Eliminating Plastics from your Daily Life, Installment 3

Things Covered in this Issue: Buckets, Lunch Bags/Boxes and Grocery Bags

5 gallon buckets for storage/hauling liquids:

• Canvas Buckets: Bucket 1 , Bucket 2

• Steel 5 Gallon Bucket (no lid)

• Steel 5 Gallon Bucket (With lid)

I am trying to track down a pattern for making your own canvas bucket but have yet to find one. If anyone has one, or has made one and wants to share please email me/post a comment.

Lunch Box/Bag

If you are anything like me you take a lunch to work/school (or maybe your children/wife/husband/significant other do) nearly every day. Did you ever stop to think about what your lunch box is made out of? Most are made out of plastic (or at least lined with it). Belo

w are some options to purchase lunch boxes that are not made of or lined with plastic. There is also a link to making your own lunch bag.

• Stainless Steel Lunch Tin Set with recycled cotton bag

• Stainless Steel Stackable Lunch Box

• Recycled Cotton Lunch Bag

Make your own Lunch bag. Note: This design calls for a thin plastic lining in the bag. I would skip using that as a lining and just use cotton. You could wash the bag once a week or so to keep it clean if need be.

Grocery Bags

I’m sure that by now you have all heard that plastic grocery bags are horrible for the environment (if you are reading this blog you likely use reusable bags already). I figured I would put this section on here anyhow, however, since most store bought reusable grocery bags have plastic in them. Below are links that you can purchase cotton bags from and also how to make your own reusable grocery bags. If you wish to have more choices for purchasing reusable bags, simply search “reusable cotton grocery bag” or “reusable hemp grocery bag”.

• Reusable Bags made from Cotton and/or hemp

• “Thank You” Reusable Canvas Bag

• 35 Reusable Grocery Bags you can make

Eliminating Plastics From Your Life, Installment 2

I’d like to thank everyone for their interest thus far in this project along with all of the recommendations I have received. I have been looking around me with a new set of eyes since I started working on this yesterday and I see that plastic is literally everywhere. I am going to work to provide not only alternatives that you can purchase, but also (when possible) alternatives you can make yourself. I am also going to try to recommend (also when possible) alternatives for purchase that are hand crafted by someone else for those not inclined to craft themselves.

Things covered in this issue: Tea Kettles, Coffeemakers, Rice Cooker, Plastic Wrap

Tea Kettles/Tea Pots
I was looking around my kitchen last night when I realized that even my tea pot has a plastic handle and a plastic cover over the spout. I have, thankfully, been able to locate some tea pots that do not include plastics. I have links for them below.

Ceramic Asian Stove Top Tea Pot

Duo Glass Tea Pot/Infuser

Staub Cast Iron Tea Pot

Tea For One Tea Pot

Coffeemaker

Take a look at your coffeemaker. Most have plastic everywhere. Even if you use a reusable mesh filter, the basket itself is still likely plastic, not to mention the body of the coffee maker, the handle and top of your pot, etc. I have found some alternatives that avoid the use of plastic and still produce a tasty pot of coffee!

Chemex Coffee Makers and Filters (From their website: “The Chemex® coffeemaker is an elegant, one-piece, hourglass shaped vessel made of high quality, heat resistant glass. The traditional model comes to you with a polished wood collar and leather tie. The collar serves as an insulated handle around the middle of the coffeemaker.”) Note: be sure to use unbleached coffee filters with this.

Stove top espresso maker

Porcelain Percolator

Stainless Steel Percolator

Stainless Steel French Press

1 Cup Stainless Coffee Maker & Porcelain Drip Coffee Makers (Scroll Down on the Page to find them)

Rice Cooker

Rice can be a staple, especially in budget living. A rice cooker can come in handy to get that perfect rice (they also work very well for quinoa). Finding a rice cooker that doesn’t have plastic is hard work however. Below is what I’ve found. The most natural option is pretty obvious and that is to make the rice in a pot on your own. If you don’t have the time for that option however (or skill) there are some alternatives where plastic doesn’t touch the rice directly.

