around- we are just happy we can compost. Over the last few days it has been great that we not only are composting our scraps, but family members as well! Yay!

3-RECYCLING

This week with Christmas, we had some added recycling: eco-friendly wrapping paper and envelopes; paper from mail; white paper; plastic bags (I know, I know…).

4-TRASH

The trash this week comprised of: veggie/fruit stickers, plastic banana wrap, receipt, tie wrap from different vegetables, materials from holiday “crackers” and probably a few other random things. We are keeping track of all our waste, but we are not keeping it like we do back home in Texas. It is rather difficult while traveling around.

5-TRAVEL

We of course had to travel by plan to get home. I wasn't interested in driving from Texas to Montreal with 14 month old! We did some local traveling while in texas and back inMontreal. Therefore, the total distance traveled by car was 339.5 km (211 mi) and the distance travelled by air was 2439 km (1317 nautical mi).

All in all we had a great week while traveling and making sure to stay true to our waste-free colours. Here is to another week of moving around and limited our impact on the environment. One piece of trash at a time we are hoping to make a difference!