Down, but Not Out

Hi lovelies! I've been MIA for a couple months now, due to a misguided attempt to fly down my stairs. A small ankle fracture (and all the sprains) has slowed me down, but six weeks later, I'm out of my hard cast and have just a couple weeks left of being in a boot.

Being injured had a few impacts on my ability to reduce waste:

• Grocery delivery - I started using Instacart vs needing to get down the stairs to get out my house and then hobble around the store. With delivery comes produce bags and shopping bags I would normally skip. There is also a huge cost to these services, per item, and as a delivery or service charge, plus tip for the driver. The benefit is this time made me realize what a huge impact doing my own shopping has on my waste stream and wallet. 
• Less ability to participate in Buy Nothing - again, no more up and down the stairs to gather items or set them out.
• Cooking became harder - navigating the kitchen becomes harder on crutches or with a knee scooter (not a great turning radius) and made carrying multiple items or making "trips" to multiple cupboards difficult, resulting in me relying on more prepared foods (usually more packaging). And T helping me more resulted in less composting. 
• Online thrifting - this was a positive. Something I could continue to do while I was elevating, and kept me both entertained and sticking my my regular shopping goals.
• Medical supplies - I was required to keep my splint and cast dry, which required wrapping my leg in a garbage bag and plastic wrap. I was lucky to not have any open wounds or surgery incisions, so I was able to reuse the plastic and just went through 2 bags the whole time. (Please prioritize your health and use fresh supplies if needed and per the advice of your doctor.)

This experience highlighted how not all solutions will work for all people. With this blog, I try to show tips and tricks that work for me, and hope to inspire you to make some easy changes that work for you. I belong to multiple low waste groups online, and at times there can be judgement around "all people should do this" or "all people can do this" and then corresponding responses about ableism... Could I have made it grocery shopping myself? Sure, my injury is minor. Was it realistic given everything I was balancing at the time? Heck no. So for this month, I signed a couple extra petitions and called it good.

For the new few weeks, I'll be back with some mini blogs and then ramp back up. :)

For today, I wanted to share my most successful succulent. Last year, I tried propagating succulents for the first time. It involves no packaging, and saves a couple dollars per successful plant! This one is just loving being on our deck this summer.

Looks at those plump petals!

She's reaching for the sun.

Happy summer, everyone, and I'll be back in a couple days with some thrifted fashion.