Sustainable Living: Small Steps for a Greener Future

In this episode of Wildly Curious (formerly For the Love of Nature), co-hosts Katy and Laura dive into the importance of making sustainable lifestyle choices. They discuss practical ways to reduce your environmental impact, from using compostable products like diapers to supporting local CSAs. The episode covers the effects of plastic waste, sustainable farming, and how small changes, such as cutting down on single-use plastic and making eco-conscious product choices, can lead to a more sustainable future. With humor and insight, Katy and Laura explore how we can all do our part to help the planet, one small step at a time.

Perfect for eco-warriors, sustainability enthusiasts, and anyone looking to learn easy ways to reduce their environmental footprint. Tune in to discover how you can make a difference, starting today.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to For the Love of Nature, a podcast where we tell you everything you need to know about nature and probably more than you wanted to know. I'm Laura.
And I'm Katy. And today we're gonna be talking about how we need to make more sustainable choices to preserve a better future for our planet. Basically, how we can all be on Captain Planet.
Well, before we get started, I actually do have some nature news that is relevant. So two students made compostable water filters from food waste.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, so some inventive thinking, and that is definitely what we need, and it's very apt for our today's episode. So two students from Pratt Institute have created Strom. It's the O with the slash through it.
Oh, okay, okay. Sorry to anyone whose native language has that O. I don't know how to say it.
They're made compostable water filters made from food waste. And so the filters use activated charcoal, which are sourced from natural biocar, which is mixed with natural resins. And they can be substituted for Brita filters, which is great because those are just single, well, essentially single use.
Like you could only use them for so much. So the fact that something would be compostable would be fantastic. Do you know what biocar is though?
Black carbon produced by biomass sources. So from wood chips, plant residues, manure, and other agricultural product waste.
Oh, so it's saying that normally filters use activated charcoal, of course, because that helps take out, like charcoal attracts pollutants and things to it and things in the water. But normally, instead of sourcing them from petroleum, they source it from a natural biocar or biochar. Very cool.
It's mixed with natural resins to be shaped like a thermoplastic. So yeah, that's super cool.
So I have one too that I don't know how much we really wanna talk about it, but listen, there is now a scientist who is saying, let me find his name, Roland Enos, who is trying to pave the way that article is titled, Wood Shaped the Whole of Human History, says this expert, which is why we must protect trees. So his whole new theory, he is from the University of Hall, like H-U-L-L. But he is saying, he just wrote a book called The Wood Age, How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History.
So he believes that our connection with trees stretches back way longer, millions of years, to early human ancestors, and according to Professor Enos, is still imprinted in our DNA. So he's saying that we think we're different from the rest of the primates, but most of our body is actually designed to allow us to live in trees, which we used to do. Which, did they ever say that, that like early humans, or like our lineage, I mean, besides chimps and stuff, but the ones that broke off into people, did they start to, did they, were they tree dwellers?
Uh, I think it was debated. They were thinking that, like, they originally were tree dwellers, and then because of the climate shifting, that there were less and less trees, and so we were forced to come down and start walking upright.
Yeah, because he's saying-
Is one of the theories. I mean, I really think that having tails would have been helpful to be a tree dwelling species, but-
Why can't we just, I mean, we have a tail whenever we're itty-bitty, we should just keep it instead of absorbing it. I wanna keep it. I wanna keep it.
But anyway, he's saying, like, just because we have relocated from trees and that our bodies are still adapted for living in the trees, like we lost, he believes that we lost our hair to stop ourselves from having so many ectoparasites. Whoa. I mean, he's going back to like, we need to protect the trees because we basically owe it to them.
We owe it to them? That's a weird argument.
I mean.
I think it'd be hard to convince most people of that argument.
Most people?
Us nature guards would be like, yeah, of course we owe it to the trees.
Yeah, no, of course, of course. I was just talking to somebody the other day at work about how mind-blowing trees are, and I was like, no, you gotta listen to our episode. Listen, you will cry yourself to sleep at any wood product you have in your home because you're like, what did I do?
So anyway, but this guy, so he's trying to kind of pave the way going that route to try to conserve trees. But like you said, I don't think it's gonna catch much headway just because I don't think...
I think it's a better way to connect with people. I don't think most human beings like to think that they owe anybody anything.
Right?
Much less a tree.
Much less a tree. You owe me. But that does tie perfectly into what we're talking about because a lot of these things that we are talking about, one, if we do live more sustainably, we'll have trees, of course, around for a lot longer.
But I mean, as horrible as it is, and we made all the jokes in that tree episode, it wasn't just about trees. It was about all living plants. But it is kind of crazy to think that, in a way, stuff like wood is more sustainable, because it is more natural.
We just have to do it intelligently.
Right, sustainable forestry.
Yeah, and so a big part of this episode is about how we've been messing that up, basically.
And then... OK, to be fair, we're going to start on a good note. We're going to talk about what Katy and I are already doing to help save our planet.
Yes, so we're going to start off great.
Yeah, and then we'll talk about what we wish we did better.
I just feel like we're going to end you guys with another depressing episode. No, no, I won't let it happen. I'll at least throw a few jokes in there to make it on.
Don't worry, I'll bring it back at the end.
Bring it back. All right, Laura, do you want to start then, talking about your first one?
Sure, so as I was saying, Katy and I are going to just talk about two different things that we're already doing, or not that we're not doing a ton of other things, but these are the highlights, or at least the ones that I chose. I feel like I'm really making a positive difference with the two choices that I've made. So the first one is that very recently, I finally got to subscribe to a CSA.
I've been wanting to do this forever, and then never was I able to financially.
Okay, first, can you tell people what that is? Because they're probably already like, I have no idea what that is, and why is Katy so excited?
Right, so that was my first bullet point. What is a CSA? It is a community shared, well, it is called community shared agriculture.
So basically, people purchase shares of the farm upfront, ensuring financial stability for the farmer and return for regular produce and products. So you're not supporting industrial agriculture. This is a small scale.
Farmers often form collaborations and work together. The one that I've joined is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it's comprised of 100 different farms, many of which are Amish. So that's like a giant collaboration of farms.
And the great thing about having a collaboration like that is because then you can have a wide variety of goods and it eliminates competition in the area. And you can get shares from a CSA that might have veggies, fruit, herbs, flowers, dairy, honey, meat, and more. So I, just this year, was able to, I got a share for vegetables and a share in fruit and a share in eggs.
