When planning for our arrival home we wanted to be sure this was a transition in life we took advantage of. Transitions offer great opportunities for change. We set some goals for us to decrease our trash waste and get us all plugged in with social activities.
Zero-waste groceries
Something we noticed while we were on the road is that our trash often consisted of 80% or more plastic packaging. Most of the time we were getting groceries on the go buying in bulk wasn’t an option. It also wasn’t super practical as our food storage space was so small. At home in Portland we bought in bulk with our staples and got other things such a fresh veggies as needed.
Compared to a typical American family our trash was still minimal even on the road but really that’s nothing to be proud of since on average a family of 4 creates a whopping 120 lbs of trash per WEEK! Absurd! On the road we generated a bag about 12″x 12″ including our compost about once every 3 days. But still, it was mostly plastic!
We wanted to make a change! Our goal was to decrease our waste overall, but for an extra challenge we wanted to try going zero waste (for food and household supplies) for a month and see if we discovered some outlets for decreasing waste on a regular basis. We knew it was extreme but we wanted to challenge ourselves.
We started by making a list of the things we semi-regularly ate that came in packaging. Here’s what we found: Tofu, salsa, pasta sauce, tortillas, bread, sauces, olive oil, almond milk, yogurt, along with other things. Then we made of the list of the things I could make instead of buying which was surprisingly most of it. Sure, it would take a lot of time but that was part of the plan.
Justin did a lot of research and found that there was a local bulk tofu place in Portland (Ota Tofu). He also found a couple other store options to buy other items in bulk such as olive oil.
Getting plugged in socially
The other goal we had was to plug us all into social activities. That was a big piece that we were missing on the road. In hind sight things are so clear. If we do decide to do another trip, meeting up with families early on will be a must. We found a number of different classes, camps and lectures that we would all have fun doing. So many super fun and exciting options out there that we were all really looking forward to. My calendar was packed with dates and deadlines to sign each of us up for different things.
We also wanted to be sure that Justin and I had a balance at our home that included time to ourselves, exercise and family time. We had a plan!! It was solid! It felt great!! Home sweet home, here we come!
