I’ve been keeping my trash since October of last year in a sort of “plastic audit“. While I generally live a plastic-free life, I’m not 100% plastic-free…yet. So, to figure out where that last 1% of plastic is coming from, I started documenting my trash to see where I could improve.

Last month, I was reminded that everyone needs a little wiggle room. The only convenience food I have in my house are individually wrapped frozen burritos, which I keep mainly for my husband. While I nearly never eat them, I gave myself some wiggle room and indulged–it was delicious.

In December, I switched to a fully compostable bamboo toothbrush. Oftentimes the bristles are still plastic. At the end of November, I vowed to give up shopping at Trader Joe’s and started making fresh pasta. And in the first month, I learned I needed to simplify my routines and recipes.

A few reminders of the rules. This is just my trash not my whole family’s (although they don’t generate too much more than this). I do not include my family’s trash because I am not with them 24 hours a day. So, I can’t expect them to be vigilant about saving their trash.

I do however save any trash generated from feeding my family meals at home. So, while I don’t drink milk (being basically lactose intolerant) my kids drink a lot of milk. So, the milk caps are technically trash that my kids generate but I add them to my trash since I decide what they eat at home.

So, now that we’ve covered the ground rules, let’s dive in! Here’s all my trash for the month of February!

I get so stoked when I see how my trash pile has shrunk each month. I get even more excited when I learn something new. So, let’s take a look at what I learned each week.

WEEK 1

As I mentioned last month, I’m working my way through all my bulk tea and afterwards will start buying bulk tea from Safeway or local tea shops to avoid the big plastic bag.

I’ve started reducing the amount of bottles my youngest child has each day so that’s less milk the family consumes. I bought a bright blue shirt for some meetings in DC for Surfrider’s Coastal Hill Day and forgot to remove the paper price tag from the picture. Produce stickers are annoying but they’re better than a bag of plastic over my produce.

So, no new lessons in week 1 but some good reminders.

WEEK 2

In week 2, I learned to look closer at items when buying them. I’ve purchased the same brand of fish sauce for years but this last bottle I picked up had a plastic seal the full length of the bottle whereas it used to be just on the top. I was a little annoyed when I opened the bottle to use in a recipe.

The seals on glass bottles annoy me because there is usually a secondary way to see if it is sealed such a pull tab or that “pop” sound when you open a jar.

I’ve been meaning to see where I can find bulk yeast but I’m unsure of the storage needs for yeast and the difference between instant yeast vs. regular yeast. Add it to the list of things to do.

WEEK 3

In Week 3, I started to think about replacements for ranch or maybe how I can find larger glass bottles. My husband sent me some flowers in a beautiful blue glass vase at work. They came with a note and thus this plastic stick.

Overall, a great week!

WEEK 4

In Week 4, I threw out the paper envelopes with a plastic window from my plastic-free makeup post. I’ve been testing out different sauces and dressings in glass bottles. The only downside is that they have plastic lids and plastic seals. I’m trying to search for jars with metal lids or ways to make these sauces from scratch.

I had a very considerate friend who gave me a Panera gift card for Christmas. She knew I bought bread at Panera and figured a gift card would be a minimal amount of plastic to add to my audit piles.

Finally, I tried one of those new Oui French yogurts that come in a glass jar. It was tasty and I like the size of the glass jars to use as drinking cups for my kids but the label was a solid piece of plastic.

TAKEAWAYS

There were a lot of reminders this month. I need to find an alternative to instant yeast packets. I’m slowly working through my large stash of bulk tea. As I mentioned in A Day in My Plastic-Free Life: Part 1, I drink a cup of decaf mint green tea on my way to work.

There are days that I drink three to four cups of tea. Having done this for months, I think I’m slowly tiring of tea. We’ve recently been getting berries from the farmer’s market and I’ve been saving the strawberry tops to make a “fruit tea”. I just pour hot water over the tops, let it steep for a few minutes and enjoy. It’s one way to squeeze all the use out of the fruit you buy. I do the same with apple cores, pineapple cores, and any other pieces of the fruit you might throw away.

While this isn’t necessarily a plastic problem I was looking to solve, I like that this:

• makes use of something I already have in my fridge
• means I have to purchase less tea

Finally, the last takeaway from this month is that I need to look closer at glass bottles. From there I can either simplify my recipes so I can avoid these sauces that come in glass bottles with plastic lids and seals or I can figure out ways to make these sauces from scratch.

What do you think? Are you interested in doing a plastic audit for a week or even a day? If you do, tell me what you learn in the comments!

For related and random posts, check out:

• Plastic-Free Deodorant
• 3 Easy Plastic-Free Swaps to Make in 2020