Zero Waste

[flowerbug]

...
I do think them changing shampoo jars to plastic was a good thing.

what if something like that could be done with a harder rubber container instead? it wouldn't break and could be reused and refilled from a wax lined cardstock like container (milk, etc. used to come in those and still does in some places, those are recyclable and even if they end up as litter at least they will eventually degrade and turn into worm food).

i didn't know that TJ's sold bags. thanks for that as we have a nice friend who happens to be a manager for a TJ's and it is a long drive for us but they once in a while are in this area and will bring us what we need.

 

[Jabberwonky]

I check the rim of any jar I buy at the grocery store. If a ring fits it can be used for water bath canning. I have mayonnaise jars from the 80s that I still use. Sucked when they switched to plastic.

I do think them changing shampoo jars to plastic was a good thing.

It's strange to think about how fast plastics have become part of packaging for everything, when not too long ago, it wasn't in regular use.

 

[Jabberwonky]

what if something like that could be done with a harder rubber container instead? it wouldn't break and could be reused and refilled from a wax lined cardstock like container (milk, etc. used to come in those and still does in some places, those are recyclable and even if they end up as litter at least they will eventually degrade and turn into worm food).

I have seen some people's ideas about creating a return system with reusable aluminum bottles that can be cleaned and refilled, which seems like a great innovation to me, but I haven't really seen it catch on, at least on websites I've looked at. I'm sure in some more urban areas, there are thriving similar systems.

 

[murphysranch]

I don't use pods for anything. First of all, they are expensive.

Second of all, there is toooooo much product in them for normal applications. I use half the recommended liquid dishwasher detergent - since we rinse our dishes and it runs (recycling the water the entire time) for over an hour.

For the washer, I switched from the huge upright tub with NO DANG AGITATOR (STOOOPID IDEA) to a front load that slams the clothes around, and I use a T or a touch more of liquid laundry detergent.

Detergents work as a surfactant, allowing what it touches to "release" things. More doesn't make things cleaner. Movement and agitation does the cleaning.

 

[Hinotori]

what if something like that could be done with a harder rubber container instead? it wouldn't break and could be reused and refilled from a wax lined cardstock like container (milk, etc. used to come in those and still does in some places, those are recyclable and even if they end up as litter at least they will eventually degrade and turn into worm food).

i didn't know that TJ's sold bags. thanks for that as we have a nice friend who happens to be a manager for a TJ's and it is a long drive for us but they once in a while are in this area and will bring us what we need.

Yes, some waxed cardboard would probably work just fine. Mom was going on again about how shampoo used to come in glass bottle last week. She was a cosmologist and beautician so had to deal with them at work as well.

 

[Hinotori]

I use liquid detergent usually because the last washer didn't dissolve the powder properly. I could try again now that I'm thinking about it. I only buy the liquid twice a year so I'm not using much.

Tried the pods when the washer broke and I had to use the laundromat. Wasn't happy with them. I may actually still have a few left.

 

[Hinotori]

I have seen some people's ideas about creating a return system with reusable aluminum bottles that can be cleaned and refilled, which seems like a great innovation to me, but I haven't really seen it catch on, at least on websites I've looked at. I'm sure in some more urban areas, there are thriving similar systems.

In the 80s in Springfield, OR there was a bulk store where you could bring back your own containers and refill things like soda, shampoo, laundry detergent, and others. We went to visit my aunt in college and she'd taken us there. Probably around 1985.

Can't do foodstuffs now because of laws. Guess it didn't do well enough with the other things.

Only thing I know you take your own containers back for now is water.

Of course only bulk stores I know are Winco and some of the health food stores around here.

 

[tortoise]

My area lost all it's bulk retail with COVID. ALL. 😟