Show Your Plastic Challenge: Week 7

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE - WEEK 7

Total - 53 items, 12.2 oz.

THIS CHALLENGE IS ABOUT NOT CONSUMING NEW PLASTIC.

How would you handle the challenge of receiving of plastic gifts or gifts generously packaged in plastic? While secondhand plastic gifts would be more in line with our goals, the feelings of the giver must be considered. We don’t want to stifle the generosity and happiness of the gift giver. My children were kindly given gifts this week by loved ones that fell into this genre of consumption.

A debate could ensue whether or not this plastic is consumed by our family or by the gift giver. I have chosen for the purpose of this project to include such plastic if it is new packaging and has no further reuse. This week 9 pieces of our consumed plastic resulted from the gifts we received.

I’ve come to the realization that I have been addicted to Ziploc bags. They’re creeping out of every corner and crevice in the house. Boo! It’s me – the Ziploc bag! It has been over two years since I purchased a new box of bags and my two last boxes were made from recycled plastic. I have a weakness for organization and the Ziploc bag has been my best friend for many years for this purpose. I now must deal with the aftermath of my organization fetish – a plethora of Ziploc bags in the house that are nearing the end of their useful life. The bags have been washed and reused until holes present themselves.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE RETIRED ZIPLOC BAGS?

I’m beginning to go through them slowly and retire them week by week. Who knows how many I have accumulated between the four walls of our home. My freezer is still full of many more from pre-project foods. Any new food put into the freezer is being put into glass canning jars or other glass containers as opposed to plastic bags. Hopefully, by the end of this year plastic ziploc bags will be a thing of the past.

They can be recycled along with other plastic bags at your local store with a plastic bag recycling program. Remember though, refuse, reduce and reuse come before recycle. We must reduce our consumption of these items. Recycling is not a perfect solution since pollutants are off gassed in the recycling process and they can only be down cycled rather than made into the same product again like aluminum can.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• We finished week 2 without buying any GF cookies & sweets. 
• Now I have to work on chips! I made one batch of homemade tortilla chips from homemade tortillas this week. They were yummy - but its a trick to get them thin enough.
• Today we're submitting our almost plastic free, bulk produce order from Azure Standard to be delivered next week: a case of: peaches, oranges, apples, and grapefruit. Sometimes they don't even have produce stickers on them. I haven't been able to order potatoes or onions plastic free yet. I don't have ideal storage conditions yet for ordering those items by the case.

SUMMARY:

Month 1 Summary - 205 items, 3 lbs 15 oz

Week 5 Total - 37 items, 12 oz

Week 6 Total - 61 items, 25 oz

Week 7 Total - 53 items, 12.2 oz

GOALS:

• Begin tracking how long a standard 13 gallon kitchen garbage bag lasts in our home before going to the landfill.
• Source local honey in my own refillable jars.
• Make homemade crackers.
• Make another batch baby wipe solution.

I CHALLENGE YOU THIS WEEK TO THINK OUTSIDE OF THE PLASTIC BOX!

Show Your Plastic Challenge: Week 6

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE - WEEK 6

Total - 61 PIECES, 25 OZ

After 6 weeks, I feel a sense of, umm, not of failure but of disappointment. With expectations set high I wanted to see significant change by now. I've been working hard to ensure that my bread is homemade, we do without conveniences, sourcing plastic free food locally, etc. Yet why do I not see a change in the amount of plastic consumed? Each week there is a new hurdle to jump over or through. Do I feel pulled by alluring packaging? Less work, immediate gratification. Wow, advertising does a doozy to our minds! Remember...life style change!

I'm still determined to keep treading water to prevent this plastic sea from swallowing me!

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC: WEEK 6

                 

Recently we welcomed a few laying hens to our flock and as a result were in need of cedar shavings for our chicken house. Ordinarily I would pick up a big plastic wrapped bale of shavings from the feed store. Here in North Central Arkansas we are surrounded by logging companies and tree mills. As I was driving through our town one day, on the same route I always drive, a light bulb came on. Why do I pay some unknown company across the country to ship plastic encased cedar shavings to Wal-mart or the feed store when I drive by a cedar mill everyday?

