This comment might feel quaint compared to the heaviness of the rest of the episode, but if anyone ever has a similar “300 salsa containers” bind like Beth, may I suggest donating to your local public school or preschool, non-profit children’s museum, and especially any art teachers in your life! We are thrifty by nature and use containers for STEM materials, paints, clay, dough, etc. Staff at these places are usually MORE THAN HAPPY to take containers and random supplies. (Men’s work shirts are great smocks!) This harkens back to the “donate your blankets and towels to animal shelters” from a while back. There’s always someone that can use your STUFF if you look around!
Weird factoid. One of my daughter's professors played violin in a Prince video. The professor was told that was she should not under any circumstances look at Prince when he came into the studio.
Not to speak ill of the dead but I recently learned Paul Walker did something similar with his wife that he had when he passed away and it definitely made me think "ewww" of him now.
The meat of this episode is too heavy for me considering all the other chaos we are juggling right now. Great episode I just don't want to talk about it. I already feel helpless right now, without dwelling on women's known reality, that I have a false mindset to ever think I am in control of my body and what happens to it. BUT OoP - LADIES what are you doing keeping bread ties!? Y'all know I'm from the good ol state of Kentucky too, but what are you doing with them? I heard Sarah say, "They have so many good uses." Like what? lol I can think of only 1 - ties a bread bag up. Let 'em go girls. Marie Kwando your bread ties unless they bring you joy I suppose haha. I will add I am big fan of zip ties so maybe that's where you all sub bread ties?
I actually really appreciate hearing "great episode I just don't want to talk about it."
I save the bread ties for the rare joy of someone needing one! The victory of a lost bread tie and coming to the rescue with another one! It's so satisfying!
For any (non-meat/grease) veggie/fruit/coffee etc scraps I use a Vego Kitchen Composter. Add some water and a bio tablet and in about 24 hours I have a dehydrated mix to add to the garden or lawn. www.vego.com
I am a licensed clinical social worker and I work in a couple of different capacities: as an outpatient, community-based therapist serving the general population and as a Mitigation Specialist working with criminal defense teams to understand defendant's stories and develop in depth biopsychosocial assessments. We regularly hear the statistics about 1 in 4 women experiencing sexual assault. Through the combination of my roles I have become convinced that the number of men who have experienced sexual assault is much, much higher than we ever discuss or hear about and I think that drives SO much of how the world works and patriarchy is perpetuated. The shame is so deep and so unspeakable and the things people to do cope by exerting power over others can be devastating.
I am with Norma in that I'm not longing for more discussion of Richard Reeves in my life, but I think this is such a huge area that needs more light shed on it and it requires SO much compassion to get there. I'm not judging Sarah and Beth for this, but I really wish we could start by using people-centered language instead of "perpetrator". I think we do well to point out the humanity of people who commit sexual crimes because it also helps us move away from the shame that drives us to protect the people we love instead of addressing it.
It is much, much higher than we ever discuss or hear about.
I even think about...casual attitudes people have about sex. I had to explain to husband that he was sexually harassed at work when a female colleague (this was back when he was in the military) made some assumptions and offers that he wasn't interested in, "no, that is textbook sexual harassment." But just because he was a man he didn't realize he was being harassed (to be fair, he also experienced a fair amount of behavior that would qualify as sexual harassment from men).
And...do not get me started about how women treat a man in uniform (there is a reason he did not stay in the military - cue the flames coming out of my face). I think our cultural conversations and attitudes about sex are so warped that men and women don't even know they're doing it. And that is not even scratching the surface of the problem.
I could go on about this for hours. There are so many layers and so much complexity. There is also a paradox where I think we can be too casual about sex on one hand and intensely reactive or secretive in other ways and it's all so messy. People hold so much shame about experiences they had as children, some of which are very normal and some which are so not... Makes my head hurt.
Thank you for your comments - I think it's so helpful to get specific!
We're about to put out second kid on our car insurance. 😭🫣 I heard a friend of a friend put her teenaged kid on their own plan to save money. I have no idea how much they saved doing that or the pros/cons but I think it's worth looking into.
