4 min read

07-22-2024

Join My Journey to Ditch Single-Use Plastics

Neesha, 4ocean Writer

As a writer for 4ocean and sustainability professional, when I received my next writing assignment to go single-use plastic free for a week, I didn’t think twice before accepting it. While I’m always thinking of ways to live more sustainably, it had been a while since I had a challenge like this in front of me. I don’t buy much, and so I figured it couldn’t be too hard.

I was wrong.

A little about me - I’ve been into sustainability and knew that I was going to make a career of it since I was a kid. My degrees are in Environmental Studies and Biology, and for the last several years I’ve been a sustainability writer, researcher, and consultant with my own business, Evergreen ESG.

I had a few days heads up on this challenge, and felt pretty good about my lack of single-use plastic - except when it came to food. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that pretty much every regular meal I made used single-use plastic in some way, whether it be meat wrapped in plastic or the plastic tops of spice jars or the thin plastic film window on a pasta container.

DAY 1

This realization came a little too late though, so I woke up Day 1 feeling incredibly unprepared. I had some tea and a banana and nut butter for breakfast while I prepared a plastic-free plan for what was supposed to be a relaxing day off.

I was going to take the price tags off, but also wanted to show that you can go plastic-free on a budget, too. I shop at an overstock store where I got this organic sunflower butter for $1.99 when it retails for $12.49, and this almond butter for 2.99, both in glass jars with metal lids!

First stop: the local bakery.

All the bread sitting out on the shelves was unfortunately already in paper bags with plastic windows. I explained my plastic predicament to the bakers and was rewarded with a discounted day-old loaf from the back. They brought it out to me and I wrapped it in my towels and placed it in my bag. Success!

Second stop: a local ranch and dairy farm.

One thing I had done to prepare was call a few local dairies in the area. My partner and I used to get milk locally from a goat farm, but that whole operation moved to a different state this spring. We got a call back this morning just in time and went to go check it out.

I met the three lovely ladies who would be providing my milk for the foreseeable future along with their calves. I walked away a herdshare owner with a gallon and a half of milk and a greater appreciation for regenerative agriculture. Another success!

Third stop: the local butcher.

I buy local meat but had never been to this particular butcher. Unfortunately, pretty much everything came pre-wrapped in plastic except for the meat on display. I decided to get some bones to make broth as every container of broth I had seen was either in plastic or in cardboard with a plastic lid (and probably lined with plastic on the inside). I had to make it very clear I did not want them wrapped in plastic, but ultimately was successful… until I got out to the parking lot and realized the paper they were wrapped in was dangerously close to ripping. I begrudgingly put them in an extra plastic bag I brought, then made my way to the final stop of the day.

Fourth stop: the local co-op.

Another thing I had done in preparation for this week was take note of all the stores that offered bulk goods in town. There are at least three downtown - pretty good for a small city with a population around 75,000!

To get the rest of my groceries for the week I decided to go to the local co-op. I had shopped here a couple times before but only to get specific items. I bought some produce, bulk sugar, bulk flour (they had around 20 different kinds!), bulk rice, and some toilet paper. I also bought a glass jar of curry and a cardboard box of macaroni and cheese in case I gave up on meal planning and wanted an easy out. The last thing I bought was a co-op membership; at $20 a year for a 10% discount and profit sharing, it was a no brainer.

The day’s haul.

After my single-use plastic free shopping trip, I took out some meat from the freezer and started simmering the bones I had bought for a future night’s meal. I then made a typical dinner: rice, sardines, olive oil, tomatoes, and onion. The only difference from my usual routine was that the rice was bought in bulk and the tomatoes were from the co-op (instead of the cherry tomatoes in a plastic container I had bought last week).

My Day 1 single-use plastic free efforts took much longer than anticipated but were also very rewarding, and I went to sleep a new herdshare and co-op member with much more hope in being successfully single-use plastic free than I woke up with.

DAY 2

Day 2 was Saturday and an actual day off. I had a breakfast of eggs (from the chickens that live 15 feet from my door) and toast and then headed outdoors to go rock climbing for the day. I usually bring energy bars, but instead opted for some fruit and a sandwich packed in a LunchSkins paper bag.

After rock climbing, I decided to stop and get ice cream. Notoriously indecisive when it comes to desserts, I purposefully pulled up the ice cream menu ten minutes in advance to pick exactly what I was going to have so that I didn’t try extra flavors with a potentially non reusable plastic spoon. I also got a waffle cone in the name of being waste-free.

I also stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for tuna salad. I needed relish and avocado oil to make mayonnaise. I couldn’t find any relish not in plastic and coloring-free, so I decided to buy some pickles and cut those up instead. I also bought a lemon as the lemon juice I had was in a plastic container.

Ingredients for tuna salad with the mayonnaise in a blender - would definitely recommend an immersion blender instead.

I thought I prepared well, but my first almost slip-up happened at dinner. I had all the main ingredients mixed, my leftover half of my lemon wrapped in beeswax wrap and in the fridge, and all I needed to add was salt, pepper, and mustard.

Although the mustard I had was in a plastic container, I knew I had mustard powder in a tin can on my spice rack. What I didn’t know was that this mustard powder in a tin can had a plastic top. I was frustrated that I had gone out of my way to stop at the grocery store again to buy plastic-free alternatives to ingredients I already had and took the time to make mayo from scratch, only to be thwarted by a small spice container, all for a dinner that is usually straightforward and fast.

I left out the mustard and mustard powder this meal but resolved to no longer make compromises such as this. I had food in the fridge that could go bad in the next week that I had bought before I knew about this challenge, and I wasn’t about to create food waste for the sake of reducing plastic waste.

