Bonus Ep: Green New Year's Resolutions

Hi, Kat. Hi, Tiffany. Happy almost New Year's. Happy New Years. Yes. So exciting. It is. Yeah. Go ahead. You're, you're running the show here. I don't know. It was like a mini episode. So it's sort of a combined effort. Because free form. Yeah. Free Form. We wanted to talk about New Year's resolutions that are more sustainable. Yeah, everybody makes New Year's resolutions about losing weight or going to the gym. But I think these are more impactful and maybe easier to do. Yeah. And also, I don't know, I think they kind of make you feel really good. Like, just as good as maybe losing weight. Depends on your, your goals, I guess. But yeah. Yeah. I feel really good. Like, what we did for the episode is we wrote out like a look back at what we've done, done this year. And it's really nice to look back and be like, Oh, wow, a year make a huge difference. Even tiny little steps. So and how big those like in court? Like, I don't know how it is a big deal. Even if it feels small to make these changes, like, Oh, I didn't do that. And now I do. And I'm a different person. And I'm better for it. Yeah, exactly. And do you like inspire people around you? Yeah. So it will make it easier for them. Because you can be an expert at it. You're like, Well, I do this. Yep. So yeah. Yeah. It's kind of like my first one. I started composting this year. And I don't remember if I talked about that on the podcast. I think I may have Yeah, you have used cars when you were talking about the mill. Yeah, cuz i knew i Oh, yeah. That's right. That's when I first started it. And it's so easy. It's like, I was so nervous about it. Because I think there's we talked with some of our listeners about this, but there's like, some gatekeeping. Yes. In compost in the compost world. I don't know why. But I've noticed it even with, like this master gardener program that I went to and had a little chat with him. Two of the women were like, do whatever the hell works for you. Like just whatever, throw your pizza box in, it'll be fine. And then one of the other women was like, No, you have to do layers. You have to do precise layers. You have to do this. You did that. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna listen to these ladies. Yeah, like, fuck it. Yeah. It doesn't always have to be hard to be good. Yes. And it's already working. I turned it the other day. And I noticed on the bottom, it's turning into compost. So Holy shit. I'm doing something right. Well, that's similar to my experience. I have changed what I'm composting. Excuse me, based on the research that you talked about, and just looking into my own because I you know, I do city composting. I have been, I put more into it than I did. For sure. Cool. Like, for instance, before, I would just throw away my pizza boxes, because I didn't think they were compostable. But they are and so now a lot more goes into that bin. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. And like chicken bones and things I didn't. And I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't had the impetus to look into what my city actually will take. And I also got rid of the compostable trash bags that I was using to land my van because we did that episode. And they're just yeah, that was one of my favorites. Yeah, early one. And I was like, wow, these are shit. Fetty Yeah, plastic confetti, and I'm like, even if it's going to a city, why why bother? I don't need to buy this. And I don't need to waste it. So yeah, definitely changed my composting habits as well. Nice. That's awesome. Yeah, we also have a city one, but it does. It's not like they don't pick up on like street corner. So it's just easier for me to go on my backyard and throw it but yeah, that's awesome, though. But yeah, I mean, if I wanted to do like meat or bones or other random, like probably pizza boxes, I think they would take that kind of stuff, but I can't do that in my backyard. No, yeah, it would take too long. Yeah, but I also started my mother in law composting. So that's fun. That is cool. Yeah. So it's like, you can spread this stuff. Yeah. And then yeah, just a couple things. Like I started a pollinator garden. I love it. talked about that a little bit. And actually, it did work out in the end even though the deer were wanting to destroy it. But you know, I spent a lot of time researching native plants in my area and found a lot of really awesome resources for my county and it's like so many people are into this whole like pollinator garden native like, no more lawns all this stuff. We're gonna have to talk about that in our next season. We definitely need to Yeah, because it's so it's such a hot topic right now and I'm kind of obsessed with it so awesome. All and I need I need your guidance, because that's what I want to do too. Oh, yeah. I mean, truthfully, I have like basically an acre of lawn. Okay, not by choice. I inherited it, but