Another Blog Contest
Today's my birthday, which means I need something to stop my brain from wandering towards thoughts of aging and mortality and other such delightful things.Lucky for you, the best distraction seems to be another blog contest!
The prize: An assortment of ACME grocery bags ($50 value), sponsored by Reusablebags.com.
How to Enter - Just submit a comment that shares one of the following:
- One new thing you plan to do to cut your plastic use (don't worry if you submit a repeat).
- An idea on what we can do on a larger scale to cut packaging waste, be it through better packaging methods, better urban planning, etc.
- Your favorite product on the Reusablebags.com website and what you like about it (an obvious thanks for their sponsorship)
The entry deadline will be April 6, and I'll post the winner the following day.
Good luck everyone!
p.s. I was just joking about the thoughts of mortality thing...sort of.
Comments
One thing I've done is to support & heartily participate in a recycling program at my son's school that recycles plastic grocery bags (through Walmart)and also earns money for the pta. In our home, we have stopped using water bottles from the store & are filtering & filling our own water bottles (and at work too!!)
My fav product is the kids lunch bag-botht the bento and the camo are fun for my son to use!
I'm just trying to consume less, and conserve what I do buy. I do a lot of diluting. I think everyone could buy a lot less; there is just so much we don't really need.
I love the pretty SIGG aluminum bottles on the reusablebags site.
Thanks for the contest,
Rose
I no longer use plastic water bottles. I've been trying to gt my friends to stop as well by getting them water filters. I also bring my own tumbler to the coffee shop. I like the Gecko Traders Recycled XL Koren "Bucket" Bags.
I recently made my own deodorant from coconut oil, baking soda and local lavender oil. No more buying plastic containers of it!
One new thing I plan to do to cut my plastic use... Say no to plastic forks and spoon at restaurants (mainly fast food) I'll keep fork in my bag or use my own at home!!
One of my favorite items I use and give as gifts is the mesh grocery bag (I and my mother sew our own solid bags from scrap/overstock material).
I love thrift stores. If I can't find it at the thrift store, they I will find it at a garage sale or auction.
Yesterday, I cut up two old sheets to make into grocery sacks. I just need to find the time to begin sewing them together. Hopefully, this weekend.
Something I do now and plan to do more of in the spring is plant as many veggies and herbs that I can in pots in my apartment and on my balcony so that I don't have to buy as many!
Growing food at home or in community gardens is something that more people should put some effort into in order to reduce our plastic usage as a whole.
My favorite products on the reusable bags website have to be the to-go ware containers, they look so handy!
one new thing i plan to do is something that you came up with. bringing my own to-go boxes to restaurants. i HATE that they give me a styrofoam box and a plastic bag to put it in too!
something that i'm tossing around in my head (and was thinking of emailing you about) is how to reduce the waste i produce from using medical supplies. i'm a type 1 diabetic, which means i'm insulin dependent. each day i use 2 syringes, 3-4+ pen needles (they go on insulin pens), 4+ lancets, and 4+ test strips. of course, all of this comes encased in even *more* packaging. the syringes are in plastic bags with 10 in a bag, and have plastic covers over the needle parts. the pen needles come 100 to a box, and each has a cap over the needle part. they also have a protective foil over the bottom and an even bigger plastic cap that covers the whole thing. lancets come 100 to a box, and have a plastic cap over each needle. test strips are packaged 25 to a container and each container is like a film canister. the canisters are packaged in boxes, with 4 canisters in each box.
none of what i have listed is reusable. oh, and the insulin pens come in a set of 5 to a box. the pens are non-refillable, which creates even more trash.
for every injection you're supposed to clean the vial/pen with rubbing alcohol and swab the injection site as well. they make pre-packaged swabs for this purpose. they're just like wet-wipes. this is the ONE thing i figured a way around. i use small squares of cloth (about 1.5 x 1.5 inches) and a bottle of rubbing alcohol as a replacement. one bottle of rubbing alcohol lasts a LOT longer than those packages of swabs did, and creates a lot less trash.
