One of the few dissapointments I’ve had in Montana is the recycling available. I can recycle aluminum, plastic 1 & 2, newspaper and magazines, cardboard. Better than Carbondale 5 years ago, but the lack of glass and tin can recycling kind of drives me bonkers. I wanted to come to Montana because it’s “Colorado 10 years ago,” so not sure why I was expecting some state-of-the-art recycling systems.

But there is a flip side to this “issue.” I’ve been trying to become less dependant on packaged goods. And buying boxed wine is more Eco-friendly with its cardboard rather than glass, and not because I’m cheap….right? Our local grocery store has a fantastic bulk food selection. I’ve been getting dried beans to rehydrate, black pepper in ziplocs (refillable), and I’ve made a commitment to start chopping my own tomatos rather than the easy petite diced (although I don’t think I’ve ever diced anything “petite”). Ideally we’ll have our own house this summer to actually grow the tomatos! And I’ve learned how to make my own broth out of veggie scraps.

Today I baked my own bread with Wheat Montana flour, made granola, and we tried our hand at homemade mozerella (using milk from Victor, MT). So while it pains me to throw that can or glass beer bottle away (thank you New Belgium for making “Sunshine in a can,” now just need to find some up here), at least I can source many of my items locally. I can’t wait for the farmers market with the Flathead cherries, and getting some Farm-to-Market pork (next to my favorite local bike trails, Pig Farms), and growing our own peppers so I don’t have to have my mom keep sending up green chili from Colorado.

This is not to toot my own horn on sustainability, but I’m a bit excited with the challenge of massively reducing my waste. Now, to find that electric scooter to get me up the hill to work.