Crunchy Chicken’s Extreme Eco Throwdown has begun. What exactly is this challenge about?
No plastic, no paper products, no driving, local food only, no garbage output, no excessive water usage, no electricity.
It is just what the name says: EXTREME!
Except for the driving part, we have already been doing something in the other areas, but accepting the challenge was another story. It was just too crazy! Too extreme all in one go! But instead of focusing on the impossibilities, I decided to jump in on the ones we could practically do, and improve on what we are already doing: improvising with thinking LESS OF, instead of the absolute NO.
Let’s get the NO DRIVING part out of the way first: I hardly drive as it is, but my husband does a lot of it. (And I really don’t see him taking the bus anytime soon.) Much driving is also needed with the business we are in. Yes, lots of mileage. I’m not hopping on a bus to get groceries, or take the little kids somewhere with my very pregnant belly either.
LOCAL FOOD ONLY: This would have been very doable in the summer. For now, since we live in Minnesota, and the bulk of our groceries is produce, and we honestly couldn’t justify buying meat to increase support of local food, I’d say can’t do right now. Our co-op keeps track of the percentage of local food we purchase in our receipts, so that helps. And we could see that there is room for improvement.
NO LESS PLASTIC: Though we buy minimal processed food, the fact remains that they would always come in plastic or paper, or some mean packaging! If you open our freezer, we have bags, and bags of frozen pineapple and mango chunks from Trader Joes. For their price and convenience, and for what we use them for, we are just not ready to give them up yet.
On the positive side, I have acquired more, and better, fabric produce/bulk bags from Etsy. I’m also bringing my own containers to refill vinegar and other liquids at the co-op.
My awesome husband has been bringing his own bags at the stores MORE CONSISTENTLY! This is such a big deal! The first time he brought canvas bag at the Asian market, the owner commented that in his 18 years of owning the store, he’s never seen anybody bring their own bags there! The next time, the girl at the register asked him, “What’s the bag for?” (LOL) Hubby just told me now that the cashier (a different one) just took the bag from him without question when he went there today. The person said that more and more people are bringing their own bags there. He mentioned five people just this week. Now, I think they are getting it!
PLASTIC FOR NON-FOOD: We buy coconut oil and cocoa butter in jars for moisturizing the skin. The lotion we use is refillable at the co-op; so are the shampoo and conditioner. Our cleaning products are mostly homemade, and I’m not about to buy any cleaning stuff in plastic bottles anytime soon. I make homemade toothpaste, but the little ones still have to use the tube kind, you know.
NO PAPER: We don’t buy paper towels or napkins anyway, but have made further changes as I mentioned in this post.
NO LESS ELECTRICITY: Our latest $30 electric bill says it all, and I’ve talked about giving the dryer a much needed break by using the clothesline. So what else are we doing?
- I put a lamp in the main bathroom, so that we are not always using the multiple-bulb vanity lighting while in there.
- The whole family usually stays in one area of the house in the evenings, so we just make sure that we keep it that way, and that lights in other rooms are off.
- Between me and the children, and my husband working at home part of the day, we have quite the computer usage. But everyone knows to hibernate it when done, and it always gets turned off at the end of the day, or when we leave the house. There will be more days though, when the children are not allowed to go on the computer, and mommy just to check emails or pay bills. Did I mention no TV? Go outside and explore!
NO EXCESSIVE WATER CONSUMPTION:We started doing this even before the challenge, and is by far the most gratifying adjustment of all. I have now been so conscious of running water when washing the dishes. I have also been washing them in lukewarm to cool water, whereas I used to keep it as hot as my hands could handle! I also used to just pretty much let the water run when brushing teeth, and it had to be warm water. (My husband seemed to have more sense in this area than me!) That has changed, too.
Since we are home on most days, I figured it would just make sense to take less showers, and give the little children less. I am also convinced now that I don’t have to wash my hair each time I’m in the shower, or I could simply turn the water off while shampooing.
My family in California, and even my in-laws here, each keep a bucket/pail in the tub. They have been doing it for years and I never got it! Until now, that is. Though mine is an improvised container, it holds up more than enough water to flush the toilet with. The container stays in the tub to catch shower water. Sometimes, we even wash our hands in the tub faucet, so that we could catch more water! The kids are also getting used to not flushing the toilet every time they do #1. With all five of us, including a pregnant woman, it’s amazing how less we use the toilet tank nowadays!
Reflecting on these changes, and also the one-month Buy Nothing Challenge, none of these seem so drastic and hard for me (and my husband) considering where, and how, we were raised. Water and electricity (even paper products) were, and still are, precious commodities in third world countries like the Philippines.
Our family never had to deal with water shortage, because we were blessed with our own hand pump, and electric pump. But I’m telling you, even as a kid, you would use water very wisely when you have to pump it yourself, and then bring it in using the bucket into the kitchen, or the bathroom. We also didn’t have hot water, so if you want a more tolerable bath in the early morning, you would have to boil water and mix that with the cold. Even driving a family vehicle there was a privilege not to be taken for granted. And yes, gasoline has always been expensive.
For us then, these changes are really more like going back to the basics, with EXTRA benefits to be enjoyed: with hot water always available just with a faucet-turn… no pumping water… no washing clothes by hands… no worries that electricity might be off for days or weeks at a time! None of these are really an inconvenience or sacrifice. See it for what it is: a better appreciation of the GOOD LIFE!
We are but stewards.
