Location:Oakland, California, United States

Name: Beth Terry

Week: 16

Personal Info:

I am the founder of MyPlasticfreeLife.com and have been collecting my plastic and attempting to live as plastic-free as possible since June of 2007.

See my previous years’ tallies at:
http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/beths-weeklymonthly-plastic-tallies/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

1) Plastic shopping bags – bring my own

2) Plastic cups and bottles — bring my own travel mug

3) Plastic produce bags — bring my own cloth bags and also buy produce “naked”

4) Plastic utensils — Ate my crepe at the farmers market last Sunday with my fingers because I forgot to bring my own utensil set

5) Plastic take-out containers — bring my own stainless steel ones

6) Plastic produce stickers — shopped at the farmers market where there are no stickers on the produce

7) Plastic tofu wrap — brought my own container for bulk tofu from Hodo Soy at the Temescal farmers market

Total items collected: 1 new / 2 purchased prior to June 2007

Total weight: .1 oz new / .2 oz purchased prior to June 2007

Items: Recyclable
1) 1 bottle caps from old glass soy sauce bottle bought over 5 years ago that we have been refilling from bulk soy sauce. I finally recycled the bottle this week because the narrow neck makes it too difficult to clean out. Caps-n-Cups will accept all plastic caps, no matter what kind of plastic, to downcycle into secondary products. CapsCanDo will accept most plastic caps.

Items: Nonrecyclable
2) Plastic pour spout inside soy sauce bottle lid

3) Tiny plastic condiment cup I ended up with accidentally from Souley Vegan restaurant in Oakland. The rest of the meal came with durable foodware, utensils, glasses. Why oh why give us a disposable plastic condiment cup??? And as you can see, I forgot to bring it home with me, so this image I downloaded from the web will have to stand in for it. The weight, obviously, is an estimate.

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
I could be even more vigilant about requesting no plastic at restaurants when ordering my meal. But honestly, this one was a surprise because I didn’t even realize there would be a condiment with it in the first place.

Location:Chester, Vermont, United States

Name: Bonnie Raymond

Week: 0

Personal Info:

41 year old female, married to a 39 year old male, mother to three, only my youngest child home full time who is age 16, one 23 year old male son with three children (my grandchildren) that visit each weekend for three days.

Have been reducing waste and practicing localvorism for the last year. This plastic challenge is exactly that a challenge. It is amazing how in the 41 years I have been alive how much has changed to plastic. How much more commercialized things have become.

I want back to the “old ways” no plastic, with reusable containers that are only replaced when they wear out!.

I hope to succeed in reducing my plastic consumption even more than I already have!

Bonnie Raymond’s personal blog: http://bonbonmamma.blogspot.com/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
I just signed up

Total items collected: 0

Total weight: 0

Items: Recyclable
Many but this is week 0 I am just starting the quest

Items: Nonrecyclable
plastics for the local center they say they take all but I believe they only use #1

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
change from plastic milk jugs bought at market to gallon glass and purchase farm fresh milk

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
any drinking container.. just give me a glass and fresh water please

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Car parts

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
stop shopping aimlessly

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
all plastic carry bags

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I need to purchase a glass straw.. i love them.. and i love straws.. what a great concept!

How do I buy things without packets? ie cereal, rice, pasta etc etc

Location:York, United Kingdom

Name: Rose

Week: 1

Personal Info:

I am a post-grad student living with two housemates (we only really share cleaning stuff and toilet rolls etc). My boyfriend was with me for the weekend.

Rose’s personal blog: http://ethicalgreenliving.blogspot.co.uk/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
Two plastic bags while shopping, one I had to refuse twice – “Yes, I’m sure I don’t want one thanks!”

