Bathroom Remodel and Pushing Out Plastic

This week we've been focused on trying to get water to the house and those commonly taken for granted 1st world luxuries provided by American Standard. The tiny 5x8 space had to be completely gutted as a leak had caused some serious damage. To redesign I'm focusing on quality of materials, keeping it bright and airy, and re-purposing where possible. Here's a couple of before pics:

(To the left is the cobalt tile that I looked high and low for, but were installed improperly. Below is the vessel sink vanity, with marble top that was salvaged from my parent's back yard!)

Last night, we got the tile grouted and the heater/light/vent installed, along with the new shower valve. I adore white, but I think I've learned my lesson about white grout on the floor. Here's a couple of pics

of the guys working hard:

I'll keep you posted on the progress! Hoping to have a toilet tonight.

On another note, I've recently just been even more disturbed about the trash situation in the ocean, and really all over the world. It lays heavy on my heart right now. Microplastics are something I've been researching for work. They are being found in fish tissues at alarming rates. Plastic is degrading in our waterways and even getting into our waters. Environmental laws are not addressing the issue at all, and I'm hoping we can as a collective human race.

Plastic is convenient, light-weight, and can be recyclable. But, this process is very inefficient and plastic, no doubt should be a last resort and only in a reusable context. Right now, we mostly rely on single use plastic everyday, multiple times a day. Here's the one time uses I'm hoping to cut out completely in 2019:

-Plastic grocery bags

-Plastic straws

-Plastic q-tips (Real Q-tips are made of 100% biodegradable cotton, but other brands have plastic centers, which somehow I ended up with.)

-Plastic drink bottles

Wanna join me? Let me know how it's going and the obstacles you are hitting.