Being Prepared

Snacks are my favourite road trip ritual Unfortunately my habit at stopping at a gas station, getting some bad coffee, and as many snacks that can fit in my hands as possible creates an insane amount of trash. This is a breakdown of a typical raodtrip snack haul. One coffee, one cold drink, one bag of chips, one bag of candy, and probably some jerky (shout out to the Longview jerky store I love you.) Technically I could probably recycle the cold drink container, but I never do. So that means eleven pieces of trash, if you include the two creamer, two sugar packets and weird stir stick thing I used for my coffee. Depending on exactly what I bought that's half a grocery bag of trash. Not to mention the arm and the leg they charged me for those snacks, which also sucks.

This weekend Josh and I drove down to the pass to celebrate our nieces birthday. On Friday I had no work and it was another perfect opportunity to practice no waste.

Basic truth about Bronwyn: I love snacks. Problem: the snacks I usually buy are unhealthy, create a lot of waste, and are expensive. I would like to mention that me liking snacks is not the problem, I need food to sustain my body. Food is not something I want to attach words like 'problem', 'bad, or 'guilty' to, that creates a negative thought process around something I need to live. I'll probably write more about that later, I just wanted to clarify. Food=sustenance, how I buy food=problem.

My solution: make snacks ahead of time. Sounds easy but when your habit is a ten second mad scramble around a 7-11 the thought of prepping ahead is a little daunting.

So I made cookies. After ten seconds of googling I found an easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I had all the ingredients, I had tons of time. Easy. This took about 20 minutes not including how long it took to cook. Not the most healthy thing but better then inhaling a whole bag of Swedish berries and regular lightly salted chips.

I recently learned how to make smoothies. (Lol @ me I should have learned this skill way earlier in my life). I made one for breakfast with enough left over for to bring two mason jars of smoothie along for the ride. Cold drinks covered!

My only regret was not bringing along a to go mug with coffee, or for coffee, my last road trip essential. So I just didn't get a coffee. Don't worry I survived.

Replacing my old habit will take some time. But when I do the work I am happier with the choice I made and enjoy myself more! I replaced my gas station frenzy with some home made snacks, and drinks. I saved money, created less waste, and felt more accomplished!