it's way too. It's ridiculous. So I'm like, just trying to find little pockets that I can turn into little like flower beds and surely after yours it will. It will be a meadow again. Yes. And then. Yeah, what's your other one? What's your next one? Well, I would similar to how I changed up my composting habits. I've changed how I handle recycling. Me too. Yeah. So I don't I used to you have a bag. I used to use those clear plastic bags. Oh, yeah, that's right. I don't anymore. And I also am more conscientious about separating things out and making sure they're clean. And not. I now know more thoroughly what can be recycled and what can't? Yes. So that has and has also changed my buying habits you know about what I'm willing to buy? Based on how recyclable it is. Yeah, I actually stopped buying egg carton the plastic egg cartons. Yeah. First off, because plastic sucks. Yeah, no, from our plastics episode, but it's, I just throw I get the cardboard ones. And I think those cardboard ones are at the end of their lifecycle. So I don't know if those are recyclable. They might be but I know that cardboard is only we learned it's only recyclable, like six state times or something. Yeah. So I just compost it. Exactly. It's like, my county does not take those plastic versions of the egg. So I refuse. I'm like, do not touch those. No, those are my cart. Exactly. Cardboard forever. Yeah. And I do the same. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. And I also Yeah, I got my, like, I'm dating is recycling now to ah, that is so exciting. Yeah, he's actually he just moved into a new place. And he's like, I gotta get a bin that has a recycling section to it. And he started at his old apartment, he started saving recycling in a separate container. So this is that is so cool. Exciting. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. It's like it rubs off on contagious. Yeah. Yeah. And similarly, I started free cycling. Yeah, I talked about this a little bit, but I just joined my local free cycling group. And it's really active. Like every day, there's at least 15 or 20 posts. And all I do now, I haven't. I'm just basically at a point where I'm like, I don't need more stuff right now. of any sort, in any way, shape, or form. So I just looked at the wanted section, there's like a section or people post wanted, like stuff that they want. And I have gotten rid of some awesome things. I got gave someone a ton of moving boxes that we had from three years ago when we moved in. The last time we lived. Yeah. And we're like, oh, maybe we'll leave this house and a couple of years were like, Oh, wait, the economy. We're never leaving. We live here forever. Yeah. And then I gave somebody an old PlayStation two that I was actually I had from my, you know, teenage years, maybe a little college years. And I was like debating keeping it. And I'm like, maybe I'll play this one day. But then I was like, Man, I'm probably a robot. But somebody asked for specifically what he wanted. He like, does something with old game systems. And I was like, Please take it take all these games to here's just like, take it all out. That's awesome. I gave somebody one of Charlie's like water tables that we didn't want anymore. And then somebody requested a lawn mower, and we have two and we don't need to write and one of them. This was actually from Joey's dad. He was really old, but it still functioned. And I was like, Dude, if you want this, you can have it. Because knew that thing would have been like 600 bucks or something. Right? Like, honestly take it. Yeah, you're welcome to it. So it's been really an easy way to just declutter my house and fantastic give stuff to people that they actually want. So it's been fun. Oh, that's awesome. I mean, like, yeah, yeah. I've seen around the same lines. I've started using grid Well, in the past year. Oh, yeah. I mean, I was pretty active on my buy nothing group. But using Redwall has been great because they take you know, the plastic film that my recycling will take but then also, you know, for instance, on Halloween this year, they took leftover Halloween candy. And oh, wow. Yeah. And after the holidays, they'll take Christmas lights and holiday lights. And that is really cool. Yeah, we did a whole episode on red. Well, yeah, you are like What the hell's red? Well, yeah, I don't really cool company. Yeah. And I started it because I was kind of lazy and I don't like to drive to my my garbage dump but It's been really, like I feel better and better about it when I use it. So yeah, I am a huge fan of them. Yeah, hashtag sponsor us now. Maybe one day. Yes. I'm so jealous. It's not in my area yet. But I hope so one day soon. Yeah. We also sold our second car. So we live in like the boonies. Not really, but like farmland, and we have one car and we both work remotely. So that's how we're able to make it work. But it just all it takes is like, planning. Yeah, a little