The Latest…

Hi everyone!

I have been a bit MIA on this blog for the past week. I originally started this blog for a project for my AP Environmental Science class in school. Well, I presented my project, school is over, but the blog is still here. What am I to do? I really enjoyed writing in this blog throughout the short two weeks that I had used it for, and I’ve decided to keep it going over the summer, but a little differently.

I think I will change this blog so it isn’t only zero waste, but all environmental issues: climate change, pollution, etc. as well as tips, tricks, and personal experiences I have had to living a sustainable life. I hope those of you who follow me will enjoy these new types of post, and those who won’t, don’t worry- I will still be blogging about zero waste as well!

I will be posting twice a week from now on, on Wednesdays and Sundays. I hope some consistency will make this into more of a habit than it was before :).

Thank you for reading my blog and following me on this journey!

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“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” -Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Reusable Water Bottles

I was stuck with what to write this post on, and then I realized that I haven’t yet written about the most simple aspect of going zero waste- Reusable water bottles.

I learned a few weeks ago that my high school, with almost 3,000 students, makes $200,000 a year on selling just $1 Poland Spring Water bottles. Some students buy multiple a day, even though there are water bottle refilling stations in every hallway in the school. I have a plethora of reusable water bottles at home, and the thought of using a plastic single-use water bottle hasn’t reached my mind in months. If I forget a water bottle at home, I probably will go the whole school day thirsty, not only because I don’t want to buy a single use water bottle, but also because I don’t bring the money to school, so I am literally unable to. I think this is the best way to stop using single use water bottles on a day to day basis, force yourself not to until you remember to bring a reusable water bottle.

I will give recomendations of water bottles that I use or have used in the past- what I liked about them, what I don’t like about them, and which is my favorite.

Camelbak

I purchased the Camelbak Eddy a little over a year ago in the color Charcoal. I know people who rave about these water bottles, but this one goes on the bottom of my list.

About six months into semi-daily use, the straw started to mold, and the water bottle would leak all over my car and backpack. Persistent washing, by hand and through the dishwasher, didn’t work either. After only six months, I had to throw it out. I considered their Lifetime Warranty program, but after reading into it, found out that it only applies to faulty products from purchase. I had to recycle it. Won’t be buying again!

 

S’well

The store I work at sells S’wells, and ever since our first shipment around Christmas time, it has been a best-seller. What I think attracts people to S’wells are the variety of beautiful designs, and the fact that its insulation keeps cold beverages cold for 24 hours and hot beverages hot for 12. I’ve had two S’well bottles over the course of three years (I lost the first one) and can honestly say that this is true. I used to make the mistake of putting hot tea in my S’well, expecting it to cool down enough to drink it within the next hour, but it wouldn’t get to a less-than scorching hot temperature for around five hours. My only problem with the S’well is that like many other reusable water bottles, it isn’t very compatible with lip glosses / lipsticks. The makeup sticks to the mouth of the bottle, which in turn makes it require more washes than other reusable bottles I have used.

Contigo

The Contigo water bottle is by far my favorite, and there are a few reasons why. First, it was cheaper than the other water bottles. The S’well costs $35, Camelbak was $15, and the Contigo was only $8! I bought it at the B&N Starbucks Cafe in Barnes and Noble, and since I am a Barnes and Noble member, I got a discount. But the price doesn’t reflect the quality of the product. The feature that I found useful that isn’t present in the others is the lock. To ensure it doesn’t leak, there is a lock on the side, which I find myself using a lot more often than I originally thought. After the constant leaking of the Camelbak, I found this extra security a blessing. Another aspect that I liked was the straw. The straw isn’t one that you just push into the holder, like the Camelbak, but you actually have to twist it to lock it. With my Camelbak, I found that whenever I had lemon water or ice water that the solids in the container would push the straw out of the holder, which also always happened when I was in the middle of driving, not ideal. Lastly, I really love the spout on the Contigo. With the Camelnbak, you have to bite down on the spout to get the water out, which was annoying and also wasn’t healthy for me because I have a jaw disorder called TMJ, where essentially the joints in my jaw get inflamed with too much chewing, a really annoying and painful problem that I can’t fix, but I can try to mitigate with less chewing, and this didn’t help it. I also found the shape of the Contigo is better shaped to fit mouths, which I enjoyed.

