The gauntlet has been thrown, and we have accepted. Our friends at Rodale.com have challenged us to a No Plastic February. We are going to need your support. In fact, we are hoping you will take this journey with us, so we can compare notes and tips and frustrations.
From Rodale: Why go plastic free? There are plenty of reasons to cut down. It’s made from either petroleum or natural gas, two nonrenewable resources extracted in ways that pollute our air and water. Plastic manufacturers add chemicals to certain types of plastics that can be highly toxic, like bisphenol A and phthalates. And very few types of plastic are widely recycled.
http://www.rodale.com/plastic-free
We don’t usually take on eco-challenges, partly because we’ve seen quite a few over the years, but also because we’re in production of Season Two right now and adding another logistics challenge to the brain right now may not be what Joe and Theresa need…
But plastics is an area I was personally planning to take on in 2011, so I took the timing of the challenge as a sign. So SOME of the team have taken on the challenge directly, and everyone else has agreed to pay attention to their plastics use and try to minimize where they can.
The Plastic-Free Ground Rules are simple:
- No buying or acquiring new plastic.
- No cooking with plastic or storing food in plastic.
- Minimize all other plastic use.
That’s not so bad, is it? After a recent trip to the grocery store, I expect the first rule to give me the most trouble. All of my favorite foods, including my favorite organic choices, come wrapped in plastic. This will be interesting!
Those participating at Rodale are particularly focused on health, and the toxins in plastic that may leach into our food. Others are focused on the fact that plastics are made from nonrenewable resources.
My own personal focus will be on single-use plastics, keeping my own plastic use away of the landfill, and the sheer waste of it all. Single-use plastics are plastic cups and lids, straws, plastic forks, to-go boxes, shrink wrap, and of course, those &*$&^@! plastic bags from the store. I’m launching February with a stack of those reusable grocery bags in the car, my ceramic coffee “to-go” mug clean, and maybe a bit of a chip on my shoulder. (I bet it gets knocked off soon – today in fact.)
The things I am expecting to be hard, probably will not be so bad. The things that will be hard are issues that haven’t even occurred to me yet. I can tell you now I’m in over my head on this, but at the very least I will have decreased my plastics consumption and waste significantly over the course of the month. I’m most excited to gain a new perspective on how much plastic I touch on a daily basis.
Who’s with me? Are you in? And what will be YOUR personal focus? Health, waste, something else? And who’s starting the support group for guilty admissions when we slip up?
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea! I am riddled with guilt at all the plastics we use on a daily basis. I know there are certain things in life that plastics are essential for (i.e. medical advancements), but the daily, single use, “it’s just easier” products, need to be reduced. I’m in for a plastic-free February, and I really hope I’m up for the challenge.
That’s awesome, Scott! We can compare notes and support each other! Already I’m most worried about the grocery store, I paid attention on my last trip and all my favorite things – including meats, juice, organic produce – seem to be packaged in plastic.
My partner and I were just discussing this issue last night as we pared down the plastic containers in the kitchen. Our goal is to eventually be 100% plastic container-free in the kitchen when we build our new recycled/reclaimed home.
Michael, you’re amazing! What an example you set every single day, so if you have any no-plastic tips for me I’m all ears. I think in the fridge, for leftovers, we will be going to ceramic bowls with plates on them. Happily I’m a bit of a pottery nerd so we already have mugs and bowls and plates that won’t require us to touch plastic when eating. Cooking… we usually do plastic spatulas but I kwow we have wooden spoons somewhere too. Ah well – it will be interesting!
In my case I ask myself how it was done before plastics were in use. Glass and ceramic containers just make sense to me for food storage. The freezer remains a bit of a mystery to me though, I must admit.
At the supermarket the first rule to remember is that the simpler the ingredient, the less packaging it should require. Sugar, flour and most baking needs come in recyclable paper-based packages, for vegetables and fruit I will make and carry my own reusable produce bags made from recycled window sheers. While I am aiming toward purchasing beef in quantity through a coop that allows me to buy “half a cow”, you can also ask the meat department personnel to package your meat in deli paper the way it used to be done.
If you purchase eggs, purchase them in recycled paperboard containers instead of foam. Milk is rarely found in glass these days so the next best thing will be cartons, though many of them these days have plastic spouts and lids.
If nothing else were to come from this movement, I would love to see every person across the country bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store and say “no thanks” to the plastic bags for good.
Thanks Mike for the tips at the grocery store. I was already stressing about what I was going to do there, like with the meat. One solution would be to go vegitarian (which I am considering) at the same time. But…I’m not ready to handle two stressful events at once.
Great ideas though so thanks for the help!
Another option is to go meat-free 1 day each week. There are plenty of things to eat without meat in them and when you only do it for 24 hours at a time you don’t usually miss the meat as much.
*taking notes*
Seriously Mike, you documenting all of this somewhere? I’d love to see a video of what you take with you to the grocery store, how you shop, what you look for. This is all good stuff.
I just officially started working on the new homestead today. My partner and I will be documenting everything we can about the entire homesteading process from cooking to shopping, building the new house from recycled materials, etc. Click my name above to see the website.
This is not gonna be easy in some areas, but I’m in.
Awesome, Mary! Glad to hear it. What are your biggest concerns right here at the beginning?
I’m going to be partaking as well. I need to figure out my game plan first. Will be following what you do.
Mike you are much further along this sustainability journey than I am, I’m hoping to follow your lead on this! I’m open to any tips.
I can sit here at my keyboard and brainstorm some ideal plastic alternatives, but I know it’s different when I’m standing there in person at the store, airport, coffee shop, bookstore, etc. and seeing what choices are before me.
One thing is for sure, on Feb 28 I’ll know a lot more about myself and the plastics in our world than I do today!
I think if anything that comes this I hope it would be for people to realize how much plastic is in everything that we use and do. We’ve become so dependent on it and like Mike said above, what did we do before that. Freakin plastic is in our chewing gum…not wrapping our gum, I literally mean in it.
Urrrrghhhh. I’m in. Thank God February is a short month. This is gonna be very interesting. With a good chunk of life on the road this month, I’ve never considered the impact plastic has with living on the fly. I might as well blog about it too, right?
Thanks Christa for this. I can’t wait to see how much plastic is really in my world that I don’t even consider!
I was just thinking about how much of the plastic around us we don’t consider. Think about something as simple as purchasing milk. The obvious answer is to forgo the plastic jug in favor of the carton, but now even the cartons are made with plastic spouts and lids.
Joe is in!!! Wahoo! Yes please, share what you’re seeing on the road, what you are able to work around and what you’re not. Airports and flying later this month will be a challenge, too. We can do this
Arrghhh! I’m going to have to start tomorrow. I tried to start today but failed before I even got to the store! Forgot my reusable bags and was not able to return home for them. I thought I’d just buy some more at the grocery store but they didn’t have any!!!
This is not going to be easy and I can see it’s going to require a lot of planning. These spontaneous trips are going to be interesting.
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