Challenge Update – Julia Park Tracey

April 20, 2015April 20, 2015

Seven Limes

Gwyneth Paltrow's food stamp challenge — This is what Gwyneth Paltrow bought for $29 — to last her a week (one person).

This is what a week’s worth of groceries for one person looks like, if you’re Gwyneth Paltrow on food stamps. She’s not on food stamps, but has attempted the one-week Food Stamp Challenge. My longtime readers know I did the June Food Stamp Challenge* in June of 2010 — 30 days of the food stamp budget for my family of 5. That ended up being about $450 for the month, and we made it — barely. The budget averaged to about $25 per person, and half that for our son who was with us only half the time that summer. (Read more here about my JFSC, all 30 days.)

We were hungry throughout, more so by the end, and came up against a number of hardships we didn’t know would trip us up. Questions like, what if one of the family doesn’t play by the rules? What if you burn the dinner? What if you’re invited to an outing with food and you have to bring something? What if you want to have a party? What if someone veers dramatically off the budget by cooking a gourmet meal? What if your pet suddenly needs special food? How do you deal with the sneers of people waiting on you or behind you in line? I am pretty sure Gwyneth doesn’t ever grapple with questions like that. Other celebs and personalities taking the challenge, including Barbara Lee, my congresswoman, and Corey Booker, mayor of Newark, NJ, have done better.

Props to anyone who tries the challenge. Living on a low food budget isn’t easy, and I do commend Gwyneth for trying it. But her choices? Not quite. I suspect she shopped at Whole Foods or whatever chichi grocery store is near her, instead of haunting the sale papers looking for BOGOs at Safeway. Bet she never set foot in the Dollar Store, either. But here — I’ll make seven points about what works and what doesn’t in her grocery bag.

The first thing that jumps out for me? Seven limes. How about seven oranges? Seven bananas? Something you can actually eat. Now, my Mexican friends have said that limes and cilantro are important in their recipes, also in Vietnamese and other cuisines. I don’t question that. But in my tight budget, food stamps or food bank, when we scrimped along, limes or lemons and fresh herbs were luxury items. If someone gave me fresh lemons off a tree (free), yippee! Otherwise, I rarely if ever bought those.

More luxury items on the list? Garlic and green onions. My friend Sang Kim says in Korean cooking, green onions are essential. The only time I’d get green onions was when my bulb onion started to sprout. And avocados? Please. Hard to get them for under $2, or 4 in a bag for $5, without the option of buying them separately. I don’t have $5 in my mythical $29 budget to spare on just one piece of delicious fruit. Avocados are good and good for you, but that’s one meal, maybe. Or a small part of two meals. Seven days means three squares = 21 meals. That’s a lot of meals. A lot.

Good items on the list? That bag of beans. I might have gone for white or navy beans, or garbanzos — which are good hot (in curry or soup) or cold (in a salad). If you can get dry beans on sale, for $1 a pound, that’s the best bang for your buck on the FS challenge. Generally I see them for about $2 a pound now. The rice is also a good buy; brown rice is better for you than white rice, although it takes longer to cook. It also works as a hot cereal in the morning, especially if you have some sugar packets or have even splurged on cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (it’s very cheap in November, $1 a shaker. Buy one then and enjoy all year long).

Another great item? Corn tortillas. Those are whole grain and will do in place of bread in many instances. Quesadillas for any meal; cut, salted and baked for homemade chips if you have a hankering (mash some of those beans up for homemade dip); chilaquiles when they start to get stale for a filling meatless dish. When I was a starving single mother back in the dented-can warehouse days, I lived in the Mission District of San Francisco in a mouse-filled apartment. I used to go to the Mexican open markets and get tortillas, apples, a few tomatoes, eggs, milk and dry beans. My food budget was $10 a week. And we got along, my baby and I.

Eggs are fantastic: a complete protein, easy to cook, boil to take along, mix into other dishes. But the FS recipient isn’t buying free-range, organic-vegan-fed happy eggs. Nope. These are the $1.79 white factory farmed eggs. Because it’s hard to give a crap about the chickens when you are hungry. Caring and being able to afford “happy” meat and eggs and milk are definitely a luxury, a privilege that not everyone can afford.

