What do you use instead of plastic?

[larknm]

Don to the nitty gritty on getting rid of plastic, but what about these things:

electric toothbrush--no cavities since got it several years ago
laundry basket
chapsticks (the tubes appear to be plastic)
telephone
printer
spray bottle for vinegar
radio
those are all that are staring me in the face this morning, but add on what plastic things you have

Some of those: phone, printer, radio, I figure I can keep the plastic or do without--and I'm not willing to do without

[decemberlov]

electric toothbrush--I would say keep it! Even though it's plastic it's something you use everyday and at this point is not going in the dump right? How would you dispose of it if you decided to get something else?...just a thought.
laundry basket - wicker hamper
chapsticks (the tubes appear to be plastic) - buy one that comes in a tin and then maybe refill with homemade later
telephone - sorry no suggestion here...
printer - use the library's instead?
spray bottle for vinegar - I found this DIY you may like: http://www.crunchybetty.com/how-to-turn-a-glass-jar-into-an-eco-friendly-spray-bottle
radio - I use my & tv for radio. I really like Spotify

[Mrs-M]

I see plastic-use, as being one of those necessary things in life, where for many of us (a majority of us), there's just no getting around it, so over the years I've learned to accept my plastic habits, making sure that whatever I purchase or use in the way of plastic, lasts for a long time... indefinitely if possible, so I can rest easy over my decision to bring plastic through the front door and into the home.

Re: plastic laundry baskets, I never went the route of wicker, because for years, diapers, were the order of the day in our home, and wet diapers (laundered diapers) and wicker, wouldn't have been a wise mix/combination for my situation, so plastic it was, and I still (after all these years) have the very same plastic laundry baskets I started off with!

As for other plastic things such as spray bottles, our telephones, and plastic garbage pails, these items, too, last indefinitely (for the most part), so once purchased, I'm OK with knowing they are made out of plastic. Now if I were replacing and tossing plastic items out at a steady rate, I'd definitely have to re-think my ways Re:, but I'm conscientious when it comes to waste, so no worries there.

However, one area where plastic-use used to sometimes get the better of me, was the use of vinyl/plastic diaper pants in our home (AKA rubber pants). They never lasted for any real length of time, so replacing regularly was necessary, and yet, after opting to try an alternative to the old-fashioned traditional plastic/vinyl option, I promptly went back to the old, because the modern alternative didn't contain wetness or messes like the old did (at least not to my liking), so I accepted and embraced the use of plastic/vinyl waterproof pants, knowing the stage of diapers wasn't going to last forever.

As with dishes and other miscellaneous plastic things, I'm particular when it comes to purchasing/using such things. I really have to weight things over carefully Re:, before I make the decision to buy/use, and IMO, if everyone took the same approach, plastic-use would be considerably reduced overall.

[catherine]

Re electric toothbrush: I just was so happy to be one of the first 5 people to order one of these "Smiles" bamboo toothbrushes (http://inhabitat.com/buy-a-biodegradable-bamboo-toothbrush-and-smiles-for-the-people-will-donate-one-to-someone-in-need/) for a fabulous cause: for every one the company sells, they send one to places in need:

1191

Not too good about reducing plastic, except I drink mostly water out of my refrigerator (no plastic soda or water bottles). I wish I could remember to bring bags to the super more often, but I justify it because I reuse them for dog poop.

[Rosemary]

I think that if I already own and am using something made of plastic, for instance a laundry basket, then the best thing to do environmentally is to use it until it can no longer be used. Plastic laundry baskets have a very long lifetime. Once the handles crack, I find other uses for them, for instance holding recyclables in the garage.

[Mrs-M]

Neat-O, Catherine!

My mantra these days is, "this isn't a perfect world, so we shouldn't be too overly hard on ourselves when we fall short, but whatever effort we make to curb and reduce, we're making a difference, so good on us for trying!"

[Mrs-M]

Re: plastic-use... I found it so hard getting around NOT using plastic when it came to having babies/kids. Without plastic/vinyl/rubber... the house, the kids... EVERYTHING... would be a mess, stained, destroyed! And that doesn't even touch on the workload that would be involved if it weren't for such synthetic help!

[ApatheticNoMore]

electric toothbrush--no cavities since got it several years ago

there is a brand of plastic toothbrushes you can buy that you can send back to be recycled.


chapsticks (the tubes appear to be plastic)

forks :)


printer

someone said the libraries printer, haha use the printer at work :). Actually you could use a printer at a place like kinkos but then they usually require you put money on their plastic cards to do that ...

[JaneV2.0]

Some of my very favorite things are made of petrochemicals: polymer clay, fashion dolls, microfibers... I suppose all of them could be manufactured from vegetable oil or something, and if need be all of it could likely be recycled--though the process is probably not cost-effective at the moment. I can remember when plastics were less prevalent than they are now and agree they are over-used, but I'm not averse to them on principle.

ETA: Note my avatar is not only jewelry, but plastic jewelry. I guess that says it all. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/standart/dance3.gif

[Mrs. Hermit]

The two categories of plastic I try to avoid are the truly disposable (ie excess packaging) and plastic containers to store food in. I am trying to migrate to all glass or stainless containers for storage. Not there yet, but working on it. Useful plastic commodities (telephones, long-term storage containers) I don't worry about too much, as there are not viable alternatives that fit my needs.

[decemberlov]

there is a brand of plastic toothbrushes you can buy that you can send back to be recycled.



forks :)



someone said the libraries printer, haha use the printer at work :). Actually you could use a printer at a place like kinkos but then they usually require you put money on their plastic cards to do that ...

I couldn't tell if the "fork" reply was a joke or you read it wrong. However it reminded me of a few months ago DH and I were getting sushi and the guy next to use kept asking for "chapsticks" rather than "chopsticks" I found it rather amusing.

[Zoebird]

I think that a lot of this has to do with what you can personally handle. We have way more plastic than I prefer, but much less plastic than many people.

Some of it is gifted. Some of it is reuse. Some of it is . . . just here somehow. :)

electric toothbrush--no cavities since got it several years ago

I've never had one, so this wasn't at issue, but I did recycle my last toothbrush (didn't know they could be), and we replaced with bamboo. I love that thing. It will compost. :)

The same company makes cleaning/scrub brushes, and since the one just snapped, I replaced it as well (after recycling. who knew how much NZ recycled?).

I also have two plastic combs (have had these for years) and a wooden boar-bristle brush. I don't even use the combs myself, but DH loves them, and he likes to keep one in the gym bag. When those die, I'll replace with bone or something.

laundry basket

We were gifted one that's plastic. WE also have a gifted wicker one. I use the wicker one for storage and the plastic one for laundry. Someday, it will die and I can move on in my life.

chapsticks (the tubes appear to be plastic)

After recycling the last one, I realized that I had all of these little glass pots from now-used (empty) burts bees lotion containers, right? So, i totally just use those now (making my own out of coconut oil, bees wax, and a bit of beet root powder to tint).

telephone, printer
I live with this one; computer too.