Location:Lake Balboa, California, United States

Name: Hannah Spector

Week: 1

Personal Info:

Stay at home mom/freelancer- trying to minimize my overall consumption in a sane and simple manner.

Hannah Spector’s personal blog: https://consumelessdomore.wordpress.com

List of plastic items REFUSED this week. (Yay!)
Plastic bags for bulk cereal and rice
Plastic jar of peanut butter

(Those were the two “new” refusals- I always use my own produce bags/grocery bags.)

Total items collected: 19

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
2- milk jug, dishwashing detergent container

Items: Nonrecyclable
17- plastic bags from newspapers (7,) Plastic bag from meat, plastic bag from rice, plastic from cheese. Plastic lids from glass milk containers.

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
The plastic bag for the rice- definitely only buying bulk from here on out.

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
The crackers.

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
OK, so my daily New York Times habit is not essential. But it feels essential. The milk- although I get whole milk and half and half in glass jars the 2% milk is not homogenized and my kids balk at it.

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Reducing my dairy consumption and my newspaper habit.

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Plastic for items I can easily purchase in bulk.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
I should think about asking the NYT if they can deliver my paper without the plastic wrapper- this is sunny Southern California, after all. I’m also going to look into places to get bulk pasta.