Is plastic-free obtainable?

Mini Horses

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WOW. That reminds me of a thread on herds that had a referenced buck which had a full blown uddero_O and they had to milk him. Now, THAT is weird.

I went to the site they referenced and yes, what a look that was. Owners report "he milks as well as his daughters". :p You need to be careful there.
 

rhoda_bruce

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I try to cut down on what becomes my garbage. I have certain cheap plastic containers I buy at one of our local grocery stores, and I decided to keep only those and I bagged all the rest to clean up my 'Tupperware' cabinet some. I'm bringing everything else to the recycle bin. I regularly stop by the recycle bin to dispose of at least half of my 'garbage.'
Of course, living in a flood zone, I save all glass bottles for myself and bury them in low spots, which really help me.
Junk mail and cardboard assists the kindling I pick up in the yard for me to get a good fire going on cold days. I could recycle paper as well, but anything with personal info, goes through a shredder, and is then put in the nesting boxes for the chickens to lay their eggs......and eat. Yeah, they love eating paper. Go figure. And its time I give them some too.
I stopped buying paper towels about a month ago and I'm using flour sack fabric, which I wash with my whites, thanks to one of my SS friends ideas on how they save money......wish I remembered whose idea that was, to give them proper credit.
Not sure if we can stop buying our meat in plastic though.
To tell the truth, I'm tempted to buy one of those machines that turns plastics back into petroleum fuels, but they cost too much and not sure how much plastic to how much fuel it would cost and give.
 

baymule

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@rhoda_bruce why do you bury glass bottles? The place we bought had a family living here in the 60's and there was no trash pickup at that time, they had a burn barrel. Everything went into it, then they dumped it. (I am guessing at this, since that's what most rural people did) I dig buckets of glass shards out of the soil. Right now the pigs are in the garden spot and they root up a double hand full every couple of days. If glass shards had any value, I'd be rich! I hate all the broken glass on our property.

This place was a HUD foreclosure and the previous people didn't have trash pick up either. And this was only a few years ago. They tossed out every bit of trash they consumed. They also tossed out glass. NEWS FLASH----GLASS DOES NOT BURN, NOR DOES IT BREAK DOWN IN THE ENVIRONMENT-EVER!

Ok, rant over. Just saying, you might regret all that glass on your land someday.
 

rhoda_bruce

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Well, in the meantime, I have to watch my animals walking and scratching mud. I live in a flood zone. My soil is very heavy clay, with almost no sand, so it doesn't drain well. I don't break the glass, I only bury it, as deep as I can and the resulting mud is a place that is suddenly dry.
 

tortoise

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So proud of DH! He has been teasing me about the plastic thing. But then he has gone far out of his way to find a supplier for #2 plastic pill bottles, because #5 plastic (most pill bottles on the market) is not recyclable in our county. He also is scheming to eliminate plastic Ziploc bags and plastic shopping bags at his business. (And he just finished switching over to LED bulbs there too.)

:love
 

rhoda_bruce

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I don't like the term necessary evil, because depending on the circumstances, it can raise a lot of arguments, but unless we totally become non-consumers, provide all our own foodstuff, and get our goods, used from garage sales, I think we will have to put up with excessive packaging and plastic.
If I slaughter and don't figure an alternative way to save the meat and it goes into freezer camp, it will probably be in plastic.
 

sumi

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I recall watching a programme on TV, some years ago. People decided they do not want to take their foodstuff home in plastic containers and took their own with to the supermarket, asking the management if they can transfer the goods from their original packing into their own, before leaving. Of course there is no guarantee that the supermarket employees did not toss those original containers straight into the near trash can afterwards…
 

rhoda_bruce

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Years ago, I'd go to a grocery store and if I used my own bags, I'd get a certain amount off for each bag taken off my bill. Well last night I bought 2 shopping bags at the Dollar Store for the first time. It was easier to load and looked easy for DS to bring inside. I had a bag for my very soft things and one for the hard things. I'm pretty sure it saved 4 plastic bags from coming to the house. I wouldn't know how to get people to do this, but wish my egg customers would bring those over when picking up eggs from me. I think they would fit in so much easier than plastic bags and would be safer. Of course, now I have to get into the habit of actually bringing them along.
 
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