We have 2 teenaged boys plus us 2 parents and 4 cars. The cost is staggering and I don’t even know how we are affording it. I looked at adding my oldest son to his own policy and it was way more… I just shop around with different companies every 6 months… we also decreased our coverage which makes me nervous but it did bring our bill down. Also every single incident raises it substantially. If they get in a minor accident and you can handle without using insurance you should…
Beth! I, too, am taking up golf as a NY resolution! My sons are learning and my husband plays, so we thought it would be fun to have a family activity (and I agree on the sun and being outside). One problem - I am a former Marketplace devotee, but also gave up social media. Maybe for the year, maybe indefinitely. I may have to jump back on to secure some clubs, because I am certainly not buying them new.
One issue with I had with buying things used - I found myself going overboard and stress/grief shopping on Marketplace and because I wasn’t partaking in “fast fashion,” I gave myself a pass (subconsciously). Instead of doom scrolling, I’d marketplace scroll. I have 5 pairs of Madewell jeans (my fave) I got for $20 each and you know what? I still wear the two I like most on repeat and the rest sit in my closet. But now I find myself using Target or Amazon for something I actually need when I would have used Marketplace in the past. Anyone else have this dilemma?? Also, I want to use Marketplace without having any presence on Facebook and haven’t figured out a way to do that. Any tips?
I also loved Beth’s story about making connections on Marketplace. I have a couple women I’ve bought clothes from on Marketplace, and when they have clothes they are looking to list, they’ll reach out to me to avoid the marketplace flakes. It’s a wonderful little connection. Oh! And my local buy nothing group! I’ve gotten SO much on there. A trampoline, cat tower, Tom’s shoes, SO much. Man, I miss Facebook (and also don’t at all). Life man, it’s complicated.
My one no waste tip: when we get Indian takeout from our favorite restaurant, there is always SO much delicious sauce. I make my dinner last a couple of meals by saving the sauce and using it the next day with a rotisserie chicken. Lamb kadai one night, chicken kadai the next! Sometimes I even put the sauce in the freezer. Yes, I’m a weirdo, but I love these little life hacks!
I do this with Indian takeout too! Or sometimes I order an extra appetizer portion of chicken tikka - just the grilled w/o sauce, and then we add that into the extra sauce.
Having worked for an NFL team with a terrible misogynistic culture where there was NO accountability for the men perpetrating assault (and just plain discrimination based on sex. Oh, and fraud.), this episode hit me hard, even though I enjoyed the nuanced and complex discussion. I don’t have much to add, but I do hope talking about my and other women’s experiences, eventually, with the next generation, will slowly help well-meaning men understand our plight and that it will take all of us to solve this complex problem. I work for a great organization now where there are many women in leadership, myself included, and still, I see traces of a toxic workplace culture I wonder will ever fully be erased.
On the car insurance front, highly recommend doing a coverage review with your existing provider to see if there are reasonable places to cut costs. And trying an independent insurance broker to see if other providers are a better fit for your family's situation. Teens are definitely expensive to insure but there may be ways to make it less painful
We have this (paid) service in our area called Ridwell that finds companies that can use lots of things that aren't generally recyclable through curbside service. It's really helped us reduce what goes in our trash. My favorite categories are Styrofoam, plastic bags (2 different categories). They also will pick up batteries, light bulbs, clothing (in good or not-so-good condition), and random rotating categories (including bread ties). It's a fantastic service and they're constantly expanding their reach. https://www.ridwell.com/
For the p diddy of it all I’m going to share a personal story because the conversation on the podcast today kept having my mind think back to it. About 6 years ago my son told me about some older cousins who were touching his penis and stimulating him and having him touch their penis and clitoris. My son was 4 when he told me and the oldest kid in the situation was a month shy of 12. None of the family (it was on my husband’s side) could take it seriously because of their personal relationship to this kid. For example, my father in law compared it to him and his friends going skinny dipping together when he was 11 to assure me how developmentally normal this was. Meanwhile my kid is peeing all over my house and completely emotionally deregulated and doing weird things like sticking his finger up his butthole.
I truly loved this niece and nephew of mine and wanted them to get help. Even though I saw this as abusive I also knew they were minors and probably had stuff happen to them before they brought my kid into it. But my sister in law refused to set up any mutual boundaries or rules when our kids were together and I don’t think her son ever got therapy or any help. They said they didn’t want him to have a complex about it. Basically they responded in every way that lets generational abuse perpetuate and I became the villain of the family for letting it get reported. My son never told the detectives so nothing happened to this kid. He told them he was afraid to go to the bathroom with this cousin but it wasn’t enough for them to do anything with. When I brought up us alternating family events or times we would be there we just got uninvited to family events for a few years and everyone seemed to be on board with this and think it was totally justified. We went and saw some family a few weeks ago because another sister in law is dying of cancer and my son vaguely recognizes people and my other kids have no idea who a lot of their family is.
