Even though I officially started Plastic Free July a little late, fortunately I had the foresight to start saving my plastic trash on the first. So, I now have 10 days' worth of plastic trash to analyze!
Please note that this only includes the plastic that I'm more or less responsible for, and doesn't include things gifted to me (my birthday was this week, and a friend also gave me a bunch of leftover food before she left for a trip, so there was a lot of gifted plastic this week). My goal is to focus on my own habits and what I can control, rather than worrying about whether or not to include something that someone else gave me.
I've made a note with each, saying whether it's garbage or recycling, and thinking about how I can avoid this plastic in the future (or how you might be able to if you have different resources than me). Have fun rooting through my garbage! ;)
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| They would've been so nice and package-free had I not gotten in a hurry and shoved them in plastic... |
Plastic grocery bag— Trash. I reuse all the ones that creep into our house, but this one I ruined by stuffing very dirt-covered carrots into because I was in a hurry, and now it's too dirty to recycle and I can't justify washing and drying it for recycling. Lesson: I really need to make cloth produce bags and keep them on hand.
Lemon bag— Possibly store recycling, and reuse. Some internet research makes me think that I can tear off the filmy plastic and recycle it at a grocery store along with the plastic grocery bags— but I need to do some research first. The nylon netting I'll keep to use as a scrub brush. But, let's be honest, I didn't need this bag in the first place. Lesson: See above-mentioned cloth produce bags. I need to make them and stash them in Zach's work bag, since he does the grocery shopping. Also, research recycling of plastic wrappers!
Oatmeal lid— Home recycling. Buying oats in bulk isn't an option right now, so I'm sticking with the cardboard containers. Lesson: Perhaps buy a bulk bag of oats somewhere. I eat a lot of oats.
Parchment paper— Trash. I researched parchment paper this week and learned that most kinds are not compostable due to a wax or silicone layer. Lesson: I'm gonna try to find some compostable parchment paper that doesn't cost $8.95 in shipping!
Bits of tortilla bags— Possibly store recycling (see my note about the lemon bag). I keep the bags to use as ziplocks, but making homemade tortillas has been on my list for a while now. I've heard that you can ask your favorite Mexican restaurant to sell you tortillas in your own container, too. Lesson: Learn to make tortillas.
Strip of coffee bag— Trash. From a local store, Course Coffee Roasters! Asking a shop to sell us coffee beans in our own container is a bit iffy right now with Covid, but I'm still considering giving it a shot. Lesson: Sometimes supporting a local business trumps plastic concerns. Speaking of which…
Beef packaging, pork packaging— Trash. We went crazy and have already cooked an entire two pounds of meat so far this month! I've been so happy to be able to find locally-raised meat at the farmers markets. Lesson: Local farmers raising animals in respectful and regenerative ways is a cause that we believe is worth supporting. Someday I hope that there will be a way to do this without plastic, but we feel like it's a worthwhile tradeoff in the meantime.
Pasta plastic bag— Possibly store recycling. This was a total oops on my part: I asked Zach to pick up pasta but failed to remind him that Plastic Free July was on. (Side note: I bought a pasta maker months ago but it still hasn't even shipped. Cue many tears.) Lesson: Anticipate what might be packed in plastic and request that Zach buy the stuff in cardboard instead.
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| No plastic packaging needed in the garden! |
Mustard jar— Home recycling. Lesson: Buy in glass next time.
Hot sauce lids and seals— Possibly store/home recycling. I don't know why hot sauce isn't sold in larger bottles! In the meantime, we use up what we have. Lesson: Maybe in the future, look for larger bottles.
Half and half container— Possibly home recycling. I need to research how to actually recycle these darn things, and whether or not it's worth it. Sometimes I still wistfully think about how in Portland, we could buy half and half in glass jars! Lesson: Learn how to recycle the packaging, because glass isn't available and I don't think it'd be worth it to Zach to give up cream in his coffee.
Butter wrappers— Trash. Yes, there are six of them. It's not my fault that shortbread cookies require a pound of butter. Lesson: For us, butter is always worth it.
Grapeseed oil seal— Possibly home recycling.This seal for this big plastic bottle helps me make homemade mayo, which avoids a lot of salad dressing bottles! That said, I wonder if we could find neutral (not olive) oil in glass jars anywhere… Lesson: Search for oil in glass jars.
Peanut butter jar seal— Possibly store recycling. We buy peanut butter in glass jars, but they still have this annoying seal. If you have access to a bulk store that lets you grind your own peanut butter into a jar… I'm super jealous. Lesson: Peanut butter is worth the tiny bit of plastic.
Spices containers— Home recycling. Spices make bland food (beans and grains) taste good, so I'm all in favor of them! You can buy spices in glass at higher-end grocery stores, but we prefer to support The Olde Town Spice Shoppe because it's a great local store. Lesson: Again, for us, shopping local is a bigger priority than plastic waste. That said, I'm going to try to order the bigger sizes of spices so the plastic-to-spice ratio is as low as possible.
Cheese wrapper— Trash. People argue that you can simply split a wheel of cheese with some friends, or give up cheese entirely, or make your own, but option 1 is too expensive for us, option 2 is not worth it to us, and option 3 still involves plastic even if you use glass milk jugs. So we just buy cheese. Lesson: I probably don't need to consume as much cheese as I do, but… well, cheese.
Potato chip bag— Trash. I asked Zach to get me potato chips for my birthday, totally forgetting that I had a Plastic Free July thing going on. This was completely unnecessary. Lesson: Think before you request junk food!
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Biggest win this past week:
Doing a completely plastic-free shopping trip to the farmers market! This involved me arguing with one of the vendors about why my cotton bag was perfectly fine for holding romaine lettuce even though the lettuce was wet. But I came home with the lettuce, plus cabbage, peaches, green beans, and potatoes— and not a lick of plastic!
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| Eddie was very intrigued by the veggies |
Goals for the next couple weeks:
1. Continue gathering and cataloging my plastic trash.
2. Research recycling, especially of cartons and plastic wrappers and seals.
3. Make cloth produce bags.
4. See if there's any way that we can buy coffee beans from the local shop using our own container (or a compostable container).
5. When I send Zach a grocery list, ask him to avoid the plastic versions.
6. Learn to make tortillas.
7. Find a way to buy bulk oats and oil.
If you gathered your plastic trash this week, how did it go? What did you learn? What surprised you? Feel free to share in the comments!
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