Location:Prince George, BC, Canada

Name: Kristin

Week: 18

Personal Info:

Couple in Prince George, BC working & attending university plus bunny.

Kristin’s personal blog: http://slightlyirritatingandinconvenient.blogspot.com/

Total items: 14

Total weight:

Items: Recyclable
Plastic recycling is not available in our area, it sadly all goes in the trash.

Items: Nonrecyclable
1. Garbage bag for the weeks trash (not shown)
2. Stickers on fruit
3. Coconut ice cream tub
4. Wrapping from new laptop cord
5. Seal from envelope
6. 3 price tag loops from clothing
7. 2 bandaids & wrappers
8. Bread bag & tag
9. Deli meat bag
10. 10 plastic twist ties from wall hooks
11. 2 zipties & packaging from gardening shears
12. Chip bag
13. Goat cheese container
14. Salad tub & seal

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
-Coconut ice cream tub: the ice cream maker attachment for my kitchenaid mixer is on sale on amazon.ca again… maybe it’s a sign.
-Bread bag & tag: I’m baking my next loaf of bread. For reals.
-Deli meat bag: need to start bringing containers with me for the deli as well.
-Salad tub & seal: my lettuce in the greenhouse is a growin’!

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
-Seal from envelope: this was the least plastic option at the post office.
-Salad tub & seal: hopefully my little garden will provide enough lettuce for the summer that we wont need to buy any! Or at least get decent greens from the farmers market in the coming weeks

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
zilch

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
I’m still clinging to a whisper of addiction as far as the processed foods go. The chip bag & ice cream tub confirm this. My man left me last week for all of July to go work. I’m okay now though 😉

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
I will HOPEFULLY not have to ever purchase another laptop cord. This is the 3rd replacement cord that has been bought in the last year & a half. By instinct (and no real fault of her own) our bunny chews through them occasionally because she sees them as obstacles that may be blocking her escape route (think tree roots in an underground burrow). At $100 a pop, I would really like to not be replacing again.

We both have the same laptop, and were sharing one cord since October or so of last year… but he’s out of town for the month, so I had to break down & get a second one. We just need to be more vigilant & not leave them lying around where she can get at them.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
http://slightlyirritatingandinconvenient.blogspot.com/2011/07/weeks-worth-of-plastic-week-18.html