They do bread, they do dairy, they do meat, but I really need more space to do a meat one and more money.
I know whenever I was growing up, I don't think my parent, it wasn't a CSA, it was just like a local farm. And we like literally bought like half a cow and like packaged it. And that's why we had an extra freezer in the basement.
Because it's just full of meat.
Definitely the way to go. So why did I always want to do it? And why is it so awesome?
For a couple of different reasons. First of all, it supports family owned farms. So, like I said, you're not really supporting industrial agriculture in all of its terribleness.
And you know, not that all industrial farmers are bad.
A lot of it is.
But like the chemicals, the money. So this is family owned farms, and you're ensuring that generational knowledge and traditions continue on. The fact that you pay for things up front, so you're buying a share up front at the beginning of the growing season, this guaranteed funds allow them to make improvements to their farms and experiment with new techniques.
So it gives them some peace of mind, you know? Even if things go terrible, you're still going to have the money to support your family for the rest of this year. And if they have enough money, they'll be able to dabble in the latest stuff and the most sustainable practices.
I can't believe you used to use dabble so naturally in a sentence.
You know, me. So supporting families, I'm about that.
I have one myself.
I happen to really like families. Their produce and products are typically organic. And the one that I joined is.
So the products are high quality and they're better for you, the animals, and the environment, because they're organic. They're not using a ton of chemicals.
I will say, like, yeah, they're not using a ton of chemicals. Fruit and vegetables, I would say, is a little bit harder to tell organic from regular. However, like meat, it is so, so different.
Like, just go out and buy meat from a local farm, and then go buy a package from your favorite super chain grocery store, and cook both of them the same way that you are going to. One, they definitely cook differently. Two, you're going to taste a difference.
At least I do.
Yeah, and like for me with the produce, it's more of just the fact that it tastes knowing, yeah. Like something and knowing. Like, because it's all in season, so what you're getting is in season.
So it's not fresh. Right, you're not getting a tomato that doesn't really taste like anything in the wintertime, you know? So it's all seasonal stuff.
It does save money in the long run if you're going to be buying organic anyway. So typically, joining a CSA is cheaper than buying organic in a grocery store because you're cutting that middleman out. And if you join a CSA with a lot of different farms involved, they're able to cut down on the prices.
So although it is a steep upfront cost, in the long run, I'm going to be saving money on produce if I was going to be buying that organic or from a farm stand anyway. So it's just that initial upfront. It is better for the environment for a couple of different reasons.
One, because it's organic, it's limiting its chemicals and pesticides. It's using less packaging, which I'm all about. I'm so sick of getting stuff.
Well, let's go take one step back real quick, though. The toxins and everything chemical-wise, it's not just in your food. I'm saying this from a water perspective.
What gets into your water from a runoff from farms is insane. What you can find in heavily farmed areas.
And it's not even just stuff like, okay, of course, they're spraying things on your food, but it's also being absorbed by your food, things like rice, which is so high in arsenic, and things like that. You can't just wash some of the stuff off.
It's in it.
And it makes sense if it's in your water, it's going to be sucked up by the plants. So yeah, pesticides and stuff, no go. It uses less packaging.
My CSA in particular, they do sell to local grocery stores. So some of them are bundled or packaged as if they would be sold in a grocery store. So I just got a package of blueberries that is in plastic.
But typically, I'm just getting ahead of lettuce. I'm cutting out all those plastic bags and things like that. Typically, a CSA is local and therefore reduces transportation emissions, fuel, et cetera.
So it is called community-supported agriculture because you're supporting your own local community. So I am not close to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but I'm not crazy far. It's not like I'm getting lettuce from the desert out west, which we've talked about in the past.
So all the logistics of having to transport food around this country, the fact it's driven, refrigerated, frozen, all of that stuff is using energy. So by buying locally, you're saving a lot of energy and cutting down on emissions. These products are not giant monocrops.
So it's not giant fields of nothing but lettuce or nothing but asparagus. So it's better for the local wildlife, insects, things that are pollinating those plants. And finally, like I said before, it is seasonal produce.
And so not only does that make it taste better, but then it's not wasting water and energy trying to grow things out of season. Because it's not right. It's not growing stuff in the desert.
You use a crap ton of water, yeah, growing stuff out of season. It's insane.
I can only imagine. Finally, there's just a last few mentions of why it's amazing. So mine in particular works with nonprofits to supply food to those in need.
Mine also works with small businesses to distribute products. And mine also offers pickup at local businesses and homes, which gives a nice sense of community. Like I pick up one from a gym, like a tiny gym, not like a gold's gym.
Okay, because I was going to say, are you here for a membership? No, I'm here for my zucchini.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just go through the door. But sometimes it's somebody's house. Sometimes it's like an ace hardware.
It depends on whatever business owner or person they believe in this, so they'll offer their place as a pickup location. I'm sure they get some kind of a discount. But yeah, so lots of reasons to join in.
How can you? There are CSAs all over this country, probably in other countries, I would assume. So check out your local CSA options.
And I said that there's this large upfront cost that is true, but usually CSAs have multiple options. You can get full shares or half shares. Mine offers small, medium, and large.
So you can go in as much as you can or are able to financially. But it's made me feel a lot better about... And I'm getting to experiment with foods.
I never ate chard before. We ate chard for the first time. I'm making myself be a big girl and try new foods.
As a good example for my baby.
She's watching you.
And I definitely know it's organic. The other week, I was washing stuff off, and there was a slug on my lettuce, and then there were some false bombardier beetles hanging out in the box. And I was like, organic.
Definitely no pesticides.
Just a slug in there just munching on my investment here.
It was a little extra they threw in there this time. They were like, you want a meat chair? It was just a taste.
Great, that's what I can afford. Thank you.
So, CSAs, check it out.
That's awesome. Alrighty, so my first one that I'm going to do, I think is going to then kick off the rest of this one, at least literally lead into my...
My CSA was just an outlier.
It kind of is compared to at least the right first two.
I know that you're going to talk some more about big business and things like that. Mine did industrial agriculture. It could be the time.
So not that much of an outlier. Alright, so the first one that I did was straws, because I honestly can't tell you when the last time was I used a disposable straw. Nice.
