Spread the Sustainable Gospel!

Being prepared is a very important step to reducing waste. Especially, if you are on the go quite often like I am. Single-use plastic is everywhere – a product of convenient consumption. At the beginning of my personal waste journey, I was constantly forgetting my reusable items all of the time. I’d get to the store and not have my cloth grocery bag, or I’d go out to eat and forget my container for leftovers. It was internally frustrating. That’s why what’s in my bag is very important.

Because I like to be prepared with reusable, eco items, the contents of my bag are probably not conventional compared to someone else’s. With that, I thought it would be fun to dump it out and give you a sneak peak of what I carry on a daily basis.

What’s in My Bag?

lip balm

Obviously a necessity in the wintertime. I get my lip balm locally at the farmer’s market. We are very lucky to have many artisans and makers that provide wonderfully made, natural products.

snacks

Girls gotta eat.

hankie

Runny noses, hand drying, toddler face wiping, you name it. A hankie is one of my most used items in my bag. I have an article HERE talking about zero waste tissues.

lint brush

I have a lot of pets. 7 to be exact – so there is a lot of hair that comes with them. I don’t want to be covered in hair while I’m trying to present IT systems meetings to the CEO now do I. I also would rather not buy disposable lint rollers so this has been a good addition to my “on-the-go-supplies”. You can snag one, HERE.

cloth diaper

I have an almost two year old so we are still using diapers. I think I have a diaper stored literally every where as a precaution for emergencies. In the car, in every room of the house, in my bag, heck – I even have one at work for some odd reason. I got my cloth diapers secondhand from resale stores and swap-n-shop groups online. I have an array of brands I use including Alva Baby and Grovia.

reusable cutlery

These help me refuse single use cutlery on the go and are nice to have when I take my lunch to work. I chose to get bamboo because it’s lighter.

reusable straw

I prefer to drink from a straw but I do not prefer to use plastic trash, so I bring my own. My 21 month old son also uses it just fine.

keys

Unfortunately, I don’t live in an area where I can use public transit so having my keys on me is a must. Maybe someday I can work from home again so I have a zero commute. Kidding because I worked from home for my last job and I thought I loved it until I started suffering from terrible bouts of anxiety because of lack of social interaction. Apparently, I need to be around people. Who knew?

jar

I don’t like to carry a ton of extra things on me so I bring a jar for water, food on the go, and for a leftover food container. Right, now it’s full of bulk snacks.

reusable bag

For impromptu shopping. I don’t like to be without a bag when I have to make an emergency trip to the store or find myself without the extra hands to carry a bunch of items.

diva cup

I like to always be prepared for when my favorite aunt comes to visit. I also like how discreet the cup is with it’s cute little bag. So much better than sticking a wad of tampons in my purse to only cause them to explode all over the place when I dug something out. I have more information on how and why to use a menstrual cup, HERE.

cloth pad

Again, preparation. I keep my cloth pads in a small wet bag so if I need to change it on the go, I have a convenient and clean place to keep them until I can get them home to wash. A wet bag is waterproof to prevent leakage. They are mainly used for cloth diapering but I find them to be extremely helpful for periods and cloth pads. Here’s a link to the one I use. (Wet + Dry Wallet – Waterproof Wet Bag )

wallet

A pretty obvious necessity. I keep all of my IDs and money in a simple wallet that I’ve been using for many, many years. I like that it stores my Passport as well. Even though I don’t usually need it, it’s nice to know where it is.

solid perfume

I love this honeysuckle solid perfume from Messner Family Farms. It smells so amazing. I just put a little on my neck a few times throughout the day to smell lovely without worrying what questionable ingredients I’m spraying onto my body.

phone

Of course, how would I live without it. My trusty ole Galaxy S6 still works and even though I’m very past due for an upgrade, I refuse to fall prey to planned obsolescent marketing making us think we need a new device every 1-2 years. I will use this phone until it literally blows up and when that day comes, I’ll buy a used device.

 

That about wraps up what’s in my bag of curiosities. I hope this was fun! What essentials do you keep in your bag?