I’m glad my kids are safe, but I think if people were able to get people help and not have such a shame response when this happens and we catch it early I think they can get the help they need and not continue to perpetrate. But it seems to be too much for some people to see a loved one as an abuser. Nothing I said could get through to them. I’d say things like I love this kid and his identity isn’t his worst act and people truly just want to help kids to break them from the cycle but they just saw me as vindictive and hateful. I’m just glad my kids got therapy and the children’s justice center and all the help he needed to heal. Also glad he told me before they brought my younger kids into it too.
There is just a certain kind of rage (and that is the only word I can find for it) for being treated like the problem for pointing out a problem. I'm so glad your son had the words to tell you what was happening to him and that you had the courage to stop it. I don't want to tell someone else's story that isn't mine to tell. But it's so common, and the bigger kids were so treatable at that age. You're absolutely right that something probably happened to them too for them to behave in this way, and it takes so much courage to face what happened and do what you can going forward. And, the sooner you address it, the easier it is.
But it IS weird that because you found out and did something, you're considered the bad guy in the family system. There is nothing that will mess with your mind like that.
I know! I know gas lighting gets tossed around a lot but that’s what I feel like they’re doing. If it weren’t for my family, friends, therapists, my own lived experience, etc it would be easy to wonder if I were the crazy/overreacting one.
Sarah, as someone who has been in your son's position, I'm so glad you believed and supported your son and made sure he got whatever help he needed. You did the right thing.
I appreciate that, but kids go through things; parents can't protect kids from everything. It's how caregivers respond when kids are hurt that really matters. You responded appropriately, your family members did not. You have made it clear you are the adult to be trusted, and I wouldn't be surprised if the older children have taken note. I also wouldn't be surprised if they've been taught that you are a threat to their family, because you are so willing to call b.s. But as they get older, they may need to call on that strength of yours. I hope you have the support to help you help them when they reach out to you. You deserve that support.
For the thriftiness part of the conversation I listened to an episode of the girls camp podcast with Lucy hutchings about a month ago and am still thinking about it. It’s a great listen!
In Outside of Politics (I think), there was a brief comment about people going into debt for travel that fit right in with a discussion at my book club this weekend. (We read Oona Out of Order, which we gave an average score to, but I swear this discussion about travel related to the book.)
One of the women in the group has a chronic health condition that does not allow her to work full time. Her husband, a chemist, was out of work for a while. When their daughter lived in New Zealand for a year, people urged them to visit (um, money, plus a long flight). Now that they are empty nesters, people are urging them to travel, but again - money. So I mentioned a "trip" my husband and I took last weekend. It was an overnight, we ended up only traveling two hours from home, but we saw a number of historic and natural sites we had never seen before, took some back roads, ate at a couple of recommended places, and came home saying "Why don't we do this more often?!?" This book group friend is going to try to do the same. Most places have wonderful sites and hidden gems nearby. But we get so much input from social media that traveling far and wide is a vital experience that everyone should have, even if you really can't afford it.
I have come here to preach the word of Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home. Is it easy, no. Is it extreme, yes. Is it still chock full of a valuable way of reprogramming your brain, absofuckinglutely.
I think I mentioned this somewhere before, when my fam of 4, plus 2 cats and 1 dog, were living off grid in New Mexico for six months in our travel trailer, we used an average of 3 gallons of water per day, we ran on solar power almost exclusively, we filled one trash can a month for a family of 4. I learned a lot of my strategies from this book and Beckham to look at the ways we would buy, what we would buy, and how we would by in very different ways. I wish everything in this book was common practice universally, because it’s great. Go forth, readers!
This comment might feel quaint compared to the heaviness of the rest of the episode, but if anyone ever has a similar “300 salsa containers” bind like Beth, may I suggest donating to your local public school or preschool, non-profit children’s museum, and especially any art teachers in your life! We are thrifty by nature and use containers for STEM materials, paints, clay, dough, etc. Staff at these places are usually MORE THAN HAPPY to take containers and random supplies. (Men’s work shirts are great smocks!) This harkens back to the “donate your blankets and towels to animal shelters” from a while back. There’s always someone that can use your STUFF if you look around!
