Plastic Free/Zero Waste Challenge - Day One
I woke up this morning, poured a hot cup of coffee, and added a good splash of creamer… from a plastic bottle!
Damn it! We’re off to a rough start! Let’s try this again!
I get ready for the day by using a natural deodorant (glass jar but plastic lid) from The Hippy Homemaker and a body spray perfume(aluminum bottle but plastic spray) from PractiGanic. I brush my teeth with the Bamboo toothbrush I featured in Product Spotlight #6 and floss with Mulberry Silk Dental Lace (glass jar with aluminum lid) from The Package Free Shop in NY!
Breakfast time! I had a banana, omelet with minced garlic (glass jar), salt, pepper, and chives, fresh radish slices, and leftover mini pancakes (stored in glass Pyrex) with homemade grape jelly (glass mason jar) and fresh maple syrup (made by my uncle and stored in a reused glass jar… I think it was a spaghetti sauce jar originally)!
Now it was time to work! I spent most of my morning diligently adding the finishing touches to the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter Issue #8 which I posted earlier!
Lunch time! I had a salad but couldn’t add the tasty raspberry dressing (in plastic bottle) I usually use. So instead I added a splash of rosemary&thyme infused vinegar (glass bottle). Then I figured I had been so healthy I deserved a donut from a cardboard box! It’s all about balance anyways!
Dinner was a little difficult! We had BLT sandwiches… but the bread and the bacon are packaged in plastic! At least the lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado I used were all plastic free!
Now it was time for my evening to begin winding down. I took a short stroll as the sun was setting and decided to take a bath.
Uh oh. All my soaps come in big plastic bottles! What was I going to use?!
I decided to try the “no poo” method (no shampoo that is) by using baking soda to wash my hair and apple cider vinegar to condition. Wait! The vinegar was in plastic… okay, I decided to use coconut oil (glass jar) as a leave in condition.
Nope. Pro tip: Don’t do that. It doesn’t wash out even with an olive oil based bar soap. I ended up having to wash the heavy layer of oil out using standard shampoo in plastic! Bleck!
Finally, a bowl of oreo ice cream for dessert from a cardboard container!
Day one is done! It was difficult… very hard and I failed a few times. I’m excited to try again tomorrow!
Unexpected difficulties: glass or aluminum containers that still have plastic lids, pre-packaged food
Unexpected bonuses: eating a bit healthier
Photography taken by @kiaraantonoviche and may be shared/reposted with proper accreditation.
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I'm so sorry about your hair, that must have been yucky.
I have a shampoo bar (of soap) and I haven't fallen in love with it yet. My hair doesn't seem right when I use it. I generally use a liquid locally made shampoo (in a plastic bottle). Maybe I should try the vinegar rinse...
I did no-poo for several months and my hair never really adjusted. I only wash every 3-4 days anyway and with the no-poo I had to wash every other day.
We can buy 5 ltr plastic dunks of white vinegar, which saves about 8-9 small bottles worth of plastic. I wouldn't know what to do if I had to live without vinegar - we use it for everything.
Great idea!
I've been converting to natural products over chemicals but they all do come in plastic containers, so once I've tried and know they're good, I'm buying the big 5 litres containers, which isn't 'plastic free' but is a lot less plastic than lots of little bottles.
Thanks for your inspiring post! :)
I like how you avoid not just throwing things away, but even using things (even a little bit) that come in plastic containers. All in all, I think you've done well for your first day. Imagine how much easier it all would be if your shampoo came in recyclable containers! ;-)
Very good. Sometimes it's only when you intentionally try to do without something that you realise how dependent you are on it. I'm not that old, but I can still remember a time before everything was wrapped in plastic - nowadays it's almost impossible to find anything that isn't made of plastic or comes in some plastic container - especially if you shop in supermarkets. Most of the time it's completely pointless too. When I refuse plastic bags in my local shops they look at me like I'm mad - as if to say, '... but why would you refuse? It's free.' Then I go to the sea and see all the plastic washed up on the beach and think it's not really free at all - only the cost isn't immediately apparent.
Well done for bringing attention to this important issue.
Resteeming this for increased consciousness all round
Not too shabby for day one.
What about the aluminium bottles?
In Germany we consider aluminium to be poisonous.
Yes I was wondering about that too. I thought aluminium leaked into products.
Interesting! I didn't know that. Right now I'm just going to focus on plastic because that is proving difficult enough for the moment! But eventually I think it would be nice to only use glass :)
Stainless steel is also ok in some cases, copper sometimes also, silver is very anti-bacteria. It depends which substances you want to store and which effects you want to achieve. Precious metals have some nice energetic qualities, some people like to put a gold coin in their drinking water to make "gold water"but sure, for everyday use glass is very good, safe and convenient.
Good for you for trying, let's see where the adventure takes you.
I failed miserably yesterday as well. My focus will be on how much waste we have produced at the end of the week. Great challenge.
By looking at the pictures, it makes me hungry..lol
Hah! That's good, that must mean my cooking wasn't half bad today! Thanks :)
Kiara love your willingness to give a bold experiment like this a try!
Thank you! I appreciate the support :)
So glad to read this post, the difficulties is many in the begining,...dont give up and you will find ways to find and use diffrent things insted of the plastic alternatives.. I wish you all the best..