Like I honestly, I'm thinking now. I honestly don't know. I have straws at the house, but they're reusable ones that we have.
Or like I'll use compostable ones, and that doesn't make me feel so bad either.
I have a co-worker who cannot stand using paper straws. He hates the taste of them in his mouth.
These compostable ones are like a plant plastic.
Oh, okay, so it's like harder. It doesn't tend to motion your mouth.
Yeah, no, that's kind of gross. I'm with him. The best straw that I had, I went to a tropical smoothie, and they had a fruit straw.
What?
All straws should be edible.
Yes, heck yes.
Just saying, all straws should be edible.
Well, plastic straws, let's get into some of the details here, and then we can advocate for fruit straws. But plastic straws are one of the top 10 most commonly found items in coastal litter cleanups. I think pretty much everybody, if you've gone to a beach, you've probably seen straws washed up.
Just in the USA, 500 million plastic straws are consumed every day.
I think it's getting better, though.
It is. It's definitely getting better, and I'm going to talk about that here in a minute. But it could fill more than 127, that 500 million in just one day.
It could fill up more than 127 school buses per day, or over 46,400 per year.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah. And so, like we said, since they're oftentimes found on beaches, they're in the water. And that's like the worst part of it is...
All plastic ends up in the ocean.
And so, I know we made reference to it before, and oddly, we'll have to figure out an episode to really dive in and talk about this. Get, dive in, put them. But talking about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the North Pacific...
Or no, what is it? It's a big trash pile in the middle of the ocean.
A floating trash pile.
Basically. But it's all just marine debris. And most of it's broken down plastics, and it ends up being microplastics, but there is still large chunks of plastics there.
And it's all swirling around in one area because of the currents and everything. So it just all ends up in, I think it's two different spots now.
Yes, there is definitely more than one now.
Which is just terrifying. But the other problem is, we can't really give a guesstimate as to how big they are because the plastic is either floating, but it can also go down a few centimeters or it can go down several meters as far as those microplastics are concerned. So it's very difficult for scientists to even have a guess to know because the depth varies depending on what the plastics are there.
And so, as most people know, most plastics are not biodegradable. We're just talking about the typical plastic?
Yeah, the classic plastic. Normal plastic, not biodegradable.
Yeah, so it doesn't disintegrate. It simply breaks into tinier and tinier pieces. And that's what the big problem is with this Great Pacific garbage patch is because as it's breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, marine life gobbles it up, either gobbles it up or carries it to other places.
Greaves it in?
Yeah, so many issues. Or eats it like how many sea turtles eat plastic bags because they think it's a jellyfish. But the microplastics, here's the other problem with it.
I remember reading the article whenever the science, I don't know, first really started coming out about whenever they were looking at the levels of indigenous peoples above the Arctic, like in northern Canada and stuff, and they've been finding plastics not only in Arctic char, which is a type of fish up there that they catch, finding plastics, because I don't know if char, if those ones migrate, but the whales and things like that, that go up the coast of Alaska, finding it in their system, not just eating, but in their fat.
Well, it's not even just like, if you've been looking at the news recently, it's not even just like ocean plastic anymore. They're finding plastics in human blood. They just find for sure in human blood because it's in our food chain, it's in our water systems.
Like the Chesapeake Bay is full of microplastics.
Yeah. So, and that's the biggest problem is like we're consuming all these plastic products like madman. And most people don't think, whenever you're going out to the store, you know, every bit of plastic that you get, you throw it away because it's just packaging.
Most of it is just like insane amount of packaging.
Yeah, which I'll talk about later in what I'm on to.
Thank you. And so it's just... And then you just chuck it, like you throw it away, because most of it you can't recycle.
Like, you can't recycle it, which is such a huge issue. Um. And so in like Northern Canada, like there's no shipping lanes up there because that's where a lot of the plastic actually comes from.
Not only us throwing it away, but because the US ships out a lot of our trash to other countries, it ends up falling off of ships. And then that's most of the time how it gets into the ocean and then just starts breaking down from there. So, said all that to say, let's go back to straws and let's circle back to straws.
So everybody's, you know, been using straws. There was a huge campaign. Lonely Whale, I think they were huge advocates.
There's tons of people that were just like, I have some of the, what do they call, the Finely straws? They're the metal straws in the little container that you like, you know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, the expandable ones.
Yeah, there you go, expandable. But you know what I'm talking about. You pull a thing out and it like...
Like a tent stake.
Yeah, no, it really is.
Or a tent pole.
Tent pole, yeah. And so, you know, and that one's reusable. The only thing I don't like about that one is it's very difficult because stuff can still get like in it on the outside, you know what I mean?
And then, yeah, so it's like difficult to clean. But anyway, so there are tons of people, a while ago, it was such a big deal, don't use straws, don't use straws. So everybody was like, we can't use straws, we gotta save the turtles, and all this stuff.
But guess how much out of the total, let's say tons, so there's 8 million tons of plastic that flows into the ocean every year, by estimates, by estimates. How much do you think straws make up of that?
Today? Out of 8 million?
Well, not today. This is about five years ago, so this was still before the peak of, what were they called, VSCO girls that were like, save the turtles, don't use straws.
Okay, okay, okay.
One out of eight. What percentage is that? Out of 8 million?
Give me a number.
At least 20%.
0.025% of the total.
Okay, okay. I knew that a lot of people were like, listen, this whole campaign is stupid because it's not even a big thing, but I'm here to argue the point, because I think that it's not about the straws.
Exactly. And so that's what, like, Lonely Whale, that was their big stance, is that it wasn't just the straws. Like, yes, they targeted straws because so many of us see it every day in our lives and don't even think and use it.
And so if we can get straws out of our daily, like Starbucks, a lot of major restaurant chains, like, tons of people were just like, all right, let's just cut straws.
Yeah, here in Maryland, there are certain counties that have outlawed plastic straws. Like, the fast food restaurants aren't allowed to use them here in Howard County, in Montgomery County.
And that's Lonely Whale's point, is like, if we can do, if you can do that...
Yeah.
What is so difficult with everything else? Like, you can definitely just keep chugging away, because that is such a small.025% of the total. And it's not about this.
Like, yes, straws, great, okay. Not gonna have so many of them wash up anymore. Fantastic.
However, that is such a tiny, small percentage. That's not really what it's about. Now, should you listen to this podcast and then go out and use straws?
