OK, I'm going to get serious about my use of plastic things.

I consistently use re-usable bags for my groceries, so I'm not a monster.

But I could do more. I need to keep a wadded up plastic bag in my purse for those times when I stop by the grocery store and don't have a reusable bag with me.

And I am going to stop using a new ziplock bag every time I need to use a ziplock bag. For example, yesterday's lunch included some sliced bell peppers and some grapes. Rather than discard the ziplock bags that carried these items, I simply rinsed them out and used them again this morning.

I already get a gold star for not using plastic straws, as I don't care for straws.

I'm using stainless steel water bottles. Instead of buying small plastic water bottles, I buy huge ones, and pour them into the stainless steel bottles. That saves some plastic. (I can't stand the tap water here, so that's not an option.)

Any effort is better than no effort.

I need to have a stern talk with Mr. Sphinx, who cannot be bothered with re-usable shopping bags. He says we use the plastic ones around the house. Um, no we don't. They pile up until I can stand it and schlep them back to the store to be "recycled."

#PlasticShaming

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Any effort is better than no effort.

This.

I now use re-usable shopping bags; stopped buying drinks sold in plastic bottles; take my water bottle with me when I leave the house so I won't have to buy water when out; take my insulated coffee carafe if I go out early so I won't have to use a disposable cup; make my own soap or buy handmade that's not wrapped in plastic; got rid of bottled shampoo and use a shampoo bar instead*; bought a safety razor and stopped using disposable plastic ones; trying to limit take-out food because of the enormous amount of waste it produces. When I'm in NY I select the sturdiest containers at the salad bar so I can take them home and re-use them as refrigerator containers. (The place I frequent near the office usually has very flimsy plastic containers and very solid plastic containers.) The produce section at the grocery is bad for plastic and I'm trying to buy unwrapped as much as possible. The bakery is really bad, trying to avoid that.

* I get the shampoo bars at Lush and they are unwrapped. They provide small paper bags if you want one.

Quirt - have you considered buying an office-type water cooler that takes refillable 5 gallon jugs? I've had one in my house since before marrying Mr. Lisa because the tap water was gross where I lived. And even when we moved to a house with less-gross water, I kept it because I like that there's always ice cold very tasty water available, and anything that gets me to drink more water is good. We have the jugs delivered for not that much more than it costs to schlep them to Home Depot and exchange them. And very little plastic waste, as the 5 gallon bottles are sterilized and reused until they wear out.

I do need to work on my reusable bag use (currently very rare, though I do reuse most of my plastic bags and take the ones I don't use to the recycling bin at the store). My biggest offense is that I seem to hitting up the McDonald's drive through on a near-daily basis for a one-dollar diet coke, which involves a plastic cup, lid, and straw. Bad for my health AND the environment...maybe this post will shame me into kicking the habit.

All kinds of great ideas here!

quote:

Originally posted by Lisa:
Quirt - have you considered buying an office-type water cooler that takes refillable 5 gallon jugs? I've had one in my house since before marrying Mr. Lisa because the tap water was gross where I lived. And even when we moved to a house with less-gross water, I kept it because I like that there's always ice cold very tasty water available, and anything that gets me to drink more water is good. We have the jugs delivered for not that much more than it costs to schlep them to Home Depot and exchange them. And very little plastic waste, as the 5 gallon bottles are sterilized and reused until they wear out.

Yes. There's a company that will deliver here (we'd be their second customer on this route). I've even gotten the forms from them. Now I just have to get off my butt and follow through. Thank you for the push.

Today, like many days, I presented my cotton Trader Joe's grocery bag to the clerk who was not yet born when I bought it.

I guess there's no reason to use those plastic produce bags, right?

I always tell myself I am going to use them for something, but they go right in the trash.

Some things are tough. You cannot buy loose berries. But there is no reason to buy apples at Costco encased in plastic sturdy enough to protect eggs.

I've pretty much stopped using straws at restaurants. That's small, but it's something.

I almost never drink bottled water. I think our tap water is fine. I run it through the currently dirty and needing to be replaced filter in our refrigerator's water dispenser and it tastes fine.

In Norman proper, the water is wildly variable because of something that has to do with seasonal inversion of layers in the lake where they get some of the water. During the awful months (around September, as I recall) I can't even drink coffee made with it. This doesn't seem to affect the water in our small community outside Norman.

I've joined a CSA, so most of my veggies for the week get delivered in a one or two plastic bags. They also bring our eggs, which come in paper containers. The rest of my veggies come from the garden, so no plastic bags. (It's not a plastic-related thing, but Quirt and I finally managed to come up with a workable method for composting, so I'm happy about that.)

Thinking through what's in my refrigerator, there's food that came in plastic--sour cream, ketchup, cottage cheese, milk, and such. I'm keeping an eye out for better options like paper milk cartons.

My personal single-use Waterloo is Coke cans, honestly. And sometimes glass bottles. We recycle them, but still.

I am a failure at carrying my own bags. Some stores we patronize use paper bags. I'm not sure whether they're better, though.

We are both eating a lot less meat, so if everything I've read about how beef is the worst protein source, environmentally, we've made real progress there.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Anna:
I am a failure at carrying my own bags. Some stores we patronize use paper bags. I'm not sure whether they're better, though.

I hang them on the door knob so when I exit the house I have no excuse for putting them in my car...I have a collection of bags in my car at all times..just have to remember to bring them into the store!

Clearly you are more present in the moment than I am.

When I'm on my way out of the house, I could walk past a rabid bear and not notice.

I have tried keeping bags in the car but get distracted and forget to take them back out there. Or I forget to take them in the grocery store.

It is entirely possible that I have one of those forms of ADD that is invisible to most people who do not have to live with me, except for an ability to hyperfocus.

This is not an excuse. It's just my personal brand of failure.