so... my long rambly post is to say that i think the medical industry should examine it's packaging processes. i understand that with needles you want safety, but surely there is a better way! do pen needles *really* need TWO safety caps? if i'm buying a box of 100 syringes, do they *really* need to be further packaged in bags of 10?
my favorite item on reusablebags is the ORganic Cotton Net Produce bags. i got two of these for christmas and I WANT MORE!!! they're absolutely awesome, and checkout clerks have no troubles with them. in fact, several cashiers have complemented me on them and said that they're a neat idea. ^_^
The way I cut the packaging use is using the hand bag which made by fabric when shopping at grocery so as to avoid getting plastic packaging that quite often be offered by most of stores in our country.
Re-use the existence packaging and instead of using bag which made by paper.
Recycle the plastic bottle and stuff and don’t throw it with daily garbage.
Although some activities or rules has been taken and settled by our government to require everyone to take part in & trying to lower plastic packaging use, but it leaves lots works to achieve. At least, as small one like me start to make it work.
Appreciate you bring so many recommendation and things to let me deep thinking and try out.
Karen Fan
To reduce my use of plasic, I bring my odd assortment of canvas bags and reused plastic bags to the grocery store. Living in France, I can go to the market for shopping (produce!) but they are so used packaging things up in plastic bags. I usually have them keep the bags as I repackage my fruits and vegetables in to my bags, but I've been eyeing the produce bags on the Reusablebags.com website.
My fave product:Envirosax!
I stopped buying bottled water, and only drink tap water. I haul all of the recyclables from my work home with me on the bus. I try not to get plastic bags from stores, but when I inevitably end up with one, I use it for the cat litter. I use all of my yogurt containers to plant seedlings for my veggie garden.
(Happy Birthday!) :)
I have given up bottled water and also joined a CSA for this spring/summer! I cannot wait for fresh veggies!
Oh, and I convinced my boyfriend we should use bar soap from our local Co-Op that is sold with brown paper wrapping.
My favorite product is this:
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/sigg-kids-shadow-mystery-noir-p-1533.html
My boyfriend saw the Shadow cat bottle and just about had kittens! I swear, for a guy he is nuts about stuff that is pink with cats on it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! YOU ARE MY HERO!
If I ever end up in Chicago I hope you will let me and my boyfriend buy you cocktail!
When I go grocery shopping, I've started trying to only buy things in glass bottles or jars. I've also started going to a local farmers market on Fridays (with reusable shopping and produce bags in hand) and buying as many of my groceries there as possible before I hit the grocery store on the weekend. The farmer's market has produce and canned goods with less plastic packaging, it tastes better, and is often cheaper too.
I then save all of the glass jars and bottles. I'm a crafter, and they work wonderfully in my workshop for storing safety pins, bits of ribbon and whathaveyou.
On a larger scale, I think encouraging people to buy locally produced goods would go a long way to reduce plastic. Goods produced by the "big" growers and shipped from farther away require more packaging. The local farmer never feels the need to entomb his corn or broccoli in plastic before he sells it.
This is my favorite:
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/reisenthel-mini-maxi-shopper-eden-long-handle-p-706.html
I already have one and keep it in my purse at all times. It's just perfect when you find yourself needing to buy something you weren't planning for. I'd buy one for all of my friends and family if I could!
I gave up bottled water and bought a filter for the sink and a reusable bottle.
This past weekend, I finally made my own skin creme/oils, which will save me from buying any more pre-made in the inevitable plastic packaging. Mine are packaged in a reusable tin and a glass bottle.
On the Reusable Bags site, I love that new tea thermos! It seems a little small, but I might have to buy one, since I drink tea all day long, and that would be the perfect commuter mug for me!
I don't have a favorite product from reusablebags, but the ACME grocery bags and SIGG bottles are both used daily in my household and given as gifts!
