Plasttic-Free Resources

 

For the past few years, I’ve made furtive attempts at riding my life of as much plastic as possible. I’ve been getting serious lately. I’m focusing mostly on single-use plastics but if there is a plastic alternative for anything I’m buying I consider it! As a cancer-survivor, I was advised by my oncologist to avoid keeping my food in plastics. No matter what you are told, plastics really aren’t recyclable. And in the few instances where plastics are recycled, the process uses large amounts of water. Most are dumped in landfill or are shipped overseas to landfills. They are bad for the earth, full stop. I still have plastics in my life, but a reduced amount. Mitigation, not elimination.

 

Here is how I’ve been able to reduce plastics:

Water Bottles - This one is easy and known. Carry a bottle of water in your bag. Some extended family members of mine have a beach house a five hour drive South of Cancun, Mexico, a short distance from the Belize border. The amount of single-use plastic bottles that wash up on their beaches is horrifying. Hundreds of thousands of bottles. Dunes comprised of only plastic bottles. If you can see that and still buy plastic bottles, I don’t know. It really felt like seeing the earth being killed.

  • Impact - I’m sure that I reduce my plastic use by the largest amount by carrying a refillable bottle. So easy. If you are traveling just make sure it is empty before going through security. Just about any US airport has bottle filling stations after you get through security. There is zero reason to buy single-use plastic bottles. Yes, they piss me off.

  • Resources - You can get cheap bottles pretty much anywhere. I broke down and bought myself a glass one that has a bamboo top and a silicone wrap. It is shatterproof (I have dropped it a number of times and so far, so good). Thick glass. But, yes, it was $30 which is stupid expensive. But I use it everyday and it is a pleasure to use so I’m cool with the expense. This is the one I have: Soma Glass Water Bottle.

Shaving - I switched to a double-edged “safety razors”. Yes, the super old-school type. You can spend a bundle or $20 on one, they are usually metal. The blades are very inexpensive. I think about $20 should cover your razor blade expense for a year, at least. A decent shaving brush and an old mug will let you use shaving soaps instead of aerosolized shaving cream.

  • Impact - Way more pleasant shaving experience. Plastic from the razor and the razor blade cartridges are eliminated. Shaving cream cans are eliminated. I saved money in the process. (NOTE: I still keep a razor and a few cartridges for travel. Don’t try to bring a double-edged razor blade in your carry on. TSA won’t like that).

  • Resources - West Coast Shaving, this is a relatively high-end shaving site. Good Stuff. Amazon.com will also cover you.

Toothpaste, - Toothpaste is generally sold in plastic tubes. All of this is single use plastic. I have recently discovered a company that sells Toothpaste and mouthwash that are small little tablets/”bites” that you just pop in your mouth and brush/rinse. They don’t have fluoride but include Nano-Hydroxyapatite. I spoke to my dentist about Nano-Hydroxyapatite and she said it was a good, safe fluoride substitute. The toothpaste bites come in a glass bottle.

  • Impact - Reduced plastic. You can pop these in your travel bag for when you are on the road.

  • Resources - Bites is the manufacturer of these toothpaste bites. They have subscriptions or you can buy them without a subscription (for a higher price) here: Bites.

Mouthwash - Mouthwash is generally sold in plastic bottles. I recently discovered a company that makes mouthwash tablets/”bites” that you just pop in your mouth, chew, swish with some water and spit. They don’t have fluoride but include Nano-Hydroxyapatite. I spoke to my dentist about Nano-Hydroxyapatite and she said it was a good, safe fluoride substitute. The mouthwash bites come in a glass bottle.

  • Impact - Reduced plastic from eliminating plastic bottles. You can pop these in a travel bag for when you are on the road.

  • Resources - Bites is the manufacturer of these mouthwash bites. They have subscriptions or you can buy them without a subscription (for a higher price) here: Bites.

Dental Floss - Dental Floss is generally made of plastic and is sold in plastic cases. I have tight teeth and flossing for me is a trial. I have tried floss made from bamboo and floss made from silk. For me, the silk was a disaster as it broke very easily and ended up stuck between my teeth (defeating the purpose of flossing). The bamboo floss was impregnated with activated charcoal and worked beautifully. It is shipped in a refillable glass bottle dispenser (with metal top).

  • Impact - Reduced plastic from floss and container. I also suspect I am ingesting less micro-plastics which, for me, is very important. I like the glass bottle. The refills come in plastic free packaging.

  • Resource - I have used the floss from Lucky Teeth at: https://lucky-teeth.com/collections/vegan-floss. I’m going to try the bamboo floss from Bites, as well, to see which performs better

Deodorant - The single use plastic that are ubiquitous with even the “hippie” deodorants piss me off. So much single-use plastic. I found that Bites has deodorant that comes in a refillable metal case. The refills arrive in a cardboard sleeve. I still keep one deodorant around for my travel bag. I think the metal case would likely mean that TSA pulls my bag to check it out. I like to avoid that.

  • Impact - Reduced plastic from eliminating plastic cases.

  • Resources - Bites is the manufacturer of this deodorant. They have subscriptions or you can buy them without a subscription (for a higher price) here: Bites.

Laundry Detergent - Laundry detergent often comes in plastic bottles. Yes, you can get powdered detergent, but I haven’t found a good effective powdered detergent. I recently bought “sheets” of detergent. They come in envelopes that are light and less resource-intensive to manufacture and ship. And there is no plastic.

  • Impact - Reduced plastic, reduced resources consumed, and earth-friendly ingredients.

  • Resource - I buy the detergent sheets from https://www.tru.earth/.

Dryer Sheets - Dryer sheets can make your laundry nice, but they are stupidly single-use plastic. A few years ago I found wool dryer balls. You just chuck ‘em in the dryer and the fibers help soften the laundry. They haven’t worn out after several years. If you want some sort of scent in your dryer there are lavender and other sachets you can get, but I don’t do that. Anyhow, eliminating drier sheets is a good step.

Silicone Zip-loc Bags (re-usable) - These are re-usable, durable replacements for zip-loc bags. They work but I find them a bit harder to use than plastic zip-locs but reducing plastic is worth the hassle.

  • Impact - Less plastic.

  • Resource - I see them in our local natural food store. Amazon has ‘em in a variety of flavors

Silicone bowl tops (replaces the need for cling wrap) - These are pretty cool. You need a variety of sizes. You just stretch them over your bowl and boom, done. I still have some cling wrap in my kitchen but a roll lasts longer than a year.

  • Impact - Less plastic.

  • Resource - I see them in our local natural food store. Amazon has ‘em in a variety of flavors

Mason Jars - Super simple. Widely available. They fit in the fridge nicely and are even stackable. Super cheap.

  • Impact - Less plastic.

  • Resource - I see them in our local natural food store. Amazon has ‘em in a variety of flavors