Contact solution bottle: there’s no way around this?

Location:Prince George, British Columbia, Canada

Name: Kristin

Week: 31

Personal Info:

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

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

Total items: 21

Total weight:

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

Items: Nonrecyclable
1. Salad tub
2. Wrapping from new iphone & applecare cd
3. 3 Spice jars
4. Bag from 6-pack (of steaks)
5. Stickers from fruit & veggies
6. Ring from glass milk jug
7. Realsalt bag
8. EnjoyLife chocolate chip bag
9. Coconut milk carton lid
10. 2 Lids from glass vitamin bottles
11. Lid from glass bottle of rice vinegar
12. Pepperoni packaging
13. Fresh herb container
14. Restaurant straw
15. Seal from jar of almond butter
16. Ziploc with a hole
17. Mailer envelope
18. Contact solution bottle
19. Parmesan cheese container
20. 2 Pasta bags
21. Bronzer compact windows

What items can I easily replace with plastic free or less plastic alternatives?
-Salad tub: we could be buying heads of lettuce
-3 Spice jars: we’ve pledged to remove these already
-Bag from 6-pack (of steaks): could be buying from butcher & bringing our own container or buying in butcher’s paper
-Realsalt bag: in the same category as the spices; we now have a box of salt
-Coconut milk carton lid: we’re buying cans from now on
-2 Lids from glass vitamin bottles: there are a few brands available in glass w/a metal lid, but they still have a plastic seal around the lid.
-Lid from glass bottle of rice vinegar: the new bottle is jumbo size, so we’ll have fewer lids in the long run.
-Pepperoni packaging: impulse buy from new farmers market vendor. We can get these “bulk” at our butchers
-Restaurant straw: I CAN’T get this down to save my life…
-Seal from jar of almond butter: this brand formerly had glass jars w/metal lids, but now packages in plastic jars. Not sure what I’m going to do about this, but it’ll be awhile until I’ll need another jar.
-Ziploc with a hole: I’ve given this up already, but have a gigantic supply still.
-Contact solution bottle: there’s no way around this?
-Parmesan cheese container: this container was refilled & reused, but this is the end of parm cheese in our house.
-Bronzer compact windows: this particular brand IS the least plastic packaged one that I can find. Most of the compact is cardboard (and all of the package)

What items would I be willing to give up if a plastic free alternative doesn’t exist?
-3 Spice jars: have given up!
-Realsalt bag: have given up!
-Coconut milk carton lid: we’re buying cans from now on
-Pepperoni packaging: we could give this up…
-Restaurant straw: I am continually striving to do this, alas…
-Ziploc with a hole: have given up!
-Parmesan cheese container: no more of this in our house

What items are essential and seem to have no plastic-free alternative?
-Wrapping from new iphone & applecare cd: this is minimal packaging compared to other companies. We live sans-home phone & rely greatly on our phones for communication. I’ve been ready to throw my old one out the window for months now…
-Stickers from fruit & veggies
-2 Lids from glass vitamin bottles: in the winter (this far north) we don’t get enough vitamin D exposure, so supplementation is required.
-Contact solution bottle: until we can afford laser eye surgery…

What lifestyle change(s) might be necessary to reduce my plastic consumption?
Recently we had a discussion about how October Unprocessed Challenge has changed our eating habits over the course of the month. I’ve found that our plastic has reduced (the cheat day foods kinda balanced that out though…) which is certainly a bonus. We’ve agreed that moving towards an eating style along the lines of what we have been practicing for the last month is a positive direction for us to go in. A healthier less processed diet is what we’re working on to reduce our plastic consumption!

What one plastic item am I willing to give up or replace this week?
Coconut milk carton lid: we’re buying cans from now on. I knew what the ingredients looked like in the brand of coconut milk that we’ve been buying lately, but hadn’t ever looked at the ingredients on any other brands. Turns out the one we’ve been buying has more ingredients than the others, so (despite the increase in price) we’re switching to cans.

What other conclusions, if any, can I draw?
http://slightlyirritatingandinconvenient.blogspot.com/2011/10/weeks-worth-of-plastic-week-31.html