A lot of people slagged on Gwyneth for buying one tomato, one pepper, one ear of corn, one sweet potato, but I’m cool with that (remember she was buying for one person, not a family). In summer, when corn is in season and cheap? 20 cents for one ear. No problem there. In winter, when it’s shipped from Chile? $1 an ear or more. Hot peppers are generally so cheap that a few can add a big pop to your meal and not break the bank; however, for me, those go up with the garlic and cilantro and avocado. Didn’t buy them. The tomatoes are delicious, but instead of the on-the-vine organics I buy now, I would buy Roma tomatoes or whatever was cheapest by the pound. Eaten fresh or tossed into soup or eggs, tomatoes are good; even better when in season and cheap. The greens are good, too, though I find that kale has stringy stems, and Swiss chard or bok choy can turn into two vegetables if you use the stems in one meal (stir fry or replacing celery) and the greens in another. Frozen peas? Another frugal pick.

What’s missing for me is a whole chicken or a bag/package of chicken, especially leg quarters or even wings. Some kind of chicken with bones makes two meals. First, the meat, and second, the bones to make broth for soup. A whole chicken, on sale, could be $5-$7, but that could make as many as 4-5 meals for one person. My friend Max Wong even fed two on one chicken for seven days. A chub of frozen ground turkey or chicken is another cheap find that can turn into meatballs, burgers, etc. Less than $5, too. I would have added a bag of bruised bananas, if I could find them, and a bag of carrots (or loose, depending on the price per pound) for snacks and extra vitamins. A chunk of cheddar or jack cheese would be nice, too, if there’s money for it. And a box of tea bags…Iced or hot, tea got me through many broke-ass times.

Poor Gwyneth (irony intended) may never really get it, since she was raised with money and has never had a hungry day in her life. When you have to make every penny scream for mercy, then you can see why she got spanked by the internet. Living a little bit hungry is good for your soul once in a while. But making it easier for families to eat good food would be a far better way to feed our souls.

*Note: My month-long series on the June Food Stamp Challenge won the award for Best Multimedia piece in 2011 from the SF/East Bay Press Club.

June 30, 2011

deep thoughts

So this is it — 30 days without plastic. What’s the conclusion?
I conclude that it is extremely difficult to live without plastic in today’s consumer world. I conclude that avoiding plastic takes wits — paying attention — and the wisdom to know the difference between Good (usable, reusable and recyclable) and Bad (one-use Saran-wrap or Baggies, plastic film wrap for “hygiene,” or personal use items like tampons or plastic bottles for water, etc). Good and Bad plastic are always present; it’s how you choose.

I conclude that when I opened my eyes to items I use every day that are made from plastic, it wasn’t all that tough to find a non-plastic alternative, or live without it. I found myself stepping back a generation to use once-well known objects like a wooden comb, a wooden spoon and a cast iron pan, a cloth bag and a ceramic cheese dish with matching cover. I found that servers at the deli, the butcher, the cheese shop and the farmers market are all happy to let you bring your own bags or containers, or to wrap in paper if you ask nicely. I learned to just take the plastic bag sometimes because I knew I would recycle it, and that if I didn’t take it, the server would just throw it away because it was too much trouble to put back and reuse.

We ate well this month. I conclude that eating without plastic is healthier but a little costlier — and yet, I didn’t have an appreciable difference in my month end grocery bill. Why? Because of all the junk food I wasn’t able to buy. No chips, treats, crackers and cookies, junky cereals, fatty breads… everything is fresher, better for us, and more locally produced. This is good for our health, good for the planet, and NO PLASTIC. I was reading the Lucky, Safeway and Nob Hill sale papers a month ago with rabid interest, to see what was on sale, cheap and where I could use my coupons to get more for less. Today I read through all three sale papers and conclude that I can purchase vodka, fruit, corn on the cob and milk — and that’s about it. Almost everything on sale in three stores, in 20+ pages of sale papers –> all so badly packaged –> all so very bad for our health — > I can’t buy them anymore.

My friend Deanna asked me last night if I was going back to my old habits of just buying whatever. “The challenge is over, right?” I could go back to buying plastic stuff. There’s no law against it. But it’s like learning how hot dogs are made. I told her I used to eat hot dogs until I saw what was in them and how they are made. Now I can’t eat them. Same with the plastic issue. Can’t do it. Just can’t.

