2.1 oz Plastic Waste [2.0 oz new/.1 oz acquired prior to June 2007]

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Thanks to everyone who offered to guest post for me while my eyes heal. I’m still staying off the computer as much as possible. If I haven’t responded to your offer, I will. I am just using the computer in little spurts. Anyway, here is…

Beth’s September plastic waste collection

Plastic purchased before June 15 2007 and used up in the last month (.1 oz):

• Plastic cap & seal from bottle of hot chili olive oil. This was a bottle we had stored unopened in our refrigerator for a very, very long time. It was still good! So I opened it and used it up in the last few months. Nowadays, we buy our olive oil in bulk from either Whole Foods or the Pasta Shop in Oakland. We bring our own bottle to refill each time.

New plastic waste (2.0 oz):

• 7 pieces of plastic plus one plastic twist tie from Logitech webcam package. Read about all the overpacking for this product ^[2] here. As I mentioned in that post, the only reason I bought this thing new was because I had a $20 store credit for Radio Shack to use up, otherwise I would have shopped Craigslist for a webcam. By the way, I haven’t received a response to my letter to Logitech ^[3] yet.
• Plastic baggie from pair of ear plugs. I was given these ear plugs during my tour of a plastic bag factory. Of course, the ear plugs themselves are made of plastic foam, but I will reuse them. As for the plastic bag factory, info about that visit will be included in my book. Stay tuned…
• 2 vials of Frontline flea treatment for cats. Read about our flea dilemma ^[4] here.
• Cap from a glass bottle of ginger ale. I didn’t expect to receive ginger ale in an individual-sized glass bottle when I ordered it at a nice restaurant. I admit I don’t order soda very often, so maybe this is the way it’s done. I thought they’d bring it already poured in a glass with ice. The only thing I was worried about was the straw, which I specifically said I didn’t want. Oh, and the waiter had already cracked open the bottle, so I couldn’t refuse it.
• 3 vials of Refresh Endura eye drops. I wrote about my eye problem ^[5] here. I’m doing everything I can to avoid eye drops, and so far, it’s working.
• Plastic cap and foam seal from a glass bottle of New Chapter vitamins.
• 1 plastic envelope window from a bank notice.Learn about what plastic envelope windows ^[6] are made from.
• Plastic packing tape from a gift from a friend. I’m about to send her a gift of my own… a roll of paper tape ^[7]. :-)
• Plastic baggie that I can’t for the life of me recall. This bag is probably an old one that I found while cleaning, but since I stuck it in my collection without labeling it and can’t recall what it is, I’m inlcuding it with the new plastic to be on the safe side.

That’s all from me for now. I’ve got a guest post coming up this week from a woman who has an alternative plastic-free method for storing garden produce for the winter. Also, info on cloth baggies and sandwich wraps.