GLI:N Weekend Round Up: From ZERO PLASTIC WEEK challenge to SUMMER POP UP BOUTIQUE

As you all noticed this week I joined a thousand of other people virtually with one goal:
-We wanted to live without new plastic consumption for a week.

You could follow my journey along the way every day here. 
Honestly, I did not know what to expect from this week. I must say, it was not easy even I had unexpected stress due to the fact that EVERYTHING  but literately everything is packed in plastic. 

I learnt a lot. I love the way how this experience changed me. 

I had already a strong believe in living with less chemicals around us, but during this week, 

I found new GLI:N goals:

I want to reduce the plastic packaging usage when it comes to GLI:N products. 

I will try to replace as much as possible, even the tools that we are using and the packaging materials as well.
It will be a long but a really interesting journey , I believe.

This week, I got also fantastic news. I could join a super SUMMER Pop Up Boutique in Amsterdam next Sunday.

Yuppie

Oh, I had 7 days left for all the preparation...ohhh...

So now with full of enthusiasm I am working on this project. I have certainly good ideas that I will share with you in the coming days. You will benefit from this plastic packing reduction already next Sunday , if you join us.
I will announce the details soon. Do not forget to check our page here for the news.

Have a GLI:N week
Rita

GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE DAY #5 : How could you easily connect with local people as a foreigner ?

13. June 2014 Friday

Yes, the ice broke: I HAD TO go to the shops. I had no choice. We had no veggies and fruits anymore.

So I ran to the shops. 
In the first section of the shop where they sell fresh veggies and fruits I could hardly find any without packaging.

What? yes. 
It is absurd but that`s a fact. 

Even if there are certain products without packaging the only option for packaging material that a customer can use is a plastic bag. brrr... I thought ok, do not panic , today is a market day. 
So I went to the meat & coldcuts section. Nothing, not a single product without plastic packaging. 

At that point I felt, OMG, so what can an average mother buy who is just rushing through a shop with a screaming toddler for instance? 
Nothing. 

My stress level raised pretty fast close to an inner alarm. I felt, I want to run out. Wherever I turned, I saw only plastic packaging. I was so thankful , that I did not come to the shops for 5 days. I saved a lot of stress already. I realized, I went faster and faster through the rows of plastic and I was telling my shopping list as a mantra, repeating half loud, as if somebody listened to it , suddenly the products would turn up without plastic. 

You could guess what happened because I continued at the milk products section. 
At that point  I could hardly breeze. Again ZERO product without plastic. 
I just wanted to run out to the fresh air.
 I did. 
Luckily on the way out I realized, that the cornstrach that I needed is in paper packaging. 
Even at that point of stress level, I could not feel satisfied or happy. I just wanted to leave. 
The only good thing that I grabbed from the shop was a big paper box, that they store around the kassa`s. 

Yes. I was out. 

I left with a box of cornstrach and a paper box. 
When I felt the sunshine on my face, I got relieved. 
Ok, Let`s check the MARKET. 
I stopped by at the first veggie`s stand and started collecting lively, colorful, food without packaging. Even when I realized that they had also paper bags, I allowed us to enjoy the first fresh cherries. You cannot imagine what I felt at that moment. The big cartoon box was not even big enough to carry all these products. 
Next to them was the cheese farmer and indeed he had also paper packing material at his hand. Yes. 
Maybe we could not have cold cuts , but we can have cheese. What else do you need if you live in the Netherlands? 
My next challenge was to buy bread. At the baker's I just took my naked loaf of bread. 
You know what ? I could not stand all these adventure, so I decided to buy "kibbeling" little freshly baked fish from the typical dutch visboer, the local fish farmer. 
So I was done. Did it feel good to shop ? No. We are still missing meat and milk. 

What did I learn?
If you want to shop with less plastic packaging, you need to plan your shopping. Not only the product list should be done, but also you need to know your local shops. You need minimum a butcher , a baker and a vegetable & fruit shop. Also you should take your own packing material. Probably all these shops you won't find in one geographical location, so better to plan these visits, otherwise you will end up shopping a half day. 

Ok I had also really positive experience while I was shopping. 

