Another week of the Plastic Free July Challenge, and here is what my family of four produced in the way of plastic trash (I am not logging the plastic that can be recycled in our area, or the plastic that I wash and reuse).
Top left: the plastic wrapping around a chicken we ate this week, the neck wrap on a bottle of teriyaki sauce, and a cup and two lids from two milkshakes that my husband bought this week.
Bottom left: the unnecessary inner plastic packaging from a bag of gluten free bread (I reuse bread bags to buy produce and bulk food in, but this can't be anything but trash), a package of apple slices that came with the kids meal at a local sub shop (why?! Apples do not need packaging!), the seal ring from a frozen juice container, and the plastic seals from a tub of cottage cheese and a tub of salsa.
Top Right: my son ordered a practice sword and it came in a plastic sleeve in the mail, and we opened a new level of Math U See and the DVD and books were plastic wrapped, the plastic lid from an olive oil bottle, and I let my daughter order her ice cream in a cone because I thought that would avoid plastic but no - they had a plastic drip guard on the cone!
Bottom Right: my son bought a bag of candy with his allowance this week, two more plastic lids from milk and sauce bottles, one bag of pasta, and the plastic "organically grown" sticker that wrapped around a cabbage.
It seems to be about the same volume as last week, so we didn't manage to reduce this week. Major culprits were the ice cream/milk shake stops that have been inspired by our hotter-than-usual weather this week. Other factors I see as being pretty huge are the wrapping on meat and what you get as shipping packaging when you mail order something.
But it also seems like there is just so much plastic everywhere that it will be highly unlikely that my family can make itself truly Plastic Free. But we can still use this as an aspiration, and do the best we can.
Wow! You are so amazingly committed to your plastic purge! I set an intention to go bottled water-free this year. It's amazing how well I remember my own water bottle now after a couple of very thirsty workouts!
ReplyDeleteIt annoys me how much stuff comes wrapped in plastic--as if it's going to go stale or needs more protection than just the item itself. I ordered a set of hat hooks online and it was in a plastic sleeve, wrapped in plastic bubble wrap, with plastic pillow wrap around it. I can't imagine why a sturdy metal hook would need that much protection.
And I don't even know for sure if the plastic I put out with the recycling actually gets recycled!
Good luck on your plastic-free challenge!