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 Shop 3 Reasons to Ditch Paper Towels

How much more sustainable are reusable items versus disposable? What a great question! Let's take a look at paper towels and how much water we can save by making the switch to reusables.

A Drop in the Ocean Shop Why it's important to support small business
And then I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the aisle. What was I doing?? Buying these gifts at Target doesn’t make sense. Here I am, always an advocate for shopping small and walking around a massive national big box store. WHAT was I doing?? So let's talk about why it's so great to support small businesses - and how we can find them in the first place.
Phantom Energy: Why we need to unplug our chargers.

What do phantoms and vampires have to do with zero waste? It’s all got to do with energy use. Because remember, zero waste is about more than physical waste. It’s about wasted time, wasted energy, and wasted resources. Phantom energy, or vampire power, is the energy your electronic devices are always consuming, even when they’re turned off or not in use, and all that phantom energy can add up quickly. 

A Drop in the Ocean Shop 8 Tips for a Low Waste Wedding

This past weekend I was away at a wedding that was so beautiful, so full of love and happiness, and so...low waste! I couldn't help but document the whole thing to share with you. So today, here are 8 tips for a zero waste wedding, inspired by Kirk and Meghann’s big day.

A Drop in the Ocean 5 Tips for Hosting a Zero Waste Party

The arrival of fall brings shortly behind it the holiday season, full of gatherings with family and friends. And with those gatherings typically comes a quite bit of waste. But does it have to? In this week's blog post we're chatting 5 ways to keep parties low to zero waste - without spending any extra money.

What's the environmental impact of one pound of meat?

It takes intention to change food habits. They’re ingrained in our culture. So rather than use this space to say we should all go vegan or we should all go vegetarian, what if instead we each ate one less pound of meat each week? How much would it really matter?

5 Ways to Drive Less + The Impacts for Sustainability

Nearly a third of all of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions are from transportation. About a sixth are from our everyday vehicles. That’s a huge portion of our emissions just from one aspect of life - getting from Point A to Point B! The good news is, we don’t need everyone to stop driving to make a sustainable difference. Do this instead.

What is manufactured demand?
How the heck did we end up in a place where bottled water is everywhere and people are actually paying for it, when most of us can get clean drinking water essentially for free from our taps? The answer: manufactured demand - the manipulative marketing tactic we should all know.
A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog Back to School

I may be a wee bit late to the party, but back to school is in full swing! I’ve compiled nine of my favorite tips for a zero waste back to school season, just for you. Or, if you’re returning to your office soon and need a revamp, think of this as your guide to a zero waste back to office season 😉

A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog What is Line 3 and what can we do about it?

Zero waste is about more than reducing our waste. It’s also about increasing access to healthcare, advocating for marginalized communities, holding corporations accountable, supporting renewable energy, voting for leaders that act on climate change, honoring indigenous practices, and more. One of the best examples of how these things are interconnected is the current construction and subsequent protesting of the Line 3 pipeline.

A Drop in the Ocean Tacoma Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog What is PVA and is it sustainable?

In my eternal quest to be completely transparent with you, today’s blog post will take you behind the scenes of running a zero waste shop and how we make our product decisions. Plus, what the heck is PVA (polyvinyl alcohol or PVOH) and is it actually sustainable?

A Drop in the Ocean Tacoma Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog Do I really need to preheat my oven?
Every recipe tells us to preheat our oven as step numero uno, but is it really necessary? Or are we wasting resources, money, and energy by turning on our oven too soon?
A Drop in the Ocean Tacoma Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog Mental Health and Entrepreneurship

If we don’t talk about mental health, we keep the stigma alive. When we brush it under a rug and pretend it never happened, we aren’t helping anyone. So instead, I want to share with you - in complete vulnerability - what really happened in my world in the last 10 days as I battled my mental health as an entrepreneur.

My favorite animal, the okapi.

Today, I want to tell you all about my favorite animal, the okapi. Because even though we're focused on waste and plastics around here most days, sometimes we could all use some cute animals and wildlife conservation in our lives. So what are okapi? And how can we protect them from home?

5 Reasons to Switch to Zero Waste Period Products

Every month, menstruating humans shell out buku bucks for period essentials that we’re just going to throw away three hours later. And those period products are simply not good for our bodies or for the planet. There's a better way to have a period. Zero waste period products - from period underwear to menstrual cups - are the solution. But what exactly is the problem?

A Drop in the Ocean Tacoma Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog Should you use the heated dry setting on your dishwasher
By now we know that it's more sustainable to use the dishwasher than to wash by hand, but let's take it a step further. How necessary is it to use the heated dry setting on your dishwasher, and is it actually costing you extra time, money, and energy?
3 Ways to Spot Greenwashing
Greenwashing is rampant in marketing campaigns, and sometimes it's really hard to tell what's actually sustainable. So what exactly is greenwashing, and how can we spot it? Here are three of my go-to ways to spot greenwashing in the wild, plus how to hone your greenwashing-spotting skills.
A Drop in the Ocean Tacoma Zero Waste Sustainable Living Blog How and Why to Break Up with Amazon plus Amazon alternatives
It's time to do the thing. We’re gonna dive deep into the problems with Amazon, and you can be certain that once we’re through that, there’s gonna be a ton of resources and tips (plus 13 alternatives!) to help you finally break up with Amazon once and for all.