I always love your thrifting/saving/sustainability conversations. A more to say about finding and navigating Estate Sales would be fantastic!
Sarah mentioned something about Prince and his treatment of women. I haven’t heard about this. Anyone have more info?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/08/magazine/prince-netflix-ezra-edelman-documentary.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Gk8.AeuT.7t5xOv1sGAyR&smid=url-share
Weird factoid. One of my daughter's professors played violin in a Prince video. The professor was told that was she should not under any circumstances look at Prince when he came into the studio.
Here's another article about it: https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/director-prince-doc-blasts-estate-netflix-cancellation-afraid-humanity-1235915322/
Also...he started dating one of his wives when he was 32 and she was 16, which is not uncommon in entertainment, but is quite icky.
Not to speak ill of the dead but I recently learned Paul Walker did something similar with his wife that he had when he passed away and it definitely made me think "ewww" of him now.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/prince-doc-director-netflix-cancellation-a-joke-1236154672/
The meat of this episode is too heavy for me considering all the other chaos we are juggling right now. Great episode I just don't want to talk about it. I already feel helpless right now, without dwelling on women's known reality, that I have a false mindset to ever think I am in control of my body and what happens to it. BUT OoP - LADIES what are you doing keeping bread ties!? Y'all know I'm from the good ol state of Kentucky too, but what are you doing with them? I heard Sarah say, "They have so many good uses." Like what? lol I can think of only 1 - ties a bread bag up. Let 'em go girls. Marie Kwando your bread ties unless they bring you joy I suppose haha. I will add I am big fan of zip ties so maybe that's where you all sub bread ties?
I actually really appreciate hearing "great episode I just don't want to talk about it."
I save the bread ties for the rare joy of someone needing one! The victory of a lost bread tie and coming to the rescue with another one! It's so satisfying!
For any (non-meat/grease) veggie/fruit/coffee etc scraps I use a Vego Kitchen Composter. Add some water and a bio tablet and in about 24 hours I have a dehydrated mix to add to the garden or lawn. www.vego.com
Absolutely love it!
I am a licensed clinical social worker and I work in a couple of different capacities: as an outpatient, community-based therapist serving the general population and as a Mitigation Specialist working with criminal defense teams to understand defendant's stories and develop in depth biopsychosocial assessments. We regularly hear the statistics about 1 in 4 women experiencing sexual assault. Through the combination of my roles I have become convinced that the number of men who have experienced sexual assault is much, much higher than we ever discuss or hear about and I think that drives SO much of how the world works and patriarchy is perpetuated. The shame is so deep and so unspeakable and the things people to do cope by exerting power over others can be devastating.
I am with Norma in that I'm not longing for more discussion of Richard Reeves in my life, but I think this is such a huge area that needs more light shed on it and it requires SO much compassion to get there. I'm not judging Sarah and Beth for this, but I really wish we could start by using people-centered language instead of "perpetrator". I think we do well to point out the humanity of people who commit sexual crimes because it also helps us move away from the shame that drives us to protect the people we love instead of addressing it.
It is much, much higher than we ever discuss or hear about.
I even think about...casual attitudes people have about sex. I had to explain to husband that he was sexually harassed at work when a female colleague (this was back when he was in the military) made some assumptions and offers that he wasn't interested in, "no, that is textbook sexual harassment." But just because he was a man he didn't realize he was being harassed (to be fair, he also experienced a fair amount of behavior that would qualify as sexual harassment from men).
And...do not get me started about how women treat a man in uniform (there is a reason he did not stay in the military - cue the flames coming out of my face). I think our cultural conversations and attitudes about sex are so warped that men and women don't even know they're doing it. And that is not even scratching the surface of the problem.
I could go on about this for hours. There are so many layers and so much complexity. There is also a paradox where I think we can be too casual about sex on one hand and intensely reactive or secretive in other ways and it's all so messy. People hold so much shame about experiences they had as children, some of which are very normal and some which are so not... Makes my head hurt.
Thank you for your comments - I think it's so helpful to get specific!
We're about to put out second kid on our car insurance. 😭🫣 I heard a friend of a friend put her teenaged kid on their own plan to save money. I have no idea how much they saved doing that or the pros/cons but I think it's worth looking into.