No, don't freaking...
I'm still picturing school buses of straws.
Straws, right?
We're talking about 8 million tons of plastic and 8 million tons of plastic. A lot of the plastic is like lightweight. So just imagine how much plastic to weigh that much.
I mean, 0.25 is still... How many school buses a year.
Yeah, it's a crap ton of straws. Like, it is a lot of straws. But again, so it's the mentality of...
You don't need a straw. If you really... Like, there's really no reason.
I know it freaks a lot of people out to put their mouths on a glass, but do what I do. Bring your own. I mean, it's like...
Like the 10th one. And there's tons of places that sell either metal or things like that, straws that... I mean, you have purses...
A lot of places that are starting to go away from plastic straws. So I think as long as we can just keep being like... If we keep pushing companies to do that, then it won't even be a problem much longer.
And I'm going to talk about that later on, about companies. So anyways, that was the straw thing. I honestly can't tell you the last time I used a straw even going out to eat and stuff.
But I mean, again, it does make an impact, but it's more of, okay, if we can do this, okay, why not plastic bags? Like, again, not needed or it should be like a backup. You know what I mean?
Or like, I know here in Texas and Austin, you have to pay for your bags. Yeah, you just pay for them if you forget your reusable bags.
It's like five pounds a bag.
So just tack it on. Put it on my tap.
Yeah.
Alrighty. So that was straws. Something that I do, but I mean...
Or something that you don't do. Well, yeah, you don't use straws.
Stop using straws.
Yeah. And let's actually just push them all to be edible. Okay.
Fruit straws. I am all for fruit straws. While you start talking about your topic, I'm looking up how many different types of fruit straws are out there where I can find some.
The tropical smoothie ones, I mean, did it get soggy eventually? Yeah, but it was still fruit, so it was still okay. It wasn't like soggy paper.
It became more like a fruit snack. Than like a hard straw.
Yeah. Well, you can't eat the paper straws. I mean, I guess technically you could, but...
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so speaking of paper, a little bit, and plastics, the other thing that I'm really proud of and that I'd love to talk about is that a fact that I use compostable diapers.
Diapers are so gross, anyway.
So much research, listeners. Like, you can't take a straw. Imagine the hours I put in to researching the products I needed for this baby.
Like, to have another human. It's crazy. For so many things.
I was trying to think of all these things, like the environment, what's best for me, what's best for the baby. I'm trying to juggle a whole bunch of things, and I finally decided on these compostable diapers. So shout out to the company Diaper, D-Y-P-E-R, if you want to sponsor us, please do.
I buy your products, and I will tell everyone too as well. Right now, they're the only compostable diaper that I'm aware of.
There are a few other ones out there, but they're mostly just biodegradable, but not compostable. So what are they?
They are what they sound like. They're diapers that can be composted rather than thrown away in a landfill. So these diapers are made from plant material, and they don't contain any plastics or harmful chemicals.
So composting is something that you can do for anyone who's not aware. It basically is a way to make new soil. So you use food scraps and other...
You need to have your browns and your greens. So it needs to be like fruit...
Dead stuff and live stuff. Just usually not meats and things like that.
Yeah, nothing that can rot, but fruits and vegetables. If you Google lists, sticks and everything, if you Google lists, there's tons of lists out there.
And there's all different ways to compost. But these diapers are also compostable. And as weird...
Some people might not be into composting human feces. But you technically could. So, like I said, these diapers are made from all natural materials.
And this company, Diaper, will pick them up with their composting service. So it is an extra charge. It's about, I want to say $10 extra a month.
So right now, even though I'm buying compostable diapers, I'm not composting them. So I'm proud, but I'm not as proud as I could be. I just can't afford it yet.
What I'd rather do is just compost them myself. But I still feel pretty good about it because I at least know that these diapers are composting in a landfill rather than just hanging around for millions of years.
And reusable diapers was probably one of the most pain in the rear processes that I have ever experimented with because you can't do it whenever your kid's in child care.
And you have to constantly put it in a stinky bag that is just gross, and then you're carrying around a poop bag.
A poop bag.
And so you get a home to hose it off as best you can in your toilet before you put it in your washer, which I know there's already gross stuff in your washer anyway, but you're just really up in the ante with just putting a whole bunch of poo in there. I mean, it's just making it worse. If I were to, because we did try it with Luke, and I was just like, no, I can't do this.
And I would have to have a devoted washer or something just to do that.
So when I was looking things up, so the reason I decided on these and the fact that I thought these were great was first and foremost, I wanted the safest diaper for my baby, which was one free of chemicals and dyes.
Which is huge because, like, I mean, it's the same thing with feminine products.
It's nuts, guys. Just look at the ingredients.
The chemicals.
It is crazy. The fire retardant things.
All right, let's just pause for one hot second. Yeah, one hot second. Let's talk.
All the guys, if you are interested in all this gross, just stick around. But women, the feminine products that you're using, just take a hot second and do some research on what is in that stuff. And this is, what is it called?
The honey pot is the one that I use, which is amazing. But like the chemicals that are in these things, because you have to figure it's absorbent, and it's that absorbent for a reason.
And the fact that it doesn't just like degrade in your, you know. It is like, and so the research-
And your body's soaking that up. For a woman, every month, every day, and the same thing with the baby, it's every single freaking day.
Every single day, in your most formative time. So I was like, I can't, I can't even think about this. There's even research thinking that maybe, like, diapers can disrupt, you know, hormone development in baby boys and like all sorts of stuff.
Anyway, to err on the side of caution, I was like, no, no chemicals, no dyes. So there's only two choices at that point. You can either go cloth or you can go like biodegradable or compostable.
So, second thing I wanted was a diaper that was going to hold up. And a lot of people were like, oh, man, the biodegradable and the compostable diapers, they're not, like, they're just not as good.
I didn't have a problem with them. Yeah, I didn't have a problem with them.
These absolutely do, and they're also soft. Like, they're, yes, are they made from bamboo? Yeah, but like uber soft, just like bamboo toilet paper.
They're, I mean, would I, I don't know, I change your diaper every two hours anyway, unless it's overnight. But for sure, she can go over, she can go at least eight to ten hours with one diaper on in the night, and it's not leaking through the next day. And that's not having any plastics in it to stop the leaking.
Yeah.