I gave up plastic for lent (and not credit cards like everyone thinks). So I have cut out my purchase of a water/juice and pop-tart every morning on my way to class. I have also purchased glass containers and am going to the co-op to buy most of my food from bulk bins. I have been eating a lot of granola, pasta and fruit! Of course I am bring my own bags to carry all my food in too (our store doesn't even offer plastic bags!) This experience has been such a learning process and your blog was my inspiration and my guide so thanks so much. I'm pretty sure this habit is going to continue way past Easter for me.
And remember...age is something that doesn't matter unless your a cheese :)
I enjoy reading your posts.
We really don't need so many Plastic Storage Containers around the house.
For long term food storage, such as storing grains ceramics or earthen ware can be used.
For short term food storage, such as storing food in refrigerator, ceramics/glass/stainless steel boxes can be used.
It might look expensive to start with, but it is healthy, economical & eco-friendly on long run.
1. I plan to go "no-poo" for the first 2 weeks in April and try out Baking soda/vinegar rinse (sorry this is a repeat! I'm still new at living with less plastic)
2. I would like to see cosmetics refills from smaller "etailer" brands be shipped in something other than teeny plastic zipper bags. Perhaps mini paper bags? I don't like the idea of using corn to make plastic... it just smacks of "agribusiness."
3. My favorite product would be the snackTAXI- no more flimsy plastic zipper baggies floating around in the ocean because I wanted to take a bulk packaged snack to work!
Bye the way, hope you had a lovey birthday.
Our most recent change has been bringing a cup on our airplane rides for the beverage service. We don't fly a lot, but when we do it's hard to know what to do about drinks - we need to keep hydrated but don't want to use the disposable cups (although they say they recycle them, it's still not a good option). I thought about bringing our water bottles on but they are large and my son doesn't need that much juice :-) A small metal cup (found at a thrift store even) is the perfect thing!
Happy (belated) Birthday! :-)
Consciousness is a huge first step.
And I haven't washed my hair in 3 days! :-)
I have only very recently started wearing makeup regularly. Going out to try and figure out what sort of things I wanted to buy was really hard, and absofreakinlutely everything was cased in layers of plastic. I discovered that MAC takes back all of their packaging, presumably to recycle it, and they even have an incentive for doing so! Therefor, much to the chagrin of my chequing account, my new purchases are from MAC :)
On a larger scale, I give cloth bags and reusable water bottels as gifts to introduce other people to how easy it is to produce less waste.
I have been a customer of reusablesbags.com for several years and have been happy with all of their products. I especially like the Sigg reusable water bottles and the bags made from recycled or sustainable materials. The service from reusablebags.com is fantastic as well.
I also recycle, compost, and grow my own vegetables. I encourage other people to reduce waste by giving reusable items as gifts.
Reusablebags.com is a really cool site. I've been a long time customer and have been happy with every product I've purchased from them.
I wish supermarkets would take back packaging for re-use -- eg, glass bottles and jars don't need to be melted down after one use because they can go round several times.
I'm a Sigg fan -- love the Maha series.
Some new things I'm going to do to cut plastic use is bring my own bag whenever I shop - not just grocery shopping - and I'm going to start using shampoo bars. I also found a recipe for sunscreen, and I'm going to CAREFULLY test it to see if it works.
To cut packaging waste: An improved distribution system might cut down on transport time, decreasing the need for excessive packaging. But pushing recycling centers would also help (I'm starting to think it's almost impossible to recycle glass in Colorado)
My favorite product from Reusablebags.com: How to choose just one? The shopping bags look great, I'm actually going to buy an 18 oz Klean Kanteen, and the Market Basket is also on my list.
By the way, I really admire your resolve to live life less plastic. I happened on your blog to get ideas on how to reduce the amount of plastic that is produced by my existance (rather than just recycling).
I don't know why anyone would ridicule someone who's trying to make a positive personal change, like the flight attendant you blogged about, or the psychotic person who made a negative comment hiding behind the anonymity of the internet. I've encountered a lot of strange looks from cashiers and people trying to give me free stuff, even ridicule from coworkers about my habits. I think it's that seeing someone else making an effort, it undercuts their own life (kind of like people who try to sabotage or make fun of those trying to lose weight).
