24/24 - Week 7

 Hello from week 7 of the 24/24 Challenge! I only had a handful acquisitions this week...

Items Acquired

  • One of our organizing clients is moving to Florida, so we did a massive purge in her garage earlier this week. She gifted me with some of her cast-offs, including a hummingbird feeder, a peanut feeder (holds peanuts-in-the-shell) for squirrels, 2 bottles of partially used eco-friendly dishwasher gel and some lavender essential oil. All secondhand, weee! I love my clients.
  • Yesterday at Scraps KC, our local creative re-use center, while dropping off client donations, I bought my first (secondhand) china pen for $1- I'm going to see if it's a good item to write on the bottom of jars while I do my Zero-Waste/bulk grocery shopping!
  • I was gifted flowers, cards and Journal 29: Oblivion (third book in a series of EXCELLENT puzzles... Here's the first one. You're welcome.) for Valentines Day from my loves! (Flowers will be composted, card can be recycled but I keep cards, puzzle book will someday be recycled). Besides, gifts don't count toward this challenge. So there!
  • For Valentines Day, I treated myself to an item that I've wanted for almost 2 years: A dive gear duffel by Aqualung. My partner Zay and I have an upcoming dive trip to Mexico in June so it will be sure to get use, and I cannot wait. It's backordered but should ship in April. I did a hearty search to find this secondhand in blue (color of clothing and accessories matters greatly to me, I was not willing to settle on another shade), but struck out, so I bought it new. So, this counts as one full item toward the 24. I'm okay with it: It was far from an impulse purchase, as I've wanted it for so long- we should all contemplate purchases like this before we buy, right? I did my research and even watched my first YouTube video review of a product- and in the process, discovered this great UK-based company, Simply Scuba, that reviews gear from an ecological lens- they even called out Aqualung for packaging the duffel in plastic! (I will recycle the plastic film at my local Price Chopper, of course). I hope I love it just as much when it arrives... And if I don't, I shall return it and reclaim that 1 point! :D
The color... *swoon*

Love the backpack style!

My fins are BIG and I love that this has straps for them!


Other tidbits n' wins

  • I sent a bunch of messages to companies and restaurants this week to request changes (switching to compostable or metal straws, please reduce or eliminate your plastic packaging, please use paper-based tape instead of plastic shipping tape, etc). The smaller the business, the more likely I am to get a response. I encourage all of you who write Google and Yelp reviews to call out plastic straws, or simply contact the eatery directly. It's 2024, we're done with that noise. The more they hear that feedback, the more positive changes come about.
  • My friend Sarah is a costumer, and they want those damn Azazie swatches for costuming/creations once I'm done with them!
  • I have finished reading Zero Waste Home on my Kindle app, and am now listening to The Big Fix on Audible- one of the naturalists on my adventure to Antarctica last year recommended it for those who want to make 7 doable but impactful changes to help the planet.
  • 2 people have messaged me saying that they are inspired by this challenge and are looking for their own ways to reduce waste... It made my week! Others have asked me how to join their local Buy Nothing Group, or have shown curiosity about Soap Refill Station, our local Zero Waste/refillery shop.
  • I got the nicest shout out from somebody in my local Buy Nothing Group. Last month one of my organizing clients donated a toy castle by Melissa & Doug as we cleaned out her basement- but the pieces were loose, not in their original box, and the instructions were long lost. I worried that a thrift store might not know what to make of a loosey-goosey toy and it might end up in the landfill, so I listed it on the BNG instead, and a woman picked it up from the end of our driveway. Today she gave me a little shout out with a picture of the castle; she's a teacher, and her students have put it together and are learning about Europe. I love that these castle pieces were sitting in a basement, and now are thriving in a classroom!
My client blessed a classroom!

  • Speaking of the BNG, we are loving the little toaster oven that we scored in the group last week, and I had fun deep-cleaning it. It works like a dream.



So, I am at 2.5 *new* items out of the 24 for the entire year. Not bad, considering I can average 2 items/month and be within bounds. I am ahead of the challenge for now, and still very energized!

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