Friends who come over for a meal and help clean up afterwards are often surprised that we don’t compost. I’ll buy my favorite whole milk raw milk yogurt in plastic, and sometimes I dilute some smelly toxic bleach stuff to clean the mold spots on the shower grout.
The 80/20 rule applies to me, and doing the best I can instead of being dogmatic and unwavering seems sensible. Composting is currently not convenient, and since we otherwise produce so little garbage, and recycle everything that can possibly be recycled, I won’t feel bad about throwing my produce waste into the trash can. Plastics from the packaging process leach into peanut butter, so I make sure to buy tahini and nut butters in glass jars. However, I’ll buy my favorite yogurt in plastic and avoid a lengthy trip to the farm for the single glass jar benefit. Most of my cleaning gets done with vinegar and a few other inoffensive products. But sometimes I need to bring in the strong and toxic stuff to get the job done properly.
To make a long story short, compromising here and there, albeit with awareness, is ok. No need to be a saint, no need to be dogmatic, no need to be a good girl or boy 100% of the time. Just doing the best you can and giving yourself a break, with awareness, is ok.