Tag: masks

Earth Day 2020

While we are stuck in our COVID quarantines this year, it’s a really great time to remember the Earth and be mindful of how we are treating it. Sustainability has been on my mind this year and I’d already started making a few changes from the beginning of the year. I’ve been inspired by a number of people, all of whom are better at it than I am, but I’m making this a serious effort for the year (and not just Earth Day) and beyond.

Microfiber cloths / Cloth napkins. Earlier this year I bought microfiber cloths (a pack of 12) in an effort to replace our napkins and paper towels. While we still use paper towels occasionally, it has seriously changed the frequency and we’ve been using SO MUCH LESS! While it was hard to get the family on board right off the bat (my 1.5 year old tried to throw them out once or twice), we’ve been at it for about 4 months and it has been working well. I also found other cloths in the back of our linen closet that I pulled out and added to our pile in an effort to reduce wash cycles.

Reusable metal straws. I had initially figured we’d bring them with us when we were out, etc, but in the current time being at home, these are used a lot less. Although, I will say that when I do want to use a straw, it’s handy to have them around. We will see if they get the intended traction from us once we are going out again.

Reusable utensils. When not at home, I have hard plastic spork/knife combos that I always pack in my lunch box. My goal is to not use any throw-away utensils and it’s been working well so far (but I’m also not going anywhere other than work). I also have a wooden fork/spoon combo that I bought in college that I tuck into my purse. It’s my favorite as it also has sentimental value.

Reusable cozies. You know the kind of cozies you put around your beverage when it’s hot? I have a number of those I like to reuse as well. Bought my first one in college at the same fair where I bought my wooden spoon/fork. Also to note, if you frequent a Starbucks or Wawa, you can use refillable mugs/containers as long as you are able to tell them the ounces at check-out. This has been awesome for me because I like to use mine at Wawa. During this time, however, some shops (our local Wawa, at least) are not allowing you to use refillables for anything prepared for you to limit the spread of germs and protect their employees.

Cloth face masks. This is more specifically related to COVID-19, but it is so important as well. As I talked about last week, I am still at work and making my own masks. I now have 5 masks myself so that I am only doing laundry once a week (to also cut down on wasting water and energy that way). My work provides a mask every day to every team member but I have not used any because (a) I can make my own and have pretty fabrics, (b) our supply is limited (globally and from a company standpoint) and I want to ensure that our team members keep getting them if they do not have the same resources I do, and (c) it’s less wasteful and (as far as research shows right now) has the same effect (based on type of masks provided by our company and types of masks created by me).

I’m also planning on starting some new projects when I have time like making my own produce bag and looking into alternative feminine products as well as starting to potty train my daughter.

Now for my Earth Day fun!

This year I was inspired by The Lost Bros Wilderness Explorer Nature Hunt that they shared to their Instagram story last week. I saved a screen shot and decided to take my daughter on a Nature Hunt in our backyard. That’s about when different projects and fun started to take place!

First I made our Wilderness Explorer Backpacks and asked my friends to tell me what they would pack in their backpack! My daughter used hers for her rock collection when we took our trip outside – LOL. I also wanted an activity my daughter could participate in so I printed a template to make our own Wilderness Explorer Pennants and we colored them with crayons. we then attached them to sticks we found on our hunt and stuck them in our backpacks!

I also created Virtual Badges that we could attach to our pictures from the day as we went through our Nature Hunt checklist! These were a ton of fun to use to jazz up our pictures. I had initially thought about making stickers for my daughter to put on her own vest, but that didn’t feel too sustainable so I changed my mind.

Yesterday, Disney came out with their own series, Wilderness Explorers at Home which is going to be a series of short videos and badges you can earn through the My Disney Experience app. I couldn’t get it to work yesterday, so we’re starting today and looking for animals outdoors! I’m looking forward to earning these badges as well 🙂

One last thing I’ve seen a lot today is painted planters made from recyclables. In college, when I first really started focusing on sustainability, I painted a number of jars in save the earth style and used them to save can tabs and actually make jewelry from them. I can’t believe I forgot about this but now I plan to use those same jars as planters! We are not the best at keeping plants alive in my house, but I have four cacti that are going strong so I have high hopes!

