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Five things to "Waste" in the Name of Safety

Those trying to live a waste-free lifestyle do not want to throw away things that seem perfectly usable, but when it comes to being safe, there are some things that need to be replaced periodically due to potential hazards or hidden dangers. Here's a list of some of those things, how often they need to be replaced, and why:

1. Bicycle Helmets

Bicycle helmets should be replaced after three to eight years, depending on usage and environmental conditions. Your helmet may look fine, but microscopic deterioration of the foam occurs over time and with certain uses, making it potentially less protective in an bicycle accident. 

I know it's tough, but if you own a regular, commercial bicycle helmet, it needs to be thrown into the regular garbage within eight years of use; it's not likely to be something that can be recycled. There are some alternative bicycle helmets coming on the market now that may have different replacement schedules or may by recyclable.

2. Fire extinguishers

Household fire extinguishers should be replace every 12 years. The proper functioning of the extinguisher cannot be guaranteed for longer, despite the gauge saying that the extinguisher is full. To throw away a household fire extinguisher, pull out the pin and let it depressurize before disposing. I suspect that fire extinguishers are not considered to be recyclable even though they are metal.

I should say, there is some good news with fire extinguishers. You can actually buy one that is refillable if there is a business in your area that sells and refills fire extinguishers. These companies usually sell and refill fire extinguishers to other businesses, but may also provide services to the public.

3. Spare tires

Luckily, cars are changing so that this is not as much of an issue, but if you have a car with one of those small donut spare tires, you should replace it every ten years . Talk to your auto mechanic or tire shop about getting a new spare and having them dispose of your old one.

For vehicles that have the space, you can buy five full-sized tires and rotate them in a way that wears out all five evenly. Talk to your tire shop about this. Also as I mentioned before, new vehicles are changing. Auto/tire companies are eliminating spare tires by improving the design of tires, giving you more of an ability to drive on a punctured tire until you can get it replaced.

4. Health and Beauty Products

If you look on the label of your health and beauty products you may see a little symbol that looks like a jar and a lid with number on it like "12 months". This is how long your product is guaranteed to be fresh for once you open it. I say heed this warning; this is how long the preservative in the product is expected to be effective. It's often hard to detect when health and beauty products have started to become overrun with microbes, so don't take a chance and give yourself an infection.

5. Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years and carbon monoxide detectors should be replaced sooner at six years. These devices simply lose their effectiveness after some time. The batteries should be properly disposed of and if the plastic has a recycle symbol, it may be recyclable.

Easy Plastic-Free Shower Curtain System

#ZeroWaste #BuyItForLife

Traditional shower curtains are made out of PVC, a plastic that has a lot of downsides. Some newer shower curtains are made out of PEVA or EVA, which is better, but still plastic. A good alternative is a cloth shower curtain that can be washed in the washing machine, but what about shower curtain rings?! 

Shower curtain rings are generally plastic and even non-plastic ones are designed for plastic shower curtains, not cloth shower curtains that have to be removed regularly for washing. It takes forever to remove and rehang a shower curtain on traditional shower curtain rings! That’s why I love shower hooks. But do you know what I love even more?! Double-sided shower hooks! That way, you can still have a decorative shower curtain on the outside. 

My decorative shower curtain is a very neutral linen one. I plan to have it for a long time. I imagine my towels will wear out before my shower curtain, so I’d rather play with color with my towels and leave the shower curtain neutral. Here's my set-up. We've been using it for four years now and it's still in great shape.

Sustainable Wardrobe, Part VII, Clothing Choice and Maintenance Strategies

#ZeroWaste #Minimalism #BuyItForLife

Color:
I tend to go with black for my cardigans and blazers, black for my socks/shoes, neutral colors for bottoms, and colorful for my tops. This strategy allows me to have fun without worrying about anything clashing. Everything goes together.

