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.

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.

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...

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.

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?