Creative Quarantine Shopping Ideas

Self-impose social distancing and staying at home has forced me to be more creative in finding necessities online. From my online search, I have found some innovative companies and products perfect for quarantine shopping that address everyday needs and are more environmentally friendly too!

Fruits and Vegetables delivered to your door:

Misfits Market is a company who delivers organic produce to your door at affordable prices.  These fruits and vegetables are odd-sized, sometimes misshapen and are refused by grocery stores because of the “beauty standards” for food.

Almost half of all produce harvested in the US is never eaten simply because it does not look good.

I have received 2 boxes from Misfits Market and the variety and quality are excellent! My shipments included fruits like apples, oranges, and mangoes as well as vegetables like green beans, bok choy, celery, carrots, cucumbers, hot house tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash.  You can also add specialty items to your order which include maitake and shiitake mushrooms, avocados, eggs, and oat groats.

Although Peter and I have quite a substantial vegetable garden, we won’t be harvesting until summer, so Misfits Market is perfect for us now.  We can cancel at any time and I love how this company is helping farmers by offering their organic produce that would otherwise rot because it is not considered beautiful.

Meat delivery:

Butcher Box delivers grass fed and grass finished beef, free range organic chicken, and heritage bred pork.  The basic box provides 6-11 pounds of meat and the larger box provides 16-22 pounds of meat. They also offer a custom box plan which allows you to select the meats you want including salmon. Boxes can be delivered monthly or every two months and you can cancel at any time.

We just received our first order. Peter dived right into cooking the grass-fed ground beef, making himself a burrito and declaring it “supremo”. Quarantine shopping at Butcher Box was a culinary win for us.

Thermometer:

Kinsa Health Company’s mission is to stop the spread of contagious diseases by offering smart thermometers, real time health data, illness triage, and predictive modeling.

Since our home thermometer is almost as old as I am, I decided to upgrade to a smart thermometer.  With the thermometer app, I can keep track of my temperature day to day. If my temperature goes above normal, the app provides personalized guidance based on age, fever, and symptoms.  Even for someone not very “techie”, I found the app easy to use and the basic thermometer much faster than my old one.  Kinsa also donates a thermometer to a family in need for every thermometer purchased.

 Safe Insect/pest repellant:

First Saturday Lime is a small American company founded by a multigenerational farming family. They produce precipitated calcium carbonate.  It is not caustic like hydrated lime and will not react with moisture because it is insoluble.  This means it is also safe for your skin.  It can be used around barns, chicken coops, and houses to kill parasite larvae, prevent growth of bacteria, and neutralize acid from urine.  It can also kill fleas, lice, and mite larvae.

First Saturday Lime is a good alternative to diatomaceous earth, because it does not contain silica, which can cause respiratory inflammation. 

We started using it around our chicken coops. We sprinkle it in the areas where the hens like to take dust baths as well as spread it on the floor of the coops.  In one day of using this lime, it was amazing to smell how well it reduced odors.

Sustainable Fibers:

Spinnova is an innovative company from Finland that has developed patented machines to grind wood pulp and agricultural waste into fibers. These fibers can be spun into wool and made into fabric for clothing.  This process uses 99% less water than cotton and does not contain harmful chemicals.  Where synthetic fibers like polyester are made from fossil fuels that contribute to microfiber pollution in the oceans, these fibers will break down and not be environmental hazards.

One of the future uses of this new cellulose fiber is to blend it with used clothing material to create truly recycled clothing.  

Stay safe and happy quarantine shopping!