F*ck Plastic

Thanks to the Instagram algorithm, I came across Silver Falls Sustainability Co. mindlessly scrolling down my feed, and was immediately intrigued by their products. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only are their products plastic-free and cruelty-free, but they’re also a small business of “two part time employees, two dogs and a baby.“ (I’m going to assume that the baby and two fur babies are also hard-working, valuable members of the company.) 

(Probably how the pups of SF Sustainable relax after a long day at the office.) 

Packaging

My products arrived in a cardboard package with a sweet note from the company.  Each bar arrives wrapped in white tissue paper, which you can easily recycle. 

“Yuna, 

Thank you for your order! Together we can create a zero waste world! -SFSC”

(So sweet!)

1) Shampoo

The company currently has 4 different scent options, and one unscented bar, which cost $8.20 per bar. Price-wise, I think these bars are pretty comparable to conventional, bottle shampoo, which make them a great affordable zero-waste option! 

I start with the “Wallowa Wilds” shampoo bar. It’s a beautifully, woodsy-scented bar featuring cedar, sage, and tea tree oils. To use, I lather it up like I would any other bar of soap, then directly massage it into my scalp. It actually creates quite a good amount of lather and rinses out well! I also love how I can actually feel my hair get cleaner without that “stripped entirely of its natural oils” feeling like I do with conventional hair products. 

Ingredients list according to their website:  Wallowa Wilds: Organic Cocos Nucifera, (Coconut) Oil, Organic Olea Europaea, (Olive) Fruit Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Organic Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Organic Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Organic Cocoa Butter, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Proprietary Essential Oil Blend, Vitamin E, Chlorella, Organic Aloe Vera Powder * No Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) in finished product.

2) Conditioner

Next, I take this conditioner bar and literally run it through the ends of my hair several times, making sure that it’s coated as much as possible. After leaving it in for a few minutes (don’t worry, I wash my face and body during this time to make sure I don’t waste water), I rinse it out. This product also rinses out very nicely, and despite the fact that I literally rub it directly onto my hair, it never leaves chunks of conditioner bar behind.

Ingredients list according to their website: Btms 50, Shea Butter, Cetyl Alcohol, Argan Oil, Coconut Oil

Would I recommend these bars? 

These two bars do their job so damn well. On their website, they state that some people may need a transition period from conventional hair products to these more natural products, but I actually really enjoyed using these products from Day 1. The only small bump I had was that my hair felt slightly oilier than usual after the first two uses, but by the third time my hair had already adjusted nicely. I’ve actually received compliments lately from my friends and peers noticing that my hair looks “so shiny” and “healthy,” which I never heard before. 

I actually do that thing I shouldn’t do where I wash my hair every day (I know, I shouldn’t!), plus I have coarse, dry, Asian hair that’s actually quite wavy, so I need hair products that’ll actually moisturize with both the shampooing and conditioning steps. I’m so happy that these bars do exactly that, and will definitely continue to use these bars for my hair routine! 

(An accurate representation of post-shower me.)

SF Sustainability Co. also includes a free cedar soap dish if you buy 3 of their shampoo or conditioner bars, which is a thoughtful touch they added to show that they really value and appreciate each customer! 

(Bonus: it’s made from cedar mill scraps!)

Rating: 10/10 

TMI Period Background & Medical History

My flow is heavy. I know everyone likes to say that, but I’m at the point where I have to change my pad every 3 fucking hours on my heaviest days (day 2 &3). In fact, when I was diagnosed with anemia, my doctor figured out that it was due to my heavy af periods fucking with my iron levels (haha spare me my uterus plz).

On top of that, I physically cannot get any period products up there. I know Diva cups are all the rage right now as a zero-waste period alternative, but I can’t even use tampons because they cause me too much pain (vaginismus ftw!!!). Thus, my current period routine involves my already-stained undies and Always pads, because those are the only pads I trust that won’t leave me in a pool of my own blood. 

The First Time

My very first pair was a pair of these black “Hiphugger” undies, which THINX claims can hold up to 2 tampons worth of blood (as a pad user, I have no idea what that means fyi). After using my friend’s code to get $10 off (woo saving money!), I spent $24.00 because fuck yea free shipping.

I decided to wear only these under on my second heaviest day (day 3 out of 7) when I stayed home from work for a “sick day”. I put them on at 11:00 AM, and went about my day playing video games, doing some light yoga, and playing more video games. I actually completely forgot that I was wearing them until around 9:00 PM, when I started to notice that period-ey smell. (You know, that iron-ey, “something just died in my pants” smell of doom.) 

At that point, I had been wearing nothing but these period underwear, and was pleasantly surprised to notice that not only was there minimal smell (seriously, it wasn’t that bad), but it didn’t feel like I needed to change. You know how sometimes you forget to change a pad on time (gross, I know, but you know you’ve done it!!!!) and it feels like you’re wearing a soggy diaper near your vagina? Well, this didn’t feel bulky or like a giant diaper at all. In fact, I definitely felt like I could have worn them a little bit past 9:30 PM, the time that I went to take a shower and changed into my regular pad + previously-stained undies combo.   

When you’re finished wearing your THINX undies, you’re supposed to:

1) squeeze and wash all of the blood out by hand 

2) machine wash in a laundry mesh bag. 