No leaks. So absolutely does hold up under the most extreme blowouts.
For me, for me, for me with the diaper thing, like, yes, I mean, plastics is a big deal, but for me, it's the bigger concern is the chemicals that are just me too, me too. Stracturated in the diapers.
So I was willing to put up with some like soggy diapers.
Nasty-ness, yeah.
Yeah. But I was glad that they don't have to. And then I also wanted the, I wanted to try and get the most environmentally friendly option I could as far as diapers.
So like I said, I did a ton of research. And after evaluating cloth diapers versus hybrid diapers versus compostable diapers, I found that really they're all comparable as far as environmental impact. And here's why.
Cloth and hybrid diapers use a ton of water. You just heard Katy, you have to rinse them out first, that you have to wash them. That's also using electricity at the same time.
So for washing and drying. So the only way that you're making out a head with cloth and hybrid diapers is if you do them in absolutely full loads, which I mean, you have to have a freaking ton of them in order to make a full load and still have some left.
On hand, yeah.
And you have to line dry them. And I don't even have that option. I can't hang them over the balcony of my apartment.
Just tie it from a tree across the parking lot and just out there on a pulley. All Laura's have 100 diapers.
So for everyone out there who wants to use the cloth diapers, absolutely, because it is nice that they are free of chemicals. But honestly, it is the same at that point as environmental impact wise, it's the same.
Listen, as a mom, I'm going to, if you're a new mom thinking about kids, I am going to tell you right now, just skip the whole cloth diaper route. It is admirable, but as a mom who works a full-time job and does the podcast and just a busy life, don't do it. It's so much time.
It's so gross. Just go biodegradable, decomposable route.
And for everyone else, I know that Justin can easily do a disposable diaper and the child care.
Well, child care won't. Child care will not do cloth diapers. Most won't.
And the compostable ones that we use, they...
So although the compostable ones do use resources to manufacture and have transportation costs, and if they're not composted, they take up space in a landfill. However, the bamboo that they make them from is responsibly sourced, and the company purchases carbon offsets in order to combat those emissions. So I don't compost mine, but I at least feel better that it's breaking down more quickly and that I'm not leaching harmful chemicals into the water table from the diapers that I'm using.
And just real quick, speaking of diapers, babies will use about 6,000 diapers during their first two years of life.
Which is insane.
There are billions of diapers going into landfills, and most of them have plastics in them that are never going away. And finally, for anyone who is interested in this out there, it really isn't going to break the bank.
No, it really doesn't.
I don't have a ton of money. So the average diaper that is a natural diaper, so even if it's not like this company, if you're just going for a no chemicals, natural diaper, Honest is another company, or Pampers Pure, those are usually about 43 cents a diaper. And that's about 15 cents more than a Huggies or a Pampers standard disposable diaper.
So yes, a little more expensive, but this company diaper is not more expensive than any other natural type of diaper. You're paying a little bit extra, but it's really not crazy, crazy.
Okay, can I do a warning of TMI here? Let me just tell you right now, okay? Let's go back to the whole chemical thing, because for me, that was my whole thing with Luke.
We would try to buy the better diapers. Okay, so try not to say it, but hint around enough to it. All right, so same thing with feminine products.
Diapers, just regular diapers, they are meant to absorb, which means they absorb everything, including just regular skin moisture. You know what I mean? And so it dries you out.
Like it is not... Because it absorbs everything. Like that's what's supposed to do.
And so it is just not... Man, again, for me, like with Luke, like I didn't have... Whenever we switched, because at first we used regular diapers, because we went from like cloth to like, hell no, I'm not doing this, before we could find something else that we liked.
And like his little bum, like if he did have a bad diaper, it was like, it was just so much worse on his poor little bum. Like A and D was our best friend for a while there, until we found something we liked. And then whenever we switched, it immediately like, greatly and drastically improved.
And even if he did like, he had a blowout, and he did have like very acidic, you know, stuff. It didn't like hurt his little bum quite as much, because it was not the poo and the diaper, you know what I mean? Like the chemical was in the diaper, so it wasn't like a double whammy.
And a lot of kids are allergic to stuff in diapers. The dyes that even they're used to put those cute little prints on. And what's cool is that even though these are the compostable diapers, they still have that little blue indicator line, which is like with a natural substance.
So I can still see, they're not fun. They don't have fun prints. They're just plain old white, but she's pooping.
Luke's I know had fun prints on them. I don't remember the brand.
I like the Honest.
I think it was Honest. I think it was Honest.
They have fun colors. Honest at least doesn't have as many chemicals either. They're pretty good.
Yeah.
I like that. I get their wipes because I like them better.
So, I mean, what I'm going to talk about next is product choice, which lines up with the diapers. Anyway, and so that's why I figured I was like, oh, that's a perfect segue because that's what we're talking about next, is just like in general, your product choice. So we've definitely talked about on the podcast before, the palm oil app and just making smart, conscious decisions.
So I think with this section, and then I believe with the last four that we're going to talk about, we're going to have more of like a back and forth conversation. I think with both of yours too, right, Laura?
Yeah, probably.
Yeah, probably. Just like, yeah, maybe.
Maybe I'll talk.
I don't know. Yeah, don't know. But just making like wise product choices.
So it's not just like it's diapers, but then it's everything else. We talked about, you know, how microplastics are. Choosing products that are smart, both from a plastic standpoint and just from a what is this made out of standpoint.
And this is something that you say that you are doing. You're making smart product choices.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's still something, obviously, I can get better at, but I hate.
I hate. And some of that's out of your control. Like you just can't.
Like how many times you order something in the mail and it comes with a box full of plastics? And you know, or because as much as Luke likes to, you know, pop everything, that's still just a box full of plastic. And then every container you have.
So I do try to be smart about that. So I've, you know, talked plentiful about the little mesh bags, which I still got to order more of those. I use for produce whenever I go shopping, which was a great switch because, I mean, you go to.
My gosh, the amount of those little plastic bags for produce. I think I probably annoy the checkout people sometimes because I put it all in one mesh bag. Like, I don't know.
I'm sure I do too.
Yeah. But I just tell them, I'm like, you can just dump it out, but saving the plastic.
Just let the apples roll down the conveyor belt.
It's fine.
I wash it anyway. But I mean, like that is something like product choice. Instead of using or instead of getting like the peppers that come in like the packages of three in the plastic, just get the three peppers.
