Tips

People keep asking if eating vegetables is expensive. They rarely believe the opposite, which I find. Farmers markets rock When I only knew how to shop in supermarkets, I didn't know how affordable and accessible fresh fruits and vegetables were, even if you live in a food desert. Some people will never get past their blinders to keep acting as if they know better, as if it's only possible for people with privilege. Of course we want to improve access. Buying local produce and sharing how to do it is how to help farmers markets spread and people buying cheap, healthy, and delicious. Yesterday's haul Here's yesterday's haul from one stand. Even I was surprised. Even in mid-December in New York, I bought plenty of…

When I talk about avoiding packaging and having little to throw away, people consistently ask me about toothbrushes and toothpaste. If they wanted to decrease their packaging waste quickly and easily, they'd do better decreasing obvious big things like bottled water and take-out. Instead they go with toothbrushes and toothpaste, things where a year's supply adds up to less than one load of take-out packaging. Five years into avoiding packaging, I'm still using up my stock of toothbrushes and paste from before. My brother-in-law is a maxillofacial surgeon. He told me that as far as cleaning teeth, brushing does the work, independent of the paste. The paste is for taste and smell. If you search the internet for "how much toothpaste to use", they tend…

The principle that trying to solve everything before doing anything leads to getting nothing done, applies broadly. It came up recently in reducing pollution, so I'll illustrate it there. A friend said he wants to go to a zero waste lifestyle and asked me what I do about toothpaste. Now there are households out there that throw out less than a pound of garbage per year. Most Americans produce more per day. I imagine he throws out less than the average American, but I hope my readers don't consider Americans useful comparisons for waste---nearly the lowest bar of all populations. It's easier to talk, analyze, plan, debate, and philosophize than act so most people find ways to avoid acting. Latching onto some side issue and…