My neighbor's pollinator garden July 2023
We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly - Anne Marie Bonneau
Decreasing plastic bag usage was one of my 2020 goals. Turns out, there was a pandemic and nobody wanted to touch other people's reusable bags. Totally fair. Like many people that summer of 2020, I took a deep dive into assessing how our family of four used our small home and how to make it more efficient. I started reading books about minimalism which then became a rabbit hole of different topics that eventually led me to Bea Johnson's book, Zero Waste. While I was pretty positive that I would never generate just a single mason jar of trash every year, I felt very convicted that there were some steps that I could implement immediately and some that I could work toward over the next five to ten years. Baby steps. I love the quote above because it keeps our imperfect attempts valuable. I often wonder if it is even worth going to lengths to rehome the things I no longer need. Or to go to a store with fifteen empty jars to get a product refill that I could easily get new at Target. This quote also allows us to do what we can do within our ability in whatever season we are in. We do the best we can with what we know and what resources we have. One person can aim to generate only a mason jar of garbage a year and one person might choose to say no to straws. We do what we can.
I desire to be more sustainable because I believe that a beautiful creator made this planet. I value and care for what He has made because I love Him. I also desire to be sustainable for my kids and their future planet. We love observing the birds in our yard, watching the praying mantis babies grow, standing by the beach and noticing the tide move out, finding weird shapes in the clouds, and being among our garden flowers. I desire to be a good steward of this creation because everyone deserves this gift- people everywhere and every generation deserve to see the natural beauty and wonder of this world. My intention for this page is to help anyone who is also seeking baby steps in and around the city of Chicago. I will try to update as I explore new places!
Some examples of imperfect baby steps that I jotted down during my sustainability deep-dives:
- Composting all food waste
- General increased awareness of the plastic in my life
- Bulk bar soaps
- Replace paper towels with rags
- When possible, use of Waste Shed for paper goods, craft/ sewing projects, and office supplies
- Use of Eco and Flamingo for refillable products *see below
- One trash bag of garbage per week
- Mend clothes and sheets when able (my daughter is learning with me)
- Baking bread
- Almond milk for cereal instead of dairy milk
- Using ThredUp for all my clothes (I've never loved my closet more)
- Eating vegetarian 2x/ week
- Use of Furoshiki gift wrapping with fabric for my immediate family
- Use of Simple Recycling to recycle shoes and textiles
Bigger steps that we are working toward
- Driving electric, bicycling local, public transportation
- Solar panels
- Replace 1/2 of the grass with native Garden and mini meadow
- Vegetarian 3-4x/ week
- Homegrown gardening & propagating
Laundry detergent in one of my favorite jars
Goods that help:
VENO Reusable Bags: I love these so much. They are sturdy, stand up on their own, and can be cleaned. Baggers at the fruit market always comment on how clean and easy they are to pack. I also use them for library runs (and we pack those books in!), overnights, beach bag, and when I move offices at my job. In a dream world this bag would be biodegradable but given that they are on their third year of heavy duty usage and still look new. I am fine with the tradeoff.
Reusable Mesh Bags for fruit & veggies: People often stop and ask me about these bags. They are really nice and so easy to use. Anyone else struggle with opening the plastic produce bags? Again, I wish they were biodegradable but they have been in heavy rotation for two years and are doing wonderfully.
Eco & the Flamingo is where I get all my laundry detergent, liquid hand soap, hand sanitizer, dish soap, dishwasher rinsing agent, hibiscus tea, and spice refills. I usually pair a trip to this delightful shop with a stroll through the Waters Elementary School garden, River Park, a walk with a friend, or get a delicious sandwich from Beans and Bagels. (If it is July, I will do all of the above).
Planting for Pollinators
My neighbor & I enjoy providing safe habitats for chonky caterpillars throughout summer.
She has had luck planting dill specifically for black swallowtails. I just got a text yesterday that one of her caterpillars escaped and then spun its chrysalis on the leg of her dining room chair.
Per Douglas Tallamy, your biggest bang for your buck in the pollinator world is goldenrod. Oak trees are also a critter haven. My husband isn't so sure about my new dream of planting a grove of oak trees in our small backyard but we shall see....
Other suggestions for native gardening:
1) Shrink the lawn by at least half. Think of lawns as "rugs" instead of "wall to wall carpeting"
2)Remove invasive species and focus on planting growth that is native to your area. So thrilled that coneflowers are part of Illinois native flowers.
3)Plant for pollinators- goldenrod, asters, native willows, milkweed to name a few
Books:
Nature's Best Hope by Douglas Tallamy Lots of great information on native gardening and making your backyard a homegrown national park for all critters.
Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson
Sustainable Minimalism by Stephanie Seferien
Yarn finds from the Wasteshed
Love that chunky cream-colored ball
Brown Elephant in Andersonville: secondhand store for glassware, furniture, clothing
Collective Resource: composting co-op
Eco & the Flamingo in Lincoln Square: Zero waste general store & happy place
Emily Oaks native plant sale in Skokie (spring and fall)
Evanston Lands in Evanston: locally grown cut flowers
Pasquesi Home and Gardens in Lake Bluff: a friend bought a bunch of milkweed here in June and it even came with some monarch caterpillars attached
Scarce in Addison: environment education, second hand school supplies
ThredUp online: suddenly I can afford Anthropologie & Boden without emptying my wallet
Village Farmstead in Evanston: local farms
The Wasteshed in Evanston and Chicago: secondhand art, craft, & textile materials
Simple Recycling to recycle textiles (porch pick up!)