Like it doesn't make any sense why the three peppers combined in a plastic sleeve are cheaper than three peppers that are just chill in there separately. Like it's so stupid because they make it difficult. And so there's a lot of products that are sustainable, but it is more expensive because a lot more goes into it.
My phone. So definitely like the mesh bags that I use, and so I'm just kind of clumping a bunch of things together here because of the veggies, because I mean there's just like a platter. There are a lot of stores in Europe that are starting to do the, what are they called?
There was one in Ohio that was Earth Fair, where it's more like you go in and it's...
Like just stuffing like barrels and stuff?
Yeah, yeah. So there's no... It's no plastic, like you don't have plastic, so you got to either bring your own stuff.
And there's tons of those sort of shops all across Europe that I wish would come here to the States.
I would totally bring glass jars to fill up like mains and you know.
Because not only, not only for me anyway, not only is it cutting down on the plastics and everything, but I can buy what I'm actually going to use. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Anyway, am I tired of getting like, I literally just to myself today said, why do I have to get a bouquet of cilantro? I only need like four pieces.
Why do I need a bouquet of cilantro? Yeah, in a lot of those stores, you can, like, you know, you can pick your own quantity and everything.
Especially if you're like single or like only have two, you know what I mean? Like, I can't imagine.
It's me and my son Luke. Like, it is so hard to cook for one and a half people.
Like, it's so difficult. It's so bad because they're made for more, or you don't get enough and you have to buy lots of them.
Yep. There's no like easy in between. And so, yeah, it's so it's difficult.
And a lot of like a lot of it, you are forced into.
Yeah, it's intentional for sure.
Yeah, yeah, no, it definitely is. And it's unfortunate that it's intentional. And so just trying to cut back where you can.
So one success story that has come from all of like wise product choice is the palm oil industry. And so there were several champions for it. I mean, 10 plus years ago, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, they were like the leader and they had the palm oil app.
And I know we've talked about that on here before, where app and you can scan it on your barcode. And it would tell you whether it was made with sustainable palm oil or unsustainable palm oil. If it was unsustainable, it did this really sweet chainsaw sound to make you feel extra guilty.
And then it had like a frowning orangutan face on it to make you feel even worse about yourself. So guilt tripped you into buying a more sustainable product. But, you know, that is the same thing with straws.
Like, it worked so well that they are doing a lot better with palm oil.
Right, so now if you see palm oil and stuff, it doesn't necessarily mean it's unsustainable. Now there is a lot of sustainable palm oil.
Yep, now there is. Because whereas before starting it out, they were just hacking down everything, and it didn't matter. They were a lot smarter with it because they were pressured into doing it.
Same with the seafood industry.
Yeah, the seafood watch. Goodness, yeah, how often do you go out now and you can find it farmed or sustainably? It's right on the package, sustainably farmed or it's grown on a farm.
And that used to not be the norm.
Yeah, I can go to the grocery store now, and usually it's the sustainable seal on the package itself, and I don't even need to scan it anymore, which is nice.
Yeah, and so selecting products wisely, and that is one of the biggest things you can do, is being smart about what you purchase. And that's something that I've tried to make a conscious effort just to cut down on the extra plastics. Like, buying the mesh bags is such a super easy thing for all those produce bags that one family can go through in a year.
But like, don't buy the three pack of peppers. Like, it's just wasted plastic. Don't do it!
Don't buy that three pack!
Like, I know it's a little cheaper, which is nuts to me. But like, it just doesn't make any sense. It's just sheer waste.
It's just waste. Like, why? So anyway, so why is product choice is definitely a big one.
It's just being smart because, I mean, money speaks. And that's...
Yeah, that's like your biggest thing you can do.
If you're not gonna buy stuff and let the company know, and again, we're gonna talk about that later, but like, it's money that's talking. And if you don't buy the products because of the waste, I mean, they're gonna change it. So anyway, so that was my product choice one.
Nice. So those were some things that we are doing. Now we really quick wanna hit on some things that we would like to do or like to do better or would like everyone else to start doing better.
And so we... At least I'm not gonna... mine are very long because I don't wanna focus too much on the doom and gloom, but I do want to make everyone more aware that this is something that even Katy and I are struggling with, no matter how much we talk about how much we love the planet.
So one thing that I wish that I did better, as Katy was just talking about, is that I need to be better about buying products that have plastic packaging. So according to Plastic Oceans International, packaging is the largest end use market segment accounting for just over 40% of total plastic usage. So 40% of the plastic that you are using is just packaging.
So like, doesn't even matter. It makes me sick how much packaging I have to use with just food products alone, much less everything else, like hygiene products and everything. Of course I recycle what I can, but these days less and less plastic packaging is being recycled because the market has dried up, nobody is buying our plastics, and therefore nobody is recycling them anymore.
So I need to buy more local produce, like at least I'm doing now, to cut down on less plastic. But I'd also really like to start, again though, I'm kind of stuck. So if I had a house, I would buy more things in bulk because I'd have more space to put them.
Because in bulk, you're cutting down on individual packaging. The problem is space. So if I get a house, someday I'll be able to buy more things from Sam's Club or whatever, like Costco, and that will have less plastic packaging.
But in general, I'm looking for things right now with less plastic. It's just convenience. It's the downfall.
I want the salad kits because I don't want to have to make my own salad and use Tupperware. I'll just buy the salad kit and the plastic bag. But I need to do better about that.
Basically, it's the food stuff that's really killing me as far as packaging, which I'm thankfully at least going to have fruits and vegetables to not have that.
Yeah, now you have it covered.
But even the shampoo that I've chosen, I'm choosing one that the plastic bottle is made from recycled plastic bottles.
Because you throw that away whenever you're done with it. Same thing with razors.
I mean, yeah, at least I'm not using just straight up disposable razors anymore. And I don't know, just other plastic packaging. I'm trying to be much more aware of stuff, because now, like I said, I'm not able to recycle that stuff.
Before, actually, this is probably for the best. It's terrible though we're not recycling as much. But before, I would just buy it and not feel guilty at all because I was recycling it.
Now, I have to watch myself put that plastic container in the trash can, and I feel like I'm going to barf because I know that that's going in the landfill forever. I feel so guilty, and that's good because it's going to make me change. Not everyone wants that on their plate, but I'm like, okay.