Layering: 
I wear very simple clothes so that it is easy to layer. I wear summer tops and bottoms in the winter by wearing one of my base layer underneath. If I need more warmth, I add a sweater or cardigan. I have thin, finger-less gloves for a little bit of warmth in and outside and then warmer gloves to go over the top on cold days outside. My dresses are a simple style that allow me to layer them with sweaters or a vest, for example

Washing:
I generally wear each clothing item I have at least twice before washing (except underwear, of course!). I keep track of this with a hanger system that I have: Every item has a specific spot in the closest based on item type and color (arranged by ROY G BIV). Clean clothes are hung with the hanger turned correctly. When I put away an item I wore that day back in the closet, I turn the hanger backwards. When I wear an item for the second time, I see that the hanger is backwards and throw it in the hamper, inside-out.

My hamper is a minimalist pop-up hamper that I line with a cotton canvas laundry bag. I don't have a lot of items or drying rack space, so I wash my clothes about twice per week. I pull the canvas laundry bag out of the hamper and take it downstairs to the washing machine. I don't sort my clothes; I wash darks and lights together in cool water on gentle cycle. Some items are washed inside lingerie bags. I've never had a problem with my clothes changing color from washing everything together. I think it is because I buy high quality items that don't bleed, wash with cool water, and use quality detergents. When my clothes are washed, I hang them on my drying racks.

Washing on gentle cycle in cool water, washing clothing inside-out, washing delicate items in lingerie bags, and air drying clothes on a drying rack makes them last longer. I sometimes do a deep clean of my clothes by adding diluted orange oil with disinfecting essential oils and/or washing on hot/regular cycle (depending on the item).

Mending/Stain Removal:
Learning proper mending and stain removal is important for making one's clothes last. I have a small mending kit that includes an array of small spools of thread in many colors, so I can always match the color of the item that I'm mending. My favorite stain removal products are diluted orange oil or Bac-Out. They both work so well, it's amazing.

Sustainable Wardrobe, Part VI, Everything Else

Tags: Zero Waste, Minimalism, Buy It For Life

And here is everything else that I put on my body!

Base Layers/Under Garments

My favorite place to buy the stuff that goes underneath my clothes is Boodywear. Boodywear is made of organic bamboo rayon. Rayon is a soft fabric that is breathable in the summer but also provides warmth in the winter. Boodywear claims to use an environmentally preferable process to convert biomass to fabric. They also have the following certifications: ECOCERT (organic certification), OEKO-TEX (free of chemical residues), and WRAP (fair labor).

I also like these organic cotton tights form Pact Apparel .


Sleep/Lounge/Workout Clothes

I have one set of clothes that I use for sleeping, lounging, and working out. It makes things a lot easier, and because I don't go to a gym or yoga class, I don't feel the need to fit in by wearing specific clothes for working out. This four-piece bunch is all from different brands: Maggie's Organics (organic cotton tank made with fair labor), Toad&Co (organic cotton sweatshirt), Threads 4 Thought (organic cotton and recycled polyester shorts), and Sweet Skins (hemp, organic cotton, and USA-made pants). 


Swimwear

My swimwear is synthetic (big surprise!), but is mostly made from recycled nylon. It includes a swim top and swim capri pants to go over the bikini and it's made by Prana. It certainly isn't minimalist, but it's better than sunscreen and keeps me warm!



Outerwear

All I have for outwear is a synthetic winter jacket and an organic cotton hoodie. Outerwear options that provide warmth without using synthetic fibers or wool are hard to find. I decided to go with this synthetic jacket by Columbia that uses reflective technology to keep you warm, resulting in a less bulky jacket and a reduction in plastic fabric use. My hoodie is organic cotton and socially responsible from Econcious. I forgot that I also have a packable rain coat, not pictured.


Accessories

Most of my accessories are items for cold weather. My scarf and headband are from Threads 4 Thought and contain recycled polyester. For summer I have a cotton hat and sunglasses. For jewelry, all I wear is my wedding ring and a pair of earrings. I have three pairs of earrings that I rotate. I forgot to include hair accessories in this picture, which includes a copper hair holder, a couple of small ponytail holders and two hair clips.

In the final Part VII of this series, I will share some of my strategies for managing my wardrobe in a sustainable and efficient way.