We have 2 teenaged boys plus us 2 parents and 4 cars. The cost is staggering and I don’t even know how we are affording it. I looked at adding my oldest son to his own policy and it was way more… I just shop around with different companies every 6 months… we also decreased our coverage which makes me nervous but it did bring our bill down. Also every single incident raises it substantially. If they get in a minor accident and you can handle without using insurance you should…
We have four people and one car, and the cost doubled when we added the two kids to the policy. I can't even imagine the cost on four cars.
Beth! I, too, am taking up golf as a NY resolution! My sons are learning and my husband plays, so we thought it would be fun to have a family activity (and I agree on the sun and being outside). One problem - I am a former Marketplace devotee, but also gave up social media. Maybe for the year, maybe indefinitely. I may have to jump back on to secure some clubs, because I am certainly not buying them new.
One issue with I had with buying things used - I found myself going overboard and stress/grief shopping on Marketplace and because I wasn’t partaking in “fast fashion,” I gave myself a pass (subconsciously). Instead of doom scrolling, I’d marketplace scroll. I have 5 pairs of Madewell jeans (my fave) I got for $20 each and you know what? I still wear the two I like most on repeat and the rest sit in my closet. But now I find myself using Target or Amazon for something I actually need when I would have used Marketplace in the past. Anyone else have this dilemma?? Also, I want to use Marketplace without having any presence on Facebook and haven’t figured out a way to do that. Any tips?
I also loved Beth’s story about making connections on Marketplace. I have a couple women I’ve bought clothes from on Marketplace, and when they have clothes they are looking to list, they’ll reach out to me to avoid the marketplace flakes. It’s a wonderful little connection. Oh! And my local buy nothing group! I’ve gotten SO much on there. A trampoline, cat tower, Tom’s shoes, SO much. Man, I miss Facebook (and also don’t at all). Life man, it’s complicated.
My one no waste tip: when we get Indian takeout from our favorite restaurant, there is always SO much delicious sauce. I make my dinner last a couple of meals by saving the sauce and using it the next day with a rotisserie chicken. Lamb kadai one night, chicken kadai the next! Sometimes I even put the sauce in the freezer. Yes, I’m a weirdo, but I love these little life hacks!
I do this with Indian takeout too! Or sometimes I order an extra appetizer portion of chicken tikka - just the grilled w/o sauce, and then we add that into the extra sauce.
Oh, that’s a good idea too! Thanks for the tip; can’t let that precious cause go to waste!
Having worked for an NFL team with a terrible misogynistic culture where there was NO accountability for the men perpetrating assault (and just plain discrimination based on sex. Oh, and fraud.), this episode hit me hard, even though I enjoyed the nuanced and complex discussion. I don’t have much to add, but I do hope talking about my and other women’s experiences, eventually, with the next generation, will slowly help well-meaning men understand our plight and that it will take all of us to solve this complex problem. I work for a great organization now where there are many women in leadership, myself included, and still, I see traces of a toxic workplace culture I wonder will ever fully be erased.
On the car insurance front, highly recommend doing a coverage review with your existing provider to see if there are reasonable places to cut costs. And trying an independent insurance broker to see if other providers are a better fit for your family's situation. Teens are definitely expensive to insure but there may be ways to make it less painful
We have this (paid) service in our area called Ridwell that finds companies that can use lots of things that aren't generally recyclable through curbside service. It's really helped us reduce what goes in our trash. My favorite categories are Styrofoam, plastic bags (2 different categories). They also will pick up batteries, light bulbs, clothing (in good or not-so-good condition), and random rotating categories (including bread ties). It's a fantastic service and they're constantly expanding their reach. https://www.ridwell.com/
I came here to mention Ridwell!
I love Ridwell!
I am not all the way through the episode, but did yall add some drums to the music? It’s feeling like it has some percussion! 😆
For the p diddy of it all I’m going to share a personal story because the conversation on the podcast today kept having my mind think back to it. About 6 years ago my son told me about some older cousins who were touching his penis and stimulating him and having him touch their penis and clitoris. My son was 4 when he told me and the oldest kid in the situation was a month shy of 12. None of the family (it was on my husband’s side) could take it seriously because of their personal relationship to this kid. For example, my father in law compared it to him and his friends going skinny dipping together when he was 11 to assure me how developmentally normal this was. Meanwhile my kid is peeing all over my house and completely emotionally deregulated and doing weird things like sticking his finger up his butthole.