Also, the mustard powder container was designed for a single use, and is technically a single-use plastic. But the reality was that mustard powder would probably last me the next year at least, and I would refill that container at the co-op once it was empty.

Going forward, I decided to note all the single-use plastic I used, and still try to find alternatives for everything, but to stick with using what I had - especially any perishable items.

DAY 3

Chore day. I started the day with some tea, then set about cleaning and finishing unpacking from my 2-month trip. Today’s cleaning day gave me a chance to use my new reusable paper towels - a friend introduced me to these last month and I will never go back.

For lunch, I had eggs, guacamole (which I bought in plastic last week, but I got some avocados at the store to make my own going forward and will be reusing the container so is it really single-use??), sourdough, and homemade jam. I also have been using biodegradable sponges and a refillable aluminum soap dispenser to clean dishes - I used to use bar soap, but the liquid soap is much easier, and the refills come in large cardboard containers. I do still use bar soap in the shower for body wash, shampoo, and conditioner.

After doing the dishes I took my bone broth and froze two-thirds of it, and poured the other half back in the crock pot. I opened up some buffalo meat that had been thawing in the fridge and realized I made a mistake: there was plastic on the inside that the meat was wrapped in. I realized a little too late when it comes to meat, it’s quite hard to avoid single-use plastic.

However, I wasn’t about to waste this cut, and diced it up with carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic (all plastic-free). More chores, and then dinner time!

Overall, a less successful plastic-free day. The guacamole is an easy fix going forward, but the meat will not be. Even though this meat is local, it always seems to be packaged in plastic, and I can understand why.

DAY 4

First work day going single-use plastic free! I drank some tea in the morning while making bread dough with bulk sugar and bulk flour, then started working from home.

This organic Earl Grey (another discount deal) seemed to be wrapped in plastic at first glance but actually has plant-based packaging!

I had a full day at the computer with a light plastic-free lunch of eggs and toast in between working sessions. The most eventful thing that happened was that the landlords gifted a bunch of lettuce from their garden which was great, and means I can put my salad dressings (all in glass bottles with metal caps) to good use!

I snacked on some apples after working, and in the evening drove to a park in town to practice acro yoga. After a successful two hours of acro, I stopped and got ice cream again (and planned ahead with my flavor again, too).

After I came home I ate some tuna salad leftovers on sourdough bread. Another successful plastic-free day, even when it came to food packaging.

DAY 5

I started my day early with baking bread. I was out of practice last week as my potato flake sourdough starter needed some time to get healthy again after being in the fridge for months, but I regularly bake 2 loaves a week. The wheat flour, sugar, and potato flakes (the latter of which I added before I knew about this challenge) come in plastic bags, and so I am excited I f9ound easy bulk alternatives for the sugar and flour. I’ll continue to look for a bulk alternative for the potato flakes.

Turned out great!

It was another regular work day but also laundry day, and I was excited to use my new Laundry Sauce detergent pods. I usually use laundry detergent sheets as a good plastic-free alternative, but I got some Indonesian Patchouli Laundry Sauce pods in anticipation of this week. They are by far the best smelling laundry detergent I have ever smelled, and I loved being able to detect more natural scents such as eucalyptus and lavender. The laundry detergent pod membrane is made from a water soluble casing which dissolves in water and is consumed by microorganisms.

I did three loads of laundry with the pods and was very pleasantly surprised. I haven’t tried any scented laundry detergent in years, so despite loving the scent I was a little hesitant at the smell being too strong, but that wasn’t the case at all. For dinner I had buffalo stew leftovers, and that was that! It’s much easier to be plastic-free when you don’t leave the house.

DAY 6

Another day of work from home! Tea in the morning with a bit of milk, then straight to the computer with a 6:30am meeting.

I haven’t talked about a beauty routine yet - likely because there is a lack of a consistent one. I brush my teeth in the morning after coffee or tea and at night with a bamboo toothbrush and toothpaste tablets. I also try to wear (reef-safe!) sunscreen daily and sometimes put vitamin C oil on my face, but that’s about it. I do use chapstick which is almost always in a single-use plastic, but I’ve made my own chapstick before and want to do it again after I get through my current stick so I can use that container.

For lunch I had the last piece of local sourdough plus a slice of homemade bread, half an avocado, and eggs with homemade kombucha.

Notice even the kombucha is made in recycled glass bottles, totally worth having to drink a pilsner (or 30).

I had a refresh of coffee for the afternoon working session, worked out, snacked on apples, worked on my computer more, and then dinner! We made chili tonight with a few cans of beans, crushed tomatoes, sweet potato, and the rest of the buffalo meat that was thawing in the fridge. Plastic-free except for the wrapping on the meat, which was an overlook on my part.

DAY 7

My last day going single-use plastic free started with some coffee. A few hours on the computer, a short workout, followed by some leftover homemade chili for lunch.

In the evening I went to the aerial studio for a few hours, followed by a concert and ice cream afterward - again, no plastic waste!

My take-aways:

Going single-use plastic free for a week was a fun challenge that was a lot more frustrating and difficult at times than I would have imagined.

When it comes to reducing waste, I think this rule almost universally applies: planning ahead is key.

Was my week completely plastic-free?

No. As I mentioned above, there were perishable items I bought a week or two prior before I knew about this challenge wrapped in single-use plastic. I hate wasting food, and I wasn’t about to let that food go to waste for the sake of a sustainability challenge.

However, I still made significant changes in my daily habits that I’ll now carry with me into the future. I’ll be going to the co-op more and will fill up on bulk spices and staples such as flour and sugar.

Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

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