Welcome to the A Drop in the Ocean blog!

Every Monday we're popping into our EcoWarrior community's inboxes with practical + actionable tips for living more sustainably, and we're always working hard to add those emails to our blog as well. But we're a small team and sometimes we get behind because, hey, we're human.

So if you want these kinds of tips every week, without even leaving your inbox, join the EcoWarriors for Make Waves Mondays - because that's one thing we don't get behind on. Pinky promise.

Blog

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: The Eco-Friendly + Zero Waste Cleaning Guide (20+ Tips for Every Room in the House)

Let's talk about some of my favorite zero waste cleaning tips! There are a lot of cleaning products out there, and they’re basically all tailored to cleaning one specific thing. And not only that, most of these products are made with ingredients that aren’t great for our bodies, our families, or our environment. So let’s simplify and eco-fy that list, shall we?

A Minimalist, Zero Waste Skincare Routine (For All Skin Types)

I recently committed to following a consistent skincare routine with our zero waste, all natural skin care products and HOLY FREAKING MOLY my skin has never felt or looked better. Let's talk about which skin care products I'm using, how much, and - most importantly - why.

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: The Reef-Safe Sunscreen Guide - What it is, why it's important, and where to find it

Summer is coming and that means vacays, beaches, and boatloads of sunscreen - so let's make it sustainable! What exactly is reef-safe sunscreen, how can you be sure a sunscreen is actually reef-safe, and why does it matter?

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: What brings you joy?

A friend recently asked what brings me joy. And truth be told, I didn't have an answer. So I sat with the question until I had a list, and now I have to wonder...why isn't this something we ask each other - and ourselves - more often?

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Store: How We Keep Our Farmer's Market Booth Zero Waste

While standing behind my display at a recent market, I realized just how sustainable our booth setup is. We’re committed to zero waste in all ways, but it wasn’t until this moment that I fully realized how much our zero waste values are translated into our display. So here's a peek at some of my favorite booth setup essentials and how we keep things zero waste.

How to Get the Last Little Bits of Lotion Out of Your Bottle

Today is all about one super simple, super tangible, money-saving, sustainability tip. Stop washing money down the drain (literally) and do this the next time you’re down to that last inch or so of lotion that just won't pump out.

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: How sustainable (and ethical) is Blueland? I did the research so you don't have to.

Our community has been asking for this one for YEARS, and it's time I finally spill the tea. Is Blueland actually a sustainable company? Is it an ethical one? Is Blueland greenwashing us? Are their tablet pouches actually compostable and biodegradable? I'm diving into all of that and more, so let's [finally] get into it.

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: What's the Cost of Preventing vs. Dealing With Our Waste?

Today, I wanted to take a look at how much money we’re currently spending to deal with all the trash we’re throwing away, compared to how much it would cost to prevent that waste from being produced in the first place. In short… What is the cost of preventing waste instead of dealing with it after it's made?

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: How "Green" Are Specialty Recycling Programs? Is TerraCycle Greenwashing Us?
Specialty recycling programs like TerraCycle and Ridwell pick up the slack when it comes to hard-to-recycle items not accepted by our municipal recycling programs. When we're trying to live zero waste, this sounds like a great solution. But are these programs actually sustainable, or are they greenwashing us and letting corporations off the hook?
A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: What do expiration dates actually mean? Plus how to tell if your food is actually expired.

There are many ways to reduce our food waste, first and foremost being to simply buy less. But once that food is in our fridge or our pantry, what do we do with all of those expiration dates? First, we must learn what these dates mean. Because we’ve been bamboozled and all expiration dates are not actually the same.

Ingredients 101: Refillable Natural Body Lotion

Our zero waste, refillable body lotion was one of the very first products we added to our lineup when we launched, and apparently because I’ve been using it for so long I started to take for granted how phenomenal this stuff is. So let's take a look at WHY this body lotion rocks so much. AKA - what the heck is in it and what on earth do the ingredients actually DO for our skin?

 

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: How Zero Waste is A Drop in the Ocean Shop?

For every pound of waste we, as consumers, throw out, seven more pounds are thrown away upstream. So you may be wondering, if you’re buying a zero waste product from us, is it actually zero waste for us, too? Or are we just taking things out of packaging and reselling them as “zero waste”? Take a peek behind the scenes with us!

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Refill Store 2024 Year-End Report

This week we're sharing our second annual Year-End Report! I do not believe that you can be a truly sustainable company without transparency, and that's the goal of our Year-End Report: to be completely transparent with you. This year's report includes our sustainability impacts, donations, financial summary, goals for 2025 and more.

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: How to Find Community and Engage in Climate Activism in a Second Trump Presidency (and Beyond)

This week, we’re talking about how to find YOUR community (no matter where you live) and how to be a climate activist during a second Trump presidency and beyond. This post might look a little different than usual, and that’s because I want this to be a resource list you visit over and over and over again (and perhaps share with your friends and family members, too).

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: 3 Little Reminders for 2025

I went to the gym for the first time in a long time today. And when I got on the treadmill, I almost started crying. Things are heavy and it's hard to be a human right now, but I learned three things on that treadmill today that I think we should all remember in 2025.

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: 9 Tips for a Low-Waste Holiday Season

Today we’re doing a quick roundup of 9 ways to keep the holiday season as sustainable and low waste as possible. Between gifting, decorating, and feasting - there’s a lot of waste! But the good news is, there’s actually a lot we can do to mitigate that waste - and tbh, if you’re reading this, I have a hunch you’re already doing at least one or two of these 😉

A Drop in the Ocean Sustainable Living Zero Waste Shop The Ultimate Gift Guide
I’ve compiled the ultimate sustainable gift guide for 2024, complete with 60+ gift ideas for everyone in your life - everything from physical gifts to experience gifts and even acts of service. All sustainable, supporting small businesses, and zero affiliate links.