In my previous post about plastic bags I mentioned that I was signing up for Beth Terry’s plastic challenge. Beth has a wonderfully informative blog about living without plastic called myplasticfreelife.
The rules for the first week are to tally up normal plastic use. That means purchasing, eating, and business as usual per your normal life. Being an eco-conscious person I thought I’d do pretty good. Well at four days in I was already stressing at the amount of plastic I had used. Seven days in and I definitely suffered some guilt. Here is my complete list.
Week One
1.) Wine bottle cap (twist off type)
2.) Cheese wrapper
3.) Bag that kiwi’s came in (Trader Joe’s)
4.) Packaging for organic bell peppers (Trader Joe’s)
5.) Fresh flowers packaging (2) plus material of unknown origin that might be plastic
6.) pouch for flower food
7.) plastic film covering raw chicken, plus styro-foam container
8.) bike light plus packaging
9.) grocery bag (I forgot to bring mine!)
10.) take-out container from salad bar
11.) lid from take-out soup container
12.) telephone headset plus packaging
13.) packaging for ‘savory thins’ rice crackers
14.) plastic soup spoon
15) Bubble wrap mailer received from an online purchase
16.) Three small containers for minerals make-up (eco friendly make-up in unfriendly packaging!)
17-19) More bubble wrap from an online purchase of organic coconut oil & vitamins from iherb.com
Yikes that’s a lot of plastic! Much of which is ending up in the ocean in a cesspool of consumer waste. I am appreciative of Beth for bringing more awareness to the world about plastic. But I've got to admit, it's not easy!!!
Week two
Week two went a lot better. Here is my plastic talley:
1.) Two coffee cup lids
2.) Tube of anti-itch cream
3.) one take-out container
4.) One water bottle (found in the fridge at work, so I don't know if it counts)
It became clear to me that in order to reduce my use of plastic I will no longer be able to shop at Trader Joe’s. Last weekend I attempted to shop 100% plastic free there and I was able to get just a few items. Lemons, apples, gluten free mac & cheese and organic wine. There are a few more items I could have gotten, like butter and eggs but that is a dismal percentage of the majority of their inventory. The love affair is over (unless I need cheap wine, however my wine bottle had a plastic cork…sigh). Well if anything It’s got me thinking(and talking) about how to reduce my use of plastic.
Things I can do to reduce my plastic consumption:
- Buy larger quantities
- Leave house earlier on Sunday morning to get to the farmer’s market.
- Refill my own containers at the health food store
- Buy flower's at farmer's market (local and sustainable)
- Purchase re-usable lunch container such as Lunch Bots
Another great slice of life article on living without plastic is on the Earth911 website.
1 Month, No Plastic: How Real People Did It.
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