Zero-Waste Household Must-Haves

Top Nine Must-haves to go out and get right now!

It seems to me that people are slowly becoming more aware of the zero-waste movement, the importance of sustainability research, and the effects on the environment. In the spirit of that, I thought I would share my top nine sustainable household item must-haves that I have at hand and consider to be life-savers!

A little note
I think the zero-waste movement is incredibly important and I really support all of the awareness that is being raised, and I also believe that every little bit counts. Having said that, I would like to add one small little note. I am deep in my studies and one of the things we often discuss in a theoretical-based field is the issue of placing responsibility on the individual when the issue is really a structural one.

To clarify, the issue is that plastic is being mass-produced, and industries and mass companies like grocery stores are one of the main wasters of plastic and other non-compostable materials. Instead of looking at the structures in society that enforce pollution and waste, we turn to individuals and put the responsibility on them to not use plastic, even if that's often the only thing available. It is beneficial and makes a difference when individuals stop buying plastic water bottles and cease using new plastic bags from the grocery store each time they go shopping.

However, this becomes a problem when, for other structural reasons, people are unable to contribute to the movement out of their financial situation or socio-economic location. I would simply like to create some consciousness around this inequality and the danger of making individuals responsible for problems that are bigger than they are. Additionally, I also want to acknowledge that not everyone can afford to have zero-waste products, and the purpose of this post is to simply share what I love and endorse as opposed to shaming those who are unable to have these things. If you are able to afford all these wonderful zero-waste products, go get them! What are you waiting for!?

1. Metal Straws 

Metal straws are GAME CHANGERS. Let me say that again. Metal straws will change your life. Not only are you not putting the plastic particles in your body but your also not throwing plastic straws into the oceans (maybe not literally, but pretty much). I got this set of four which came with one straw cleaning brush. If you live with more people or just want a whole bunch of metal straws, you can buy them in larger sets too.

2. Wax Paper 

 
This wax paper honestly makes me so happy. I got my first wrapping wax paper from Abeego and I love it. Wax paper works like magic. I  recently went to a vegan festival and got some more wax paper from Earthology in these beautiful patterns. How can you not want to support the environment when your lunch wrap has the ability to make you happy?!

3. Mesh Produce Bags 

 
These are life-savers. They hold food for longer than plastic bags do, and you save the environment by not using all those plastic bags at the produce section of the grocery store. I got mine as a gift, but these from Kmool are exactly the same. I highly suggest getting different sizes, like with the wax paper, so that you can divide up your produce.

4. Non-Plastic Waterbottle 

Plastic is not only harmful to the environment but using plastic products to store our food or drinks can harm the contents we are consuming as the plastic particles seep into them, and in turn, they can harm us. Anyways, enough "science" from me. To move away from plastic water bottles I got this amazing silicon waterbottle. Metal water bottles work too but I love the silicon. Silicon is lighter and see-through which also makes it easy to wash. I take the water bottle with me EVERYWHERE (literally.)! It's from 720°Degree, and you can get the bottles in various different sizes and colors. It was the best thing I bought on this entire list because now I only have this one great bottle as opposed to five shitty ones.

5. Biodegradable Pela Phone Case 

When I stumbled across Pela Cases I knew what everyone was getting from me as their next birthday or Christmas present. Pela is a Vancouver based company, producing biodegradable phone cases. The cases are long lasting and when you are done with it, you simply throw it in the compost and it will break down. Amazing!

6. Jars 

This one costs you nothing. Simply wash and reuse jars from food products you've bought. Old salsa or pickle jars are just two great examples of glass jars you can reuse. Putting these jars to good use will also encourage you to buy glass packaged products as opposed to plastic!

7. Stasherbag or Re-zip

I must admit, I do not have my own stasher bag or reusable zip lock yet. I am obsessed but haven't been able to find one that works for my shipping situation. But this is definitely next on my short list of buys!

8. Reusable make-up cloths

This one is more of a "cute" thing. I guess if you really wanted to you could just use a small cloth towel to remove your makeup... but i mean, how cute are these little guys!? I got mine from the vegan festival but you can find multiple versions on Amazon too! I got a pack of 10, and each pad has at least two uses (front and back side), if not more depending on how much make-up you are wearing. After its dirty, you just throw it in the laundry and then start all over again!

9. Bamboo Toothbrush 

This one is kind of just a no-brainer... you can buy these in packs of four or more and share with all your loved ones! We go through toothbrushes so quickly, adding to the mass amounts of plastic ending up in landfills. Here is one pack of 10 ... really there is just no wrong answer here.

 
Share your favorite zero-waste items with me and fill me in on all the other cool eco-friendly products that are out there! I would love to hear if you ended up purchasing a new zero-waste product after reading this post!

Social Media for Organizations: What's the (Biggest) Problem?

One of the biggest problems social media organizations face is gaining followers; even though they have a social media strategy, the organization must ensure their content is more than just advertisements. The organization must create a brand persona through content that adds value to their customer.

