Name: Danielle

Week: 7

Personal Info:

Me again 😉 Read about our family on my Week 1 post.

Total items: 17**

Total weight: ? oops! forgot to weigh.

Items: Recyclable
Can I recommend that everyone watch “Bag It”??

Seriously.

Items: Nonrecyclable
2 Gardein packages
1 cheese wrapper
2 milk jug caps
1 milk jug ring
1 wrap from salad dressing

3 black cups (from eating out)

1 cap/ring from Apple Cider

2 packages from dogs heartworm med.
1 Wrap from surf camp catalog

** not pictured:

1 stryofoam take out container
1 plastic wrap
1 fork

What items can I replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
I get my cheese wrapped in paper. At Christmas, I couldn’t and I bought 2 packages (when I only needed one)… so I couldn’t let this go to waste.

The plastic cups… they came with my kids’ dinners– ketchup and ranch– at a local restaurant. All of their other condiments come in ceramic containers… we just need to make sure to request those next time.

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Heartworm medication.

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Ok… so I completely cringed at taking a styrofoam container, plastic wrapped veggie wrap and a plastic fork. We were in the ATL airport and had moments to catch our flight… there was only vegetarian friendly place… and what we got was our only option.

I’m used to traveling through a different airport and wasn’t familiar with the vegetarian options (or lack of options) available in ATL. While there was no way around the plastic this time… we can be prepared next time by having our own utensils (by the way we took one fork and took turns eating) and trying to bring a reusable take out container for traveling. Do you have a suggestion for a good travel take out container??

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Hmmm…

Plastic forks forever… I’m ordering me a set of bamboo utensils that will happily reside in my purse for the unexpected occasion!! 🙂

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
In my home, I can– for the most part– control everything. When we go out… or in the case of traveling last weekend, I got a little blindsided and stuck using plastics that I wouldn’t normally accept.. and plastics that I 100% completely denounce. grr… styrofoam and plastic forks!!! I’m not guilty for using them… only viewing the experience as a learning opportunity 🙂

With 48 weeks to go in the year… there’s a whole lot of learning that’s going to be happening 😉

Rant:

Ok… so this doesn’t pertain to my tally because I proudly refused. BUT… when we were staying at the hotel last weekend, the first thing I noticed in the room was a 6-pack of bottled water!! I was so irked by this… mentioned it to the manager of the hotel and also the company that was handling our stay… What happened to the days of a pitcher with a couple of glasses?? How did this happen?? Can we change this new trend??

Oh… and also… when we were in the ATL airport… Starbucks refused to use our reusable mugs… because they didn’t say “starbucks”. Of course, no thank you to a disposable cup… but for a company who promotes reusable mugs… we were upset and confused.  Maybe I need to start writing and calling people??