http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/03/kleenex-neti-pots-twitter-and-facebook/

I actually do use something very similar to a neti pot every night. It’s WONDERFUL! But… I still need the strips or else I wake up not breathing several times a night. I guess I’m a hopeless case when it comes to sinuses! I’ve decided that I can live with a little bit of plastic if it means being able to breathe.

I know I am chiming in late here, but had a comment or the sinuses.

Have you tried a neti pot? It is essentially a tiny teapot that you irrigate your sinus’ with everyday with saltwater. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_irrigation I think that it works wonders! Just and idea to maybe try to help with the sinus’ and breathing strips :)

This is the one I have. They have ceramic ones, but I did not want to chance I would drop it and break it. http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Neti-Ayurvedic-JalNeti/dp/B001187IDC

Anyhow, I discovered that the lighter (not the one pictured here, but the one that came out of the package… which I have several more of in my stockpile) is actually re-fillable. So I bought a can of butane and when this one gets empty I will endeavor to refill it – let’s hope I don’t burn the house down!

I placed another order on Amazon (for a heated bowl and outdoor heating pad for the little feral cat living under my tree – I know it uses electricity, but I just can’t take constantly worrying about her freezing under there.) Anyhow, the shape of the items meant that it came in a big box with lots of extra room, only instead of the plastic packaging they generally use, they used brown paper. Psych! The cats thought it was a toy just for them, and spent the afternoon having a paper party. Anyhow, I now know that they at least have the capability to use paper, so I’ll ask next time.

In terms of dish stuff, I got a wooden handled brush with natural fibers and it’s working great. I also bought some burlap and am going to attempt to make my own scrubbies. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Still torn on the pharmacy thing. When the doctor calls in a prescription she can call it in to the “upstairs” pharmacy where there’s generally not a wait, but when you refill one they send it to the “downstairs” pharmacy where the hour-long wait is just to get to the head of the line where the thing is waiting. And I do have to drive there, but I could combine trips… Still thinking about that one.

Hope you’re feeling better!

I wrote a post once comparing matches and lighters to find which was more eco-friendly. You might find it interesting:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/02/match-vs-lighter-my-candles-are-awaiting-your-reponse/

Prescriptions: I pick up my prescriptions from Kaiser for exactly that reason! But I don’t have to wait. I email my doctor to refill my prescription and then it’s waiting for me when I get there. I call first to make sure it’s there. One question to consider though is how far Kaiser is from your house. I can just ride my bike down to Oakland Kaiser. I wouldn’t make a special car trip to do it (although I actually rented a Zip Car yesterday for just that purpose because I’m sick as a dog with this cold and just couldn’t bring myself to get down there any other way — and I couldn’t wait on picking it up. Fortunately, the car was a Prius.)

I don’t think Amazon will give you non-plastic packaging, but you can always send them a message requesting it. The more they hear from customers who don’t want plastic, the more likely they might be to change their shipping policies.

I agree with you about Twist! They originally didn’t have any plastic packaging!

I like Skoy cloths:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2008/10/skoy-cloths-theyre-plastic-free-and/

And I like the coconut scrubbers like these:

http://www.greenfeet.com/search/search.asp?from=&FrmSearchWords=&SearchWord=coir&x=0&y=0

I use the bottle brush to clean my Klean Kanteen.