getting plastic out of our life

I was watching an old old movie last night supposedly filmed on the Tennessee river, the water was clear and clean looking and could not stop thinking about a story on the local news not long ago that said the Tennessee river is the most polluted on earth contaminated with plastic mostly from broken down plastic bags. seems that here in the lower 48 one of the growth industries is plastic, plastic everything. and now everyone and their brother wants a 3d printer, more plastic to make more plastic stuff. even the latest greatest fast food containers that were supposed to be compostable plastic are now found to be highly toxic.
is there really anyway to get plastic out of our lives?

I think, as individuals, we can make a difference.  I cannot directly control the plastic my neighbor uses.  I can control the plastic I use. I can indirectly influence the plastic my neighbor uses.  I was shopping for an appliance yesterday that is normally made of plastic.  I found one made of metal.  I researched the product and company.  I will be buying it.  In the process, I will have eliminated an added plastic product in my home. I will have benefited a company that uses less plastic.  I will have benefited the company selling it.  And, however minutely, I will have weakened companies making a similar product of plastic. I do not see plastic as evil. I do have problems with the misuse of it.....and the over use of it.  

I try to reuse as much of the plastic I use and the ones I find from my neighbors as possible.

I use them to grow plants. Recently grew corn to harvest in a stack of plastic bottles.

https://youtu.be/8YAV_k_9n80

There are many things that we  can do over time. One is to make and use beeswax wraps instead of plastic bags for food.  Another is to reuse fabric bags at the grocery store.
JOhn S
PDX OR

I m a beginner I started to reduce my plastic waste and I stopped using disposable coffee capsules I bought reusable capsule 2 months ago and I very satisfied 😊
https://www.edenlly.com/kitchen/stainless-steel-nespresso-capsule.html

I stopped buying meat at the supermarket and plan on spending half an hour at the butcher shop. I figure I can sacrifice time to help the planet. Plus I take my own tupper ware containers everywhere - even for meat, not to mention for flour,  grains etc at our local organic store. And a cloth bag for bread.

I  keep a heavier plastic bag that folds perfectly flat in my purse so I am always ready with my own bag.  I have cloth reusable bags too but don’t always have one with me  on some shopping stops.  I reuse plastic containers however I can. One way is using the takeout container with a clear lid to start seedlings and for micro greens.  Plastic trays are great for under plants. I am becoming more reactive to packaging, choosing products without it.  Plastic milk jugs can be cut to become scoops. Most important, bring home less.

A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely reduntant.

Andrew Williams wrote:A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely reduntant.

That is genius! Thanks for sharing.

Andrew Williams wrote:A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely redundant.

I've been doing it for years. Just on a side note , this is my method for that type of lids not sealing;
I place dry, clean folded dish towel in a microwave, heat it on high  for a minute, then take out the dish towel and place the lid/s in between the towel fold to warm up for a bit and place still warm lid on the jar and vacuum seal it.  The rubber gasket seals when the lid is still quite warm. I never had issues of not working.

Ela La Salle wrote:

Andrew Williams wrote:A game changer for me in reducing plastic waste has been vacuum sealing dry goods in recycled glass jars. I buy in bulk, and vacuum it at home.
Many things like flour can be bought in paper sacks, but plastic is pretty good at maintaining shelf life. Compared to vacuum storage though, plastics are inefficient, ineffective and completely redundant.

I've been doing it for years. Just on a side note , this is my method for that type of lids not sealing;
I place dry, clean folded dish towel in a microwave, heat it on high  for a minute, then take out the dish towel and place the lid/s in between the towel fold to warm up for a bit and place still warm lid on the jar and vacuum seal it.  The rubber gasket seals when the lid is still quite warm. I never had issues of not working.

Brilliant! I can see a video update coming soon.

This is something I want to concentrate more on this year, consciously trying to avoid buying plastic, whether in packaging, clothes or goods. I think there are few cases where they are the best material for the job.

Using the R's@

Reduce: I have a little zero waste (refill) area in my shop which makes it pretty easy for me to stock up on dry goods and oils without a plastic container. We've got a list of zero waste stores here - look and see if your local store is on there - if not add it to the list! I'm particularly going to try and avoid plastic in clothing - this seems to be a challenge though! Particularly footwear.

Reuse: I do a lot of this already - making what we have last as long as possible. I reuse plastic pots a bit, where they are good quality - for food containers and for starting plants. I'm hoping to make a bird resistant net from some of my acrylic yarn...

Recycle: This is where I'm going to concentrate more in the medium term. I want to declutter by putting some of the plastic I have accumulated because it might come in - my local garden centre will take old plant pots, and I'm not going to keep those food containers I can't avoid but put them straight back in the system.

Still looking for more ways of reducing the plastic in my life.....

Very good question!

My first thought is get as much food locally and with as little mediation as possible. Making your own clothing or using/reusing older clothes helps as well to avoid pollution from synthetic fibers, and so does using only natural fibers (not to mention they are better for you!)

People lived up until only a century or two ago without plastics. Surely we can find inspiration from them!

Reusing paper bags is another way. I find old paper bags very useful.

M Ljin wrote:Making your own clothing or using/reusing older clothes helps as well to avoid pollution from synthetic fibers, and so does using only natural fibers (not to mention they are better for you!)

Yes - I'm getting inspiration from Rebekah's thread on renewing her clothes with natural fibres! I'm looking at my falling apart slippers and thinking they may be the next candidate!

Nancy Reading wrote:... I'm looking at my falling apart slippers and thinking they may be the next candidate!

I once made felted slippers, using dog fur. I wasn't very good at the felting part as it was my first go, but I would say the concept has promise.

I used deer leather I processed myself to protect the felt on the bottom. However a friend recently gave me her leather purse with the zippers broken, so I have a small stash of thicker leather if I decide to give it another go.

There are a couple areas in our life where this is very challenging.

Kids, we have 6. The default is for folks to buy or gift us endless plastic junk toys. We have sat everyone who does this down and explained our thoughts on this topic and that we would like to avoid that stuff. If played with outside, it is ruined (I guess from sunlight) in about 60 days. We have to repeat this conversation about every 2 years because a holiday or birthday will come around and it is like we never said anything about the plastic junk toys. We understand why this is the case and we try to be lighthearted about it.

Starting a homestead or adding a new category of animal, equipment, food preservation method, etc. The amount of things you need will be highly subjective to so many factors such as time and ready cash available. Buying used normally does not involve the original plastic packaging, shrink wrap, packing material, etc. Other than that, we don't have a say in how folks ship us products we need if we cannot find them local or used. If local, they probably received them in the same packaging and just unboxed them to some extent.

Like John mentions above, seeking out higher quality products that will last longer and are made of other materials is a good idea. Usually those products are more expensive because they are higher quality and do last longer. Over time, it is more economical but sometimes you may not have the budget for a quality item early on.

If recycling is analogous to repurposing, that can be a lot of fun.