I can't live with myself.
Yeah, I can't buy anymore of the clam shell. Anything with a clam shell, my county won't recycle, because mine doesn't do numbers. It does type.
So like, which is... Wait, pause. So like, I can't just look at number one through five plastics anymore.
I have to evaluate what the plastic is. Like, is it a clam shell? Okay, because in that case, no, they won't take it.
Is it...
That makes it so complicated, though.
Yes, yes, yes. I'm trying not to be a wish-cycler, because I'm probably just making everything worse. But yeah, definitely.
Like, throwing away all the fruit packaging was murdering my soul.
So yeah, less plastic packaging. What do you want to do better, Katy?
All right, so the first one that I have is consistency.
So it's not a specific thing, just the consistency in doing it.
I think that's just an ADD thing, you know?
It is, yeah. Just the consistency of it. Because do I use the reusable bags?
I have probably hundreds of reusable grocery shopping bags here. Do I remember them? Most of the time.
Agreed, yeah, yeah. It's actually pretty rare for me not, although the pandemic killed me.
Yeah, the pandemic made it way worse, because they didn't want to use it. And you couldn't even bring them with an eyesight. They're getting back to it now, though.
Or at least a couple places near me are fine. But I live in Texas, so. But yeah, it's just the consistency with everything.
So, you know, I can... I try, you know, I do really good with, and very conscious with the product choice, but still it's just the consistency of remembering all the time, because it is a convenience. It is a convenience thing.
Sometimes it is just, like you said, like with the salad stuff, like listen, I don't have... I just don't have time. Like I just got to do...
This is just so much faster. And you choose a route that, yeah, kills your soul. But it's just...
Sometimes it's just easier that way.
Yeah, it's so hard. You're constantly evaluating what is the lesser of the two evils here. Is it going to be the sacrifice of my own time, energy, and mental well-being, or is it going to be the planet?
Because ultimately, that's what it's coming down to.
Am I killing the world or just going into my dark despair here?
I envy any of our listeners who don't think about that when they go shopping, because I certainly am.
It's guilty. And I think that's part of the reason why, because we spent so long within zoos constantly telling people what every single day, it backfired on us. We can't do anything ourselves.
We can't make a poor decision ourselves. But just the consistency of it, because I am good, and I do try to make a conscious effort. But yeah, sometimes, I'm just like...
For me, okay, listen. ADHD, overstimulation, grocery stores. I will say, since one of the great things that came out of COVID was they upped their curbside pickup.
Oh, my God. One, that's great for your budget. Two, if I'm crashing at the end of the day off my meds and I try to go grocery shopping, don't even...
Probably when I would go grocery shopping, pregnant was a mistake. Because I was like, oh, man, that sounds great right now. I was a very impulsive grocery shopper as a pregnant person.
No, for me, it's overstimulated. So I just like...
You feel overwhelmed about the whole thing.
Yeah, just can't do it. And so there were a few times where the self-checkout and you have a line of people behind you that I'd just be like, screw the reusable bags and just start checking stuff in plastic bags because I'm like... The pressure of everybody...
And you know everyone else is pissed off at you because you're taking too long. So it's just everyone breathing down your back. And so, yeah, so sometimes it's the consistency because it is like a convenience thing of, all right, listen, is this going to be my mental health?
When, meanwhile, probably everybody is like just as annoyed with everybody else and annoyed at the situation, not at me in particular. So, I mean, so it's consistency, but it's consistency and just sometimes that balance of, listen, you know what? My ADHD is not cooperating with it.
I didn't have time to do or I forgot, because, you know, my life forgot to, you know, do the store pickup thing. I mean, I am one of those people. I've noticed, like, in the grocery store in particular, because I hate self-checkout.
Like, I just, I can't, I just can't, because I like my groceries organized and in bags that make sense to me, because, like, I group all the cold stuff together and I can't, I, yeah, so I am one of those people that, when I stand in line, I will go to a person to do the checkout, and I'm the youngest by at least 40 years. Like...
I always go to a line, because I feel like I always have a lot of stuff. And I bag my own stuff. I just tell them, there's very few baggers anymore, and I'm like, send it down.
Just because they usually do it, which is forever. So I'm like, just send it to the end, and I will bag it. I can grow that stuff in bags.
My thing is not dividing by type or cold or whatever. It's weight distribution. I can't carry too heavy things anymore.
So I have to divide up all the heavy stuff between bags. So there's frozen stuff in with other things.
Yeah, see, I do by type. But anyway, just the consistency, and I guess for Laura, the patience, to make good choices. All right, what's your next one, Laura?
So my last one is that I'd love to be more energy efficient. But again, this, I feel like I feel like a little defensive about this because it's not my fault. But I spend, we spend an outrageous amount of money on electricity, most of which goes towards our heating and air.
So we live on a third floor apartment, which means the AC is practically on 24-7 from the late spring to early fall. So it's ridiculous. We turn off the lights when we aren't in the room, but the Xbox is on all the time.
And I'm sure the dryer is sucking up a ton of electricity because our dryer sucks. So I have to do a one and a half cycles per light. Oh, my gosh.
I need a new dryer.
I know, but it's from the apartment complex. I mean, I guess I get asked, but...
Yeah, you should.
So I feel like I'm stuck.
You should just go down there and be like, let me tell you, I have to do one and a half cycles. This is how much electricity it's using. You're killing the planet.
You specifically.
You specifically are killing the planet.
So if, though, I lived in a house that had energy efficient appliances, shade to cut down on the air conditioning, and well insulated windows, and an outdoor clothesline, I feel like I could really make a difference in my bill.
If I just had these 20 things that I could do.
But all of them are totally normal. Yeah, that's normal. Shade, windows that are insulated, and a clothesline.
I'm not asking for much here.
I'm telling you, just do the pulling system to a tree across the parking lot. There you go, clothesline.
There is a tree directly in front of my balcony. It's very short. Put a pulley, shimmy up that thing.
I already have squirrels running around on the roof. They would absolutely be using the pulley system. I look up and it's like Mission Impossible with the squirrels.
So yeah, energy efficiency. I just wish I could be better about it. It's not like I'm leaving lights on in every room.
It's just that our lifestyle is using a crap load of electricity.
