Plastic Be Gone!2019-02-232019-02-17https://enwatur.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/logo-5-2021.pngen Watürhttps://enwatur.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/stones-3618615_1280.jpg200px200px
Oh how I wish it would be that easy for me to make sure I did not add to the distress of our planet with too much plastic use. But I don’t have a magic wand, none of us do. It takes a lot of thought about choices and changes necessary to limit my use of plastic. It has made me think this week about what I use. Are there things I do on a regular basis that avoid the use of plastics?
The first thing that comes to mind is grocery shopping with reuseable bags. To be honest, it took being charged for every plastic bag I needed to make the switch and occasionally I will head into the store without my canvas and cloth bags. Sometimes they are in the car and I am in the checkout line without them. Once in a while they still linger at home, waiting for a trip to the car that never came. If I know they lounge around in the back of the car, I just pile the groceries back into the cart after I pay for them and trundle it all out to bag it at the car. I likely receive a few strange glances but that is okay. I am doing something good.
I have a water bottle I use all the time. It is plastic but not a throwaway one each time I need rehydrating. A metal one would be better, but so far I have not found one I want. I will keep looking and in the meantime take good care of the hard plastic one I have so that it lasts for a long, long time. I rarely drink hot beverages but I do have a supply of good travel mugs in case I need them. I rarely use a straw so do not have a fancy glass or metal one but I like that as an alternative.
My mixing bowls are glass – old 1950’s Pyrex actually. I love their bright colours and variety of sizes. They appeal to my nostalgic side as well as avoid plastic for mixing and serving most things. I have to confess to having some Tupperware ones with good sealing lids I use for taking salads to a potluck or mixing a huge batch of cookies or bread. I haven’t found a good alternative for ease of transport. I know a stainless steel bowl would provide the size I need for large batches but haven’t spent the money to change. These bowls have been in my cupboard for many, many years.
There are changes I still need to make. Maybe I just need to remember how much I like things from the past when plastics were unheard of. Jars to store food, crockery bowls and tin plates to cover them can take the place of plastics for sure but I like to be able to seal things up as I store them in the freezer without worrying about breaking glass. I guess my Valentine of less plastics has a long way to go until I change the ways I look at using plastics.
Plastic be gone! One change and then another. One small step at a time and maybe a few closer together are what I need to do.
I’ll wave my magic wand and say, “Plastic, be gone!”
Oh how I wish it would be that easy for me to make sure I did not add to the distress of our planet with too much plastic use. But I don’t have a magic wand, none of us do. It takes a lot of thought about choices and changes necessary to limit my use of plastic. It has made me think this week about what I use. Are there things I do on a regular basis that avoid the use of plastics?
The first thing that comes to mind is grocery shopping with reuseable bags. To be honest, it took being charged for every plastic bag I needed to make the switch and occasionally I will head into the store without my canvas and cloth bags. Sometimes they are in the car and I am in the checkout line without them. Once in a while they still linger at home, waiting for a trip to the car that never came. If I know they lounge around in the back of the car, I just pile the groceries back into the cart after I pay for them and trundle it all out to bag it at the car. I likely receive a few strange glances but that is okay. I am doing something good.
I have a water bottle I use all the time. It is plastic but not a throwaway one each time I need rehydrating. A metal one would be better, but so far I have not found one I want. I will keep looking and in the meantime take good care of the hard plastic one I have so that it lasts for a long, long time. I rarely drink hot beverages but I do have a supply of good travel mugs in case I need them. I rarely use a straw so do not have a fancy glass or metal one but I like that as an alternative.
My mixing bowls are glass – old 1950’s Pyrex actually. I love their bright colours and variety of sizes. They appeal to my nostalgic side as well as avoid plastic for mixing and serving most things. I have to confess to having some Tupperware ones with good sealing lids I use for taking salads to a potluck or mixing a huge batch of cookies or bread. I haven’t found a good alternative for ease of transport. I know a stainless steel bowl would provide the size I need for large batches but haven’t spent the money to change. These bowls have been in my cupboard for many, many years.
There are changes I still need to make. Maybe I just need to remember how much I like things from the past when plastics were unheard of. Jars to store food, crockery bowls and tin plates to cover them can take the place of plastics for sure but I like to be able to seal things up as I store them in the freezer without worrying about breaking glass. I guess my Valentine of less plastics has a long way to go until I change the ways I look at using plastics.
Plastic be gone! One change and then another. One small step at a time and maybe a few closer together are what I need to do.
Written by: Carol Harrison; Carol’s Corner