Trash free weekend vacation
Trash free weekend vacations may sound daunting but if you think of these three things before you go, you are in the clear! Easy!
1. Bring cloth produce bags so you can get those yummy fruits, veggies and bulk items (rice, granola, dried fruits) in non plastic bags!
2. Bring some bell jars just in case (bulk peanut butter, apple cider, olive oil etc…)
3. Bring a recyclable and compostable paper grocery bag for your compost!
Getting away from New York City for the weekend is probably one of the most fulfilling things out there ! My friends and I are trying to maintain a fairly new tradition of going to this forest house that these amazing friends of ours lets us borrow. So this year the excitement was high! Since going trash free, the first thing I thought of was, how cool if this entire trip could be trash free. It seems a bit of a stretch if you involve people who are not trash free, however my friends are eco-conscious beings so they were all in.
I started by packing all of the things I already had in my house. Baking items, dinner ingredients, etc… It is super easy to pack up without creating trash since everything is already in a bell jar, because I shop in bulk for all my ingredients. You can find bulk if you just do a little research! I go to 4th street co op in Manhattan for most, and then whole foods has some good raw granola options. But I try and stick to co ops for their variety and sourcing. For fruits and vegetables, I get what is in season at the farmers market which you can easily find too! Not only are the things you will buy way healthier, but they will be local which cuts carbon emissions in the atmosphere from those long food shipments across the country. Make sure your grower has an organic and sustainable practice. I promise it makes what you put in your body worth the effort.
So alas this is the forest house! This post will be heavy on the photos because there are too many goodies to pass up.
Our breakfasts were really simple and super flavorful! Sweet potatoes, eggs and onions from the farmers market and we had french press coffee. Nothing to throw away and we composted all our food scraps and coffee grinds. The mornings were so nice, chilly, and crisp. We played Andrew Bird and sat and ate outside in the sunroom. Its hard in the city sometimes to sit in thought for too long without thinking you need to do something busy. Here, we could sit all day amidst the trees that were doing the same thing. All in good company.
This is a really important to-do if you are gonna be trash free. COMPOST! Not only are you freeing up space in landfills but when food is suffocated in landfills it creates a green house gas called methane! Food also isn't trash!
With all my food scraps I put them in the freezer in one of these bags you see to the left. I will take it to a drop off at a local farmers market once a week. You can do your research to find the best compost drop off near you!
We went to the market upstate to grocery shop for our dinners and we made it a serious point to not create any trash! I brought cloth produce bags for all our veggies, and we made almond milk in case of any smoothies. We even brought a huge mason jar so we can have apple cider! No plastic gallon!
We did some really beautiful hikes and every now and then we would find a field to eat our snacks in and catch up on girly things. We are all going through some tumultuous stages in our life so it was really important we take in the energy of the trees and the air, and to re-absorb the big picture.
Love these girls so much! They are the most grounded, silly, and sweet beings I could ever know. It is so important for us as individuals to take care of ourselves, each other, and the well being of the environment we are surrounded in. To open our eyes fully to every aspect of our impact whether it be with our relationships, ourselves, and how we treat nature is truly the most important way to live.