Social media is not a substitute for one channel marketing, such as an advertising space in a newspaper or a 30-second clip for a radio or TV commercial. According to Jeff Bullas, with one channel marketing, companies would set up their marketing campaign for the year but now organizations must adjust to continuous marketing. If marketing needs to be continuous, the posts must become more creative and veer away from constant obvious advertising. Social Media Today rates “being too spammy” as the second reason why organizations are not gaining followers. The traits of “spamming” include posting the same messages over and over again and posts sounding too sales like.

Posts by organizations on social media need to add value in order to retain and gain followers. Only talking about yourself and bombarding people with even more advertisements about how much they need you and your organization will cause them to unfollow you as you are not posting value-adding content, according to Inbound. Due to the qualities of social media and digital platforms, people have become picky about which brands and pages they choose to like and follow.

There are various value-adding posts organizations can incorporate to appropriately connect to their community of followers and entice potential followers. Social Media Today provides examples of value-adding posts, including sharing useful information relevant to the field of your product or reposting posts of followers to make them feel special.  Running a social media competition with winners to promote your product can be value adding to the customer because they can win a product or gift bag; however, this should be a rare event to gain followers. It can simultaneously be value adding to your organization in gaining followers and using the followers to promote you, by liking and commenting to enter the competition. Posting beautiful content such as the environment where the product could be used or images that relate to the lifestyle of the audience are vital to breakup clear advertisement posts.

I am by no means arguing that the product is not vital in the content of the social media posts because losing focus of the product would not be financially tenable. The organization simply needs to find more creative ways to make the product the forefront without making it obvious. The wisdom of this approach does depend on what you are giving away; adding value is not inherently transactional. Still, the value is not destroyed simply because the company is giving something away as opposed to directly selling their product. The value of the content supplements the value of the product and company through their online persona.

The customer needs to feel as though the organizations social media platform has more to offer than their product line; the customer can find that on their website. On the social media platforms, the customer wants to connect to the meaning of the brand. The biggest problem organizations then face with social media is they use the outlet to purely advertise, which prevents them from gaining followers. Adding value is not transactional but it is vital in showing the customers that they and their time are respected.  

Plantbased Pumpkin Alfredo Linguini

The Perfect healthy comfort food for that crisp cold fall day 

This is probably one of my favorite new pasta recipes EVER. It is not my own creation but I was inspired by a similar recipe from Choosing Chia, and I was not planning on sharing it because of that. But I have recreated it to my own liking and tastes and I love it so much I need to share it!

I will confess I am not the biggest lover of pumpkin but the texture of it works so well in recreating an alfredo! I do still like pumpkin, but I did not put too much in so it would not overpower the flavour of the meal. If you love pumpkin, by all means, add more than what I have suggested in the recipe. This is a kind of recipe where you can really make it your own and play with amounts to get the saucy texture right if that's what your heart is desiring. If you add a bit more pumpkin purreé, add some more plant milk to thin it out.

This meal literally took me 15 minutes to make. You blend the cashew cream and add it to a pan of fried onions and garlic and mix in the pumpkin pureè and spices. I have written down two servings for this recipe because I am cooking for myself but this is also the perfect recipe to have for leftovers ... just make sure you make enough otherwise you might end up eating it all right away. Queue the stomach ache.

Calling all pasta lovers!
I have really been into figuring out and experimenting with all the fun and delicious plant-based pasta recipes! I stopped loving pasta for a while (believe it or not) because I was so used to making it with shrimp or chicken. But I'm slowly realizing that there are even more options and ways to make pasta now! I'm in heaven. So if you love pasta as much as I do (or whatever amount you love it - everyone is welcome), keep your eyes peeled because I have a few more recipes I will be posting shortly!

Recipe: Total time 15 min · Serves 1-2

Ingredients 

• TBSP olive oil 
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 an onion chopped
• 1/2 non-salted cashews 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup plant-based milk
• 1/2 pumpkin purée
• TBSP cinnamon 
• 1/4 Tsp nutmeg 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Linguini or Spaghetti - enough for 2 servings 
• Plant-based parmesan or a tbsp of nutritional yeast to throw into the sauce before adding the pasta

 Directions

1. Let the 1/2 of cashews soak in water for at least 20 minutes. I would recommend putting them in water in the morning so they have soaked all day by the time you come home to make your yummy dinner! 
2. Boil water and cook your pasta of choice. 
3. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender with 1 cup plant milk and 1 cup water. Blend until smooth and creamy. Note: it will be a light cream, not a heavy one.
4.  Add the TBSP of olive oil to a pan on medium high head and add the chopped onions and garlic to the pan. Let them simmer for about 1 minute.
5. Add the cashew cream from the blender and mix in the 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée. 
6. Once everything is mixed together, add in the nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.
7. I also added some of my plant-based parmesan to the sauce to contribute to the texture and add to the "salty-ness" of the dish. 
8. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. 
9. Top the dish off with some pepper and plant-based parmesan and voila! 

I hope you fall in love with this easy plant-based pasta the way I have and please share your own creations or any changes you've made to create your own special version!