Total items collected: 47

Total weight: 425g

Items: Recyclable
1 conditioner bottle (actually it doesn’t say but I assume its #2)
1 shower gel bottle (#2)
4 snack boxes (#1)
1 water bottle (#1)
4 tetra packs

Items: Nonrecyclable
2 yoghurt pots
5 envelope windows
5 bottle lids
1 clothes tag
6 chocolate wrappers
1 bread bag
1 packet of crisps
2 cereal bags
1 packet from mixed nuts
1 packet from toilet rolls
2 bags which had big charity bags in them
1 cauliflower bag
1 pate packet
1 bag from falafel mix
1 piece of cheese clingfilm
5 apple stickers

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
I could buy solid shampoo etc and could make my own snacks.
If I shopped more at veg shops I could get veg without bags. Also buy bread and cheese in bakeries/delis with paper bags.

I would like to buy from a scoop shop but it’s so difficult to find one.

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

Most things do have a less plastic alternative – just harder to find.

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
I guess nothing is essential but if I could have one, it would be the milk in tetrapacks as I’m lactose intolerant and they are my only option.

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
I don’t have a lot of free time but I can see that I should make time to shop in bakeries, veg shops, delis etc to reduce plastic packaging.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
I am going to give up plastic wrapped chocolate (and that’s a big thing for me!) and either buy paper wrapped or make my own snacks. I have already started!
Shampoo etc is also something I’m going to change asap.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I’m pretty shocked about how much I managed to accumulate – I thought I wasn’t too bad. I’m excited about the challenge to find plastic free alternative though. I’m really glad I did this – it’s made me realise what areas I can improve on.

Location:Oakland, California, United States

Name: Beth Terry

Week: 16

Personal Info:

I am the founder of MyPlasticfreeLife.com and have been collecting my plastic and attempting to live as plastic-free as possible since June of 2007.

See my previous years’ tallies at:
http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/beths-weeklymonthly-plastic-tallies/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

plastic produce bags, bulk bags, produce stickers, utensils and plate…

Still on my raw vegan diet plan and eating lots of fresh fruits and veg from farmers market and my own front yard.

Total items collected: 8

Total weight: 2.2 ounces

Items: Recyclable
1) Plastic bottle of Balance IT cat food supplement that we use to make our homemade cat food. It’s #2 HDPE plastic. Could go in our recycle bin.

2) Plastic Balance IT cap — Caps-n-Cups will accept all plastic caps, no matter what kind of plastic, to downcycle into secondary products. CapsCanDo will accept most plastic caps.

Read about our homemade cat food here: http://myplasticfreelife.com/2008/10/less-impact-cats-eat-homemade-food/

Items: Nonrecyclable
3) Foam insert inside Balance IT cap

4-5) 2 stickers from cardboard box of Lush Toothy Tabs.  Read about toothpaste alternatives here:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2011/08/searching-for-the-perfect-all-natural-plastic-free-toothpaste-or-powder-or-soap-or/

6-9) 3 plastic envelope windows.  Read about what envelope windows are made from here:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2009/04/year-2-week-42-results-05-oz-of-plastic/

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
One of the envelope windows was from a check from one of my bookkeeping clients. I could have just asked him for the check at the end of my work day to avoid having him mail it to me in a window envelope. I’m sure he would have been happy to oblige.

How to reduce waste when you’re super super busy.

Do you know any charities that by default don’t put you on a mailing list when you donate? I’d like to support such organizations if they exist.

Something comparable to emergen-c or airborne to boost immune system. My understanding is that the liquid form is absorbed better? which is why I buy these sometimes instead of just a multi-vitamin.

Location:Tualatin, Oregon, United States

Name: Margaret

Week: 43

Personal Info:

I’m back from the dead, AKA tax season. February = 50 – 55 hours/week. March = 65 hours/week. First two weeks of April = 70 hours/week. When you have weeks when you literally just go home to sleep and shower, minimizing plastic is the furthest thing from one’s mind.

Weeks 31 – 42 are posted on my blog, but I won’t bother adding them here – suffice it to say they’re all fairly comparable to this week.

I hope over the next several months I’ll continue to develop habits and make plans that will allow me to do better in tax season next year.

