I hate packaging. I hate the crinkling of granola bar wrappers. I hate the plastic bags inside of cereal boxes. What to do?
Stop buying it! We do not have curbside trash pick up here in rural Vermont. Instead, every Saturday, we pile the trash into the back of the truck and take it to the dump (which is really a transfer station now). It costs $2.50 to dispose of one bag of trash. It’s free to dispose of the recyclables. I’ll admit it – my children are lazy. I’ve had to holler more than once at them for throwing a soup can away because they didn’t want to rinse it out and put it in the recycling. So, I changed our trash area around. Now, the trash can holds only recyclables. If you want to throw something in the garbage – you have to go outside in the freezing cold (on the deck, right off the kitchen – it’s not like they have to hike three miles), take the bungee cord off the trash can and throw it away.
But I’m trying to make it easier. I am making a concerted effort to buy fewer items that have packaging that can’t be recycled.
Buy cereal, granola, rice, pasta, spices, dried fruit in bulk at your local co-op. Either reuse a plastic bag or use a paper bag. Paper bags can’t be recycled, but they can be burned in my woodstove for starting a fire – or they can go in the pile I have for paper mulch for the garden. They are an excellent path liner in the garden, they are thick and durable, stomp out weeds and decompose through the fall.
Buy laundry soap in five gallon buckets. We always have a use for a five gallon bucket…watering animals, storing dry goods (purchased in bulk), holding tools, step stool, plants.
Most co-ops offer shampoos, dish soaps, oils, vinegars, peanut butter and much more in bulk in reusable containers. If you have more brain than me, you’ll remember these containers when you go back to the store.
Reuse spray bottles. Put your own mix of vinegar and water in them for cleaning, water for spraying plants (or things that catch on fire on the grill), a mixture of hot pepper sauce and water to keep the deer off the hostas. We even have a few laying around in the outside toy box for the kids to fill up in the summer and spray each other.
Make your own treats. Granted, I don’t always do this…but I try! Rather than purchase cookies, crackers and the like for the kids to snack on, we try and make our own. We make granola bars, cookies, brownies – all kinds of grab and go treats. Doing it this way has a number of benefits. First, I don’t spend so much at the store on crappy food for the kids. Because there isn’t a stash of such items in the pantry, they can’t sneak off with three or four (and the teenagers do…), and I can make up the items with organic ingredients.
If there is a product you just love, but the packaging is just too much – write them a letter. Ask your local store to stock bulk items, if they don’t already. As consumers, we need to refuse to buy offensive products – it’s the only way companies will stop making them.
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