This has been good practice for us. If I had set a challenge of “Let’s all eat healthful food!” it would have made my family grumble (as they do). That wouldn’t have affected the planet in the same way, though — there is plenty of so-called healthful food that is grossly overpackaged. Soy products, from edamame, soy milk and tofu, are among the worst offenders. Meat substitutes (as well as highly processed meaty things like sausages and lunch meats) are all encased in layers of plastic. Coconut milk in the Tetra-pak, rice and almond milks in the Tetra-paks, even Paul Newman’s and Cascadian Farms products are heavily packaged. Granola bars, that love child of the health food industry, all extra packaged in individual Mylar-plastic packets.

Nuts, berries, lettuce, potatoes, fruit, onions, mushrooms — unless you’re buying in bulk, these also come in plastic clamshells or bags. And I already discussed in detail the personal care and bathroom items that are plasticized. Bottom line is that you have to bring your own bags or containers to avoid the packaging. But it is possible. It is very possible. Despite the ambient plastic that is around us, in most of our food and nearly all other goods — it is possible to live without, or at least with less plastic.

I should say something pithy here about how precious is the future for our children, and saving the butterflies and the whales, but you know all that. Plastic comes from fossil fuel, which is rapidly running out. So be smart, think ahead instead of living in the moment, and try to avoid it. The four Rs of the green movement are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. Plastic doesn’t rot. Recycling is supposed to be the last choice for plastics — reduce your use, and reuse what you can.

I think that says it all.

June 28, 2011

boxes, bells and whistles

Every day is a challenge when you’re trying to avoid plastic. Every. Single. Day.

Plastic is so ubiquitous in our lives that it’s hard to really see it all — it attaches itself to products like static cling, and is almost as hard to get rid of. At the beginning of the month I took everything plastic-bag-like back to the grocery store bin for recycling (these are bins near the front door of most grocery stores, where you can recycle your plastic grocery bags). I put other plastic bags in with the grocery bags — from other stores, plus other types of plastic wrap, baggies, etc. I figure I can at least try to get it recycled that way — if it ends up in landfill at their end, at least I tried. And if it does get recycled, I’m glad I made the effort.

I usually have a pretty large bag every month – though it does compress down pretty small. I will say that my household is at about a third of what we’ve had in past months, which is a plus — that means far fewer bags and plastics made it into the house. Our garbage can continues empty — aside from the one car-trash dump last week, our new smaller 20-gallon can is empty. Our recycling bin is full each week, and there’s been more in the green waste (city composting). So all of those are wins, and if I had remembered to keep score over plastic, I think I’d still be ahead.

I’d like to share this link that I got as an e-mail, for purchasing ball-point pens. These are the first to be made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, according to Pilot. If you’re going to buy ball-point pens, then they might as well be made from something recycled, and then recycled again afterward. Here’s the link: Pilot Pens on sale.

Another product I would like to praise is Annie Chun‘s, a line of Asian foods that has made strides toward better packaging. The instant soups have eliminated the plastic film wrap, and the containers are now compostable instead of plastic. The paperboard cover is made from recycled cardboard now as well. I make the point about Annie Chun’s because I notice that most ethnic foods are lagging way behind in terms of eco-sensitive packaging. Especially imported foods — I recommend avoiding them at this point, because foods shipped from afar are not good for the planet (food miles), and foods shipped from afar in plastic or virgin paper wrap are even worse. Annie Chun’s is based in Marin County, by the way.

Pay attention to what you buy. It really does matter.

In other plasticky news, I am really enjoying my wooden and boar bristle toothbrush. I like it. It’s gentle but does a thorough job. Plastic bristles make my gums bleed. Enough said. Both Mr. Husband and self are now using the organic silk floss and it works just fine. It doesn’t shred as I thought it would. So that’s also good news. I’m also enjoying the different feel of a wooden comb and brush with natural bristles instead of the “scratch my head” plastic brush I had been using as both comb/brush. Who would have thought taking care of myself would feel so nice? (I also feel like saying “I coulda had a V8!” right now. [slaps forehead])

As the end of the month draws near and payday approaches, I will again have to look at what we’ve spent on food and how the budget was impacted. I haven’t yet made the call to cancel cable, and will take a look at bills and expenses later on to see how we’re doing. I do know that our food is delicious these days. Our bread is better quality. Our milk tastes better. Our cheese is better quality. Our meat is definitely better quality, and not purchased because it’s cheap or on sale. The junk food quotient has gone way down. Our beverages are healthier, too. And, amazingly, my family doesn’t hate me.

