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Plastics... (the food challenge)
I don't like plastic.
There's lots of environmental reasons to hate it. My particular dislike is plastic used for packaging that's used for exactly as long as it takes to get the product from the manufacturer to the consumer, and then thrown away.
So, I try to buy products that have less, or no plastic packaging. It's *really* hard to do.
The other day I was thinking about how much of what we (I) eat has plastic associated with its delivery. It's everywhere.
I set about trying to go an entire day without eating anything that came wrapped in plastic, or in a plastic container. To make it possible I've set the "rules" to not included plasticized paper or cardboard as "plastic", although that's strictly cheating. Plastic containers you re-use don't count either, nor do plastic measuring cups, or plates (so long as they're long term use, not throw-away). The plastic cap on the cardboard milk jug does count, it's easy to get milk in wholly cardboard or glass. plastic soda bottles are right out. Soda in cans is technically OK, but you shouldn't be drinking that either. I think I'm OK with dish soap in plastic bottles, I can't think of an alternative. Although I do get the mega-huge bottle and thin it with water to about 1/3 strength. It reduces the load on the waste processing infrastructure, and works way plenty well. 1/4 would probably be fine too.
The goal is to minimize the amount of plastic that goes "away" into the garbage. There is no "away", it's just "somewhere else" or "someone else's problem"
It's *really* hard to do.
Eggs from cardboard cartons, make your own bread, or buy "fresh" bread from the market (comes in a paper bag), veggies from the farmers' market, make sure to take your own bags (don't let them give you more plastic bags) Fish and meat from the meat counter or a proper butcher just make sure they only wrap it in paper. Honey, peanut butter, jam, etc, should all come from glass jars with steel lids. Yeast from paper packets (even if they're plasticized)
I'm getting better at it, but still haven't succeeded.
There's lots of environmental reasons to hate it. My particular dislike is plastic used for packaging that's used for exactly as long as it takes to get the product from the manufacturer to the consumer, and then thrown away.
So, I try to buy products that have less, or no plastic packaging. It's *really* hard to do.
The other day I was thinking about how much of what we (I) eat has plastic associated with its delivery. It's everywhere.
I set about trying to go an entire day without eating anything that came wrapped in plastic, or in a plastic container. To make it possible I've set the "rules" to not included plasticized paper or cardboard as "plastic", although that's strictly cheating. Plastic containers you re-use don't count either, nor do plastic measuring cups, or plates (so long as they're long term use, not throw-away). The plastic cap on the cardboard milk jug does count, it's easy to get milk in wholly cardboard or glass. plastic soda bottles are right out. Soda in cans is technically OK, but you shouldn't be drinking that either. I think I'm OK with dish soap in plastic bottles, I can't think of an alternative. Although I do get the mega-huge bottle and thin it with water to about 1/3 strength. It reduces the load on the waste processing infrastructure, and works way plenty well. 1/4 would probably be fine too.
The goal is to minimize the amount of plastic that goes "away" into the garbage. There is no "away", it's just "somewhere else" or "someone else's problem"
It's *really* hard to do.
Eggs from cardboard cartons, make your own bread, or buy "fresh" bread from the market (comes in a paper bag), veggies from the farmers' market, make sure to take your own bags (don't let them give you more plastic bags) Fish and meat from the meat counter or a proper butcher just make sure they only wrap it in paper. Honey, peanut butter, jam, etc, should all come from glass jars with steel lids. Yeast from paper packets (even if they're plasticized)
I'm getting better at it, but still haven't succeeded.