My plastic waste is up a bit this week. Still using things up. This could take a while. I wonder how much plastic we have accumulated in this house.

So, here’s the tally. Items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• 1 Kleenex pocket pack tissue wrapper.Another one. And I still have quite a few left.
• 8 Refresh Endura single-use eyedrop containers (#4 plastic).
• 1 Refresh Endura box wrapper.
• 3 Santa Cruz organic applesauce cups. (#7 plastic) I have 1 more of these left to use up.
• 1 Amazing Grace bath soap wrapper.We have a few more plastic-wrapped bars of soap left, and then our soap will be plastic-free. I may even learn to make soap!
• 1 Garofalo spaghetti wrapper. I have 3 more of these, and then I’ll be buying all my pasta in bulk.
• 1 Trader Joe’s organic brown rice spaghetti wrapper. See above.
• 1 So Delicious mini frozen sandwich wrapper. Still have a few left in the box.
• 1 Middle East Baking Co. pita bag. We have 1 more, and then I’ll be baking our pitas from scratch. Yes, really. You should see the ones I made today. Well, okay, here they are: After the first fiasco ^[1], I’ve been practicing. The second time, the yeast did the right thing and the pitas had pockets, but I forgot the salt, so they were pretty bland. Tonight, I got everything right. Even added sesame seeds to the tops. Well, Michael thinks I should have baked them longer. But he likes his bread crunchy, whereas I like mine soft. Maybe I’ll leave them in just a little longer next time and let him toast his the rest of the way.
• 1 Quilted Northen 6-roll toilet paper wrapper. Yep, still using the forest-raping toilet paper, and will be doing so for a while. We’ve got a lot to use up, and I still haven’t figured out which brand to switch to.
• 1 blister pack from a pocket knife/multi function sorta gadget that my dad sent for my birthday in January. I finally opened it. It’s kinda cool. Pink and plastic, but it’s got some useful stuff inside.
• 1 plastic wrap from around the neck of an Act fluoride rinse bottle. I have a couple more of these bottles left. Now, with the scare about sodium benzoate, I’m wondering if I should finish them or not.

Now for the new plastic waste:

• 1 Stahlbush Island Farms frozen diced butternut squash bag. As I mentioned before, these are deceptive. They look like plain brown paper on the outside but are coated with plastic on the inside. I have no more of these left.
• 1 foot of packing tape from an eBay order of double-headed razor blades ^[2]. So I bought an old safety razor in an antique store last weekend to try and eliminate the waste from my plastic razor cartridges. Then, when I went to find blades for it, they all came in blister packs. So I ordered 100 blades from a guy on eBay. The blades came in a cardboard box. Cheaper and less plastic. More later on whether or not shaving this way works out for me.
• 1 Haig’s spicy hummus container & lid (#5 plastic). Can reuse this or recycle at Michael’s office. Didn’t get any more this week, but I probably will buy it occasionally. I’m just saying.
• 2 plastic bags (#4 plastic) from the solar porch light I mentioned last week. I’ll reuse these bags.

New plastic purchased this week: Hmm… I don’t think I bought anything with plastic packaging. But I did order 2 things: a SoyaPower™ Soy Milk Maker ^[3], which hasn’t arrived yet. That will contain some new plastic. And an Urban compost tumbler ^[4], which is made from 100% recycled plastic. More on both of these items when they arrive. And I swear, I’m not buying anything besides food for at least a month!