Zero Waste Transition: Week 1
It has been 7 days...
SEVEN WHOLE DAYS since I started intentionally avoiding plastic.
Have you ever stopped to take a look at everything around you that is plastic? Let me save you the trouble and just tell you that it is pretty much everything.
According to a recent article from Thrive Global, "an estimated 500 million plastic straws are used every day in the US alone... Every minute one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean and by 2050, scientists project that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight."
My poor boyfriend had the pleasure of being on the phone with me on my way to the grocery store for my first shopping experience sans plastic. It might have gone something like this...
Me: Seriously reconsidering my decisions here, I think I'm only going to be able to buy produce.
Him: I'm sure you'll figure something out.
Me: But I'm really craving cookies and I can't buy them!
Him: Could you make them?
Me: I guess, but what about butter... and milk? Both come in questionable packaging. Am I going to have to learn how to make butter?!
And you can pretty much imagine the rest... Fortunately, he has not broken up with me yet, and actually feels that he is being enlightened by my process as well. Whew!
Anyway, if you can't tell, I was not at all prepared for that shopping trip. Though I did have my reusable bags! Despite all that, I still ended up leaving with mostly produce and a stomach that was all of a sudden craving EVERYTHING that comes wrapped in plastic.
I did look in the organic grocery section to see if they possibly had any cookies packaged in PCR (post-consumer recycled) packaging. I thought I hit the jackpot when I found a box of what I would call "organic thin mints" (man I'm going to miss Girl Scout cookies) that said it was in PCR packaging. Yay!!
SEVEN WHOLE DAYS since I started intentionally avoiding plastic.
Have you ever stopped to take a look at everything around you that is plastic? Let me save you the trouble and just tell you that it is pretty much everything.
According to a recent article from Thrive Global, "an estimated 500 million plastic straws are used every day in the US alone... Every minute one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean and by 2050, scientists project that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight."
My poor boyfriend had the pleasure of being on the phone with me on my way to the grocery store for my first shopping experience sans plastic. It might have gone something like this...
Me: Seriously reconsidering my decisions here, I think I'm only going to be able to buy produce.
Him: I'm sure you'll figure something out.
Me: But I'm really craving cookies and I can't buy them!
Him: Could you make them?
Me: I guess, but what about butter... and milk? Both come in questionable packaging. Am I going to have to learn how to make butter?!
And you can pretty much imagine the rest... Fortunately, he has not broken up with me yet, and actually feels that he is being enlightened by my process as well. Whew!
Anyway, if you can't tell, I was not at all prepared for that shopping trip. Though I did have my reusable bags! Despite all that, I still ended up leaving with mostly produce and a stomach that was all of a sudden craving EVERYTHING that comes wrapped in plastic.
I did look in the organic grocery section to see if they possibly had any cookies packaged in PCR (post-consumer recycled) packaging. I thought I hit the jackpot when I found a box of what I would call "organic thin mints" (man I'm going to miss Girl Scout cookies) that said it was in PCR packaging. Yay!!
LESSON #1: Don't trust what the package says.
Upon opening the previously mentioned box of thin mints, I found them nicely packaged in one of those silver bags and sitting in a tray made of - yep, you guessed it - PLASTIC.
But the cookies were sooooo good! I guess it's time for me to learn how to make Girl Scout Cookies. If anyone has a recipe, send it my way!
Needless to say, my next shopping trip (a couple days later) was a tad bit more productive...
This time I chose Whole Foods. And I packed with me a couple glass jars.
It took me two trips (because I didn't pack enough jars), but I was able to buy ground beef, nuts, spices, and quinoa using my own packaging.
And I only got laughed at once!
More details on how to shop package-free in my next rambling.
But for now, I feel fantastic because I'm finally living my life in line with my passions. And that alone is worth it.
But the cookies were sooooo good! I guess it's time for me to learn how to make Girl Scout Cookies. If anyone has a recipe, send it my way!
Needless to say, my next shopping trip (a couple days later) was a tad bit more productive...
This time I chose Whole Foods. And I packed with me a couple glass jars.
LESSON #2: Make sure to pack plenty of jars.
It took me two trips (because I didn't pack enough jars), but I was able to buy ground beef, nuts, spices, and quinoa using my own packaging.
And I only got laughed at once!
More details on how to shop package-free in my next rambling.
But for now, I feel fantastic because I'm finally living my life in line with my passions. And that alone is worth it.
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