Location:Shepherdsville, Kentucky, United States

Name: Genevieve

Week: 6

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: 52

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
1 #4 bread bag
1 #6 styrofoam take out container
7 #5 butter tubs
4 #5 butter tub lids
1 #2 shower gel bottle
2 #1 water bottles
2 #1 rice containers
1 #1 spice jar
3 #1 containers
3 #1 lids from those containers
1 #5 goat cheese container
1 #2 lid for goat cheese container

Items: Nonrecyclable
1 bread tie
1 cling wrap from cheese
1 ziploc bag
1 produce bag (from ice)
1 bag from mixed greens, CSA
5 tiny bags from individually wrapped cookies
6 bags from 2 packages of instant noodle soup
1 frozen veggie bag
1 soup mix bag
1 tiny Ziploc bag from spice mix from soup
1 seal from Cas Cal bottle
1 cat treat bag
2 DVD wrappers
2 pieces of plastic tape from DVDs

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
I am still looking for cookies that don’t come with plastic packaging! This is the fourth new variety we’ve tried, this one in a deceptive stiff paper bag (with cookies individually wrapped in plastic inside!) Others had deceptive cardboard boxes with the cookies in plastic trays with wrapping around them, or just in plastic bags inside. Grr!!

(I have tried to bake my own cookies. That hasn’t worked out so well. Perhaps I must kidnap a baker.)

These are the last 2 plastic rice containers in my pantry. From now on rice out of the bulk section.

I also need to figure out a way to get a bag of ice from the fishmonger for the drive home in these 100+ temperatures without using a produce bag. I need the ice to keep the fish & milk cold for the drive home (at least 45 minutes) but maybe I could figure out something reusable for him to put it in.

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?
Aside from the usual cat treats, this last week has been so flipping hot that the extra bottled water was essential when I was out and about.

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
The butter tubs have been in my cupboard for years and we have used them to store leftovers in the fridge. Those are joining the outgoing trash since their replacement, a stainless steel container, has arrived.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Instant noodle soup. These were the last 2 packages in my food hoard.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
It’s looking better, but there’s still a long way to go. Especially with the cookies.