The answer can be summed in one word - CONVENIENCE.

When we go to a big chain store, it's a one stop shopping experience. They have programmed our brains to believe that every need can be met within the four walls of the megaplex SUPERSTORE. It's funny, I've hardly been in those stores lately. They don't sell very much that I want to buy. I decided to call our local cedar mill and ask if I could buy some of their 'waste,' leftover cedar shavings. The end result of a brief phone call was that we were able, for free, to load as much of the shavings as we wanted. We brought a couple of garbage cans and a big shovel and filled up without any expense or plastic consumption.

The lesson for me was: (1) don't be afraid to ask and (2) think outside the big plastic box that I've been trained by for so long.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• I do see the plastic in my cupboards lessening. My husband is having withdrawals!
• If we do have a processed food: bread, crackers, chips, etc. I try to limit it to one product per day.
• We did without store bought sweets/cookies this week. I didn't buy any!
• I contacted Enjoy Life Foods about plastic packaging.

SUMMARY:

Week 1 Total - 52 items, 13 oz

Week 2 Total - 59 items, 18 oz

Week 3 Total - 44 items, 14.1 oz

Week 4 Total - 50 items, 17.9 oz

Week 5 Total - 37 items, 12 oz

Week 6 Total - 61 items, 25 oz

GOALS:

• Source local honey in my own refillable jars.
• Make homemade crackers.
• Make another batch baby wipe solution (baby care post to come)

I CHALLENGE YOU TO TRY TO THINK OUTSIDE THE PLASTIC BOX THIS WEEK!

Show Your Plastic Challenge: Week 5

WEEK 5 SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE

 TOTAL – 37 PIECES, 12 OZ

Finally…a reduction in volume of our plastic waste, small but good.

Show Your Plastic - Week 5

Since we didn’t ‘clean house’ at the beginning of July of our accumulated plastic but continue to use what was on hand, plastic is going to continue to filter in as the year progresses. With my pregnancy and the birth of our third child in May I allowed myself to cling to gluten free, allergy friendly convenience foods for a while. My husband was carrying the cooking load for a while and for that I'm so grateful.

Entering the second month, I’ve now discovered the ugly truth that trying to change too many things too quickly can lead to burnout. I want to make sustainable changes in our family that we can make part of our lifestyle rather than create fads that will quickly fade. One example of a failed plastic free attempt was making homemade dog food. After making all of our own gluten/soy/egg/dairy free foods from scratch, making dog food at 9:00 pm is not exactly an enjoyable task. After looking at my plastic free priorities I’ve decided to investigate other alternatives for pet food.

"Sometimes we have to take a step back, take deep breath, and decide what should come first."

We try when possible to attend the local farmers markets. The Locally Grown market that we are members of is 60 miles away. They have a wide variety of produce available but we only get to the market about once a month. On one market visit I had an interesting experience. I had notified the growers & market managers that I would be bringing my own containers. While I kindly requested that some of my items not be packaged in plastic, my plans were thwarted. I sent my husband to pickup the order (it’s an online farmers market) with reusable bags and containers in tow, he was made to feel very uncomfortable.

“Are you going to cut those sausages out of the plastic package and put them in your pockets?”

he was asked by the market manager. The majority of the items were prepackaged in plastic bags (bell peppers, tomatoes, jalapeños). After being taunted he didn’t want to make a scene and quietly departed.

The next visit to the market, I was prepared to do just what the manager suggested, with container in hand. “What a great idea,” I’d say. “Thanks for thinking of it.” He will be holding the plastic bag. (Smile.) This from a group that encourages reusable bags for order pickups and encourages you to reuse your containers. Going against the grain becomes a norm when trying to go plastic free.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• Discovered a way to keep produce stickers out of landfill, and my compost. Post to come soon.
• Homemade Gluten Free Rustic Morroccan Loaves have become a highly requested staple in our home. I found a allergen free baking cookbook that I love and have tried several of Cybele Pascal's recipes.