bit. And there have been a couple of times where it's not convenient. And to be fair, Joey has a motorcycle. So okay, so yeah, yeah. So if he needs, I can't drive it. If he needs to, like go somewhere without and leave me the car or whatever, then he could do that. But at least motorcycles are like, way less. They're way more efficient than cars. Yeah, for sure. By like a million. Yeah. So that's been a really interesting experiment. Actually. Maybe we can have like an episode on that one day, but because I do want also we got a request for like electric vehicles. And I want to look into those. Yeah, I think we're gonna do a whole season on transportation, I think. Yes, we did talk about that. Yeah, I think season four or five years. Yeah, that'll be I love it. And travel. And yeah, that sounds like such a good idea. Absolutely. So yeah, cuz I had we actually read blog posts about this, like, is it possible to go down to one car and then we just, it's been almost a year? It's been fine. Yeah. My ex husband and I only had one car. Yeah. But we live in the city. That's, I was gonna say, did you have access to public transportation? Yeah, that helps. But yeah, I mean, we don't and it's fine. It's just kind of crazy. So yeah. Yeah. So that was that was fun. Yeah. Although now Joe's like, he's a car guy. So he's like, Absolutely not sharp people anymore. He would like die on the inside. If I told him that. Well, I'm definitely speaking of like, going down to less stuff. I'm more conscientious when I buy makeup, especially now. Ah, yes. And will dry shampoo, which we're going to talk about next week. But just, I'm not just buying the cheap stuff at CVS, you know, and be like, well, I need a red lipstick. And I'll just buy this one, like actually thinking about how they're made, but also their health effects. And you know, because cosmetics are so unregulated. Yes, they often even they don't even know what's in them half the time. So you know that that means there's no way they can be sustainable if they don't even know what's in the ingredient list. And then the plastic that comes with them, and you're just throwing that away, you know, you can't recycle any of those things. So, just I've quit the CVS lip gloss habit, which is nice. Yeah, I love that. Yes. Same. I'm like pretty conscious of adding. Yeah, it's sort of like when I run out of something that I really think about, can I like make this right? Yeah, do is it worth it? Cuz some stuff is not worth it to me. I sound like a red lipstick. Come on. Yeah, exactly. You're not gonna like dye your lips would be or something. Right? You could forever Yeah, exactly. But yeah, like my DIY. natural deodorant. I'm still an advocate for I still love it. Yeah, I know. It's sort of a no, no, no, it's great. controversial, because people, a lot of people have tried that stuff. And it does not work for shit. But there's just Yeah, listen to our episode, if you're curious about it, because it's, there's some tricks, tips and tricks, and I think it works. It works well for me and I prefer having that on Muppets, then. It's actually it's less about the stuff that's in deodorant, because I think we learned it. It's not that bad. But it's more about like, buying a bunch of plastic excess plastic crap that I don't have to I just use the same container and it's so much cheaper to Yeah, so that's, yeah. I mean, just being again, country and just about being consumers. Yeah. Like, what do you really need? Like, is it really inconvenient? You know? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it is convenience. really that great, right? How much is it worth to me? It's like, sometimes convenience actually makes your life worse. You just kind of feel like, at least for me, you kind of feel like I don't know if it's lazy or you just feel like you can't do as much on your own whereas if you like bake a loaf of bread. You feel so proud of yourself? And obviously you can't do that with everything. But it's a little things. Yeah. Yeah, it's no balls. Yes. And it really does. And it's empowering. I mean, it's like they say, you know, do something that scares you every day, whatever. But doing things that we've kind of been trained out of doing, like, you know, it's not really that much harder to bake a cake from scratch or whatever, you know. Yeah. It's Oh, yeah. Compared to like a box version, or just buying what? The box version? You might as well just bake it. Yeah. You're literally doing the same steps. Yeah, exactly. It's just oil, oil and water. And yeah, you're just mixing the ingredients. Yes. Like two steps more. Yes. You're saving yourself from measuring that. Yes. Yeah. Which can be nice. But it's like, do I really need to spend $5 on this, you know, yeah, take mix when I can do it for 250 or less are way less. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So yeah. Yeah, I, I think another thing that I've done definitely because of this podcast, is I've switched my laundry detergent to a now I use Dr. Bronner's soap everywhere, and I can't I know we talked about it every episode and I get Dr. Bronner's, but I definitely use it. I use it for my laundry. I use it for my all purpose cleaner. I use it to wash the dog. I just do so. Yeah. And I do use the lavender. And I know we went back and forth about essential oils. I'm not afraid of them. Yeah. As much as I thought it would be after that episode. Yeah, it's very inconclusive. Yeah. And I, you know, I don't have children. And yeah, that makes a difference as well. But, uh, yeah, I've just Dr. Bronner's lavender soap is our household soap now, so I love it. We use the lavender for our all purpose cleaner now. Yeah, just because? I don't know. Yeah, it's nice. And then I actually was in because we've been going to fancy stores because Joe is on this diet. And it's right. Yeah, not Yeah, I was telling Kat about this. It's like, not on pert not not by choice. It's he has to be on this stupid diet. So we've been going to these like, routes to get you know, specific foods routes is like a health food store, sort of like a fancier Whole Foods. And I was looking, I just sat there and stood there for probably five minutes just staring at Dr. Bronner's bar soap. Because I was like, I can get this, and I can use it in my laundry. And I still plan to, but that means I would have to shave it down, which is fine, I can do that. But I stopped myself because I was like, You know what, I'm not going to buy stuff anymore that I'm not going to use right now. Because I have so much dish soap that I still have to use. And so I'm like, I can come back to the store of 10 minutes from now and get it anytime. Yeah, it's and I'm just gonna leave pocalypse. I don't know. Right being such a goddamn consumer. Yes. Even though it was so tempting. Because it's so beautiful. Yeah, good product. But yeah, even that I was like, Alright, just chill out to me. Just tick. Wait till it's done. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, what about stuff that we're looking forward to that we're going to do in the future? I'll I think both of us after the food waste episode. And yeah, and composting are really committed to tamping down on that, that that's one of the biggest things we can do as Americans that we have control over is how much food we waste. Yeah, and we learned that that is actually factual that yes, we can have a big impact in that way. Yeah. So yeah, it's funny for me because that is my number one goal, or yes resolution. But that I realized that the CSA that I'm part of is part of the problem because a CSA you just get so I know. So you Yeah, I'm on the smaller share. And it's like, I get just my re okay, my reusable tote bag be all fancy, full like chocked full and so some of it the problem is some of it is stuff that Joe doesn't like or I don't really know how to use like I got plastic or two ones and I have never made bok choy before and so I could figure it out but it just sort of throws a wrench in my like, it's just one other hurdle that I have to overcome. So meal planning around your CSA is kind of hard sometimes it is and I have been trying to figure out a system but I am not I'm not good at it yet. And we're not too bad because you know, Joey's been eating so much fruit and veg that it helps, but it's But like, for example, he can't eat apples right now. So it's like, Oh, my God, the number of fall apples you get from a CES is the season. Yeah, I can't even tell you. And I was saying earlier I made homemade applesauce for the first time. so easy and so delicious. But I still had to freeze half of it because he can't eat it. Right? It's like, what's the point? Yeah, freezers just full? Yes. And are Yes. So I'm gonna reconsider whether the CSA is worth it. Or maybe think if there's somebody I could split it with. Because I know a lot of people do that. But yeah, otherwise, if I do think it's worth it, because it is a lovely thing to do. Because it's such a cute little store that I go to. Yeah. I am going out to just dedicate time on the weekends to making something Oh, boy. Like baking usually. Yeah. And that's fine. I love baking is just, you know, that one more thing on your list? Yeah. Exactly. A new habit, though. Yeah, huh? Yep. Yep. That's fair. Yeah. Are you you're good at meal planning or now? No. Okay. No, I have been in the past, but lately I've just been. My life is too hectic. My, the guy I'm dating is really good at like, eating whatever's in his fridge. And it's always He's so good. He's just like, Yeah, I just made dinner took me 10 minutes. And I'm like, because I always that's my thing is I make a production out of it. Yes. I'm like, I have to make bison chili. And it has to simmer for four hours. And it's like, no, it doesn't you can just throw a salad together or like or pass some broccoli. Yeah, like, yeah. So that's one thing