Breaking The Plastic Addiction: Week 2 Checkpoint

Here is our total damage for Week 2 at a distance.

(Review Week 1 Here) 

 

 

Week two of our Plastic Challenge is finally over! (8.20.12-8-26.12) In my opinion, we consumed MORE plastic this week, unintentionally of course. Johnee' begs to differ but that's neither here nor there. This week we had additional stuff going on such as our Juice Fast (heading into Day 5 now), and 3 RAW! Food clients to cater to. With that in mind, I don't think we did THAT bad, right? Let's take a closer look...

 

How did we accumulate these plastic containers? The dates were not for us this time! Raspberries, Alfalfa Sprouts, Roma tomatoes, Blackberries, Blueberries, Fresh Figs helped us prep for our Fast, and one damaged biodegradable Eco-Products container that we couldn't use for deliveries.

 

Solutions? Buy a sprouter so we don't have to buy sprouts in PLASTIC containers.

Pick individual tomatoes or those that come in cardboard boxes. Buy dates from BULK. The fruit? Eh..well it's going out of season so that solves that for now..and we have consciously switched to all bio-degradable plastic for our RAW! business so that gives us peace of mind for the moment.

 

Organic fruits and vegetables are cheaper when you buy in bulk BUT they come in large plastic bags (carrots, navel oranges) or plastic netting (onions, lemons), or bundled with a plastic band (chard, spinach, beets). We love seeded grapes but they always come in plastic too! These is one plastic grocery bag simple because we were one re-usable bag short.

 

Solutions? We COULD buy each fruit and vegetable individually or go directly to the farmer which we are looking into as we search for organic wholesalers. Grocery stores are looking like the plastic SET-UP.

 

We made a few dishes for others using flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds which are conveniently packaged in plastic from Trader Joe's. There is also a Ziploc present that housed a piece of vegetable.

 

Solutions? Flax, Almonds, and Sunflower seeds are available in bulk. Although the price may vary, it's a solution none the less.. 

 

 Those pesky PRODUCE BAGS! This coming week should look much better because we have been saying f**k the bags and just putting stuff in the cart. Oh, and we are on a farmers market mission this week as well. The CVS bag comes from the tail end of our feminine cycle.

 

 

How our Plastic Usage has Improved

• We ate out LESS this week. Not at ALL, actually :) This means less plastic utensils and plastic eating containers.
• NO raw snacks (unless prepared at home) This saved us much money on our womanly cycle too.
• We had less grocery bags because we have been remembering our re-usable bags :)

 

Did You Know? - Plastic Facts

• Plastic contains natural gases and petroleum that are extracted from the Earth by "Fracking". Fracking (breaking gas-containing rock by injecting shit-tons of chemically induced water into the ground) contaminates our water supply especially in low income areas.
• Drilling for natural gas allows methane to escape into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
• Oil drilling is a problem and we are all VERY dependent, whether we use petrol for gas or are struggling with plastic addiction. The state of the world rests in our hands. Let's not be so selfish!
• ALL plastics contain an array of additives that determine it's strength, texture, flexibility, color, and other characteristics. Some plastic chemicals mimic the natural hormones that our bodies produce, causing early puberty in females, reduced sperm counts, altered functions of reproductive organs, obesity, diabetes, and even breast, ovarian, testicular, and prostate cancers.
• The effects of these chemicals are increased in children because they are smaller and still GROWING!
• Some plastic chemicals include BPA, BPA-Free Alternatives, Phthalates, Lead and Cadmium, Styrene, Antimony, Animal Fat (not vegan friendly!), Antibacterial Chemicals, Toxic Flam Retardants, Perfluorinated Compounds, and MORE!

Feel free to LOOK UP any of these chemicals on your OWN or stay tuned for our Week 3 update to our Plastic Trash Challenge! This isn't an easy road to ride but we never said it would be - but it WILL be worth it. We are manifesting that! Special thanks to Beth Terry and her wonderful book, 'Plastic Free' that has guided us along our journey. Stay tuned!