SUMMARY:

Week 1 Total - 52 items, 13 oz

Week 2 Total - 59 items, 18 oz

Week 3 Total - 44 items, 14.1 oz

Week 4 Total - 50 items, 17.9 oz

Week 5 Total - 37 items, 12 oz

GOALS:

• Continue to implement one plastic free change from the Grocery Substitution worksheet: homemade cookies. Can I convince my family to go without sweets/cookies when I haven't had an opportunity to bake for the next week? 
• Research any alternatives for pet food in recyclable packaging or find a way to reuse our pet food bags.
• Make batch of homemade laundry soap.

Plastic Free Shopping: In the Waste Stream of Others

I grew up in what most people would consider a large family (in a modern sense). There were seven of us: Dad, Mom, four girls and one boy. Don't feel sorry for our brother, he held his own. We were very fortunate to have loving parents who stayed together faithfully, until our mothers death in 2011. Our mother was a wonderful homemaker and didn't work the majority of my childhood. She was very frugal out of necessity. She loved to shop at secondhand or thrift stores. To her it was almost like a scavenger hunt to find the hidden treasure. She would lie in wait for the next cart of treasure to come rolling out of the intake room like a cat waiting to pounce on its prey. The thought makes me smile.

I've recently begun re-living my mother's passion partly due to frugality but also as an excellent, eco-conscious endevour. When we give an item a second life we are able to keep plastic packaging out of the landfill. Living in the waste-stream of others is a very eco friendly habit. It certainly lessens our carbon footprint too.

I've been able to clothe our newborn son 90% of secondhand clothes all carefully chosen from natural fibers. No synthetic clothes for us! I keep an electronic list of the clothes in my children's current wardrobes to evaluate whether an item found is really needed or not. I need to work further on creating a minimalist wardrobe for each family member. In time that's a task I'll conquer.

To keep within our goal of minimalism for this year, I need to go secondhand shopping with a list otherwise my excitement can get out of control quickly. Plastic free purchases, yipyee! Reminder to self, we still want to limit our purchases to only absolute necessities. What can I live without?

Show Your Plastic Challenge - Plastic Free July Week 4

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE - WEEK 4

TOTAL - TBD OUNCES

Our ugly evidence,

As I was contemplating my post for this week I realized that some of  you might be questioning my motive for undertaking this project. Why would anyone want to go to such effort to rid their life of something so pervasive & convenient as plastic? I (along with my four other siblings) lost my dear mother over three years ago to primary progressive multiple sclerosis. She died only two weeks after her 50th birthday. She was a lively, loving woman who inspired everyone around her.

WHY DO I MENTION OUR MOTHER IN THIS STORY?

She grew up during her childhood in the Love Canal subdivision in Niagra Falls, NY. For those of you who aren’t aware Love Canal was built on top of a toxic waste dump. While I cannot state that our Mother’s disease was a product of her childhood exposure to the toxic chemicals that surrounded her, I certainly question its involvement. It is obvious that we are a product of our environment. At the time of our Mother’s diagnosis, we had already been educating ourselves for some time on the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices: organic and whole foods, locavore eating, green living, homesteading, simple living. But this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It sent me into a mode of questioning everything.

WHO SAYS THAT PLASTIC WAS SAFE?

What impact will chemicals continue to have on my family? While I realize that many factors are out of my control – plastic consumption is one factor that can be somewhat controlled. Is ANY plastic really SAFE? While there is much debate on this subject, there exists a plethora of convincing evidence that shows, in even food grade plastics, toxins leach into our food. Think of these terms: BPA (bisphenol A), Phalates. Where does most virgin plastic come from? Fossil fuels. I don’t want my children becoming a product of someones experiment. An experiment that is later found to be harmful to its subjects. A discovery that would come too late. Therefore, I have chosen to become a mindful plastic consumer and limit our plastic consumption.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• Completed the Grocery Substitution from Beth Terry’s book Plastic Free – How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too with ideas for plastic free substitutes of my top 13 grocery items. See my completed Grocery Substitution worksheet.
• Implemented two plastic free changes from the Grocery Substitution Worksheet: bread and cereal/granola. I felt brave enough to finally go without my gluten and soy free convenience foods and attempted the different task of learning how to bake again – this time, GLUTEN FREE. As I start to build a new collection of dependable gluten-free recipes I’ll share them with you.
• We have been traveling in our Airstream RV this week in St. Louis. We managed to keep away from all plastic drink bottles. However, upon arriving at our RV location we were dismayed to discover that a water pressure regulator was required due to high pressure. We didn't have any use for one prior and therefore didn't have one with us. Since water is a necessity we acquired the two largest pieces of #3 PVC plastic packaging you see in the photo. Bummer!
• I'll have to report back with weight of plastic consumed later this week upon returning home.

