Green EcoWarrior Resource Library

Hey there Green EcoWarrior! You want the most sustainable options available to you, but you’re not just gonna take anyone’s word for it. You know that greenwashing is oh-so-rampant and your skeptical eye has served you well. And you enjoy learning about sustainability, and how to live as lightly on this planet as you possibly can. These things light you up, not overwhelm you.

This curated library of blog posts has been personally tailored to your specific eco-superpower and will be updated as new posts are uploaded!

Featured Posts

Out of the hundreds of posts on our blog, these are our all-time favorites for our California Mussel Green EcoWarriors 🦪

Building and supporting a sharing economy is a critical component of zero waste living.

Buy Nothing Groups are truly the MVP of zero waste and sustainability. Through a Buy Nothing Group, you are simultaneously saving money, preventing resources from going to waste, and giving a big 'ol eff you to capitalism. There's truly no downside.

In this post:

  • What is a Buy Nothing Group and how does it work?
  • Why is joining a Buy Nothing Group better than donating to a thrift store?
  • What kinds of things can you get from (and give to) a Buy Nothing Group?
  • How do you find your local Buy Nothing Group?

Read the post!

This is my favorite way to keep myself on track with my sustainability goals.

Real talk - I know the "carbon footprint" was created by oil companies to get the heat off their backs. But I truly love calculating my ecological footprint each year. It reminds me what's within my control - and what's not - and how I can make the greatest impact for the planet in my own life.

In this post:

  • What is an ecological footprint?
  • What is biocapacity and why does it matter?
  • What's included in an ecological footprint calculation?
  • What is Earth Overshoot Day?
  • How do you calculate your ecological footprint?

Read the post!

What's Your Eco-Footprint?: How to Calculate and Use Your Eco-Footprint to Fuel Your Eco-Journey
How to Break Up with Amazon + 13 Sustainable and Ethical Alternatives

It's time to get money out of the hands of billionaires.

The issues with Amazon and Amazon Prime run deeper than just overconsumption. From exploiting their workers to straight-up stealing from small businesses, Amazon's practices are anything but ethical.

In this post:

  • What's the impact of Amazon on the environment, small business, information accessibility, and society?
  • Does Amazon Prime actually save you money?
  • Actionable ways to kick the Amazon habit.
  • 13+ sustainable and ethical alternatives to Amazon.

Read the post!

Spotlight on Greenwashing

As a Green EcoWarrior, I know that you care deeply about making the best choices for yourself, your family, and our planet. I also know that greenwashing is every-freaking-where, and sometimes it's real dang sneaky. So I've pulled together my favorite posts on just how sneaky greenwashing can be, so you can be an absolute pro at spotting it and calling out the BS.

How to Spot Greenwashing: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide
How "Closed Loop" is Being Used as Greenwashing
How "Refillable" is Being Used as Greenwashing
What is Green Hushing?: The New Wave of Corporate Greenwashing
Plastic Neutral: Greenwashing or Actual Waste Solution?
Are Specialty Recycling Programs Greenwashing?

Additional Favorites

The Environmental Impact of Returns: All Those Returns Don't Just Go Back on the Shelves
How Sustainable Are Bananas?
Everything You Need to Know About Textile Recycling
Reusing Isn't Always Better Than Recycling. Here's What You Need to Know.
Small Changes, Big Impacts: How Making Just a Few Small Changes Can Save Over 1,500 Pounds of Emissions in One Month
16 Unsustainable Things I Did Just This Week

Get to Know Us!

How Zero Waste is A Drop in the Ocean? Behind The Scenes of a Zero Waste Refill Store
Can Online Shopping Be Sustainable?
Why I Wish I Didn't Care About Sustainability
6 Ways Our Market Booth is Zero Waste
5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About A Drop in the Ocean, In Honor of Our 5-Year Anniversary

Excited to dive in? Check out our most recent blog posts for more.

View all
A Drop in the Ocean Zero Waste Blog: What do expiration dates actually mean? Plus how to tell if your food is actually expired.
What do expiration dates actually mean?

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
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?

 

How zero waste is A Drop in the Ocean Shop?
How zero waste is A Drop in the Ocean, really?

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
Year-End Report 2024

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 Sustainable Living Zero Waste Shop The Ultimate Gift Guide
The Ultimate Sustainable Gift Guide (2024)
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.