Question 3

I think one of my least successful swaps has been making hummus, which is surprising because it seems pretty simple. Mine always turns out chunky and not very appealing. Sadly, it winds up at the back of the fridge and gets forgotten about and then, after a few months, moldy.
A successful swap has been making our own pinto beans/refried beans, which is super easy, especially by using the instant pot. I also have started making my daughter’s playdough, its really easy and way cheaper. I can get almost everything for it from the bulk aisle.
Somewhere in the middle between successful and unsuccessful has been shopping at thrift stores. Its easy to get all of my own, and 99% of my daughter’s clothes at thrift stores, and we also get most of our random household needs at thrift stores – for instance, I recently picked up a pepper grinder so I can just refill from bulk peppercorns, and some butter knifes (for some reason most of ours disappeared). The downside is that I am so entranced by the low prices that I often leave with things I don’t need. During the aforementioned pepper grinder trip, I brought home a couple of childrens books, although we already have a ton, and frequently go to the library, and a puzzle that was clearly to easy for my daughter (But it was only 50 cents! And maybe we’ll have another kid that can use it!). A couple times, I’ve bought shoes at the thrift store for my daughter in a size too big, thinking I would be glad in the future, but when I put them away, I see that I’ve already gotten her something similar. I like Bea’s idea of keeping a tight inventory on what you have already. I should probably go through everything and keep a google doc that I can check on my phone when making a purchase.
This was an interesting question – it was fun to think of what’s going well, and a got a chuckle remembering the time last summer when I tried to serve a guest carrot sticks with moldy hummus.

Emily, I too am not a successful hummus maker! For whatever reason I never like my hummus as much as the store bought stuff.

I find the conversation about swapping things out to bring up different reactions in me. I’m frustrated and yet fascinated all at once. When I listen to Bea (I’m using the Audible version of the book), and hear about all the different things she’s tried to swap out I find myself thinking…”This woman is way too over the top!”. I have to say I find it somewhat ridiculous that in her move toward minimalism she is not able to give up things such as “lip plumper” and other cosmetic items. On the other hand, I do think it’s interesting to hear how she’s been able to get creative and use things such as cocoa powder for a bronzer. I think if the zero waste movement and core concepts are to become more mainstream there has to be a middle ground where people don’t feel overwhelmed or as if they have to change over everything they own to make a positive impact. Not many people are going to start washing their hair or brushing their teeth with only baking soda to lessen their impact on the environment. But they maybe willing to buy “green” products from responsible companies.

Hummus!!!!!I feared I was the only one.
I use a shampoo bar and then rinse my hair with apple cider, it doesn’t smell to me…?
A big fail for me was the deodorant, the coconut ruined a lot of my shirts so now I use a recipe I found from “going zero waste blog”