Miracle Rice Cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is stainless steel)

Clay pot 5 cup rice cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is clay)

VitaClay Rice Cooker (It looks like the outer areas of this cooker are plastic, but everything that touches your food is clay)

Plastic Wrap

Many people use plastic wrap to cover foods and to wrap up items for their lunches. Until yesterday I didn’t know of any good alternatives to this. On a forum I am a member of however someone mentioned beeswax coated cloths. After a brief search I found them!

Abeego Wraps. From the website “Abeego came to life one year ago as a result of my fascination with nature and my growing dissatisfaction with plastic. Through months of trial and error I discovered the perfect blend of natural ingredients, closely mimicking the us eful qualities of plastic while eliminating the unsavory attributes. Creating an original, handcrafted, natural alternative to plastic food wrap has been a wonderful and rewarding experience. Enjoy!”

Eliminating Plastics From Your Life

My mother, who is still heavily entrenched in civilization, surprised me when she told me her new year’s resolution this year. Her goal? She wants to eliminate plastics, to the greatest extent possible, from her daily life.

Why avoid plastics? Well there are many reasons. Here are some links to articles about the evils of plastic both to human health and to the environment:

Critical Health Risks From Plastics

Plastic in the Oceans

Adverse Health Effects of Plastics

Chemicals in Plastic Water Bottles May Pose Health Hazard

I tried to do some research and find her some websites about doing this, but was sorely disappointed to find minimal help and information on doing this. (However, I wasn’t too surprised). So I have decided to dedicate the next few blog posts to things that someone can do to eliminate plastics from their lives. I am also going to provide links to products that can replace the plastic ones people typically use.

It is obviously impossible to totally eliminate plastics while still living within civilization. (Switching to glass jars for storage will still leave you with plastics on the lid, for instance). I think that taking some of these steps is helpful, in the least.

Today’s tips:

Prescription Medicines:
It really is disturbing when you think about how much plastic medicine comes in contact with. The large jars they are in at the pharmacy are plastic (you cannot control this). The machines they are produced in are riddled with plastic as well (also cannot control this). The one thing you can control is what they are stored in when you receive them. Ask your pharmacy if they have glass jars available. If they do not, transfer your medications yourself into glass jars when you get home. You can buy jars from any of the following sites:

Jars:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Bottles:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

Link 4

Link 5

You can also sort your pills into a daily pill sorter/organizer that isn’t plastic. Here are places you can purchase those:

Pill Sorter 1

Pill Sorter 2

Food Storage:
Over the last couple decades people have become accustomed to storing food in plastic containers (Gladware, Tupperware, etc.) It may seem like an awkward transition to switch from plastic to glass, but it is much easier than might be anticipated.

Avoid plastic wrap if at all possible.

For small storage containers save the jars that you already use. Jelly jars, spegetti sauce jars, etc. make great containers to store leftovers (and even freeze soup in!)

If you want to purchase jars for storage the hard part is finding them that do not use plastic covers. Ceramic jars work well for storing things like sugar, flour, etc. Jars that close more tightly can be used for other things.

Here are some websites:

Bake 'N Keep Storage Container with glass lid

2-c. Glass Refrigerator Storage Container 81884S with glass lid

Glass Spice Rack

Square 40oz glass canister with lid

Glass Canning Jar/Gasket Set

Coffee/Tea To Go:

Did you know that paper cups from places like Starbucks are actually lined with plastic? Besides generating unnecessary waste, you are also drinking coffee out of warmed up plastic, yuck.

If you are staying at the coffee shop to drink your coffee, ask them if they have mugs for customers staying there. Many shops have this.

A reusable mug is a great solution if you aren’t staying at the coffee shop, but be sure to find one that isn’t lined with plastic. Also, most mugs have plastic covers, avoiding these is pretty difficult. I found some with silicone covers, which seems like cheating but it is better than plastic (Silicone is chemically inert and poses no known health risk. It is completely safe to use as cookware and will not leech into your food. It is technically not a plastic, although it displays properties of plasticity.)

Here are some links:

Cups with silicone lids:

Silicone lid 1

Silicone Lid Cup 2

If you aren’t going far and aren’t apt to spill much, a ceramic mug with a ceramic cover might work for you. Here are some:

Ceramic Mug with lid and infuser (for tea)

Coffee Mugs with Lid 1

Coffee Mug with Lid 2