surprise!

Encountered a few surprises this weekend after what I thought was a plastic-fee shopping trip...

Accidentally bought some organic, fairly traded plastic.

Discovered plastic in my favorite coffee. But, it's an easy fix – I can buy it in bulk.

Actually... I do care. I don't want silicone on my parchment paper. Guess I should have looked at the other side of the box before putting it in my cart.

Plastic is everywhere. All these products looked so natural & safe when I was shopping. A result of greenwashing? Not really, plastic is the norm for packaging and most people wouldn't bat an eye at any of these products. But, it's hard for someone trying to avoid plastic to know exactly what lurks on the inside of "paper" packaging. Trial and error.

going non-plastic on a budget

This basket of items cost under $6. I would estimate that so far I've invested about $65 on my all-glass conversion. 

I often hear from people that they couldn't possibly switch to a non-plastic kitchen – it would just be too expensive. True, replacing a whole kitchen's worth of plastic containers can quickly break the bank. Even shopping at discount shops like TJmaxx and Ross, you will pay anywhere from $5-25 per glass container. Anchor Hawking makes some great all-glass containers but their sizes are pretty limited. I have a solution for those of you who aren't opposed to buying used items. Your local thrift stores have all you need to make a complete all-glass conversion on a budget.

Now, I need to warn you that when you make the switch you will actually need many more storage containers than you use now.  Think of all those handy little ziploc baggies you currently use to stash odds and ends in the fridge. A half-lemon here, a couple crackers to take to work. Also, it wouldn't be fair not to mention that this also means more dishes on a daily basis.

Most new glass containers come with plastic lids. Mystery plastic. This is another reason why it's better to shop for glass storage at a thrift store. One thing that most thrift stores have in abundance is random unmatched glass lids and containers. What I do is buy any lids or bottoms I can find that look close to the right size for what I need. I find that although they usually don't make a perfect seal, they still work great.

So, why do I use all glass? I mean, a plastic lid that doesn't touch your food can't be that bad, right? Well, I guess I just want to be safe. There's so much we don't know about plastic - but we do know that it off-gasses and having my food in a small enclosed area with these chemicals just doesn't sit right with me. Plus, I figure if I'm going to all the trouble to do this, I may as well do it all the way.

bag it

A great trailer for a movie that examines the ubiquity of plastic in our world. For some reason the watching this almost made me cry.

Bag It Trailer from Film Sprout on Vimeo.

See it at the Do Something Reel film festival in your area.

cheese success

Had great luck today at my Whole Foods inquiring about the possibility of having cheese cut from a larger unwrapped wheel and wrapped in paper. Not so sure about the integrity of this particular paper... what is that waxy lining made from anyway? But, the woman at the cheese counter was incredibly accommodating and offered to pre-weigh a glass container and put the cheese in it for me if I brought one in. Looks like I won't have to miss out on cheese after all.

pure water!

Wow! I am so excited! I have been wanting a water purification system for a long time, but have never been able to decide which system to invest in. Reverse osmosis? Whole house? Under counter? It's so hard to find answers to which system would get rid of the most contaminants. I'm glad I waited to decide, as choosing a system made with minimal plastic was not on my list of wants previously. I recently discovered the Berkey water system which is supposed to be awesome. Ceramic filters remove every type of contaminant imaginable, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals, but leave the important minerals that your body needs. Sounds amazing. Researching this system on the internet, I became very skeptical. Apparently people are selling it as a franchise type business and the internet is so saturated with stores selling this product that it was hard to find unbiased information about it. I finally found some real customer reviews and purchased it from Giaim, which I trust.



I can't wait to start cooking with clean pure water. My one disappointment so far is the plastic spigot. It is the only plastic element sitting in the purified water. I found some interesting alternatives on the internet that may work, like this stainless steel wine tap. Think I will head over to the local brewing supply store in a few and see if they have any I can check out.

turmeric detox tonic

How can you help the body detox from BPA? Turmeric helps rejuvenate the liver cells and recharge their capability to break down toxins. Other than being excellent for liver detox, turmeric has powerful antioxidative and anti-estrogenic abilities that can help combat the excess estrogenic activity from BPA and fight cancer. Here's my recipe for a refreshing and delicious tumeric detox tonic that you can make in minutes.


Ingredients:

2" piece of fresh turmeric root
juice of one lemon
1-2 tbsp local raw unfiltered honey or natural sweetener of your choice
pure filtered water

Peel the turmeric root with a vegetable peeler

Add raw honey or other natural sweetener such as agave or maple syrup to taste.

Juice one lemon. Add pure, filtered water. I don't usually measure the water, I add just about this much.

Add to Vitamix blender and blend for 2-3 minutes to pulverize the turmeric root completely. Chill and serve. 

Now, I realize that I have a huge photo of a plastic Vitamix container in this recipe and this is one of the things I am struggling with so far in this journey. My Vitamix is an important tool in my kitchen. I make green smoothies, nut butters, nut milks and many other things in it daily. It was a big investment for our family, and sadly I don't know of any other stainless or glass options for a blender that can pulverize things like whole turmeric root. I've heard that you can sometimes find vintage stainless steel Vitamix blenders on ebay. Making a huge change like this is definitely a gradual process - I'm sure eventually I will find a non-plastic option.