I truly loved this niece and nephew of mine and wanted them to get help. Even though I saw this as abusive I also knew they were minors and probably had stuff happen to them before they brought my kid into it. But my sister in law refused to set up any mutual boundaries or rules when our kids were together and I don’t think her son ever got therapy or any help. They said they didn’t want him to have a complex about it. Basically they responded in every way that lets generational abuse perpetuate and I became the villain of the family for letting it get reported. My son never told the detectives so nothing happened to this kid. He told them he was afraid to go to the bathroom with this cousin but it wasn’t enough for them to do anything with. When I brought up us alternating family events or times we would be there we just got uninvited to family events for a few years and everyone seemed to be on board with this and think it was totally justified. We went and saw some family a few weeks ago because another sister in law is dying of cancer and my son vaguely recognizes people and my other kids have no idea who a lot of their family is.
I’m glad my kids are safe, but I think if people were able to get people help and not have such a shame response when this happens and we catch it early I think they can get the help they need and not continue to perpetrate. But it seems to be too much for some people to see a loved one as an abuser. Nothing I said could get through to them. I’d say things like I love this kid and his identity isn’t his worst act and people truly just want to help kids to break them from the cycle but they just saw me as vindictive and hateful. I’m just glad my kids got therapy and the children’s justice center and all the help he needed to heal. Also glad he told me before they brought my younger kids into it too.
There is just a certain kind of rage (and that is the only word I can find for it) for being treated like the problem for pointing out a problem. I'm so glad your son had the words to tell you what was happening to him and that you had the courage to stop it. I don't want to tell someone else's story that isn't mine to tell. But it's so common, and the bigger kids were so treatable at that age. You're absolutely right that something probably happened to them too for them to behave in this way, and it takes so much courage to face what happened and do what you can going forward. And, the sooner you address it, the easier it is.
But it IS weird that because you found out and did something, you're considered the bad guy in the family system. There is nothing that will mess with your mind like that.
I know! I know gas lighting gets tossed around a lot but that’s what I feel like they’re doing. If it weren’t for my family, friends, therapists, my own lived experience, etc it would be easy to wonder if I were the crazy/overreacting one.
Sarah, as someone who has been in your son's position, I'm so glad you believed and supported your son and made sure he got whatever help he needed. You did the right thing.
I’m sorry you had to go through something like that.
I appreciate that, but kids go through things; parents can't protect kids from everything. It's how caregivers respond when kids are hurt that really matters. You responded appropriately, your family members did not. You have made it clear you are the adult to be trusted, and I wouldn't be surprised if the older children have taken note. I also wouldn't be surprised if they've been taught that you are a threat to their family, because you are so willing to call b.s. But as they get older, they may need to call on that strength of yours. I hope you have the support to help you help them when they reach out to you. You deserve that support.
For the thriftiness part of the conversation I listened to an episode of the girls camp podcast with Lucy hutchings about a month ago and am still thinking about it. It’s a great listen!
In Outside of Politics (I think), there was a brief comment about people going into debt for travel that fit right in with a discussion at my book club this weekend. (We read Oona Out of Order, which we gave an average score to, but I swear this discussion about travel related to the book.)
One of the women in the group has a chronic health condition that does not allow her to work full time. Her husband, a chemist, was out of work for a while. When their daughter lived in New Zealand for a year, people urged them to visit (um, money, plus a long flight). Now that they are empty nesters, people are urging them to travel, but again - money. So I mentioned a "trip" my husband and I took last weekend. It was an overnight, we ended up only traveling two hours from home, but we saw a number of historic and natural sites we had never seen before, took some back roads, ate at a couple of recommended places, and came home saying "Why don't we do this more often?!?" This book group friend is going to try to do the same. Most places have wonderful sites and hidden gems nearby. But we get so much input from social media that traveling far and wide is a vital experience that everyone should have, even if you really can't afford it.
I have come here to preach the word of Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home. Is it easy, no. Is it extreme, yes. Is it still chock full of a valuable way of reprogramming your brain, absofuckinglutely.
I think I mentioned this somewhere before, when my fam of 4, plus 2 cats and 1 dog, were living off grid in New Mexico for six months in our travel trailer, we used an average of 3 gallons of water per day, we ran on solar power almost exclusively, we filled one trash can a month for a family of 4. I learned a lot of my strategies from this book and Beckham to look at the ways we would buy, what we would buy, and how we would by in very different ways. I wish everything in this book was common practice universally, because it’s great. Go forth, readers!
Oh man! That sounds fun/satisfying/amazing/and also SO hard!