The Contigo water bottle has turned into my daily use water bottle. I am able to place lemons and ice in the water bottle without the straw popping out, can lock it to prevent it from spilling, and it is also cheap and 24 oz! That means I only have to drink 5 to reach a gallon of water a day! Woo!

I hope some of you who are looking for the right water bottle for them found this review helpful. I know I only included three, but where I live, these three brands are the most popular. If you decide to try these out, or other reusable water bottles out, and don’t like it, you can give it to a friend or recycle them! All of these water bottles are recyclable.

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“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” -Eleanor Roosevelt. 

 

From Paris, With Love (And Hope).

We all know what happened yesterday. Today, I discussed it extensively for hours with teachers and peers. The funny thing was, unlike the election: no one was in agreement with what had happened. Going online, checking Facebook to see what people were saying, was obviously a different story. Internet sleuths writing that Trump has saved us! Liberals just want to tax us even more! Call the whole world liberals then, because this goes beyond money (even though this decision loses us money, too).

I wasn’t surprised by the news. On the campaign trail, Trump promised over and over again to withdraw the United States from this terrible deal. He promised the blue collar voter living in middle America, who felt that their voices weren’t being heard, that their voices will finally be heard. Maybe he had this in the back of his mind while making this decision, maybe he thought that he could somehow, miraculously revive the coal industry (which just makes me think ???), but the United States of America withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, and just like that, a three year long process has begun. There is no doubt that this will be a major topic of discussion for the next presidential, and even midterm elections (register to vote for 2018! Midterms matter!). The day that we officially withdraw from this agreement falls right around election day, ironically enough. Given that Trump will be 74 when these elections come around, and we haven’t finished the first year of his first term, there is no telling who’s hands this will be in. But don’t fear, my fellow crazy liberals! Our planet will be saved! And although we only stand alongside Nicaragua (who actually didn’t sign on the Paris treaty because it didn’t go far enough to fighting climate change) and Syria (who doesn’t really have a functioning government at the moment, you know, civil war and all), states, cities, and companies have publicly announced that they will still follow the treaty guidelines.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted a viral video to Facebook, and in this video he encouraged American scientists and engineers to flock to France to conduct climate science and make a difference. My science teacher told me that the ironic part of this is how this is what the United States was doing during the Space Race. We were encouraging foreign scientists and engineers to come to America to help us on the quest for space exploration. Back then, it didn’t matter that they were from other nations because space exploration was beneficial to the whole world. But now, with climate change, we turn our backs. The United States of America has officially, (federally) stopped fighting climate change.

This means that now, more than ever, our voices matter. Our government is working against us, and we can and will resist, for the future of our home, ourselves, and our children. We will not stop…

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” -Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Zero Waste Day 1!

Yesterday, I went zero waste. Or at least I tried. I recycled a bunch, a Dunkin’ Donuts cup, a recyclable empty bag of chips, and a Chipotle container. I decided that I will give myself some leeway with work, because yesterday, I threw away a lot of garbage that wasn’t mine.

I work in a retail store, and our recyclable capabilities are limited. We can only recycle cardboard, everything else gets thrown away. With my zero waste promise in the back of my mind, it particularly pained me to throw away so much packing materials and plastics. Next week I plan to say something to my boss about maybe talking to the person who owns the building and asking for a recycle bin to join the garbage and cardboard bins. Otherwise, I think I did pretty well. Day 1 doesn’t nearly encompass all of what zero waste living really is. I didn’t have to go out and buy food, clothing, etc. Besides throwing away trash at work (which, technically, isn’t even my trash- but I still felt all the guilt), I felt great!