If anyone is interested, I also have an alternate recipe for this that uses a Champion juicer. Since the Champion parts are also plastic I prefer the Vitamix method - it's so easy.

non-food sources of BPA

If you've read the Silent Spring Institute's new findings from their study: Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention, you may be wondering some of the same things I am. If BPA is metabolized in the body in 3 days, then where is the remainder of BPA left in the bodies of the test subjects coming from? 

No one is absolutely sure, but I have some ideas.

1. grocery store receipts
Did you know that most grocery store receipts are loaded with BPA? According to a study that examined BPA exposure from handling receipts, "New tests show that simple handling of receipts can transfer as much bisphenol A (BPA) though skin as humans get exposed to from canned food. The tests also found BPA on paper money, hinting that BPA is easily coming off of receipts and onto other items." So, skip the receipt - and definitely don't place receipts in bags with food items, especially those you eat raw.


2. tap water
Could there be BPA in tap water? A 2009 tap water safety survey found exactly that: "These could be leaching out of [household] plastics, even plastic pipes [used in] the treatment process." Invest in a powerful water filter if you can, and avoid filtering systems made with plastic.


3. personal care products
"There are two solvents commonly used in cosmetics and personal care products: phthalates, and Bisphenol-A. These ingredients are often hidden, remaining undisclosed on product labels." -Toxic Beauty: How Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Endanger Your Health . . . And What You Can Do about It. And what about natural, organic beauty products? A little better, but still a contributor. Most are packaged in plastic, which can contaminate the product and be absorbed into the system through the skin. 


4. dental sealants
Don't get me started on this one. I just had dental work done a couple months ago. I go to a "green" dentist, but am not sure if there is BPA in the dental sealant that they use. 


So, what's the bottom line? BPA and phthalates are virtually everywhere, in every product that we use. Simply reducing food packaging will not reduce your BPA levels to 0. The good news? You can do something about each item on this list to eliminate it from your environment. I've started in on most of these and will be posting my solutions as my experiment continues.

What my shopping cart looks like without plastic. The Wild Planet tuna can claims to be BPA free. Taking a chance here... is it free of all plastics or just BPA? And of course the milk has a plastic top. You do what you can. The Afflia soap is in a paper box.

A glimpse of my produce bin in the fridge. I used cotton baskets from ikea as dividers - I don't want my produce touching the plastic of the bin if possible. My partner Shawn thinks this is crazy, but I like the way it looks anyway so I'm going with it. Everything has stayed crisp and fresh so far.

My bread storage solution. So far this works great! Actually, the bread is much nicer to eat than the cold bread from fridge, which is how we had stored our bread before. Notice the Kamut puffs. I did take them out of the plastic, but does it even make a difference? If food has been stored in plastic and you remove it from the plastic container is there any positive effect? Haven't been able to find out anything about this possibility.

My lovely all-glass refrigerator storage. I have to admit I love how clean and crisp everything looks. Glass just feels great, organic, clean. Most of these containers originally had plastic tops, but I went to a couple thrift stores and bought a bunch of random glass tops which you can always seem to find on the cheap. My favorite all-glass storage is Weck containers, but they are a bit pricey.

Week 1 - Challenges and Victories

One week into my experiment I've experienced a number of challenges. First of all, it is almost impossible to eliminate plastics from your food supply without significantly changing your eating habits. For instance: cheese. 99.9% of cheese is wrapped in plastic. The ones I did find weren't the type of cheese I needed. We eat quesadillas weekly over here and local chevre isn't the best option for that. One of the reasons I decided to start this blog was a lack of resources when googling "plastic free cheese". I did find two great posts from Plastic Free Life and No New Plastic which pretty much confirmed that I would have to buy a 12 pound wheel of cheese if I wanted it to be plastic-free, good luck finding cheese that was organic. Particularly bad news considering the fact that foods high in fat absorb the greatest amounts of BPA and other plastic-related chemicals. Here are some other items I have had no luck with finding plastic free replacements for:

Tortillas
Organic Salsa (why is it so hard to make fresh salsa that tastes right?)
Organic Crackers (yeah, I know... I can eat Wasa. sigh.)
Puffed Kamut (my toddler's staple snack, can't find in bulk)

So I guess it's pretty much goodbye to our weekly quesadillas, since all the ingredients are plastic wrapped. But! Here's the good news. I have had a number of victories this week with replacing many of our plastic wrapped foods for super fresh plastic free versions.

Why Plastic Sans?

This post begins my record of an experiment to eliminate most plastics from my family's food supply and direct skin contact. Why? Well, if you haven't read the Silent Spring Institute's new findings from their Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention, you may want to check it out. The results are striking. Over the course of 3 days, the families in their study were able to reduce their BPA and Phthalate levels by 65% just by switching to a fresh foods diet that avoids canned food and plastic food packaging.

Now, I've always been skeptical of plastic. I do believe that among many other toxic chemicals, the prevalence of plastics are a huge reason for a steady and significant rise in cancer rates. But previously, I had always thought that attempting to control the amount of plastics in my kitchen and environment was futile. I mean, how much impact could I possibly make by reducing a material that has become so ubiquitous in the course of daily life? Well, quite a bit it seems. Ever since reading the study I've felt I have no other choice but to start the gradual process of eliminating the plastics from our household.

I don't expect to have 100% success by any means. I'm sure some days will be more plastic-free than others. I feel that the important thing is to consider the role of plastics in my food and environment daily and make changes when I can.