Well, so it has been nearly two months since I've checked in here- but for good reason! See when I mentioned in some earlier posts that trying this zero waste thing is A LOT of work, I meant it. I knew I had the food side of things and some zero waste toiletries for the most part down with a plan of spending about at least one extra hour a day. I was able to make that work. BUT THEN you add in all the zero waste work for the Holidays, and boy oh boy, did I max out. I had some great successes and some great failures, but I learned a lot, and I think next year during the Holiday rigamarole, I will be prepared and will plan more efficiently and therefore not max out so much on the time each day.
Some Successes:
The food! I took in what I have learned during the Fall and was able to make most all of the foods I otherwise would purchase pre-made, pre-packaged and full of chemy fun. I learned to make desserts and chocolate candies- even candy canes can be made from home! They will not win any beauty awards but they taste the same and make your kitchen smell like mint. (http://poetinthepantry.com/2013/12/01/firstonthefirst-homemade-candy-canes/ )
I learned that instead of plastic wrapping food things to give away ( cookies, candies...), I can use good old recyclable brown paper bags and other papers.
I said 'no' to almost all buyable gifts and did my best to make everything- there were a few store bought but like 3 or 4 in total out of the like 30 + people I had on the list.
Some Failures:
The Party Supplies! OK, so I love hosting things around the Holidays. My husband and I do some charitable parties, some family parties and some friends parties too. I had the food covered- we made it all. I had switched to fabric napkins from paper towel and used nice china ( I had never really used my nice plate ware ever, and decided that was silly and a far better use of dusty piles of nice plate ware then buying paper pates). BUT I just didn't have enough silverware, napkins, cups, table clothes... and so in the several pinches I found myself in, I did the dollar store jig for plastic ware ( major zero waste fail).
Some Learnings:
1. Before next year's season hits, I shall be 'goodwilling' it to bulk up on napkins, cups, table clothes, silverware. No more dollar store plastic at all for me next year! Hold me accountable to that. It may be a few more bulks at goodwill, but I can wash them and reuse for years to come.
2. I'll be chanting the mantra " don't make it so complicated Lippold!". See, I made most my gifts, but I also did a lot of different types of gifts. And for our family's dinners I kept going with making new meals most nights. The combo of the two made it so that I was putting in not one hour extra a day but like 3 to 4 hours extra- for days on end it seemed. Then my hubs said something eye opening to me mid December. He was also helping with a bunch of our making projects and the food bit and he said, " Jenni, you know we don't need to eat a new dinner every night or even every other night of the week. I am totally fine with a great meal one day and the great leftovers for several days or more after that." Wow. I guess I had been making like Mexican one nice, Chinese another night, soup and fresh bread another night, slow cooker another night, .... and so on. I think it may be the "American Way" that we eat sooooo much diversity on a weekly basis- but we don't have too! In fact since pulling back on all the different meals each week, it has saved me time now after the Holidays are over too!
3. Next year, I would love to partner with friends/ family who wish to try this challenge at the holidays because we can get together and help each other out with some of our makes, and in that end up spending more quality together anyways- and challenge each other to give more, spend less, eat more healthy ( well, at least have no chemy chocolates and treats :-), and waste less. Plus, "many hands make light work"- saying my grammy used to spout, and it's very true.
Some tricks about Leftovers!
Not just food leftovers, I'm talking about left over items that come from things only half used up over the Holidays or things that bust during that crazy time.
Broken Jewelry- This happens to me every Holiday season. I'm wearing more jewelry for fun get-togethers and I usually break some. Let's face it, I don't have expensive jewelry, I have great finds from the H&M bin or Forever 21 rack. But I love them. And they like to break.
My mother has been into beading for a good chunk of years and suggested I just break them some more and make something new. I took a bunch of my busted finest and used some wire cutting tools ( which I think new are about 5$ at Michael's) and some pliers (also 5$ at Michael's or free from the hubs tool box) and re-cobbled together some new creations! I also discovered the 50 cent jewelry bin at Craft Warehouse- wherein you may find new clasps and chains!
Candles! This was my best leftover find because I ended up using the technique for gifts too! ( So now some of you know how I made those tea cup candles). Every Holiday season, I inevitably pull out a ton of candles, half used from my Thanksgiving or Christmas decorations box. I don't use a ton of candles, I have a small house and a toddler- fire and 3 year olds don't mix so I don't have a lot of candles lit, but I some how collect candles by the ton each year. I wondered if I could reuse the wax because some of the glass container would be perfect for use as candy dishes and such. Low and behold, yep! I read the following article on candle making and bought some pans from goodwill, and wick material from the CW. I melted down a bunch of those old candles I had and used the wax to make really pretty new candles inside antique tea cups I found. I even added some essential oil I had from buying some for those zero waste face products I posted about, and had great scented smelling candles! AND, when the wax is done, the tea cup can be used as a normal tea cup- no waste!