Sustainable Wardrobe, Part V, Casual Clothes

Tags: Zero Waste, Minimalism, Buy It For Life

Here are my casual clothes. Nothing very interesting or fancy, but it was much easier finding these kinds of clothes from sustainable brands.

Winter Clothes:

I have two items in my winter clothes that are made in part from recycled polyester. The rest is mostly organic cotton or organic cotton/Tencel blend. The brands shown here are Fair Indigo, Prana, Toad&Co., Threads 4 Thought, Columbia, and Eddie Bauer.

Summer Clothes:

Most of my summer clothes are made from organic cotton or organic cotton/Tencel blend. I have one pair of shorts that are nylon. The brands shown here are Fair Indigo, Prana, and Toad&Co.

Sweaters:

Sweaters are great for adding extra warmth throughout the year. It seems like a lot of sweaters are made of synthetic or animal fibers. Here are some 100% organic cotton sweaters that I found from Prana and Toad&Co.

Odd-Jobs Clothes:

These are some clothes I don't wear anymore that I've kept for things like painting and volunteering at the animal shelter. The point is that it's okay to get them really dirty. This is probably too many, but I haven't decided which ones to keep yet.

In Part VI of this series, I'll be covering everything left in my wardrobe.

Sustainable Wardrobe, Part IV, Barefoot Shoes

Tags: Minimalism, Natural Movement, Vegan

I used to have the goal of owning vegan, plastic-free shoes, but once I got into the barefoot shoe movement, I realized that vegan, plastic-free, and barefoot was not going to happen. So, my shoes are vegan and barefoot. Barefoot or minimalist shoes have the following properties:

1. Flat - No heel of any height, not even a half inch. Heeled shoes throw the body out of alignment and make it difficult to walk naturally.
2. Thin, flexible sole - The foot is complex and has lots of distinct bones. Our foot is designed to feel the ground underneath and make minor adjustments based on the terrain
3. Wide toe box - In natural walking, toes move a lot and actually grip the ground. Narrow toe boxes squish the toes together, making them almost like one toe. Hammertoes are the result of narrow toe boxes.
4. The body of the shoe sticks to the foot, but is flexible - The best counter-example to this is the flip-flop. The sole of the flip-flop moves away from the foot when one walks and the toes are required to grip in an unnatural way in order to keep the shoe on one's foot.

I currently own six pairs of shoes (yay minimalism!). Here they are together and individually:

Rain boots/Snow boots:

These are very flexible rain boots from Vivobarefoot. I convert them to snow boots in the winter by adding a thermal insole and lining them with boot socks. I put a boot sock on one of the boots in the picture to show what I mean. I also just ordered some traction cleats to add on, because I found myself slipping on the ice. 

With all these add-ons, I wonder if it would have been better to just get a pair of snow boots, but I still think this is a more minimalist strategy. I wear the boot socks over my pants in the house sometimes for added warm in the winter. 

Walking/Hiking/Casual Shoes:

These shoes also come from Vivobarefoot. Vivobarefoot shoes are pretty expensive, but they do offer pretty good sales. I got this pair at 40% off.

Dress Shoes:

This is the best I could find so far for dress shoes. They are made by Astral.

Indoor/Office Shoes:

I like to call these pajama shoes. It almost feels like nothing is on your feet at all. These shoes by PrimalEvo were supposed to be my walking/hiking/casual shoes, but they are just too minimalist. They hurt your feet on hard surfaces and are not very waterproof. I actually added insoles to these. I can get away with wearing these at work sometimes. I wear them at home sometimes too for extra warmth or cushioning.

Summer Sandals:

These summer sandals by Sanuk look like flip-flops, but they do not act like them. The sole is flexible and the two straps keeps the shoe attached to your foot at all times.

Odd-Jobs Shoes:

These are just some old New Balance shoes that are basically shoes that are okay to get messed up. I wear them when I volunteer at the animal shelter, because they come home smelling and covered in fur. I would also wear them for things like painting a room.

Toe Socks!

I love these organic cotton socks by Toesox. They help me keep my toes spread apart, and I wear them in the winter inside the house to keep my feet warm

In Part V of this series, I will be covering my casual clothes.