is a change. That mindset for me is that it doesn't have to be a whole production to cook. Yeah. Well, I think a lot of recipes are really? I don't know, like if I have a subscription to The New York Times cooking app, because yeah. Oh my god. Yeah. You're like, I literally have no freaking clue where to find this type of chili. Yeah. And I don't care to find this type of chili or this specific cheese or whatever. And it's just like, so overwhelming. Because, yeah, I feel like a lot of recipes. You'll get something and use it once. Like miso. There's a lot of stuff that uses miso. And I'm like, I know I'm not going to use an entire they can be gas containers. Yeah, they're not little never going to use it all. So yeah. So I think just being more conscious of that. Yeah. Or if they're substitutes or something. Yeah, I'm yeah, I'm wholehearted about substitutes. But Joe's always like, that's not right. And usually, usually it's okay. Sometimes it's really a big fail. But that's just life. Yeah, that's experimentation. You got to try. Yeah. Um, and then my other thing that I was that I want to try to Resolute myself to do is that word, yeah. I want to plant more wildflowers. That's, that's like the big one. And I'd said earlier, that's something I really want to do, too. I've, I've moved into this place, and I need to redo I've taken out a bunch of really old shrubbery and stuff and I like, I tried to get a whole backyard Reno done, and it was like$40,000. And I told you my budget was 10 bucks. Yeah. Oh, my God. So I've kind of been doing it myself. I planted my own fig tree. I have a Texas pomegranate in the front yard. But I really want to do more landscaping with wildflowers and really make it because I right now I just have this. It's not a lawn. It's not real grasp. It's like crabgrass and Okay. It's, you know, my Shawn my the guy I'm dating like he has I gotta mow your lawn. And I'm like, No, that's for the pollinators. But it is messy and knocker. Want to really tame it and plant a bunch of native wildflowers? Yeah. Have you cool. Does Clover grow? Well, there? I don't know. I know. It's really resistant, but I actually just got some clover. white clover, I think. And it's supposed to be really good for your like Earth because it's nitrogen fixing. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So and it like, is more drought resistant than grass? I think so. Yeah. That mean that's a big thing here. It doesn't rain for it was 105 for 90 days, and it didn't rain for 75 days. So yeah, I'm not gonna start watering. That's, I was gonna say it's wild that people still have lawns there. I know. They've got us. I mean, water restrictions are supposed to you're only allowed to water once a week. There's no way that people with a perfectly green lawn down the street. Were doing that. Oh, yeah. No way. I can't imagine what the cost was. Yeah. Oh, boy. But what a waste of water. Yes. So but I definitely want to do that in in two. Get my my backyard plant garden. I mean my food garden in order to my roommate we had he got one tomato this year. I don't know what was up? Well, probably the drought and he it was a drought in the heat. But also he didn't plan to he planted them in separate containers so they wouldn't just explode. And I think that actually hindered their growth. Oh, interesting. We do have like a bumper crop of tomatoes right now. Now just the growing seasons over but yeah, it was like, what a waste this? Yeah, I didn't even do any vegetables because it's just like, I was so much work, I would say focus on one or the other because I just focused on my pollinator plants. And that was plenty. Okay, good to know. Oh, my God, I started in early spring, and I still am working on it. So yeah, I would never have been able to do vegetables at the same time as like figuring this out. So. Okay. And actually, I enjoy it more than vegetables. Yeah, yeah. There's just like, I don't know, I feel like because you don't have to harvest them. Mm hmm. Like you can let them just live their natural life cycle. Well, yeah. And they come back. Yeah. And you don't want to do it again. Next year. Yes. Great. I have some really great morning glories. I just take over when it rains. They're fabulous. I love it so much. Yeah. But But another thing I have been meaning to do, and I really want to do it this year is I got a sewing machine with the intention of even just fixing, you know, my clothes, but just I really want to get on that, you know, learning how to him things. Or Taylor, if I could learn how to tailor myself, that'd be great. But just so that I'm not buying new clothes all the time. And again, it's so give yourself that sense of accomplishment when you finish something. Totally. I'd love to upcycle things you know, you talk about making your own on paper towels. And that is so daunting to me. Yeah, so the same machine. I just went, I just need to learn to use it. I just