Drop the Disposables, Part 5
In addition to the
napkins Brandy made us, we also bought a slew of very sturdy cloth
grocery bags from her a few months ago. Mark, like Mike, had a
really hard time taking the leap away from paper towels, but for me the
grocery bags are the largest challenge.
People do look at you funny
when you bring your own grocery bags to the store in rural America, but
the really hard part is remembering to bring in the bags in the first
place. We've figured out a few simple tricks which help us steer
clear of plastic:
- Keep the cloth
grocery bags in the car. When you live a ten minute walk from
your car and a fifteen minute drive from the grocery store, chances are
you won't go back to pick up forgotten bags stashed under the kitchen
sink.
- Put "cloth bags" on the grocery list and circle it. Nothing like a reminder when you get to the store.
- Put Mark in charge of the grocery shopping --- he has the memory and is far more likely to remember the bags!
Good luck --- and
remember that every little step you make away from disposables is one
step toward self-sufficiency!
| This post is part of our Drop the Disposables lunchtime series.
Read all of the entries: |
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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comment 1
So disappointed. Was expecting an alternative to toilet paper next.
Comment by
Errol
— Fri Mar 27 13:18:05 2009
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Sorry, Errol
That's one disposable we probably won't be dropping. However, I do know people who use "family cloth," much like the flannel wipes I made for Willow. 
Comment by
Brandy :: Young in the Mountains
— Fri Mar 27 17:08:19 2009
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comment 3
You know, I sometimes ponder whether we could ever move away from toilet paper. I know that some cultures don't use it, but I can't quite figure out a way not to without excessive amounts of laundry. (Leaves just don't cut it for long term use, in my opinion.)
Comment by
anna
— Fri Mar 27 20:40:56 2009
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