Zero Waste

[Cecilia's-life]

Seventh Generation discontinued their laundry powder. I tried BioKleen powder, it didn't get clothes clean. DH put cooking oil on his hands and tried washing his hand with BioKleen and it couldn't remove the oil. I'm currently using Dropps because I didn't know any other plastic-free and unscented options. They're fine, but expensive. I found Tide has a free/clear powder detergent so I bought a few boxes to use when I run out of Dropps.

Have you tried phelps naptha?

 

[tortoise]

Have you tried phelps naptha?

I'm allergic to their fragrance. ☹

 

[Cecilia's-life]

Shampoo removes blood when hand scrubbing.

OMG thank you most helpful thing I've read all day.

 

[tortoise]

Have you tried phelps naptha?

I wonder if there are any unscented laundry bars? Or if regular bar soap would work? 🤔

 

[Cecilia's-life]

I meant to type harmful 🤣🤣I like that though.

 

[Marie2020]

while i dislike plastic, i really dislike plastic films and non-reusable bags even moreso. with a well-made plastic container you can reuse it hundreds of times before it ends up in the recycling bin, cheap plastic films and bags (even ziplocks) can often be used just a few times before they become trash.

my preference though for food storage is glass, i don't mind if it has a reuseable plastic top because that doesn't often come in contact with the food and it doesn't usually get stained or broken. glass itself can be broken a bit too easily but that's just, well, the breaks... :/ i'm ok with recycling that when it happens here or there.

in a multi-generational household almost all my anti-plastic actions are ignored or gotten around by Mom who doesn't get it and doesn't really care. same with aluminum foils. both plastics and foils take a lot of energy to produce and the results need to be recycled. at least Mom will recycle the foils but getting her to reuse a plastic freezer bag or to wash it out might or might not happen depending upon her mood. i hate the smells of most plastics and taste them in foods too much so i always use glass for food storage. now we are using more parchment paper for baking and that is a welcome change, but it doesn't do much good for getting less trash going out the door because Mom won't do much for composting it. her brain just doesn't work that ways.

as a tip the big thing with using plastics as food storage and to keep them reused for many many times is to never reheat anything in the microwave in a plastic container and to let food cool off enough before putting it into a plastic container. that helps a lot.

also if you are sensitive to odors from animal fats it helps to wash the container and then fill it with cold water and add a few drops of bleach and let that soak for a while before rinsing it out and drying it.

I never cook anything on plastic ever

 

[flowerbug]

I never cook anything on plastic ever

me either, but some people reheat things in the microwave oven and don't realize how hot fats or other things on plastics can get (hot enough to melt the plastic). i used to cook a lot more in glass too until i broke my favorite glass pan. still haven't replaced it.

 

[tortoise]

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