Location:Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

Name: Eve Stavros

Week: 1

Personal Info:

I recently retired early and moved from Florida to Virginia, near the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’m fortunate to live in the basement apartment of my best friend’s beautiful log home, where I have time to garden, read, cook, play with my cat, Armani, and SLEEP! Living on a budget, but enjoying some travel – and most of all the time to enjoy the slow life.

I’ve been following this blog and posting for more than a year, but finally decided to join in the challenge – yeah, it’s cheating a little, since I waited until the big plastic consumption pack/move was finished….

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

Straws, to-go cup & lids, shopping bags, bottled water

Total items collected: 6

Total weight: .7 oz

Items: Recyclable
styrofoam tray from housemate’s snow peas (6)
milk bottle cap (4)

Items: Nonrecyclable
two tea bag pouches – will not buy this brand again!
flax seed pouch – left over from pre-bulk buying days
pistachio bag – really needed the nuts and couldn’t get to Whole Foods
CD wrapper

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
Flax seeds & nuts – buy in bulk, which I usually do

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
CD – could have found something comparable (I think – it was chanting) for download
Styrofoam veggie tray – I shop at the farmer’s market, grown my own, or do without if it’s not in season

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Milk cap – just happy to have finally found milk in glass jars!

** Missing from this are the plastic bags I use (usually 2 per week) for disposing of cat litter. Cannot use SWheat Scoop due to the nature of the septic system (pump) here and I know it’s best to bag the litter for disposal. At least I try to save plastic bags that someone else would throw away (even collected them at work and used them for packing during my move).

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Plan ahead to make sure I’ve got what I need on hand and resist the super sale bargains (the pistachios were a really good deal!)

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
I guess nothing at this point…

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I’d rather take the hit on my plastic consumption than let perfectly good food go to waste!