The sellers at the baker's, by the fish, cheese, veggies tables they were friendly. We chatted with each other. They all were open for something different. They all had a big smile to me. 
And of course, again the competition to find out which nationality I have was on again. This time they guessed I am from France and the other  thought that I was Swedish. :) 
I got used to that, living almost 10 years abroad, trying to speak always the local language with my talent, these are the first topics that connects me to people. 
I do believe that helped me to get integrated always, no matter which country I lived. 
The best way was to try to speak their language. 
The cheery on the top of the cake this time was, that  I did not want anything with plastic packaging around. 
And you know what, the human connections, friendship comes without plastic. Sometimes you just need to start something different, unexpected and you will benefit from it. I am sure.

Have a GLI:N and plastic free weekend
Rita

GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE DAY#4: Cooking from stock without shopping

12. June 2014. Thursday


Ok, it looks as if I was cheating.

I simply refuse to go shopping until I cannot serve 3 healthy delicious meal per day.

Let`s see, on Monday I cooked oatmeal with dried grapes and peaches for breakfast, lunch was chicken BBQ and potato salad and fresh salad with tomato. The dinner was hamburger with onion and cheese. All freshly made, no ready made stuff. 

On Tuesday we had bread with honey in the morning, lunch was the left over hamburger meat with mashed potato and cucumber salad. In the evening we ate the last pieces of bread as sandwiches with salami , cheese and paprika. 

On Wednesday my son asked for again oatmeal. This is his favorite morning dish. This time with some cacao powder on top. The lunch was chicken breast in honey-mustard marinade with Gorgonzola gnocchi. And we had a nice warm evening so went for a BBQ outside and the guys made spare ribs. I quickly made steamed red cabbage with apples and honey. Also I baked  fresh bread during the day so it was nice to take it with seasoned butter while we were waiting for the ribs. 

On Thursday morning we got bread with honey and as a lunch we had sausages with couscous ,peas and peach. 

I have no idea what  the dinner will be but I told to myself:

If I can stay away from the shop till Friday, I have an easy situation because it will be market day on Friday. 

So this is my goal for today. Postpone the shopping with another day. 

Ok, I was lucky this week. We had enough meat in the deep freezer this time.

I had also a good variety of fresh vegetables  and fruits. 

I still have a cabbage and 4 beetroots and a pack of deep frozen spinach.

What we lack is fruits. We have two pieces of apple left. 

But I am not going to the shop for fruits now. 

No way. 

I will go out and enjoy the sun, being present in the summer moment. 

No shopping, no plastic, no money spent. 

Just a relief to know and be conscious about the fact, that there is life without plastic and shops.

Have a GLI:N and plastic free week

Rita

GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE DAY #3 : How this challenge has an impact on my business model

11. June 2014 Wednesday

 Hmm, I feel happy because:

 It is already the 3rd day and we are still on ZERO PLASTIC with my little family

 The fridge is getting empty

 I am really enjoying the challenge to cook from what I can find at home

 I have already saved time on going shopping: at least 3 times, just because I / WE felt that we might eat    something different that we have at home.

 I saved money, no shopping no spending money
 

 My husband got committed as well. Now we are talking about what to drink if I cannot find milk in glass bottle,  which seems mission impossible still.
 

 The smell of the homemade bread filled the house this morning
 

 The simplicity of life now

It is not more about plastic but more about how to simplify our life.

Now I think I am ready for the next level. How can I reduce the use of  plastic packaging for my business. I would go even further, how I can simplify my business. I have still a mess in my head about this topic but I have a few ideas, now I will make a plan to check the possibilities and on the way you all GLINIES will realized these little changes, I am sure. 

I think I will concentrate on GLASS and RECYCLED PACKAGING MATERIALS

Have a GLI:N and plastic free week
Rita

GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE DAY#2: Aim to less or zero ?

10. June 2014. Tuesday

Day #2

No shopping= no issue...
Now I am just postponing to go to the shop.
So I am still at ZERO with plastic consumption for this week. Yeah :)

Every little help.

Ok, in theory here in the Netherlands, we should separate our garbage : paper, green, glas, plastic, the rest.

This is already something.

In the last two days I got different opportunities to talk with people about the plastic waste issue and this challenge. I learnt a lot. 
Just to mention a few ideas about handling the garbage on a micro level:

• But how carefully do we select the garbage?
• What goes into the plastic or paper or green?
• Where to put the tetra pack packaging?
• Do we use a plastic bag inside our garbage bin in order to collect the garbage in a selective way?