GOALS:

• Write to one company and suggest positive changes to reduce or eliminate plastic in their packaging.
• Grocery Substitution Worksheet: Make homemade gluten-free crackers.  

REMEMBER WE ARE WHAT WE EAT AND SOMETIMES THAT MIGHT MEAN CHEMICAL TOXINS FROM OUR PLASTIC ENVIRONMENT.

Chapter 3: Minimalism & Simple Living

As green living proliferated our daily lives we naturally chose to live without many products available in the marketplace. Did our quality-of-life decrease? Most definitely not. Instead with each change made, lessening our dependence on products and the number of possessions around us we felt more liberated.

My husband claims I was once an organized hoarder. Okay so maybe I was, clipping coupons and stacking items on the shelf that we wouldn't use for years to come. I love to organize: time, books, my dresser drawers. You name it, I've probably organized it. Down to the nuts, screws and bolts in my husbands shed. By the way, he was a hoarder too, except for the organized part. 

After years have gone by I am just finishing using up the items that I collected from my habits. I get quite a thrill using the last drop of product in the bottle. At the same time I am troubled from constantly shuffling all of the extra possessions around our home, needlessly using my time to move items from here to there, there to here to clean around them. Do you ever feel that your life is just about things? Mundane, unimportant things? Extra books, clothes, just plain old clutter?

Our changes in life style and interest  lead us to uncharted territory, the subject of minimalism. A topic I now adore. Why do we feel the absolute necessity to surround ourselves with excess? How much is really too much? I look forward to sharing our lessons learned and hearing yours!

Show Your Plastic Challenge - July Week 3 Update

WEEK 3 SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE

   TOTAL –  44 PIECES, 14.1 OZ

Plastic Free July - Week 3

Okay, so I thought that I was making some progress this week. My collection bag wasn’t overflowing on Friday and I was starting to feel some accomplishment. Then all at once – POOF! – it filled up and was spilling out. We made some accomplishments this week by choosing to be more mindful grocery shoppers. While we didn’t refuse all plastic free items yet, we did refuse to buy some of the gluten free grocery items that have been our regular purchases. We did limit our plastic purchases this week.

Without further ado, here are our pictures for this week…   

        Non-Recyclables  

        

Recyclables

                                                                              

Before I talk about our conclusions and goals for this week (i.e. problems) let’s talk about the progress that we were able to make this week (i.e. success). Accentuate the positive first, right?

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

• Made 29 choices on Catalogchoice.org to refuse catalogs and choose to shop online if needed. Saved 1 tree, 329 lbs greenhouse gases, 117 lbs solid waste, and 789 gallons of water. WOW!
• Plastic Free Mindful Grocery Shopping Trip
• Researched new sources for recycling our waste (or even better do without them): aseptic milk containers, Tom’s of Maine toothpaste tubes, Plastic Bottle Caps
• Dropped of all #5 Plastic Containers at Whole Foods for Gimme 5 Preserve Recycling Program

SUMMARY:

Week 1 Totals – 52 items, 13 oz

Week 2 Totals – 59 items, 18 oz

Week 3 Totals – 44 items, 13.1 oz

At this rate our family will produce over 48 pounds of plastic garbage this year. Fourty-eight pounds of non-biodegradable refuse that will be on our planet FOREVER….

GOALS:

•  Complete a Grocery Substitution Worksheet from Beth Terry’s book Plastic Free – How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too with ideas for plastic free substitutes of my top 20 grocery items. From the pictures you can obviously see that the majority of our plastic waste is from food.
• Implement one or two plastic free changes from the Grocery Substitution Worksheet. I’m leaning toward bread and cereal this week.
• Focus on refusing convenience items. This week I slipped up several times. These were things that I forgot or was too embarrassed or just flat out too lazy to refuse. They shouldn’t have happened.

