Ocean Protection Through Plastic-Free Living
During Thanksgiving it’s estimated about 200 million pounds of turkey, 400 million pounds of mashed potatoes, and 300 million pounds of stuffing will be thrown away. Consider some of these 5 ways to reduce food waste during Thanksgiving.
I’ve been saving my trash in a “plastic audit” since October of last year. While I live a generally plastic-free lifestyle, I’m not 100% plastic free…yet. So, in an effort to get rid of the last 1% I review my trash each month. See what I learned in September.
Plastic-free living takes a bit of effort but it’s worth it. Besides the obvious of using less plastics, which means less plastic in the environment, there are many unexpected benefits. Here are five of them:
If you watch any show about organizing or just search the hashtag, you’ll find some beautiful pantries where the loose items are stored in coordinating containers.
After going plastic-free, I realized that our eyes are being “yelled at” all day long by thousands of brands. And that giving my eyes a break by buying things without packages was the best!
Things look so much cleaner and organized without packaging:
My shower went from being an ad for Pantene Pro-V, St. Ives, and Herbal Essences, to a minimal chic shower where my eyes weren’t subconsciously reading brand names:
The lack of branding makes my shower and so many other spaces in my house much more beautiful and calming.
I know, this is very specific but I LOVE Tortillas! Tacos are one of my favorite foods and I used to buy tortillas every week. The plastic bag only had six tortillas and they were expensive!
After going plastic-free and needing to find a solution, I tried making my own tortillas. BEST IDEA EVER! Nothing beats a tortilla hot off the pan.
And even better, it’s easy and there’s no preservatives or random ingredients I can’t pronounce! Just flour, water, salt, and some sort of fat (butter, olive oil, or lard). See the recipe here.
Homemade tortillas brings me to my next point. Going plastic-free has pushed me to eat healthier and in turn, I feel healthier. If I can’t find Oreos in a bulk bin, I don’t eat Oreos…unless I want to add an Oreos bag to my trash audits. (Which I don’t.)
In general, the most plastic-free area of the grocery store is the produce section. By going plastic-free, I eat more fruits and vegetables. And if I really want something that normally comes packaged, I have to figure out how to make it myself.
Speaking of figuring out things…plastic-free living is like one big puzzle. Being an engineer, I love solving things. Since we live in a world where plastic seems nearly unavoidable, trying to avoid plastics becomes an interesting game to me. (Clearly, I’ve always been that girl who if told they can’t do something will prove otherwise.)
Figuring out creative solutions, like getting tortillas and chips from my local taqueria, or pre-COVID, taking my beeswax wraps to the deli to get blocks of cheese, makes plastic-free living a fun game instead of a painful chore. Plus, learning how to make things for myself has been equally rewarding.
Finally, one of the best things about plastic-free living is that I spend my time and money on things that align with my values. Before I got serious about going plastic-free, I used to spend money on random crap. I felt like I was always at Target or the outlet. Now, my monthly spending is less, and the majority of it is spent at the farmer’s market where I support local farmers who work to feed my family.
Since I spend less time shopping, I spend more time doing things that actually make me happy–like playing with my kids, cooking and writing this blog!
What do you think? What are some of the unexpected benefits you’ve discovered since starting your plastic-free journey? Tell me in the comments!
For related and random posts, check out:
If you pop open the freezers of most people, it’s full of plastic. I get it. Plastic keeps the air out, which makes your food last longer. But there are several ways to freeze food without plastic. Here are a few.
Getting to a completely plastic-free kitchen can seem daunting. But taking these first steps can get you well on your way! Here are 6 steps to jump-start your plastic-free kitchen.