Or not to mention that even most of the packaging material is made of corn , but they will be burned due to the fact that the garbage disposal process does not allow any other recycling method right now.

One remark came back again and again:
-I cannot participate because it is impossible to reduce our plastic consumption to ZERO.

I do believe , every little effort helps. It is like with all changes, we should have a great big goal but we need to start the new way with little baby steps. I do believe, if you try, we already win this battle. 

If I understood right, this challenge aims to buy ZERO PLASTIC for a week. You can try, but even if you cannot replace a product or two and you will buy it, it is not a disaster. You might already have bought 80% less plastic this week than usual. Isn`t it a great achievement?  I do think so. 

However, I got more curious after this information and I found different interesting things about  plastic waste.

I have created a  board on Pinterest : GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE where you will find information around different topics, such as:

• Zero Plastic Infographics
• Zero Plastic at home
• Zero Plastic for kids
• Zero Plastic films
• Zero Plastic bloggers
• Zero Plastic for cosmetics

Have a GLI:N and Plastic free week
Rita

GLI:N ZERO PLASTIC WEEK CHALLENGE DAY#1 : The easiest 8 ways to reduce plastic waste for shopping

09. June 2014. Wit Monday/ Pentecost Monday

I had an easy day today. Most of the shops were closed today due to the holiday.
Our shopping rhythm also helps because Fridays are the market day here, when we buy our weekly vegetables , fruits, cheese and bread portions. So, on Mondays my fridge is still relatively full. I think, I do not have a big issue in general, till Friday. 
My only concern is the MILK. We get milk in big plastic bottles. 
I do not want to start a debate on how healthy is milk or how should we replace it with another product.
I have a milk stock at home, which will last no more than two days. 
Which means my first challenge is, how to find a farm/supplier in our region, where I can find milk in glass bottles.

If you happen to know one place near us, please let me know. ;)


And here is the easiest 8 ways to reduce your plastic consumption in general:
#1 Always take your own shopping bags.
#2 Refuse plastic bags when shop assistants want to use.
#3 Reuse your plastic bags at home. 
#4 Go for refill packages.
#5 Choose vegetables and fruits without plastic packaging.
#6 Buy your groceries at the your local markets.
#7 Replace your household products with home made products.
#8 Refuse ready made or half ready made products which are usually wrapped in plastic.

-Want to learn how to make healthy , chemical free, plastic packaging free cosmetic products?

Learn them here:

            Bath Bomb                                  KISS ME Lip Balm                                           

              Bath Bonbon

       Liquid Soap                              SUNTAN ME sunscreen

Join us here.
Follow us here

Rita

GLI:N Weekend Round Up

3 weeks left and our summer holiday will start. On the one hand, I cannot wait to have this holiday because I did not visit my home country in the last 6 months. We usually had the luck that we could go every 3-4 months to Hungary, especially in the last years when we decided to live a slow family life. I had less tight schedule which allowed us to travel back more often. In this last 6 months I was planning, preparing and started GLI:N. On the other hand, because of GLI:N I know that this coming 3 weeks will be full of exciting, new things, actions, connections. So cannot wait to jump into. 

But I do not want to run ahead of time ,so let go through together of this last week.

Again , my angels were with me when I found a wonder in the middle of the forest next to the sea side up north in the Netherlands. It is a special space. It is special not only because of the perfect geographical location but also the spirit that filled the air around. This collaboration has a pre-baby status so I cannot say more about it, but I can tell you, Glinies, I am hooked. Probably you will be hooked as well, once we meet there and share our green love surrounded by those trees, stones ans spirits. So this week again I have planted a new seed that is full of potential for the future.

Another important step that I did is that I joined to a fantastic initiative:

ZERO PLASTIC WEEK

Yes, as of Monday, for seven days long, I will try to limit our new plastic usage to ZERO. It is a great challenge. I am already happy, that for a week, I will be more than conscious about my shopping in terms of plastic packaging and materials.

I know, that we use less plastic than an average household due to all the products that I make myself at home, like cosmetic and cleaning products, not to mention, that I love fresh vegetables and cakes which means we do not buy ready made or half ready made food at all! 

On the other hand, there is still place for improvements, I am sure.

I will share the inside of this week with you more in details next week long. 

Do you want to join us, click here: ZERO PLASTIC WEEK

Be prepared, you can find great tips to get a quick start here.

have a GLI:N week

Rita