We’re very glad to say that beer and wine still come in glass (or aluminum), and so do quality small-batch sodas and juices. The San Francisco Chronicle had a nice little piece about glass vs. aluminum in Sunday’s paper. The upshot is that if it’s locally brewed or made, glass is the better option (Lagunitas Brewery or Sonoma/Napa wines, for my local peeps). If it comes from afar (out of state, imported), aluminum is lighter and therefore has a lower carbon footprint. Glass is infinitely recyclable or refillable, but it’s heavier, so that’s why local is preferred (fewer gas/miles to bring it), says the article. We celebrated by drinking a locally brewed beer Sunday.

How are you doing on your own plastics purge? Inquiring minds want to know.

June 27, 2011

news and notes, Day 27 (with a video!)

It’s been 26 days of living without plastic, or trying, and it’s all good. Here’s some of what’s going on. I wrote to the Bear River Valley cereal people, who make delicious natural cereals and have a lot of info about green energy and how they purchase credits to offset their manufacturing. That’s awesome news, and I want to support the company. Here’s the gist of their response about plastic packaging on their cereals:
   “…When it comes to the packaging of our products, our first priority is to provide consumers with safe and fresh products. The polyethylene bags we use provide our customers with wholesome, quality products without the high cost of packaging materials. We currently use the lowest density poly material proven to keep our cereals safe and fresh. Unfortunately, this poly material is not recyclable and therefore, does not have a recycling symbol. We continue to review any new packaging materials that become available to us.
   “You may also be interested to know that we take environmental issues very seriously. We are committed to the use of renewable energy. We have active programs in place to reduce energy consumption and minimize water use. We also work with our suppliers, the government and the community to continuously search for ways to improve our own recycling efforts.
   “We certainly appreciate and share your concern for the environment. Your comments regarding the packaging were shared with our Marketing and Packaging Departments…”

So there you have it. If my rubric is to use no plastic, then I can’t purchase this cereal. The bags they come in, while less than the packaging you’d find on most other cereals, are here for eternity in landfill. Would you buy this cereal? I *love* their ethics. I *love* what they are trying to do. But isn’t there something they can do about the plastic? I very, very reluctantly have to say no to them, based on the plastic issue. And I’m sad to say so, because their cereals are also delicious. Poo.

In other no-plastics excitement, I painted a chair and did some decoupage over the past week, and instead of my usual (and much used) plastic drop sheet, I used an old bedsheet instead. It absorbed the paint and the glue and the projects did not stick to it. I believe the bedsheet can be used many, many times over again, and eventually will still decompose in landfill, though that begs the question about using paint that is unnatural in composition. Perhaps my next project will be to investigate natural pigments and milk paints. In the meantime, I’m using paint from my stash from Freecycle and redecorating on the fly.

I’ve been accompanying my daughter who is outfitting herself for a new apartment later this summer. We’ve been trolling the thrift stores looking for housewares. Along the way I’ve found a few items that further my no-plastics venture. Those include a fabric shower curtain that can be washed and reused many times over. If you’ve ever had a plastic/vinyl, shower curtain, you know that they are a mildew magnet, unless you spray them with a toxic anti-mildew spray every single day. If you try to wash them, they tend to tear. The ring-holes also tend to tear, especially if you have A Boy who thinks it’s a gymnastics event to get into and out of the tub. The kids never leave the curtain open to drip-dry so mildew creeps in even faster. You end up with a grody plastic shower curtain that you throw in the garbage because how could it be reused? Then you buy a new one that is so stinky with VOCs (that’s poisonous fumes, in the vernacular) for several days, and then the cycle starts again. I switched to fabric shower curtains a couple of years ago and have never looked back. They can be rewashed, and repaired on the sewing machine if necessary. We needed a shower curtain for our new Green House that I mentioned recently, so I was glad to find one for the same price as a cheap vinyl one ($3.99).

I also found a tall glass canister to store spaghetti, which means I can buy my pasta in bulk and have the right kind of jar to store it. I was also tickled to find a cheese dome, with a wooden base for slicing the cheese. The dome is glass and holds a nice seal against the air, so the cheese won’t harden up. This completely eliminates the need for plastic wrap or Tupperware for cheese. I almost bought more than one of these but restrained myself. One is plenty.
It sounds like I’ve been shopping like a 5th Avenue diva but honestly, not at all — these three items cost me less than $10 in total and I didn’t buy even one Prada bag or pair of $500 shoes. (Although my daughter did find a designer purse at ThriftTown and was very happy about it.)