Finally – the style part –

My initial Wilderness Explorer outfit: yellow shirt, brown shorts, girl scout sash (with most of my Girl Scout patches that were circle shaped sewn on), orange bandanna, socks and sneakers.

I wore to work my Wall-E outfit: black and white striped dress with my golden jumper over, striped belt, striped headband, boots, and Every Day is Earth Day necklace. I’m holding my work plant since I’m at work and wearing my bee mask.

After-work Wilderness Explorer outfit: yellow sweatshirt, burgundy leggings, orange headband, Wilderness Explorer backpack & pennant.

What are you doing for Earth Day?

❤ Juli

Bounding with Masks

You guys. The world is changing. COVID-19 has turned so many things on it’s head and I don’t think anyone anticipated what it has become. While staying home and staying safe are the new normal, I am constantly struggling to understand where I fit in.

In the beginning it felt strange, going to work when it feels like everyone else is staying home, and I struggled a bit knowing my job was “essential to healthcare” but not actually healthcare. I was given a glimmer of hope when my boss confided that she was trying to get us work from home status, but the reality sank in that we couldn’t truly work from home when I had to print 600 letters of essential worker status for our building.

For those of you who don’t know, I work in Human Resources at a Distribution Center. My company is in the MRO industry, which stands for Maintenance, Repair, and Operating materials. Basically, we supply other companies with products they need to operate; some major customers are in government and healthcare, thus, our “essential” status.

Being in HR, I handle any team members coming directly to the office. I also handle reports, confidential information, etc, but I need to be present mostly because so much of our jobs deal with paper documents still. I really couldn’t complete a few of my reports without paper handed to me from leaders, and someone needs to be here to review medical notes, answer team member questions and concerns, and, oh yeah, apparently conduct wellness checks on our team members who are calling out sick.

I enjoy my job, truly, and being in the office provides a sense of normalcy that I know my friends and family working from home don’t have. I have a routine and it’s very much similar to what it was before the quarantine began (aside from not seeing friends and family and going out for dinner, that is). The major differences are what happens when I arrive.

Pulling into the parking lot, I scan my badge to get through the gate. I pull into my normal parking spot, far enough away from the building that I get a small walk in but close enough that it’s not the back of the lot. I then put on my mask and gloves and head for the building where, starting very soon, I will get my temperature scanned before entering.

The first new normal was Social Distancing. Signs showed up around the building reminding us to stand 6-feet apart. Hand washing signs also went up and communications went out to all team members to abide by them all. Next, the extra conference rooms were locked, extra cleaning crew was brought in for extra building cleanings, and tables and chairs were removed from the break rooms to make space for social distancing. Oh, and they closed the gym, of course.

Next we were all given masks every day to wear during work. It was voluntary at first, but now is mandated by the governor. I had really been wanting to wear a mask but didn’t want to scare team members into thinking I might be sick so this mandate came at the perfect time. I decided to make my own. More on that in a bit.

This week, the new mandate was gloves. I wasn’t informed of it but my boss told me about halfway through the day that I needed to be wearing them and where I could find them. That has been a struggle since I spend a lot of time on the computer and gloves just don’t work with that too well. We’re getting by.

The next big move is going to be temperature screening. Today senior leaders were outside our window practicing scanning team members’ and deciding where to put the people who come up too high. It was beyond distracting but I think it will become the new normal by next week.

Anyway, if you’ve gotten this far, the real reason I’m talking about all of this is because my new normal has inspired a new style for ‘bounding. My foray into sewing a few years back was short-lived — mostly because I got pregnant and ran out of time for it — but I have a number of fabrics (and still do custom work) so it made making masks a natural choice. I started out with one mask, made it reversible, and washed it every night of the first week. That weekend I made myself three more (and a few more for others) and I plan on making one or two more this weekend. I have found a bit of joy in incorporating masks into my ‘bounding since I am still trying to ‘bound daily and have to wear a mask anyway. The first one was sort of inspired and from there I just kept going!

Follow the hastag #boundingwithmasks on instagram to see more! I’ve got much more fun on the way 🙂

Juli