Location:Shepherdsville, Kentucky, United States

Name: Genevieve

Week: 4

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!)
plastic bags, straw

Total items collected: 74

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
3 #2 bags from bulk food section
1 #4 toilet paper bag
2 #4 bread bags
1 #1 box from pumice stone
3 #3 wrappers from plants
1 #1 shredded parmesan container
1 #1 snack container
1 #1 coconut water bottle
NOT PICTURED: 1 #1 cup & #1 top from lemonade at Panera

Items: Nonrecyclable
1 “thank you” bag from CSA
2 tortilla bags
2 Liz Lovely cookie bags
1 cat treat bag
2 cat treat bag tops
1 bluray wrapper
2 pieces of plastic tape from top of blurays
2 potatoes bags
1 hydroponic watercress bag from CSA
1 seal from sour cream container
1 seasoning packet from Florentine risotto
2 frozen veggie bags
1 straw
1 straw bag
1 fork
1 fork bag
1 seal from snack container
1 Stellar Sweets cookie bag
1 cling wrap from loaf from farmer’s market
1 cling wrap from cheese
2 wrappers from unknown food
1 seal from salad dressing bottle
1 tiny bag from screws for light
1 seal from cheese container
1 scotch tape wheel
4 bread ties
1 tetra pak chicken stock
1 container for votive candles
23 comic bags

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
My mom loves coconut water, and that’s the last of those bottles – I found two brands that package in a can. I bought cookies this week in cardboard boxes, rather than the plastic wrappers.

I bought the candles at Big Lots probably a year ago, but I can easily get unpackaged candles. The potato bags are from before I started this challenge, and I can easily get those unpackaged too.

I forgot my fork yesterday to eat my salad with at work. :(

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
I really should have said no to that straw at Panera.

I also didn’t eat a big enough breakfast and bought a snack at Thorntons while at work, but this time I bought cheese & pepperoni in a recyclable container instead of the Doritos and their throwaway bag. Not the best option, but I thought a better one.

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
Maybe the cat treats? The cats might think they’re essential.

Comic bags. No way to store comics properly without bagging and boarding them.

HOWEVER, the comic bags are present because my boss was going to throw out the bags and boards from a collection our store bought and I was able to salvage all of the boards and about half of the bags to use for my own collection. These are the bags that are ripped or yellowed and cannot be reused. I wasn’t sure if I should count them or not, since they’re sort of trash from work rather than from me, but I went ahead and counted them since I brought them home to salvage part of them and they’re entering the trash at my house.

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
I could try to make my own chicken stock and bread, but I don’t know that I have time.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
I’m replacing the coconut water with a brand packaged in a can, and the cookies with brands in boxes. I also bought granola out of the bulk section.

I need to get some cloth bags to shop in the bulk section without the bags there.

We also replaced some plastic tumblers and plastic mixing bowls with glass ones, and gave the plastic ones to Goodwill.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
Plastic is everywhere.