Use less plastic

I would like to use less plastic and try to reduce my polluting. I’m already using canvas bags. I always leave them in my car and I have bags for each store that I shop at…

I only use one plastic reusable water bottle, the kind that supposedly can be run over by a car and not break. Who knows, but it is really tough and i don’t see it breaking in the foreseeable future. If i get food that i can eat without a plate i do, and if i need one I try to use a napkin instead, assuming the provided plates are disposable. I carry regular silverware with me most of the time too, incase i’d otherwise be stuck using plastic utensils. I buy whatever I can in bulk, and reuse my canvas bags (less packaging). There’s other things i’ve done that reduce my plastic usage, but it is 3:22 am and my brain is turned off. I’ll update this soon.

Cloth bags are cool. They start conversations. I get to thumb my nose at one store by bringing in another store’s cloth bags. I’m in the US, so I get 5¢ off my groceries per cloth bag – now that’s an incentive! I also have few plastic bags at home.

Tips:
- remember your cloth or other reusable bags – they’re no good at home!
- remind clerks and baggers not to give you plastic bags – most do it without thinking, even if you carried in a square mile of burlap
- count the plastic bags you didn’t use in a week – you’ll be surprised! (I’m up to eight this week)

Questions:
- any substitutes for plastic cling wrap?

I bought 4 bags from here

http://reusablebags.com

and i love them!!

2 are the Pack And Totes
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/packntote-grocery-cart-helper-bags-p-737.html?osCsid=ef845cc2ad836ecd4a03c428e0544cb5

They clip onto your shopping cart, and then have a velcro flap that keeps stuff from falling out in the car.

2 are the Acme Workhorse
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/acme-workhorse-style-1500-p-1.html

These are sweet, you can carry them anywhere, it folds into itself really small.

My New Year Resolution for 2006 was to cut RIGHT down on the number of plastic bags I use. So I bought a nice hessian bag or two and have used them all year so far. Occasionally slip up, but generally am doing very well! Have also cut down on plastic packaging, but I’m still suckered into buying stuff sometimes…

Shopping bags are one of the main source of everyday plastic. In my case, I use them as rubbish bags, rather than buy separate bin liners but the pile of bags still grows quicker than I can get rid of them. So I decided to start reducing the number of plastic bags I get from the shops, by doing two things:

• Go to the shops with a rucksack and put everything in it rather than use any of the provided plastic bags. This way I can also cycle there.
• Don’t buy groceries at the supermarket anymore because they all insist on you putting the stuff in a plastic bag and stick an electronic barcode on it. If I buy fruit and veg at the local grocers and small shops, they provide paper bags that can be recycled.

This might all sound obvious but, hey, I’ve got to start somewhere!

to a Tupperware Party in a couple of weeks time. I will probably go, because it’s doubling as a cocktail/birthday party for the hostess. Must try not to be tempted by all the pretty coloured plastic though.

of why this is so important to me. I was heating up some leftover pasta sauce for my lunch. Because I was very hungry and feeling lazy, I heated it in the microwave (another thing to cut down my usage of) in a little plastic container. I should have at least put it in a glass dish. When it was fully heated through, the sauce had gotten so hot that the plastic had started to blister and pasta sauce burnt into the plastic. This is a hard plastic, tupperware-like container. Surely if it melted some probably got into my food. And that really can’t be good for my insides.

People survived before plastic was invented. Surely I can survive without it too. Or at least survive with less of it. First things first, I need to seriously evaluate any new plastic items before bringing them into my house. Determine whether it’s a want or a need and then if I really need it (or really, really, really want it), see if there is an alternative.