We’re two months into my no buy year and … it’s harder than I thought. WAY harder. Like, crazy hard. I think partially because my expectations were out of whack. I really thought it was going to be challenging but ultimately, I’d breeze through it. I’m two months in and I still find myself eagerly opening sale emails and browsing for a moment (or several … Continue reading No Buy Year, First Update
Around this time in 2015 I shared that I was going to attempt a zero waste home. I was met with a lot of support and I’m so grateful for the online and real life community of friends and family helping me along. It might be glaringly obvious if you know me, but I like taking on challenges with strict parameters for specific time limits. … Continue reading Meredith’s “No Buy Year”
In some ways it’s impossible for me to look back at a full 12 months of time passing and distill my zero waste/trash free learnings into black and white words. I am a different person now than I was at the beginning of 2016. My family has completely embraced the changes we’ve made to drastically reduce our household trash, but our journey to understanding and … Continue reading One year of living zero waste
Here are the most popular posts on MeredithTested.com in 2016 based on your views and feedback! Thanks for your readership, friendship and support. Cheers to a great 2017 filled with more posts about zero waste, minimalism, and eco-friendly living. In many ways, I write this blog for myself. I like to get my thoughts and ideas on paper, and I do refer back to previous posts … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2016
I interrupt my regularly scheduled programming to share something from my heart, which is broken but still beating. I didn’t sleep well last night. This morning I woke up to texts, calls, and Facebook posts from friends and family in mourning. We are sad, we are angry, we are depressed and we are scared. I am horrified that my fellow citizens elected Donald Trump to … Continue reading Now what?
I appreciate all of your support on my last post. While we were never truly “off” the wagon and back to our older days of over-consumption, we did let a lot of things slip and it was tough. I’m glad I have such tremendous support in my community online and in my day-to-day life. In September we tried to get a bit more focused. Our … Continue reading Zero Waste Home Update
The excuses as to why we fell off the zero waste wagon this summer are likely not that exciting but I’ll rattle them off anyway. I was newly pregnant when we moved to our new house. These two things combined to create an awkward situation. We had nothing in our fridge or, I’d argue more importantly, our freezer. I try to have all kinds of … Continue reading Falling off the zero waste wagon
May was a wonderful and busy month with many highs (traveling to see my wonderful Grandma, buying our first house!!!, and wonderful times with family & friends) and just a few small lows. Overall we’re still happy with the decision to do this “extreme” challenge and try to have a zero waste/low waste home in 2016.
It’s hard to put yourself out there, and I just want to say again that I’m so grateful for your support and help as I open my life to share our ups and downs on this journey. I’ve been dealing with more anxiety and stress recently than I’d like – probably brought on by a variety of things coming together at once like buying a house (!!), work deadlines and balancing family/motherhood/etc. I’m grateful to have this space and Instagram, etc. to chat with you and share our successes and things we find beautiful/interesting/funny/amazing/powerful. Thank you!
Here’s our landfill waste for May 2016:
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I have scalp psoriasis that’s almost entirely controlled by my diet but I occasionally get some discomfort and itchiness. Here are the two all natural, DIY treatments that help keep my hair and scalp healthy and comfortable.
First, I keep a glass spray bottle filled with diluted Apple Cider Vinegar (50/50 ACV and distilled water) in my shower. No need to go out and buy a glass spray bottle (they can be hard to find, and pricey!) … just screw a spray trigger onto your apple cider vinegar bottle! The bottle openings are the perfect size. Mind. Blown.
After shampooing and conditioning (or sometimes after shampooing but before applying conditioner), I spray the mixture onto my hair as well as concentrating a few sprays directly onto my scalp by parting my hair in a few places around my head. I let it sit on my scalp for a few minutes before rinsing out. I do this every time I wash my hair, which is about twice a week. It helps calm any itchiness and redness. (Not surprising since it also works this way on bug bites!)
Secondly, about every other week I apply this oil treatment before I get in the shower:
There are lots of great tools out there for guided meditation and relaxation. There are literally millions (probably billions) of inspirational and motivational quotes on Pinterest and Tumblr. But sometimes what I need isn’t more motivation or more relaxation. I just need a simple mantra or quote to help me focus on my present. To focus on positive self-talk. Inspirational quotes don’t always have to … Continue reading Simple Daily Mantras
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