{"id":3199,"date":"2018-01-23T10:10:55","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T15:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/?p=3199"},"modified":"2018-01-23T09:08:16","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T14:08:16","slug":"getting-all-the-toothpaste-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/2018\/01\/23\/getting-all-the-toothpaste-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting all the toothpaste out"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t typically get excited over the big things. But the little things that usually go unnoticed, now that\u2019s where I get my thrills or in some cases concerns. Yes, I know, \u201cDon\u2019t Sweat the Small Stuff.\u201d However, I\u2019m a conservationist down to the bone and needless waste or Styrofoam really disturbs me. In fact, as a server in a breakfast shop, I tried to convince patrons that they didn\u2019t need a Styrofoam cup and could use a mug. My boss told me to stop, but he didn\u2019t realize I really couldn\u2019t help myself. I spent endless hours in my twenties mulling over what products to buy. Sure, number one on my checklist: Do I need it? Then I would consider cost, and finally the amount of packaging. If I couldn\u2019t avoid packaging, then could I reuse or recycle it? In 1991, Germany adopted its \u201cPackaging Ordinance,\u201d which required all manufacturers to collect and then recycle or reuse their packaging after it was disposed of by consumers. It was brilliant! I loved the idea and of course, it no doubt reduced wasteful packaging. When you hit a company in their pockets, you\u2019re sure to see a change.<\/p>\n

One thing that really gives me a thrill is when I find a solution to a problem. The most recent problem was the new toothpaste tubes; have you notice that they make removing toothpaste very difficult? They are now made from a thick flexible plastic that is hard to roll. Once you extract some toothpaste it goes back to its original shape, it cannot be easily flattened out like the metal ones or the thinner previous plastic ones. So much toothpaste is wasted, which is good for the manufacturer\u2019s pocket, but frustrating for a conservationist and a consumer with limited funds. In the past, Mike and I would silently compete on who could extract the last bit of toothpaste out of the old tubes, neither of us wanted to concede that we needed to open a new tube. Nevertheless, with these new tubes if you manually squeeze them, it is impossible to get the last bit of the toothpaste out; if you are lucky you might get 80%. It made me crazy. My Mom had an even harder time as her hands aren\u2019t strong enough to squeeze the paste out and she was looking for a new tube after using only 50% of its contents. So, I am thrilled to say, we found a fabulous solution ~ a toothpaste squeezer<\/a>! So simple and it works great! Everyday, I watch how this handy device moves up the toothpaste tube without wasting a drop ~ now that\u2019s a thrill. Bonus, most people don\u2019t know it but if the tube is made from #4 plastic it can be recycled.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Now that is flat!<\/p><\/div>\n

I know this might seem rather insignificant in regards to the state of our country and world right now, but hey, you gotta see the good and enjoy any accomplishment no matter how small.\u00a0 These moments of making a positive difference help me get through the day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Check out how thin this tube is!<\/p><\/div>\n

What gives you a thrill? Please share and I will continue to share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t typically get excited over the big things. But the little things that usually go unnoticed, now that\u2019s where I get my thrills or in some cases concerns. Yes, I know, \u201cDon\u2019t Sweat the Small Stuff.\u201d However, I\u2019m a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[99],"tags":[1301,1285,1284,49],"class_list":["post-3199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-packaging-ordinance","tag-thrill","tag-toothpaste-squeezer","tag-waste"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3199"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3208,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3199\/revisions\/3208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knowyouroots.com\/ijustgottashare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}