I originally planned to go to my regular grocery store and buy as little plastic as possible. However, I want to try to go absolutely zero waste for a week of grocery shopping and then set achievable goals from there on out that move towards eventual zero (very low) waste. I will shop at the farmers market and SLO food co-op and buy nothing with any kind of waste (plastic, trays, stickers, twist ties, etc). It will be interesting to see if I can find things such as tofu or cheese without any sort of wrapping. I will do my best to explore as many food buying options as possible so that I can find places that will make it easier for me to maintain a low waste lifestyle after the first week. This is something that I have been wanting to do for a while, as I feel (what I believe to be reasonable) guilt when I throw food waste away. Furthermore, I will see what I can do to swap out my toiletry and self care items out as they run out, but this will happen as time goes on (seeing as it makes no sense to throw things away if they aren’t entirely used up).
For my mental health and self awareness I will make a daily effort to meditate. I know based on past experience that meditation provides me with increased awareness of who I am, why I feel what I do, and how I can better understand the people and the world around me. I have the Headspace app and will be using it to encourage this daily meditation and to track my consistency. I notice a significant difference in my well-being and in the way that I treat others with a consistent practice.
Update: This is hard, but I feel good. I went to the co-op and was able to purchase produce and bulk grains without any kind of packaging (instead I bought some reusable cotton produce bags from them) and made a really good dinner out of it. However, things like nut or oat milk are virtually impossible to find without packaging, I really think the only way to make that happen is to make it yourself, which I will definitely give a shot. I couldn’t find any cheese or tofu without plastic so I opted for vegan meals this week and will see what I can find that is low waste (maybe at the SLO farmers market) for the future. It was a challenge but I’m really excited that this intervention gave the push I needed to say no to the typical Trader Joe’s run and instead try something unfamiliar.
I also have been trying to meditate but some mornings find it hard to get up and do it first thing. I think I will explore different times of the morning and see what works best for me. I also purchased a book from HumanKind downtown called How To See by Zen Master Thich Nhat Nahn and have been reading a page every morning which has been a radically better way to start my day than waking up and immediately going on social media or beginning to worry about what the day holds.
