Anyone gone totally plastic-free?

[Lucysmama]

Looking for people who have done this/are considering it!!!


Dh and I are doing this right now. Wow, it's AMAZING how much plastic we have in our house! Tupperware, potty seat, a few toys, playdough containers, medicine bottles, rubbermaid containers... We are trying to do all glass/pottery/clay alternatives. (Obviously, we have to make a few exceptions. Our DVDs are in plastic, our phone and computer and appliances have plastic, diapers have plastic snaps, etc)

First, we are stopping the flow INTO the house. That means telling people we are going plastic-free...so they don't buy dd toys, don't give us tupperware or other plastic gifts, etc.

Now we are trying to slowly replace everything with natural alternatives. We can't afford to do it all at once.

I am really excited about this, but I do have some questions....for some things, I can't some up with a good alternative. Any mamas wanna let me pick their brains?

[Irishmommy]

Moving this to Natural Home and Body Care...

[Lucysmama]

Oops. I wasn't sure where to put this!

[PikkuMyy]

Not yet but we're trying. We replaced almost all of our tupperware with these really nice retro-looking glass containers from Crate and Barrel (really cheap too!) We have a few glass tupperware with plastic tops that don't touch the food.

We try not to get plastic bags with our produce unless it's absolutely necessary, and I try to reuse those.

We use cloth bags for groceries, etc. We buy in bulk and reuse the containers so that we don't add any plastic to the waste cycle or cause more to be made.

It's not a huge amount yet but we're working on it.

[PikkuMyy]

hehehe. Your daughter and I would get along just fine! I was just like that at her age...and still am!

[Persephone]

I'm working on it as well. I'm not hardcore about it, but I don't want our food storage containers or anything that touches food to be plastic. Pyrex makes great food storage containers (plastic lids, but like I said, I'm not hardcore, and they don't touch food that much.) Also, when I have kids, I want to not have any plastic toys. I think there are some things that I'll allow to be plastic, but certainly nothing a young one will chew or suck on.

What things are you having a hard time coming up with an alternative for?

[Lucysmama]

Toothbrushes.

Diaper pail. (Can't find a big enough one that isn't plastic)

I know there are more things, but it's late and I can't think.

[Gemini]

I've been buying vintage pyrex off of ebay in the last year. I have gotten rid of most of the plastic containers we have now.

[UrbanPlanter]

I would like to - already got rid of the tupperware. But it seems futile, since plastic is in just about everything! So I am focusing first on food storage.

[Marni]

Great topic! I would LOVE to rid all (or most) plastics from my home, but you all are way ahead of me. I am doing the pyrex storage -- and feeding 14 month DD with antique sterling silver spoons. But here are two things I am clueless about replacing, but that REALLY bother me: sippy cups and trash bags. The former, she uses to drink water (she is still bf), but I HATE to see her teeth marks on the thing, because I'm guessing that means she is injesting some of it. The latter (trash bags) we recycle from supermarket bags, but I am clueless on a better way to "contain" one's waste.

Please feel free to enlighten me.

Thanks!!!!!!!

[pammysue]

Marni-

At 14 months your daughter should be able to drink from a regular glass. I know it sounds scary, but she should be fine. Ikea has small glasses for children that don't tip easily (Ikea). Let her practice in the bathtub or pool where spills won't matter and then trust her that she can do it well and safely. Think about what people did before sippy cups and remember it's just water.

As far a garbage bags, we get paper bags at the grocery store and use them for garbage.

[Marni]

Good tip about using real glasses with DD Pammy Sue.

I'm wondering though, has anyone got plastic-bagless when it comes to trash? DH and I were brainstorming on ways to do this. We can think of a few ways, but we live in a condo complex, and I would hate to stink up the community bin with our "uncontained" trash. I don't think I would care if we had our own cans that went straight to the trash truck or dump.

[girlndocs]

You could try collecting used plastic bags (like large shopping bags) to reuse, then at least you wouldn't be creating a market for trash bags in your home, kwim? Even if you couldn't always scrape up enough & used some new, it would make a difference. And if all you can find after a bit are too small for your can, you could consider getting a smaller can. That might have the bonus of cutting down your trash too, if it had to be emptied more frequently.

My MIL is a compulsive shopper & I ask her to save big shopping bags for us. Now all I have to do is get DH into the habit of using those instead of reaching for the box of new bags. We used paper until our regular grocery store quit offering it Still do whenever we shop somewhere that we can get it.

[Emmama]

!! It just blows my mind to think of all of the plastic in the world. I am trying to phase it out as much as possible. One question though: What are the repercussions from using plastic for food storage? Why is it bad? TIA!!

[hubris]

Emily, I'm glad you asked about food storage, I'm one of the unenlightened ones when it comes to plastic - somebody fill me in! I tend to like glass, pottery, and metal more than plastic anyway, but it hadn't occurred to me that tupperware was unhealthy in some way.

Marni, another suggestion for kids' cups: metal. Something like a Jefferson cup - short, hard to tip. I bet there are metal cups with lids or spouts somewhere out there.

[noahsmommy]

Yes, marni, there are "Sigg" metal sippy cups that have been talked about on another thread (can't tell you which one, but if you do a search, like I did, you'll find it). My sister (user name: avakitty) got one recently on ebay. We have 2 of their sport water bottles, and really like them. I hate using all these plastic sippy cups too, but my son is probably old enough now to use regular cups, so that's what we're slowly switching to. Plastic is everywhere! You really have to make a conscious effort to avoid it :

[avakitty]

Welcome to MDC Noahsmommy!!!!

[tricia80]

I want to get rid of all my plastic... but they are jus soo convinent... :LOL

im baaad i know.. i jus dont want dd breaking plates, cups, or anything... and the covers are soo nice when you dont need to find another container to store it in...

im now going to hide... :

[spinach]

My dh packs a lunch everyday in rubbermaid containers. What is a good alternative for packing sandwiches, chips, veggies, soups, etc? Is wax paper a good alternative? Most of it can't really be reused to what's worse: throwing out wax paper (or recycling aluminum) or reusing plastic? I would love to get rid of all of our plastic for food storage/packing.

[avakitty]

I get these unbleached wax paper bags that i use for sandwiches and snacks. I have found them at Wild oats and similer natural food stores.