Margaret’s personal blog: http://weighingthewaste.blogspot.com/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
Grocery bags

Total items collected: 55

Total weight: 11.1 ounces

Items: Recyclable
Curbside recyclable
*Ice cream container (#1)

Other recyclable
*2 bakery clamshells
*2 Subway bags
*Bread bag
*Lid to ice cream container (#2)
*Another lid to ice cream container (unnumbered)
*Film wrapping from magazine
*DVD (in film wrapping) from PCRM – I need to figure out how to avoid getting on mailing lists when I donate to organizations
*2 prescription bottles
*Lid to supplement bottle (glass bottle)

Items: Nonrecyclable
*2 cracker box liners
*2 frozen pizza wrappers
*Film wrapping from a board game
*Jamba Juice styrofoam cup (#6) and lid – a treat provided by my firm
*Burgerville drink lid
*2 straws
*Coffee cup lid (#6)
*7 cheese wrappers
*4 snack wrappers
*Pyrex container lid – I may have left a container sitting out for, umm, a while, and it molded. The container washed just fine, but there’s some stains on the lid. I hate saying that “stains” mean something is “dirty” – a stain is merely a permanent change in color. But even sterilized mold stain isn’t something I want near my food.
*Tissue box opening film
*3 cough drop wrappers
*4 candy wrappers
*Salad dressing seal (glass bottle)
*Supplement bottle underlid seal and ring seal
*Used up mascara bottle
*Wrapping from new mascara bottle
*2 emergen-c packets
*Blister pack from homeopathic cold medicine
*Bread bag tab
*Tyvek silica gel packet
*Wrapper from cleaning wipes – bought a couple years ago

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
Crackers, bakery clamshells, and other snack wrappers – make my own crackers, granola bars, etc.

I know the paper-ish container has plastic or similar chemicals, but to minimize the plastic there are a couple brands that don’t have any plastic seal on them at all I could choose.

Cleaning wipes – not something I’d even consider buying anymore, this was a purchase from a few years ago.

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?
Prescriptions

Supplement bottle lids – I’m gradually seeking and switching to items in glass bottles, but the lids are always plastic and have plastic seals

Mascara (this seriously is a necessity)

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Going from 70-hour weeks to 32 hour weeks will automatically allow me to focus back on my efforts.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Bakery items.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?

Location:la conner, Washington, United States

Name: maureen

Week: 1

Total items collected: 9

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
salad tub pete 1 (i reuse these for produce shopping)
16oz dry roasted peanut jar pete 1
tomato tub pete 1 (reuse as above)
15oz miracle whip jar pete 1
take-out box pp 5 (reuse)
6oz yogurt pp 5

Items: Nonrecyclable
produce bag (reuse for dog poo)
cheese pkg
lid for 2 bottles

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
hmmmm

i reuse the salad mix containers when buying more salad miix

in winter i buy the grape tomatoes for their ripeness; summer i buy local w/o container

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

dry roasted peanuts

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
essential for husband — small miracle whip

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
buying in bulk with reuseable containers — but that is cumbersome

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
take-out box

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
duh…

Location:Oakland, California, United States

Name: Beth Terry

Week: 15

Personal Info:

I am the founder of MyPlasticfreeLife.com and have been collecting my plastic and attempting to live as plastic-free as possible since June of 2007.

See my previous years’ tallies at:
http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/beths-weeklymonthly-plastic-tallies/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups and containers and utensils… you name it! :-)

Total items collected: 3 new / 2 purchased prior to June 2007

Total weight: .1 oz new / .2 oz purchased prior to June 2007

Items: Recyclable
1-2) 2 bottle caps from old glass bottles of supplements and horseradish recovered when cleaning out refrigerator this week. Caps-n-Cups will accept all plastic caps, no matter what kind of plastic, to downcycle into secondary products. CapsCanDo will accept most plastic caps.

Items: Nonrecyclable
3) plastic insert from glass bottle. Don’t remember what it was. Maybe some kind of oil. Discovered when cleaning out kitchen drawers this week.

4) plastic ring from bottle of vinegar, discovered when cleaning kitchen this week.

5) plastic seal from glass container of Ohsawa miso in glass jar with metal lid. Bought from my local Whole Foods Market.