need to get over that hump. And just Yes, just do it. I will say it's a big hump like ice. The only reason I know what I'm doing kind of is because I sewed in high school. So I was on the costuming team in stagecraft. So the theater costuming team, we didn't know what the hell we were doing for the film. And you're that's what high school is about. Yeah. And literally, my grandma came in and showed us how to use our sewing. Wow, that's fantastic. That is so great. Yeah, oh my gosh, she is like, she knows so much about sewing. And I she helped me with a couple of the costumes that I was putting together. And I was like being so lazy about it. She's like, No, we have to, we had to measure this. Tiffany. Can we just eyeball it? Yeah, that's one of my problems is I'm not very precise. I'm not patient. Well, yeah, that's why I'm a better like, cook than I'm a baker. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that. Yeah. So I think it might even be worth taking a class, whether it's like online, just to get over that good idea. That hump? Yeah. Because there are just old school like sewing stores that sell sewing machines. And usually they sell vacuums. But they give lessons. I've been in DC, there was a store right next to my old apartment. And there were people like, who would come in with their sewing machines, and the people working in the store would show them how to use it. So we may just looking that up right now. Yeah, there's the sewing center. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you can totally find something. And I think that would help because it is intimidating. And it's kind of like this dumb thing that's precise. And if you don't get it, right, it's so freaking frustrating. Yeah, because every machine is different. And so if you don't thread it from right to left sometimes and it won't work at all. So it's like very it can be very finicky. So that might be that may be a good step. That that is the best advice ever. Yeah, maybe I'll take a sewing class in the new year. That's perfect. Yeah, even just once would be enough. Probably. I mean, I could do it too. I honestly don't. I know. I feel like I don't really know that much. I know. Like, bare bones. Right. But yeah, it's fun. Cool. All right. Well, this is I was just like, we could talk about this all night. Good night. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Isn't no longer a mini episode. Oh, no. It's what I think, you know, make three tours, three things you can definitely do and do them and you'll feel so much better about yourself. Yeah. And it takes time. Like I think we're so impatient. I'm impatient. I think everybody's impatient in this society. And it's like, we expect Instagram, like, click your fingers and it's done. Yeah. And it just doesn't work like that. And that's okay. And I think, like we were saying these small tiny steps add up and it just make you more aware. And then you were more aware of other things. cuz of it, and then you're just like, forming new habits. And yeah, I mean, I think since we started this podcast, I'm, I feel like I'm way more aware. And it's really fun. But I didn't start there. You know, I was like kind of aware. And now I feel like I'm way more. So. Just awesome little steps. Yep. Both of those steps. Yep. And they add up so well, congrats. Yeah, you too. Yeah. I'm so glad we're doing this podcast because it really has made an impact. So I know because it's like all this stuff that I really care about anyway, so it's good to have an incentive to do the work behind it. Maybe like, Does this matter? No. throw those out. Yeah. Or dump? Or, or compostable trash bags? Just yeah. Don't eat them. Just take them to the composting. Yeah, throw them in that fire. No fire. Just imagine a composting center. It's just like a big flaming pit. Yeah, Mordor. Yeah. Just cast it in Frodo. I don't What do I love my ring? Yeah, no. Keep the ring. It might be an heirloom someday. Yeah, maybe it's only slightly evil. It's fine. On that note, are yours. Yeah. Happy New Year, everybody. Thank you for listening. Yeah. Thanks for making our first we've been doing this for nine months now. So that's insane. Yeah, it's not. It's like it's Yeah. Well, that's crazy. Yeah, we've done yeah, we've done so much in that time. Yeah. Granola eating. Yeah. I hope everyone will listen into the new year and give us give us your your green resolutions for the year hovers. Maybe love to hear him. Yeah, Instagram, grinning at my act. We are always around chatting away. Or email, or what is it grinning at my act at Gmail? Yeah, yeah. I don't think anybody's ever used it. Not nobody. Okay, you're right. We do have partners. A couple people have Yes. Usually my sister just text me directly. So yeah, that's what you're also welcome to do if you have our phone numbers. Otherwise messages on Instagram. Yes, yes. Yeah. All right. All righty. Thanks for doing this. Yeah. Thank you.