Merry Waste-Less

"Let us be protectors of creation, protectors of one another, and the environment" 

-Pope Francis





Since Christmas is originally about Jesus Christ I thought it appropriate to share this quote. As we prepare for the busiest holiday of them all we can prepare also to reduce our waste- a big part of protecting our environment.


Here is a list of wasteful items found at the holiday feast and they're zero waste alternatives.


Paper plates and plastic utensils

Use regular dishes and utensils, if you do not have enough, grab a set really cheap at the Salvation Army, and if you don't have room in the cupboard for sets of extra plates throw them in a box and stash them away until the next family dinner, even if you are not hosting next time you could offer to bring them, reducing waste over and over again!


Paper napkins and paper towels

Use washable napkins and tea towels, you know the fancy napkins are sitting in the drawer for special events, well this is their time to shine!


Saran wrap, Tinfoil, and ziplock baggies

Use tupperwear and cooking dishes with lids, you could also invest in reusable cake/pie trays or bigger tupperwear pieces for these types of occasions. I grabbed a corning wear dish with a glass lid for roasting vegetables at the Salvation Army for $4!

Plastic trays from pre cooked foods

Use reusable containers and take them to shop at a local bakery/butcher. If you do end up buying some save them for next time or fill them with your own home cooked goods. The same goes for chocolate too, find a local chocolate maker- your gonna thank me for this one, you will never eat factory chocolate again!

Grocery and produce bags

Don't forget your cloth bags and try to not use produce bags- I know that allot of people are uncomfortable with this idea, so just try it for produce that you cut the skin off to eat (squash, melons, bananas, ect..)




You might have allot of this stuff kicking around or you might have to invest a few bucks, but for every pound of plastic refused or reused we save a pound of climate pollution from entering our air!


Don't forget to have a plan to deal with all that extra recycling!


Thanks for reading my blog!
Julia Taylor