I use the plastic take out trays from eating out for collection water under plant pots and for holding seedling boxes.

I also noticed that the plastic bottles from Sobe drinks are kinda cool looking. I’m saving those to use to water indoor plants that are high up. Since you can squeeze them I think I can drill a hole in the cap and use them to squirt up there.

Looked into purchasing the reusable poly veggie bags for shopping but don’t want to spend that much so I’m going to make some. Just need to figure out something that I can repurpose that would be made of the same material.
Sad to notice all the bad food choices I made though by looking at the trash. Darn.

Location:Mountain View, CA, California, United States

Name: Sandy

Week: 1

Personal Info:

I started collecting last week. This is my first checkin. I felt sad but not as sad as I did last time I tried this several years ago when I was totally unaware and had to quit the first day out of grief. This is for my boyfriend/housemate and I together. We work at home, so everything we use is going into the collection. We even brought plastics home from when we ate out as to not cheat.

Sandy’s personal blog: http://spiraljetty.livejournal.com

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
Two straws and lids for drinks that I got when eating out. Unfortunately for my boyfriend,his drink came in a plastic cup, twice. We brought them home.

Total items collected: 78

Total weight: 1.6 pounds

Items: Recyclable
Reused and saved
2-Sobe bottles
5-Plastic bottle caps
6-planting pots
4-food trays or veggie holders
3-condiment cups
3-plastic bags
Recycle Bin
4-drink bottles
4-drink cups
2-drink cup lids
2-plastic forks and 1 spoon that seem to be compostable
4-lids from food containers
1-hummis container

Items: Nonrecyclable
3 trash bags
4 frozen food,candy,cheeze,chips
2 pair of broken reading glasses
3 packets of emergenZ v. dose
1 toothpase tube
1 straw, 2 stir sticks
3 plastic plant markers
1 veggie bag that was yucky
1 hanging plant holder for a plant I wasn’t going to hang
1 wrapper from the toilet paper
2 ziploc sandwich bags
3 packaging from nuts, foods
1 plastic pull off lids from products like coffee, frozen lasagna,
2 lids from styro take home food containers

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
Straws – just don’t need
plastic drink bottles – use reusables
ziploc bags – existing plastic containers or jars
veggie bags – replace with handmade reusables
Food packaging – larger bags for frozen stuff or get fresh or bin stuff
Take out food trays – bring our own
Get vit. C in pills instead

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
straws and stir sticks, used to refusing plastic bags or not using them so I could give more of those up. toilet paper packaging bag but is paper a better alternative?

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Toothpaste – yes, I know its possible.
Reading glasses – ?
Trash bags
Nursery plant containers

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Taking the containers with us when we go out. Some food choices like cherry tomatoes or blueberries at the grocery. We’d just have to make sure to get them at the farmers market.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Food packaging alternatives

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
Well, we’ll see what we can do when we are actively trying to reduce. Wasn’t tracking refused items well last week.