I have been on a serious mission to remove all the plastic in my home.
Actually, I have to admit, it is really quite a challenge as you have to find alternative ways to wrap, store and bag your food etc. As a society we have become so dependent on plastic. Plastic water bottles, sandwich and freezer bags, storage containers, milk jugs, milk bags, grocery bags, produce bags, plastic cutlery, plastic storage containers, plastic children's toys. Plastic this, plastic that. It's crazy!
What the heck did we do/use before plastic?
Okay, now I am going to be dating myself a little here but I vaguely, I repeat vaguely, recall the milkman delivering lovely glass milk bottles to our home. Such fond memories peeling back the cardboard seal to find that the creme had risen to the top.
Yummy!! Probably why I like creme in my coffee!!
There are several places that now sell organic milk in glass bottles. My questions is; why did we ever stop? Glass is hygienic, recyclable and things seem to taste so much better in glass than in plastic. Our food is in constant contact with plastic from production to the preparing of our foods.
There are so many reasons to eliminate as much plastic from our lives as possible. Besides the fact that plastic is made from petroleum, from a health perspective, plastics have dangerous chemicals that leach into our foods. For example; off you go to the market with ALL good intentions of buying healthy organic greens for your family but guess what? they are packaged in plastic which is leaching toxic chemicals into those organic greens. (kinda defeats the purpose, wouldn't you say?) BPA, a synthetic estrogen and plastics component, found in canned food, plastic water bottles, plastics and liquid infant formula containers is a chemical that has been associated with many health problems, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, insulin resistance, reproductive defects, diabetes and miscarriages to name just a few! This estrogen mimicking chemical can disrupt your hormones and alter your cells. Heating your food in plastic in the microwave, which so many people still do unbelievably, amplifies the leaching.
.... Now From an environmental perspective ....
Oh my goodness, where do we begin? Plastic is devastating our wildlife, wildlife habitat, polluting our waterways, oceans and lands.
Photos - Courtesy of Google
Milk isn't the only item of food in your kitchen/pantry that lives better in glass. All of your pantry items will thank you for putting them into glass containers and you will definitely notice that these items will retain their freshness for longer as well.
Because I do canning each year, I have accumulated quite a collection of jars to choose from: Mason, Le Parfait and various others that I have picked up at garage sales. It doesn't really matter as long as they are glass. The other thing great about storing in glass is that it makes it easy to take inventory of what you are getting low on when making your shopping list.
Here are a few examples of my favourite jars and what I store in them.
These smaller ones are great for storing everything from baking supplies; baking soda and powder, sugars, nuts, spices, chia seeds, raisins, dates, jams, leftovers in the fridge .....
to storing homemade soups in the freezer. (Just don't overfill leave some expansion room)
These tall jars are terrific for pastas, homemade cookies, biscotti and oatmeal, crackers, breadcrumbs, flours, rice, coffee, loose tea, tea bags. I just add a label to the top.
Ok, so now we have most of the stuff in the kitchen covered, let's move on....
Do you pack a lunch for yourself, your children? I would guess that you are wrapping that sandwich in either plastic cling wrap or putting it in a plastic zip lock bag. Thought so!! I would also like to guess that leftovers from last nights dinner are going in some plastic container with a plastic lid. Am I right? Don't feel bad, so many of us are doing just that, I mean what else is there?
Well, there actually are safe and healthy alternatives for packing your lunch. I love ECO LUNCH BOXES. This line is a plastic-free, waste-free lunchbox solution without any vinyl, plastic, lead or aluminum.
There is a large assortment of sandwich boxes, snack containers,
organic cotton lunch bags and bento boxes all machine washable
Now, let's move on to your beverages?
There is this amazing, amazing product called the S'well Bottle. They are made of non-leaching 18/8 stainless steel, are a reusable bottle will keep your cold drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12, are sold worldwide and they give back to people in need. S'well is a charitable company and was founded in 2010 with a passion to get rid of all plastic bottles.
Did you know that over 200 billion plastic bottles are discarded/dumped globally each year?
S'well has a bottle for everyone, with a multitude of gorgeous colours and finishes. I want them all .
Here are just a few.
and a few more ....
Please check out S'wells amazing website for more information and where to purchase.
I know this post was insanely long but it is really important information that I wanted to share with you. Not only does the use of plastic have a HUGE negative impact on your health, it has an ENORMOUS, impact on our environment.
We have only touched the tip of the plastic-berg in this post and it will take some time and effort to eliminate most of the plastic from your life.
Please stay tuned for Part ll of YOUR PLASTICS HAVE A BAD WRAP where we will explore other places where plastics exist that you may have not even thought about and how to rid them from your life.
Soulier Design Studio would love to hear your thoughts on this post. Don't be shy!!
I wish you a Happy and Plastic Free Week.
Soulier Design Studio specializes in Sustainability, Eco-Friendly Design, Products and Lifestyle.