1. I have been researching making my own yogurt since yougurt containers are made of Plastic #5 and those are not accepeted by our Garbage Collectors. I have been reusing the containers but our cupboard is overflowing so I thought this might be a better solution.
2. A non-profit I am working with is participating in a fundraiser by collecting electronics. We are setting up a station during a local Township Clean Up Day. We will take away any electonics that community memebers would otherwise put in the dumpster. By boxing up these used electronics the non-profit is getting a little help along with the environment.
3. I love the Workhorse bags that fit in my purse. My sister gave it to me as a present and now I want to buy them for my friends. There is no excuse not to have a bag on you when they can fit so nicely in your purse.
One of my cats almost died by being strangled by the handles of a plastic bag...since then I've sounded like Joan Crawford..."no more PLASTIC BAGS...EVER!"
I have realized that I should and will stop using disposible plastic baggies and instead use re-usable tupperwear.
I will also stop buying the 24 flats of individual bottled water and instead get the big jugs to re-fill at the grocery store.
Maureen
Akron, Ohio
I like the feel and heft of it. It's recyclable. It's usually prettier and cleans up perfectly, so that I can see that it's truly clean.
And yes, they break every so often, which is about the time I head out to buy more glasses.
But I don't like plastic / rubber drinking glasses. I will stop wondering what I am drinking along with the water this year.
I try to consume very little and make my cleaning products when I can. I buy used or refurbished and if I can think of an alternative to plastic, I am willing to spend a little more on it.
In the future, I plan to buy a Japanese-style earwax remover, so I don't use any more cotton buds, which frequently are made of plastic and cotton.
I saw some comments on here about LUSH shampoo bars, and now I am adding that to my list as well. :)
Something I do that cuts down on my plastic consumption is to make and use felted soap. This saves me from buying the plastic poofy scrubbers every couple months, and the bottles of shower gel every couple weeks. And the little pouches that are left over after the soap is used up are reusable as well. Just sew on a snap, and it's an instant change purse! Another added bonus is quality control. Most of the time, I use natural handmade soap, and I know what the ingredients are. No chemicals!
Something I've seen done in other parts of the world that addresses packaging waste is to have recycling bins in the stores. After purchases are made, a person removes any excess packaging and leaves it there at the store.
My favorite Reusablebags product is definitely the b. happybags tote. I like that they're pretty, have long handles, and are made in the USA!
Thanks for the contest, and Happy Birthday!
Though we still use *plenty* of plastic, I'm proud to say that through composting and recycling, our family of 4 (all adults - us and my inlaws) puts out only 1/2 of one bag of trash per week (and half of that is kitty waste - because with 5 cats it's SO much easier to use scoopable clay).
However, I did just quit using plastic produce bags. (We've been using reuseable, non-plastic tote bags for groceries for over 10 years). If I don't have too many produce items, I just dump them in my tote bag and spend a little longer at the self-check-out sorting them all at the end. Or if I am getting a lot, then I use a small paper handle bag (I'm addicted to Chipotle, so I get one of their handle bags and reuse it both there and at the grocery until the poor bag just can't take it any more).
Because we compost so much at home, my favorite product at the Reusablebags site is the compostable bags!
TFTC(Contest, not cache!)
My tip for using less plastic is buy glass straws from GlassDharma.com they even sell cases so you can carry them with you!
They are awesome and people are sure to ask you about them which gives you a chance to talk about why plastic is bad.
My favorite Reusablebags.com product is the wrap-n-mats because they have really helped us lose the need for plastic bags for lunches!
With that, I have been growing my hair out to reduce the amount of plastic I use. Sounds kinda funny but, I have real short spikey hair. I use a lot of styling products. Of course they all come in plastic containers. And then I have to wash my hair everyday to get all that gunk out, also platic containers. So I am growing my hair so I don't have to use as much styling products and shampoo.
I have also stopped drinking bottled water and soda. That has helped on the amount of plastic bottles thrown out. Added bonus, I have lost 5 pounds since cutting soda out of my diet!
Plastic Bags Blow!
The Team at ReusableBags.com