For some of you who menstruate, Step 1 may seem gross (my friends were definitely grossed out when I described the process). However, you’re dealing with your own bodily fluids, so I personally don’t think it’s a huge deal. In fact, it’s kind of fucking metal to watch YOUR OWN DAMN BLOOD go down the bathroom sink drain. The whole time I was cleaning my pair, I kept “joking” around with my boyfriend that I felt like I had murdered someone and was washing the blood off of my hands. (Yes, we’re still together.) 

Overall, this first-time experience went swimmingly, and I couldn’t wait (or at least, I didn’t 100000% dread) my next period!!!

The Second Time (aka when it all went to shit) 

I was so inspired by the first time I wore them, that I decided to go through my first whole period armed only with these panties. I ordered 3 more (each on sale for $28.90), and scheduled my laundry day so that I would be able to wash these panties and (ideally) be able to wear only these panties for most of my entire 7 day period.

Spoiler alert: It all fucking went wrong. 

The first day started off great, since I have a medium flow. I was actually able to wear these without a single problem starting from around 11:00 PM (when I started my period on day 1) until around 8:00 AM the next day. There was no leakage overnight (tested while wearing my white pajama pants because I love living on the edge) and I started to actually feel super excited about my period like I was in 7th grade all over again. 

(Tee-hee, I love this show.) 

Then, shit blood hit the fan.

On Day 2, I started off wearing a new pair of these period underwear at 8:00 AM, because I felt like I couldn’t wear my previous pair any longer. I figured that the new pair would be able to last me the entire day, until I went to shower (which I usually do around 8 - 9 PM every day). 

Jesus Christ, I’ve never been so fucking wrong before in my life. 

From 8:00-ish AM to 1:00-ish PM, I wore only my Hiphugger pair thinking that everything was going swimmingly. However, around 1, I ran to the bathroom to pee. I pulled down my pants, and was shocked to see that, in the course of 5 fucking hours, I had bled through not only the bottom of the underwear, but all the way down to my leggings, which had become slightly stained and already smelled of delightful period scent. 

To quote the kids these days: I was shooketh.

(Legit my fucking facial expression as I stared at the murder scene in my pants.) 

I immediately changed into a new pair of Hiphuggers and leggings, desperately thinking to myself, “Surely this pair will last me until I shower later.” And so I went about the rest of my day, playing video games and chilling until I went to pee around 7:27 PM (yep, I logged the time on my phone because I am that extra). 

I HAD SOAKED THROUGH THE GODDAMN UNDERWEAR. AGAIN. 

Within just 5 hours. 

At this point, I threw my hands up, shrieked (pretty sure I scared the shit out of my neighbors), and resigned myself to using a pad because sorry environment, but there was no way in hell I was going to be able to carry out the rest of my period with only my 4 pairs of Thinx undies and nothing else. My period plans dashed, I conceded defeat to Mother Nature. She won. There was no stopping her bloody flow, not even period underwear. Sadly, I ended up using disposable pads for the rest of my period, which was not how I had wanted it to go. Sigh. 

The real question: would I purchase these again?

For now: no. 

I tried to like them, I really did. After the first time I tried them out, I raved to my friends about how much I loved these panties, and how I excited I was to have these in my life. But after the disaster of a second try... I’m not sure if I can trust only these for my periods. And since I am limited to either these panties and/or pads, my options are a bit limited in the ways I can have my period zero-waste. 

I think overall they would work better for someone who has a lighter flow than I do. My friend wears these throughout her whole period, and she has a light flow thanks to her IUD. So if you don’t bleed like a stuck pig like me, or just want a period underwear options to supplement your current period routine (like my other friend who wants to use these in addition to her Diva cup), I’d say go for it. 

For me or someone like me, you would definitely need another menstruation method so that you don’t potentially ruin TWO pairs of leggings (thank god they were black).

For now, I’ve ordered a set of cloth pads that I’m going to try using to supplement the THINX undies because I’m desperatetermined to make this work. 

Rating: 5/10 

Korean food is especially central to my identity, which is why I’ve been a bit worried now about how my zero-waste journey will affect the very food that I consider essential both physically and emotionally. 

Being based in New York City, my go-to Asian supermarket is H Mart, or Hanareum. I go there for all of my Korean needs, from kimchi to mandoo to yulmucha. And since Korean food is basically 78% of my diet, I have been stressed the FUCK out thinking about how to get Korean food zero-waste. 

What if I need to get a new tub of gochujjang? It almost always comes in those little red plastic tubs that’ll just keep stacking up if I save them. What about the million kinds of soy sauces I need (yes, plural) in my pantry?! Anchovy sauce?!? Sesame oil??!! 

(I basically need gochujjang more than I need water or oxygen.)

Fortunately, my mom’s already told me that you can get kimchi in bulk from Korean markets, although I don’t know if that means that I can bring in my own container. It’s definitely something for me to try the next time I head out to HMart or Hanyang. And I was pleasantly surprised a couple of days ago when I discovered that the 4th Street Food Co-Op actually carries tamari (basically soy sauce) in bulk! 

As for everything else I need... I have to figure it out. So far, I know the 4th Street Co-Op has soba and udon noodles, but I actually don’t really eat either in my daily life. They also have all different types of rice, so I’m glad I can get those package-free at least!