We must remind ourselves that it’s not possible to change everything at once. 

Inch by Inch = Cinch. Mile by Mile = Trial.

Show Your Plastic Challenge - Plastic Free July Week 2

SHOW YOUR PLASTIC CHALLENGE 

Plastic Free July Week 2

July Week 2 - 18 ounces,  59 items

Week 2 of our Show Your Plastic Challenge has come to a close and I have now realized that July will not be plastic free for our family of five. We continue to be swimming in a plastic sea of garbage. This week sees an increase in weight and volume of plastic items that we consumed from items already purchased. However, it has certainly raised our awareness of the amount of plastic we continue to consume despite our efforts to cut back. I am looking at each purchase through different eyes - those of a prudent consumer. By the end of the month I hope to see less convenience foods in the weekly count. 

Both of the older children participated in the tally and were inspired to 'play with the trash' by upcycling some of the plastic into robots. Today was a no television day for our family - proof that with a little imagintion (and less over stimulation) anything can become a toy.

Plastic Free Progress:

We are now using baking soda with a few drops of tea tree essential oil for our deodorant. It works like a charm. It is applied using a circular pad that I crocheted from yarn I made from upcycled t-shirts. One less plastic health & beauty product to purchase and consume.

Summary:

July Week 1 - 13 ounces, 52 items

July Week 2 - 18 ounces, 59 items

Goals:

We are preparing for a week away from home and tomorrow will be traveling the 250 miles round trip to gather our groceries for the next few weeks. While most of you could be dining out plastic free while away from home, our family is not safely able to do so due to food allergies. A small kitchen and some groceries must travel along with us. We take to the road in an Airstream bunkhouse. Tight quarters but we love it.  We find ourselves outdoors more enjoying the sunshine. 

I am going challenge myself to avoid any single use disposables during our travels. Each member of our family already carries a Kleen Kanteen water bottle daily. Where I get tripped up is forgetting our metal straws & bamboo utensils. Can we do it?

Remember small steps add up to BIG changes. Until next week...

Zero Waste Food Preservation

I returned to harvest from our friend's garden and reaped even more vegetables than I did the first time. Today involved canning 21 half-pints of blackberry jam and 8 pints of salsa. Yesterday found eight quarts of whole tomatoes canned and five gallons of green beans dehydrated. I am fortunate to enjoy using an Excalibur dehydrator to preserve the summer's bounty.

Here in the country woods of Arkansas we seem to lose electricity a lot. Once after a large ice storm we lived "off grid" involuntarily for 21 days. While both my husband & I have both dreamed of living an off-grid lifestyle, we were not setup for such or prepared to do so. Everything in our chest deep-freeze was lost during the prolonged power outage. While I do enjoy canning, limited experience and storage room prevent heavy reliance on this method of food preservation. My preference is to dehydrate our produce when possible since it requires minimal storage room and no energy to prevent spoilage. The dehydrated produce is then stored in glass containers.

Dehydrated Green Beans

The simple blackberry jam is lovingly being contained in beautiful Weck jars. There is a sense of accomplishment knowing that there is no BPA in the rubber rings used to seal the glass lidded jars. Being able to reuse the rubber gaskets contributes to the experience being zero waste.

Blackberry Jam in Weck Jars

The whole Funny Farm is running in zero-waste mode today. The chickens appreciate the flurry of kitchen activity since they will be upcycling the produce scraps into delicious free range eggs tomorrow.

Summer abounds with opportunities to be plastic free with zero waste. A little extra effort is required - but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Begin with a small step: grow a small herb garden in a window sill or try your hand at canning a couple of half-pint jars with fresh seasonal produce from the farmers market. Here's a great reference I found at the local library this week: Preserving by the Pint: Quick Seasonal Canning for Small Spaces by Marrisa McClellan.

Up next, preserving peaches, okra, squash & cucumbers. I've never made pickles or relish before. This will be an experiment..

What is your favorite zero waste food preservation tip?