I’ll leave you with this today: A dear friend (thanks, Katje!!) posted this on my Facebook wall — watch it at your leisure — but it’s lots of fun about canvas bags, by Brit comedian-songster Tim Minchin… so how many words rhyme with plastic?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVh15aUt8-c

June 25, 2011

trash talk

I warned you we’d have to talk about the bathroom trash can. Put on your gloves and gas mask, because this one is a stinky topic.
What’s in your bathroom trash can? Compostables? Recyclables? Toxic waste? Biohazards? Betcha there’s some plastic in there, too. I was going to photograph what came out of our bathroom trash, but I got a little shy and a little grossed out, so never mind. Just use your imagination, and follow along as we parse what’s plastic and what’s actually garbage.

Cotton swabs, aka Q-tips. Buy the kind with a paper/cardboard stick. Those can be composted or will disintegrate in landfill, while the ones with the pretty pink, yellow, blue or white plastic stems will not. Ever. (Not in our lifetime, anyway.)
Cotton balls, hair from your hair brush, and wads of tissue are compostable — unless you used something toxic like nail polish remover on the cotton ball (garbage) or if you have a cold or communicable disease (garbage). Compost piles don’t get hot enough to destroy the virus from the common cold, and we don’t want your germs in the municipal compost piles, either. Don’t flush these items, as they get stuck in the water waste system, and no one wants your germs there, either (there are plenty of germs already).
Toothpaste tubes, mouthwash bottles, cardboard toilet paper tubes, shampoo bottles, makeup containers, Kleenex boxes — if it’s plastic, paper or metal, chances are that it’s recyclable. Use all that you can, and then don’t be lazy — carry the packaging down the stairs and out the back door (or wherever) to the recycling bins.
The plastic strip that comes around the neck of the mouthwash, the ambient plastic wrap around makeup, plastic film-wrap that comes around various other goods you use in the bathroom: This wrap may be recyclable in your area or maybe not. I take all plastic film-type wrapping (shrink-wrap) and bag-type plastic back to the grocery stores inside a plastic bag for recycling.
Feminine hygiene products: Ladies, STOP buying one-use products encased in hard plastic. The Tampax Glide products are a one-use product that then sticks around in landfill for 1,000 years. Buy tampons in the cardboard tube if you must , but plastic tampon tubes are floating in our oceans, caught in fences and waterways around the world, and languishing in landfills (if you’ve ever done a beach clean-up, you’ll change your ways, guaranteed.). There’s no need to buy these. Same goes for the uber-wrapped maxi-pads, which are wrapped, then wrapped again, and also have a plastic strip on the bottom and are made from plastic/paper. Better yet, switch to reusable cloth pads (visit Glad Rags, check around on http://www.etsy.com/ or check out the Hillbilly Housewife for a discussion of how easy and natural — and money-saving! — these are to use, and how to avoid the scam that tampon producers are perpetrating on supposedly smart Western women.) What do you think Laura Ingalls Wilder and Jane Austen and women in the Bible used in their day? A more modern take is the Diva Cup, available at health food stores or online, or if you have a diaphragm, use that every month as a menstrual cup. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — if you’re too squeamish to talk about or handle your own menses, go back to 7th grade and start over, or get a little therapy — it’s your own body and it’s perfectly healthy and natural. Don’t be a big baby.
Hair coloring products: Every one of these boxes is full of plastic. They include a pair of gloves, a new bottle to hold the colorant, etc. If you want to color your hair, buy yourself a set of supplies (for about $10) at the beauty supply store, then just get the colorant every month or so. You’ll save a ton, and you won’t need to buy a new plastic bottle and gloves every time. Those gloves are good for more than one use, anyway. If you use it only once, it’s not a Good Plastic. Really!
Toilet paper and soap packaging: These come singly or in a package of several, and the large packages are coated in plastic. Consider buying individual rolls of toilet paper, which come in paper wrap, and individual soaps in paper or boxes instead of multi-packs. You can finally use those gift and travel soaps!