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco sells miso in bulk, and I could bring my own container to fill up. However, it is difficult for me to get to Rainbow on a regular basis, and I was happy to finally find it on my side of the bay in glass instead of a plastic tub.

Location:Oakland, California, United States

Name: Beth Terry

Week: 14

Personal Info:

I am the founder of MyPlasticfreeLife.com and have been collecting my plastic and attempting to live as plastic-free as possible since June of 2007.

See my previous years’ tallies at:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/beths-weeklymonthly-plastic-tallies/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

1) Plastic grocery/shopping bags — bring my own reusable bags wherever I go

2) Produce bags and produce stickers — Shopped at the farmers market with my own bags and container.

3) Plastic bulk bags – brought my own bags and containers to Whole Foods bulk bins.

4) Bottled water — carried water in my travel mug and filled up at home and at water fountains.

5) Disposable cup — got tea from cafe in my travel mug

Total items collected: 2

Total weight: under .1 ounces (for calc purposes let’s just say .04 ounces.

Items: Recyclable
none

Items: Nonrecyclable
1) plastic envelope window. Read what envelope windows are made from here:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2009/04/year-2-week-42-results-05-oz-of-plastic/

2) tear strip from a cardboard mailer

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
None

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?

This week, I was on a totally raw vegan diet. All produce and some nuts and legumes. It’s even easier to be plastic-free because all my food comes from either the farmers market or bulk bins. The diet will continue for another week. After that, maybe I’ll just stay vegan forever, if not totally raw.

I’ve gone fallow. We were travelling quite a bit in the last month so we quit counting. I need support. Help. I’ve hoarded so much plastic to reuse that my hoarding closet it full.

Location:mountain view, California, United States

Name: sandy

Week: 8

Personal Info:

Gotten distracted.

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

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
One bag at Office Depot. We took in printer cartridges to recycle and I had a bag of them with me. If you have an Office Depot account, they’ll give you $2 per cartridge and take 10 per month.
Refused plastic coated paper clips. I suppose they’d be good for organizing but theres a less intrusive way.

Total items collected: 0

Total weight: 0

Items: Recyclable
Nothing, I’ve got nothing.

Items: Nonrecyclable
Those orange printer cartridge things. I have at least 10 of them saved.

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?

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?

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
We lost hope when we couldn’t get rid of plastics on our lunch items (cheese, deli meat). It overwhelmed us. Great post with ideas from Beth in todays discussion has rejuvinated me. Thanks Beth.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
I need to clear out this closet.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I noticed that other people that I visited in the last month were completely unaware of how to reduce or reuse their plastic. I may try to share my ideas with my loved ones a bit more.

Location:Oakland, California, United States

Name: Beth Terry

Week: 13

Personal Info:

I am the founder of MyPlasticfreeLife.com and have been collecting my plastic and attempting to live as plastic-free as possible since June of 2007.

See my previous years’ tallies at:
http://myplasticfreelife.com/category/beths-weeklymonthly-plastic-tallies/

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)

1) Plastic grocery/shopping bags — bring my own reusable bags wherever I go

2) Produce stickers — chose produce without stickers

3) Plastic wine cork — used CorkWatch.org on my mobile phone to find out which wines at Safeway had natural cork stoppers.

4) Bottled water — carried water in my travel mug and filled up at home and at water fountains.

5) Plastic straw — Had dinner with Michelle Hill from Bag It, and made sure to order our drinks with no straw!

6) Plastic condiment cup — asked a waiter whether a dipping sauce would come in a plastic cup or a ceramic one. He said, “It can come in whatever you want.” So I asked him to bring it to me in a little bowl, and he did.

Total items collected: 2

Total weight: under .1 ounces (for calc purposes let’s just say .04 ounces.)

Items: Recyclable
None

Items: Nonrecyclable
2 plastic envelope windows. Read about what envelope windows are made from here:

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2009/04/year-2-week-42-results-05-oz-of-plastic/

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
None. These particular envelopes were unavoidable.