Plastic Free Technology?

We all use technology everyday. It's a necessary component of our modern life. Have you ever stopped to think about how much plastic is consumed in your technological routine? I have. It's too much for my personal taste. 

While most tech companies utilize plastics as a basic component, have you noticed how Apple Computers & devices utilize less?

What about your iPhone & iPad case? I hate how much plastic they're made of and the packaging used is commonly plastic. Check out my iPhone cover - Zebrawood!

I love it. It's made by Root Cases. When I put it to my face everyday I take comfort in knowing its a natural product and I can compost it when it breaks! The packaging was also cardboard. In a great sustainable initative they plant a tree for every case sold. Gotta love it!

Homemade Almond Milk & Gluten Free Vegan Almond Pulp Cookies

I'm writing this post on the fly at the request of several of my twitter followers, so pics will have to follow later. In our family, our diet requires that almost all of our food be homemade. We have allergies to milk, egg, soy and most of all - gluten.

Twice a week, we prepare almond milk for our family by soaking 1 cups of raw, organic almonds in 4 cups of water overnight or 6-8 hours in our Vitamix (similar blender). In the morning, we blend the water and the whole, soaked almonds in the Vitamix for 60 seconds on high. The milk is completed by straining the mix through a cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. The liquid yields 4 cups of fresh, delicious almond milk. Refrigerate immediately.

The leftover pulp is used in the following single bowl recipe:

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
2 t Xanthan gum
Pulp from one recipe of almond milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla extract
1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Mix all ingredients together by hand thoroughly in a single bowl. Form balls by the TB and flatten with your palm. Bake at 350 degrees in a pre-heated over for 12-15 minutes.

I hope to take a picture of my next batch to share with you. For now, enjoy experimenting with the almonds in your own kitchen! It's super easy and delicious!

Plastic Free Produce with Friends

Today was a day filled with pleasantries. Our family spent the afternoon harvesting blackberries and green beans at a friend's bountiful garden followed by a brief effort to forage chantrelle mushrooms at the home of another friend.

My efforts to garden are wildly surpassed by individuals who possess such skill with cultivating the earth. I try...with what little time I buy out, to teach my children where our food comes from. I have met with some success with my hobby gardening. Our six year old has titled himself a "fruititarian" since he was three years old, preferring raw fruits and vegetables to meat or processed dishes. Most of the vegetables that he loves are ones that he has watched grow in small quantities in our garden: kale, spinach, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, green beans, bell peppers, cucumbers, and more. Our four year old daughter is becoming more brave with time, although not as broad in her food preferences. She responded to her brother's adopted title by calling herself a "meatitarian."

My aspirations to homestead are a dream...a daydream for which I continue at times to dwell on but quickly come back to reality. Reality is that I am a self-employed professional who home schools two children (with the help of my husband) and is a breastfeeding mother of a 7 week old infant. My time is better spent with those whom I love - family and friends. Pursuing relationships and keeping life simple now proves to be the most rewarding. It is better to share what we have and build relationships than to cultivate all crops on our own and have cultivated no friendships. Look at the generous bounty that was shared with us today!

A blessing indeed.

Summer's Bounty - Generously Shared With Us

Chantrelle Mushrooms

Show Your Plastic Challenge - Plastic Free July Week 1

TOTAL - 13 ounces, 52 pieces

The moment of truth is not too pretty.

July Week 1 - 13 oz, 52 pieces

Ok, so I know that our family cannot be entirely plastic free, but I thought we had made more progress in our journey beginning 18 months ago.  Since the last trimester of my pregnancy began I knew that we slid backwards. My husband took over alot of the food preparation and he is not as passionate about limiting plastic consumption as I am. While he is supportive, this my gig for the family. He is the kind contributor of the polystyrene cup, lid and straw seen in the picture this week. Yes, I still love you sweetheart!

I have spent the week having a pep talk with my children reinvigorating their plastic free vision. They seem on board at this point. Time will tell. As I began this week's tally my daughter excitedly paticipated while "Mama played with the trash." She loves this part! The tally makes me both excited and disgusted. I can't imagine how much plastic the average household puts on the curb each week. We don't even use a municipal garbage service. Our single bag every 2-4 weeks isn't worth it.

