Week 20 Results: 22.1 oz of plastic

No, it’s not my Halloween costume. Any guesses? Read on. Here’s the weekly tally:

Non-recyclable items used this week but purchased before the plastic project began:

• 5 Refresh Endura single-use eye drop containers (#4 plastic).
• 1 pump sprayer cap from a bottle of Formula 409 all-purpose cleaner. See below.
• 1 cap from a bottle of Act fluoride rinse. See below.
• 1 cap from a bottle of dried onions. See below.
• 5 pieces of plastic from various iPod accessories packages. I’m forever discovering little plastic goodies while cleaning.
• 1 plastic liner from a queen-size mattress cover. This thing had gotten all ripped up, so I just decided it was time to stop sleeping on plastic and removed the lining from the cover. It’s a pretty heavy hunk of plastic.

Recyclable items used up this week but bought before the project began:

• 32-oz bottle of Formula 409 all-purpose cleaner (#2 plastic). As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve switched to vinegar and water for all-purpose cleaning these days. This bottle goes in our recycling bin.
• 18-oz bottle of Act fluoride rinse (#3 plastic.) This is the last one! As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been debating whether to continue to purchase fluoride rinse once these bottles are used up. After checking with several dentists, I’ve decided to forego the fluoride and see how my teeth fare. I have, however, found a possible alternative for mouth rinse. Will write about it in a future post if it turns out well. This bottle goes in our recycling bin.
• 3-oz bottle of McCormick dried onions (#1 plastic). As I use up bottled spices, I replace them with bulk spices that I’ll store in glass jars. This bottle goes in our recycling bin.

And that’s all the old stuff. Now for the new plastic waste.

• 1 wrapper from a block of Loleta Cheese Company organic sharp white cheddar.
• A bit of plastic from around a Recycline toothbrush container. The toothbrush and the rest of the container get sent back to Recycline.
• 1 plastic cap from a glass bottle of Straus organic milk.

This week, I also got rid of a bunch of plastic packing materials that I’d been storing. I took the Styrofoam peanuts to The Packaging Store, where they will be reused, and I gave the box of bubble wrap to a Freecycler who wanted it for an art project. These were materials I’d had before beginning this project. As I’ve written before, nowadays when I get new plastic packaging, I send it back where it came from.
 

Comments