very true.
Aside from my meals and the trash can in my office, I can do exactly nothing about the huge amount of packaging we open on a daily basis. As an organization we do okay to minimize waste and recycle what we can, but wowza there’s a lot of waste generated each day.
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my work supplies everyone with unlimited single use plastic containers to pack their lunch each day. We had reusable lunch boxes but they got rid of them because people didnt like washing up.
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Oh wow. That would be frustrating to watch 
Our usage is mostly needed supplies for cases, thankfully, but we do have a handful of plastic flatware in the breakroom.
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yeah and plastic cutlery is used regularly instead of the proper reusable cutlery that is in the same draw because people dont want to do washing. it blows my mind
I think we have settled on cloth nappies and not making exceptions for the other plastic free initiatives we take (drink cups, straws, plastic bags at the shops). I also have a menstrual cup now.
I am not sure about absolutes with the other things, plastic packaged groceries in particular. My goal in that area will be to make the best choice I can at the time.
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Used a single cloth nappy today.
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Happy Plastic Free July, everyone!
Last night I discovered that my favourite of the chocolates available from the work chocolate box, which I always choose because they come in cardboard instead of plastic, contain palm oil. So I guess I’m not getting any chocolate from the work chocolate box at all this month.
I prepped for the start of PFJ by making bread and oat slice last night. The oat slice replaces muesli bars and snack bars wrapped in plastic; the bread replaces bread in plastic bags. I imagine that throughout July I will buy bread using my own reusable bag, as well as baking it sometimes.
I resisted having a pod coffee this morning at home, which is a BIG DEAL (praise me! praise me!). The pods themselves are an environmental disaster, plus I don’t like having coffee without milk, and our milk is in plastic. While I am using up things we’ve already bought in plastic, I’m not including milk in that category as we would end up buying more milk due to my consumption of it, than we will with me not drinking it.
The things that I still don’t know how to replace are:
- Milk. This is something that is non-negotiable for Mr H, so he will continue to buy it in plastic jugs, but I won’t be drinking it.
- Peas. I’ve only ever seen peas frozen in plastic bags. I guess the answer is that I should be eating whatever greens are in-season instead?
- Raspberries. We buy them frozen in plastic bags. I’ve heard that a particular fancy food shop (Fresh Provisions in Mount Lawley) has them frozen in bulk, so we may have to make a special trip there to stock up.
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This might be a real test of your commitment…but have you considered getting a cow? The manure will be a real bonus for the vegie patch…
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Canned milk, evaporated milk, or sweetened condensed milk can all be a substitute if you want to try something else (this last one is what is used in Vietnamese iced coffee and it is BOMB DIGGITY) and are all in tins (at least, here in the states).
You are strong. I cannot drink coffee without half and half or milk (or cream) so I bought powdered goat milk, because supposedly you can use it for cheese (because it is not ultra-pasteurized and you cannot use the canned milk above for cheese (the proteins are denatured in the processing)). We’ll see. It has a plastic lid, but it is far less than a jug. It’s either that or milk in glass, which also has a little plastic cap anyway. Still, though, far less.
My plan is to just keep all the plastic that inadvertently (or advertently!) gets generated. It will certainly be less at any rate, and I won’t beat myself up about it.
Oops! This was supposed to be in response to HaH not PDM. 
Fun fact, you can change who a post replies to with the edit. Oh maybe not on mobile.
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I’ve seen milk available in glass bottles (not cheap) but probably a good quality organic milk?
https://schulzorganicdairy.com.au seem to be over your way?
Local to me would be:
http://www.barambahorganics.com.au/products/milk/milk-in-glass-reusable-packaging
At what I assume would be astronomical $/L prices I wouldn’t be sloshing it on wheatbix or mixing with milo but might be nice in coffee.
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Does anyone mind if I list the plastic I’ve used? I am not going to be perfect at this but accounting for money spent seems to motivate me to spend less so maybe it works for plastic too. And maybe I’ll get some good tips?
Avoided
- disposable coffee cup
- plastic water bottle
- plastic grocery bags
- plastic produce bags
- grocery receipt on thermal paper
- 2-3x disposable nappies (we used more cloth but I would typically use 2-3 disposables during the day)
Used/purchased
- ham in a plastic bag from the supermarket deli
- bread in plastic from the supermarket
- 2L milk bottle (we are saving these atm for seedling raising in the future)
- produce stickers on mandarins x 3
- 1x plastic bin liner
- 1x disposable nappy overnight
- rice from plastic packaging for dinner (existing)
- walnuts from plastic packaging for dinner (existing)
- frozen peas from plastic packaging for dinner (existing)
- cheese in plastic packaging for dinner (existing)
other feel good things
- shredded a bunch of paper and toilet rolls to add to the compost
- refreshed the tips of Pikelet’s dried out markers with warm water to extend their lives
- walked to the shops
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I don’t mind!
Ooooh that’s a useful tip…
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Nope - they have one outlet in Perth according to that list but it’s a long drive from my place, wrong side of the river etc, and not near anywhere I go regularly. Sigh.
If I get to Fresh Provisions for frozen berries, I’ll see if they have any milk in glass bottles. I think they’re the nearest place that is at all likely to stock super fancy milk.
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WIN: I made bread in our breadmaker!
LOSE: I opened my package of bread mix to realise the cardboard bag has a lining of plastic sandwiched between the paper layers. I suspect I’ll be trying different brands and package options until I find one that suits us.
@Pancakes listing stuff out sounds great to me, and so does crowdsourcing problems and solutions!
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It is now Plastic Free July!
I am not the kind of personality that commits well to complete bans. However, I do very well when I commit to Focused Improvement.
Foremost target area is food packaging and waste (since this is the most everyday challenge I face wrt plastics). Going for minimized packaging generally, with special focus on getting rid of single-use plastics. Since Wizard is mostly out of town this summer for his internship, it’s a little bit easier in that I have more control over the food acquisition right now.
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My first foray into Plastic Free July:
Obviously not plastic free. There is a plastic cap, and a plastic liner (obviously). However, I have a front loading high efficiency washer that does not take powdered soap, so, uh, some plastic is gonna be necessary or I will be extremely dirty by the end of the month.* The shell is compostable, the plastic parts are recyclable. There are a bunch of seals and logos, some of it which might be greenwashing, but whatever. I actually used up the very last little bit of my last container (of Arm & Hammer laundry detergent), so the timing is pretty good. I can’t help but feel ripped off, however, over how much more this cost.
Also, normally I buy Charmin Ultra toilet tissue. It is pretty lux. It is one of the more luxurious things I buy. This toilet tissue is not lux, although it is not sandpaper level. I can survive a month with it, I suppose. Maybe I will adapt. (Oh, it also seems more expensive. 
So far this is an exercise in privilege.)
*Ok so I realized after purchasing this that I could, in reality, go to a laundromat with machines that use powdered soap. There is even one down the literal street. So I guess I have failed straight out of the gate on DAY 1. However, it is cheaper to launder at home (once the machine is sunk) and if I went to the laundromat I would have to then commit to continuing to go until I ran out of powdered soap, because I cannot use it at home, and who knows how long that would be. And I would have to go get quarters at the bank for an indefinite period of time. My decision is still pending. I don’t want to let it make me feel guilty, but I feel guilty.
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This is very small compared to the big wonderful things that everyone is doing… But I’m in a survival mode. So I’m doing plastic straw and cutlery free July.
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Those are HUGE in the bigger picture, though. If everyone globally did that, it would be incredible.
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