Toothbrushes: Our dentist gives us freebies every time — and we are encouraged to replace every three months. Do any of you recycle your toothbrush? Do you find a reuse for them? They are good for cleaning grout, scrubbing jewelry or small items, and also as a paintbrush for spatter paint. They make a good doll hairbrush or brush for your pet’s delicate face. However, there are only so many extra uses for used toothbrushes, so make sure you recycle them. Then, buy a wooden one from Bass (about $6 at the Alameda Natural Grocery store, or available online) or try the ones at this online shop. The one I bought is wooden with boar bristles, made in Italy, and can be tossed into the fire (if you need kindling) or composted when done. All natural, it’s biodegradable and harmless to the planet (except for the shipping from Italy). Don’t chew on the bristles (a bad habit of mine — I will fold laundry while brushing teeth and find myself chewing the bejeebers out of my toothbrush). Make sure to let it air dry, perhaps out of the bathroom, so it lasts longer.
Razors: People, stop using one-use disposable razors. Spend a little more and get a razor handle with changeable blades. Then take care of your razor. Don’t leave it in a puddle in the shower. Dry it after use. Set it on the windowsill or on your dresser in the next room to dry. You can store them head down in a jar of isopropyl alcohol and they will remain rust-free virtually forever. Water ruins razors, so keep yours dry, and then you will use fewer blades and throw away less plastic. If you are a real Eco Hero, you’ll switch to a straight razor (the Dervaes family of Pasadena recommends these) or be a real hippy and stop shaving. As for the need to buy an aerosol can of shaving cream — stop (plastic!). I bought Mr. Husband a ceramic shaving cup and natural boar bristle brush 18 months ago and he *loves* them. He will never go back to a can of foam again. And you can buy some deliciously scented shaving soap on http://www.etsy.com/ or at a local bath and body shop like sumbody.
Plastic packaging from medications: Try to switch to a different size or ask if you can get a less-packaging option. Kaiser will work with you to reduce the plastic, but my insurance, Cigna, uses a mail-order system that does not allow for less packaging. Try, then, to recycle what you can: the plastic wrappings go in my plastic-bag-return to grocery stores, and the plastic bottles get recycled. In my over-the-counter meds, I make sure to buy a large-enough bottle of Claritin so I don’t get individually wrapped tablets, but rather a bottle of loose tablets.
Cough drop wrappers: Try to purchase a brand that still wraps in waxed paper (compostable), such as Ricola or some of the Luden’s varieties. I also bought vitamin C drops from CVS in a square tube-like package that are wrapped in foil, then in waxed paper within, so there’s no plastic in the package. I find the vitamin C drops work as well for cough drops or hard candy, as the need arises.
Magazines and newspapers: These need to get recycled in the regular recycling bin, not just stuffed in the bathroom trash.
Plastic water bottle: Yikes! How did this get through my doors? You know that 9 out of 10 of these are not ever recycled, but trashed instead? Make sure you recycle all beverage containers, in whatever way possible. I think of them as money — 5 cents in California for every can or bottle, plastic or glass, that I pick up and return. We’ve probably earned $50 this year so far in collecting cans and bottles on our walks and from various parties. Again, do a beach cleanup some day and see how many of these you retrieve (especially the caps). You’ll never buy one again.
Chewed gum. Yuck. There’s nothing you can do with chewed gum but put it in the garbage. I guess the thing to do is — not chew gum.
Subscription cards, mail: Yikes, random paper in the bathroom garbage cans: pull it out and recycle it in appropriate place.
Dry-cleaning bag: I thought we had dealt with these earlier in the month. Pull it out, put in the bag-recycling and return to grocery store. Your dry cleaner may also accept these to recycle, and you can ask for no bag next time.
Button: Pull it out and put it with the sewing stuff.
Fingernail clippings: See hair, #2, above. Also — yuck. Because these are down in the bottom of the can and loose, the best thing to do next time is to catch the clippings into a tissue and then put that into the compost bin.
Hairpins: Set aside for daughter to ask for when she can’t find any in her bathroom.
Apple core: Compost. Who eats in the bathroom, anyway? Yeesh.

That’s what was in our bathroom can. What’s in yours, and is there a way to recycle or make less of an impact with your bathroom trash? (I’m thinking of disposable diapers and wipes, daily facial cloths, false eyelashes, toxins, old broken jewelry, a single sock?)