Yeah, I can't say too much about electricity because in Texas we have a really sucky power grid. So yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're always telling us like, hey, don't use any power.
Okay, in Texas, it's freaking hot right now. Like abnormally hot. Like it's June, beginning of June, and it's 106 today.
Cool. Yeah, and that's just the regular temperature, not with how it actually feels. And, you know, ERCOT, our electric, like big electric, whatever.
I don't know what kind of company. Anyway, but they put out releases like, oh, hey, put your thermostat. I think whenever we had a dip last time, they were telling everybody to keep your thermostat, like 76 or 78.
That's so hot.
Who the heck is going to do that? So what that causes, though, is like everybody's so ticked off at the power grid down here. Everybody just is like, you know what?
I'm going to crank it down to 62. Do I ever keep it that cold? No, but now I am.
Just to like try to make it fail because people are like so fed up with the issues that we're having down here. Like my electricity bill was next to nothing because I did, I made sure like I picked a plan. I mean, that is the one I see.
Texas, we do have a huge, I think out of the top 10 wind farms in the world, we have some of the largest here in Texas. And so there are several local electricity companies that pull from that grid, like that section of the grid. And so you can, you know, say, at least they try to pull most of their electricity from the wind versus traditional methods.
So it is pretty cool. Like we have some options here.
Yeah.
But speaking of that, my last one is talking about companies. And this is a good way to wrap everything up. Because, you know, as much as Laura and I spend most of our careers within zoos, telling everybody, you know, you as an individual will do, you know, one thing.
Well, not even just zoos, because I'm still doing it every day. Every single day, individual action matters. Because it does.
It does. It does. But the biggest debt that can be made is by corporations, by companies.
Like that's really what it has to come down to. And things like product choice or reaching out to companies, I mean, sometimes it doesn't take many, I mean, it takes a lot of people, but not a lot of effort on the companies part. Sometimes it's just an efficiency thing.
They just swap out a product. If they hear enough of an outcry, like we were talking about the palm oil stuff before, straws, like Starbucks hurt everybody, and they stop using straws. Laura, what did you say?
Coca-Cola is going to be cutting down on their plastics?
I was just going to look that up.
Or was it... It was something. So Laura will look it up.
So, I mean, it's the large corporations. It's the large companies that really can make it. So we as individuals, honestly, one of the best things you can do is reach out to these corporations.
I mean, there are tons of organizations that will, you know, ban people together to reach out to these groups. There's not just like you, but I mean, sometimes one individual will just reach out and be like, hey, you know, there's a lot of plastic in this, or there's, you know, why can't, can you guys do this over this? I mean, it does make a difference.
Companies like Patagonia or Cotopaxi, I mean, Cotopaxi reuses a lot of their scraps to make other products. So, like, I have one of their backpacks. It's all kinds of crazy colors, and it's all kinds of crazy colors because it's the scraps from the other products that they have been using.
But again, I mean, same thing with, like, Palm Oil. There was a huge outcry of people about Palm Oil. It was just like, you guys gotta stop doing this.
You're literally taking out an entire country's forest. We gotta stop this. And a lot of huge companies made major changes because they just felt pressure from people.
And again, we said earlier, you know, money talks, and that's a lot of it. It's just where do you put your money? What products are you buying?
Are you gonna make the choice to buy more sustainable ones? And the ones that aren't, I mean, companies are gonna change if they, you know, hear us and they see where the money's going.
So Coca-Cola is for the fourth consecutive year, I believe. Yes, fourth consecutive year. They're declared the world's biggest polluter because they have a hundred billion plastic bottles per year.
And so they have made lots and lots of promises throughout the decades, and they have a terrible track record of keeping those promises, but they have promised once again that by 2030, 25% of its brands will be in refillable and returnable glass or plastic bottles. That remains to be seen, but with pressure from the rest of us, we can finally hold Coca-Cola accountable.
Or just in any large company, doesn't it?
Any large company.
Yeah, I mean, and the ones that are mass producing, stuff like that. I mean, but again, it goes back to like, you support CSAs, I mean, supporting local small businesses who, a lot of them don't use, you know, products that are packed with packaging and everything like that. And it does make sense to just go local.
Yeah, or like, I think there are some dairies that like you can get your glass bottles of milk and then you bring them back and it's very old school, but like you're reusing the things.
Yep, yeah. And so just being smart about the product choice and then reaching out to the companies. And so that's something I wish I did, definitely did more of is just, yes, I do as much, you know, Y shopping as I can, but just reaching out to the companies too.
I mean, just being a pain in the rear of, hey, you know, this is a lot of plastic. Have you guys ever looked at, you know, the process of getting this XYZ out, you know, or how many times have you opened up something and it has plastic and you're like, this serves no purpose. Like it serves absolutely no purpose.
Like why does it need to be there? Probably, it's probably there for a reason, or it just could not be there for a reason. But reaching out to the company is just being like, hey, this doesn't make any sense.
This is just a waste. Like, can you guys look into this?
I think that for any of our young listeners out there, this is your time to shine because when young people organize and reach out to businesses, they're more inclined to listen.
For sure.
A lot of student organizations have done a lot of good for the environment because they organize themselves together. And because they're kids or students, companies are more willing to listen.
So anyways, that's the last one that I wish we could do. So, in a nutshell, I mean, you know, yes, every individual's efforts, everything that you guys do individually does make a dent. It is incredibly important.
But just keep in mind, too, like, money talks, what you buy.
It's got to be a two-pronged attack. You have to have individual choices, and then your individual choices have to reflect upon these large companies.
Yep.
And that will make the best impact and the biggest impact.
It will. It really will. And again, we've seen it work.
We've seen it work with straws. We've seen it work with palm oil and a bunch of other things. So, I mean, it can be done.
It just needs to be the consistency part of it.
We have to walk it.
Or people doing it together. Yeah, everybody has to. So anyway, so thank you guys for listening.
Let us know. Reach out to us if you guys are doing anything sustainable. Yeah, I'd love to hear about it.
And then promote if you're like organizing something or join in.
Or what you're doing individually that, you know, is, oh, hey, I do this when I go to the grocery store or whatever. Like, I would love to know.
Something you're proud of that might be not something the rest of us are thinking about doing.
Yeah, for sure. All right, everybody, I guess next week.
Yeah, we'll talk to you all next week. And just remember, sustainability matters and your choices matter.