One of my favorite and most fun green living solutions is shopping at the farmer's market. Farmer's markets are not only a great place to avoid buying products wrapped in single use plastics, but sourcing produce and other products locally helps reduce green house emissions.
Here in Gunnison we have two farmers markets a week, as well as one in Crested Butte. Gunnison's markets are Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings and Crested Butte's is on Sundays. Our markets are a lively place filled with local ranchers and farmers, jewelry, live music, educational booths about our environment, and so much more. This weekend while my parents were in town visiting, I drug them to both Gunnison and Crested Butte's markets.
Every week at the farmer's markets I buy food from the booth that Western State's Organics Guild has set up that has produce from the community gardens on our campus (click to check 'em out!). This week I bought a bin of mixed greens, some New Mexico chilies, and cauliflower. I was the most excited about the cauliflower as last time I was at the grocery store the only cauliflower I could find was shrink wrapped in plastic so I didn't end up getting any.
Another item I ended up buying at the market was a bar of goat milk soap. I've been looking for a good bar of soap to use instead of buying plastic bottles of body soap. Bars of soap last a lot longer and tend to come in way less packaging, making it a greener option. The problem I kept running into is most bars of soap dry out my skin. I decided to try this goat milk soap because its apparently very good for dry skin and is even recommended for people with eczema. The soap I bought is made in Montrose, CO and so far I love it. It hasn't dried out my skin and is even gentle enough to use on my face. Most bar soaps on the market these days are not even actually soap. True soaps are made through a process called saponification which creates glycerin. However, most bar soaps are actually sold as "beauty bars" or similar names without being called soap since glycerin is not even used as an ingredient. The term soap is pretty heavily regulated by the FDA so look for products that are actually labeled as soap. These "beauty bars" or other alternatives are actually detergents that strip your body of its natural oils, which causes that dry skin feeling after a shower [source]. I've been using this goat milk soap and have completely shed that dry skin feeling.
Click HERE to visit the MIM by KIM website to purchase these goat milk soaps and other ecofriendly products made in Montrose, CO!
One other aspect about our farmer's markets that I love is the amount of education and outreach. One of my friends and fellow student had a booth set up to educate people about the consequences of cheat grass, especially here in Gunnison. Cheat grass is an invasive species that is able to take over large areas of land and native species. It particularly affects desert climates like the sage-brush steep here in Gunnison since cheat grass blooms and dies sooner in the season than the rest of the vegetation, causing it to act like a natural fire starter. Gunnison has a few cheat grass pull days throughout the year for community members to volunteer at as well as native seed collection days. Do research in your own community to see if there is anything you could do to help the fight against cheat grass!
Now these may not have ANYTHING to do with being green, but my mom and I couldn't pass up these cute matching rings from a local artist. We always love shopping small and supporting local!
All in all, I got a haul at the farmer's markets this weekend. If you haven't checked out your local farmer's market, I highly suggest you do! They are full with little treasures and you'll never know what you'll find. Whether you want to go in order to participate in #plasticfreejuly shopping or just so you can #shoplocal and #supportsmallbusiness, these markets are perfect for you!
XX Erin