Zero Waste

[frustratedearthmother]

Recycled my diet root beer can this afternoon.

I'm noticing a trend with my trash. I generally wash and re-use gallon size ziploc bags that haven't had raw meat in them. But, I've gone through two in two days and I don't like it! I rarely wash the sandwich sized bags though so I'm making a switch. I've been intending to for awhile now - but decided to go ahead and bite the bullet.

Amazon.com: Reusable Gallon Food Storage Bags - Anpro Reusable Freezer Bags Extra Thick & Leakproof, 1 Gallon Bags for Marinate Meats, Sandwich, Snack, 7 Pack: Kitchen & Dining

Amazon.com: Reusable Silicone Food Storage Bags & Silicone Stretch Lids, Food Grade Silicone Bags and Covers, Airtight Seal Food Preservation Bags for Vegetable, Lunch, BPA Free, Freezer & Dishwasher Safe: Kitchen & Dining

These are on their way to my house!!

 

[Hinotori]

Mom assigns everyone their own hand towel in the bathroom. They get used one day. That came about in the bad old days of kids with pinkeye

 

[baymule]

Yes I have town clothes and farm clothes. We go to Vanity Fair Outlet store for jeans, I never pay over $10 for jeans. Once we walked in and there was a rack of flannel lined jeans for $8!! We went because I am a preferred customer and they sent me a text for 20 % off, so my jeans only cost me $6.40 I got 3 pair. They are Cabellas jeans and cost $50 regular price.

 

[tortoise]

have you tried an ordinary bar of soap or dish washing up liquid on stains? Time was, the former was used for collars and cuffs of white shirts, and the latter is the only thing I know that can remove grass stains from fabric.

My family doesnt know I refill our spray bottle of laundry stain remover with dish detergent and a little water. 😁

 

[Cecilia's-life]

Anyone have a way to tell people you only want sustainable baby toys, such as wood and cotton toys? I just can't stand the plastic.

 

[Cecilia's-life]

So many words. How about "if you give us any cheap plastic crap, we will not use it and will get rid of it ASAP"

My wife's friends are scientists, they like big words. Makes them feel important

 

[flowerbug]

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.

 

[tortoise]

the "pod" craze annoys me so much. It's so hard to find an unscented powder detergent in a cardboard box. and I don't mean from a zero waste store. The kind that used to be everywhere when I was a kid (I'm not THAT old). The plastic free pods aren't actually plastic free. I did some reading on that. it was so discouraging!

I'm on a medical diet so I am not really able to go as plastic-free as I want to be or as I used to be a couple years ago. It's exhausting, tbh. I'm interested in ways to hack my diet for less plastic. I can't really eat much solid food. Mostly protein powders and those come in plastic tubs.

 

[murphysranch]

WalMart got rid of any sort of bags. Not even for purchase.

 

[tortoise]

In most cases, there are alternatives to plastic that could be economical if the demand was high enough to get it produced at a larger scale. Part of my intent is to increase my demand of these items to help boost the market for them.

On the flip side, zero waste doesnt require buying the trendy products. More seasoned zero waste people use durable plastic items that are obtained secondhand, because its cheap, functional, and doesnt fund new plastics being produced.

I'm often annoyed by the young privileged "influencers" who want to live plastic free. Completely. Okay, well... have fun without your computer, phone, electricity, air conditioning, furnace, waterproofed anything, car, bus, bicycle, etc. 👍😅

That's why I focus on purchasing secondhand and on single-use plastic. Neither have much impact on my lifestyle, but they help reduce waste.

The planet needs millions of people to practice it imperfectly rather than a handful of people to go to extremes.