Should I be dissappointed in our results for this week? Some would say yes, some no. Perhaps a review of some of the changes made since the journey began will be encouraging and keep me from giving up. Each week I will share one or more changes we have successfully implemented. Perhaps that will give me impatus to continue changing.

One of the first changes we (husband and I) made was changing to a metal razor with stainless blades. My husband has been using a razor purchased at a local antique/second hand shop. He found  stainless steel blades from Astra on Amazon. They are manufactured in Russia. I was so impressed and surprised to see that each blade is packaged without any plastic. They are wrapped in tiny envelopes of wax paper and another layer of paper. Each plastic free blade cost only $0.09.

PLASTIC FREE PROGRESS:

We are still using our first shipment of blades purchased in January 2013. A total of under $20.00 US was spent on this plastic free purchase. I have gifted several similar razors to friends and family since to inspire living without this single use disposable. This is one single use disposable that we can definitely live without.

GOALS:

This week I want to lessen the amount of convenience foods that we have reverted back to using as of late. We live 100 miles from the grocery store that we purchase most of our gluten free, allergen freindly foods from. I do have a stockpile of products on hand that will undoubtedly be consumed and will be included in the posts to come. I will lessen the new purchases going forward. That is my goal.

Remember small steps add up to BIG CHANGES.

Why Buy Berries in a Clamshell? Make a Memory Instead

This time of year our country roads are lined with a spectacular sight: blackberries and beautiful sunsets!

In the evenings before sunset when the temperature cools off, our family has made it a tradition during the end of June and beginning of July to enjoy the simple pleasure of wild berry picking. Our two older children are 4 and 6 and look forward to the experience. It can be the middle of winter and they'll ask, "Can we go pick berries today?" Last night my 6 year old son stopped to savor the sunset on the hillside without any prompting. It melted my heart to hear his expression of simple gratitude.

I still have very fond memories of picking wild blackberries with my father close to 30 years ago while enjoying the sounds of the birds chirping in the distance. Sweat on my brow, I sported a long-sleeve flannel shirt and leather gloves that were too big for my little hands.

We all love berries of any kind, as you'll see in my consumed plastic post next week. We had already purchased some in June that will show up. *Smile. We're not perfect...when your family has four different food allergens to deal with finding plastic free snacks & produce can be difficult, especially when the mother is sleep deprived with a newborn. Excuses aside, look at the plastic free bounty that we will be enjoying in the days to come.

Who needs a clamshell? Make a memory instead.

Wild Blackberries

Show Your Plastic Challenge Re-visited During Plastic Free July

At the beginning of 2013 I decided to become a more mindful consumer of plastic products. We undertook the Show Your Plastic Challenge for 12 weeks and documented our progress. The results were published on my sister's blog, The Frugal Greenish Mama. I hope to republish these posts here in the near future. This was a picture from our first week of shame...

I was so excited and determined to change our behavior after seeing first hand the affects that plastics have on our bodies and on the environment. So many issues result from the endocrine disruptors that are found in plastic products we surround ourselves with.

I recently gave birth to my third child and in preparing for the baby shower, I paced the aisles of a major department store attempting to register for items that would be conveniently available for my dear friends. My eyes were reopened to the shocking reality of how much plastic the typical parent surrounds there beautiful baby with. Absolutely everything, minus a few cotton textiles, was plastic. I was mortified at the idea of what lay before me. Thus, my registry list was very short. We cloth diaper our babies and exclusively breastfeed so he didn't require much. Our wonderful friends & family renewed my cloth diaper supply to add to ones that I made from repurposed materials. Blog post to come on DIY cloth diapers.

The timing of the birth of this blog is perfect to revisit our awareness of our family's plastic consumption.  It corresponds with Plastic Free July, an initiative to join the world's population in consuming less plastic for a month. Join me and thousands of others this month in raising your awareness to the amount of plastic you consume regularly. I'll be posting weekly updates of our family's goals to reduce our consumption and once again be part of the Show Your Plastic Challenge.

What plastic can you live without this month?