Location:Shepherdsville, Kentucky, United States

Name: Genevieve

Week: 2

Personal Info:

I’m a 37-year-old woman. I live with my mother, 2 cats and an aquarium. We both work in Louisville, which is about a thirty minute drive if traffic is good.

Genevieve’s personal blog:

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

Total items collected: 90

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
3 plastic bags
12 #1 water bottles
2 #1 tea bottles
2 #1 large water bottles
1 #1 piece of packaging from new Swiffer mop
1 #1 snow peas container
1 #1 snack baby carrots container
1 #1 calcium supplement jar
1 #2 baby powder bottle
1 #2 cat litter container
1 #5 goat cheese container
7 #1 take-away sauce container tops from Blind Pig
7 #5 take-away sauce container bottoms from Blind Pig
1 #5 salsa container
2 #5 yogurt containers
2 #6 plates from Qdoba
1 ziploc bag originally from deli ham

Items: Nonrecyclable
1 refill wrapper from baby wipes
2 baggies for mini snack carrots
5 dvd wrappers
1 piece plastic tape from top of dvd case
2 cookie wrappers
1 icing packet from heat&eat cinnamon rolls
1 plastic container from cinnamon rolls
2 wrappers from Stellar Sweets
1 packet from packaged risotto
4 pieces of plastic wrapping from the faucet filter
2 pro bar wrappers
1 seal from cool whip
1 cling wrap from cheese
1 cling wrap from loaf bought at farmer’s market
1 shredded cheese bag
1 shredded cheese bag top
1 bottle seal
1 styrofoam inner bottle seal
2 thingies that hold bags closed
2 plastic spoons from Qdoba
1 Doritos bag
1 bag from some sort of spicy dinner
1 bag from Delallo whole wheat fusilli
2 cat treat bags
1 cat food bag
2 granola bags
1 piece of plastic tape from Swiffer
1 bag from some kind of food
1 chicken broth tetra pak
2 produce bags
1 pot that the fig tree came in

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
Those plastic spoons from Qdoba. Need to get the take-away cutlery and carry it with me.

I should try the granola that Whole Foods sells in bulk. I really like this brand though. :(

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
I really need to give up Doritos. I have another bag that will make it into next weeks trash, but after that I really need to just say no.

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Cat Food – my male cat has extreme irritable bowel syndrome and this is the only food he can eat without upsetting his digestive tract

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Uncertain yet. Still trying to figure it out.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
The wrapping from the faucet filter will be enabling us to give up drinking bottled water (yay!). So, we will be easily replacing our bottled water habit. I still have some more bottles here in the house, but once they are gone I don’t intend to replace them.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
Man we make a lot of trash! In our defense, most of this is not newly bought, but stuff that was already around the house.