Location:  Istanbul, Turkey

Name: Greta

Week: 1

Personal Info:

I am a 38 year old Hungarian woman living in Istanbul, Turkey. I started to live a more plastic conscious life since i’ve been here, because i see the daily plastic consumption of a metropolis and it makes me feel very uncomfortable and worried.

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
I would not take any plastic bag. I mostly use my canvas bags or my hands to carry .

Total items collected: 18

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
6+1 water bottles and their plastic packaging to tighten them together
yoghurt tub + lid
tea bag envelope (had no idea it had plastic cover inside!)
pre-sliced bread packaging
garbage bags
tissue (hankie) plastic cover

Items: Nonrecyclable
plastic wrapper from a gift shop
dishwasher tablet plastic wrap
plastic cup for a seedling

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

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
there is a non-plastic alternative for everything

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
i have a hard time with garbage bags

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
After last week i decided not to buy plastic water bottles for home consumption. I found reusable glass bottles (3 L) they refill at the shop. I will use this instead.
The tap water is not for human consumption in Turkey so occasionally i buy half-liter mineral water from the street vendor which comes in a plastic bottle. I have to get my own water bottle and carry it in my bag.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
water bottles – home

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I bought biodegradable garbage bags for organic waste but they break easily, they were torn after i placed the first item in. No non-plastic solution for garbage yet.