Adding to the To-Do list

The homemade granola bars were delicious and the homemade yogurt was a bit too runny, but close enough to try again. So success! No more little plastic wrappers and little plastic containers for us!

We bring snacks and lunches everywhere with us.  So I'm going to try to phase out of baggies and little packages and instead use reusable tupperware containers to house all our food.  This is going to require some new purchases since I don't have a wide variety of tupperware and also don't have a system of bags for all this. But I'm going to try hard to be smart about what I have and not buy something new.

I already rinse and dry baggies after using them so I can use them again but eventually they get thrown away. Trying not to use them in the first place is going to be the challenge. I'll still have some in the house just like I have paper napkins. We use cloth napkins at our table but we have paper napkins in the cabinet bc some visitors just prefer that.

I switched from instant oatmeal packets to a big tub of instant oats for breakfast. I got a beautiful honey pot as a holiday gift from my boss and so now we're adding honey to everything.  No need to have salts and sugars and other junk in our oatmeal. Raisins and honey, and maybe a few chocolate chips. This helps with my goal of  reducing the amount of trash we produce.

We are not heavy offenders of making trash so it really is the difference made by 3 little wrappers per day. Our family of four does 2 big recycle bins and one trash bag per week. As always, the kids are the biggest contributors what with their pull-ups and wipes. But C. is potty training right now so there's already a marked difference. When baby three comes along I'll do as many cloth diapers as I can manage, like I have done with the other two.

But I have two things I will not compromise on: baby wipes and kleenex.  I know people who successfully use little cloths as baby wipes and just wash them with the diapers. But kids are just so gross. I like being able to throw it away once and for all. And I know people who successfully use handkerchiefs instead of kleenex.  But Jeremiah uses a ton of kleenex, what with his allergies. And really, I don't want to have to deal with that in the wash. Let him dispose of all that.  Plus we now own stock in a tissue company (getting money from where we spend our money).  So all of that lets me ignore these eco-options.

I love the suggestions to make our own peanut butter. That is on the to-do list.  And since we make our own jelly too, we obviously need to start making our own bread. On the list.

What else you got?