Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Week 1 Plastic Waste

Here is my plastic waste for the week:
  • Wrapper for a hard sausage purchased from Costco. I think I can get sausage sans plastic at Fairway and specialty markets.
  • Plastic wrapping (sadly, a LOT of it) from a curling iron purchase 3 weeks ago. I got a fancy tourmaline-coated iron that works really well. There were some similar used ones offered on Craigslist but they seemed dodgy. It also came with bubble wrap that I will re-use.
  • Wrapping from a pre-cut hunk of parmesan cheese. I should be able to get parm. without plastic (and lots of other yummy yummy cheeses) from cheese mongers like Murray's or at Fairway.
  • The aforementioned plastic water cup at the pizza place
  • 5 bags of frozen kitchen scraps, left at Union Square's compost drop off point. I will try to re-use the bags in the future.
  • An empty pocket tissue wrapper
  • Kitchen plastic wrap from some bacon in my refrigerator
Can the tissue wrapper be recycled along with grocery bags? Is it the same kind of plastic? I have a couple more packs and plan on using handkerchiefs when they are gone-- unless I get really sick.



Now, about that kitchen plastic wrap. I've been thinking about it for a while. This particular box came from Costco about 3 years ago. It came in a double pack and I don't use it much, especially since I started reading plastic reduction blogs. Most is used to cover open containers and partially used food items in the refrigerator. Should I give it away now and find alternatives, or use it up and then find alternatives? I'm leaning toward the latter. Your comments and ideas are welcome.

2 comments:

The Green Cat said...

I'd say find alternatives and give it away. Also, plastic wrap (if clean) can be recycled at the Park Slope Coop so be sure to save any that you do use for recycling!

Anonymous said...

After the tissues are gone, you can switch to plastic-free toilet paper for nose blowing when you have a cold. It looks funny in public but works fine. Oh, I have no shame. No shame at all.