Amid the COVID-19 outbreak and all of the social distancing happening in the community, I decided to try going zero waste for a day while I am quarantined in my house. When I think about quarantine, I think of endless opportunities to eat all of the snacks and junk food lying around my house. The idea of zero waste is to completely stop producing trash that is sent to the landfill, and anything that is used should be reusable, recyclable, or compostable. With just my luck, all of my junk food comes in single use plastics that have to be thrown away! So instead of lounging around, I spent my day exploring some simple and fun zero waste activities and documented them all in a vlog! Written instructions for what I did in the video are included below.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

Credit: Allrecipes

You will need:

1. 1 cup peanut butter
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix the peanut butter, sugar, and egg in a bowl with a fork until a dough-like consistency forms and everything is combined.
3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
4. Roll the batter into tablespoon-sized balls and place about 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet. Use a fork to slightly flatten the cookie balls and create a checkered pattern on top.
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until slightly golden brown on top.

Zero waste tips:

1. Use ingredients that come in recyclable packages.
2. Compost your egg shell.
3. Save your parchment paper for another use or compost it.

Lavender Heating Pad

You will need:

1. Cotton fabric
2. Uncooked rice
3. Dried lavender
4. Fabric scissors
5. Sewing machine or hand sewing materials
6. Funnel 

Directions:

1. Determine the size and shape that you want your heating pad to be. I made mine into a heart shaped about the size of my stomach, knowing that is where I would most likely use it.
2. Fold your fabric in half and cut the desired shape so that you have two identical pieces.
3. Match your fabric shapes together with the back of the fabric facing outward. 
4. Hand or machine sew around the outside of the shape, leaving about a centimeter of space between your stitches and the outside of the fabric. Make sure to leave one to two inches of space that you do not sew together.
5. Using the hole you left, flip the fabric inside out so that it is facing the right direction.
6. Use a funnel to fill the fabric pouch about ⅔ of the way full with rice. Sprinkle in a couple of pinches of dried lavender.
7. Machine or hand sew the open space shut, as close to the edge of the fabric as possible.
8. You are done, microwave your creation when you wish to use it, making sure that it does not touch the sides of the microwave. I usually heat mine for one to two minutes with more time as needed.

Zero waste tips:

1. Cut your fabric from the side, not the middle, of the fabric so as not to waste any.
2. Buy the rice and lavender in bulk to reduce packaging.
3. Save your small fabric scraps for other DIY projects or find an online recycling company for them-don’t throw them away.