Eco-Friendly Living

This is my new term for the new year. LOL

In case you don't know, precycling is a term that refers to the consideration of the use and disposal of all components of the item you are purchasing, including the packaging. It means buying products that use less of the earth’s resources, create less solid waste, and conserve valuable landfill space.

Most importantly I'm trying to avoid disposable products and those with elaborate packaging. Let's send the message to manufacturers that Americans don’t need over-packaged and disposable products.

Perhaps complaining to manufacturers more will help them know we don't need over-packaging.

We precycle a lot, but not to the extreme that we should.

For example, I won't buy those little individual serving size mac & cheese packets for my son. It's too wasteful b/c the Costco boxes come with like 100 plastic bags filled with one serving of macaroni, plus 100 paper packages of the cheese mix. Crazy!

But I do buy the bigger (family serivng size?) box.

Instead, what I should be doing (what I'd like to start doing) is going one step further and buy the macaroni in bulk, then use real milk and real cheese to make it. Much less packaging and better for you.

But we really have made giant strides in precycling. We don't buy things that are overly packaged. We don't buy individual sized anything. We choose glass over plastic when available. If we have to choose plastic, we make sure we get a plastic that is recyclable. We try to buy things that will last a long time or that can be reused or repurposed instead of things we know will go in the landfill.

I agree, precycling is extremely important. We've improved from where we used to be, but it's time for us to take the next step!

My blog~ Greenhab: The Browns go Green

 

       

I agree that "precycling" is extremely important - producing packaging takes resources, even if the packaging gets recycled - better to have less packaging in the first place. 

If anybody finds anything with serious overpackaging - packaging that is misleading about the product size - contact your local Department of Weights and Measures to make a complaint - in CA this is a county government department, in some states it is a state government office.  The Department of Weights and Measures investigates misleading packaging like that and has the power to make manufacturers change their packaging.  This department is focused on consumer protection rather than an environmental - however it is a method by which consumers can force the "gross polluters" of the packaging world to clean up their act. 

Great tip - thank you!!

My blog~ Greenhab: The Browns go Green

 

       

Wonderful next step in the whole process of what my grandmother always called 'use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without'.  I think that's an old New England saying, although how she came by it I have no idea- born in South Dakota!  We buy in bulk where possible, and I only am in the grocery store once a month.  Yes, it's even easy with some pre-planning.  And I don't get nearly as much junk that way.  For example:  I buy a big box of powdered milk and make it up the night ahead so it has time to chill well and the flavors to blend.  If I run out, which I"ve done once or twice, I just make things without milk.  I work full-time, too, so it's not as if I have all this 'extra' time to plan things.  However, I am super-organized, or so I'm told, which helps.  I do not ever buy plastic dishes for storage, heating, or anything else unless they come from the second-hand store.  That means no new Tupperware or Rubbermaid products also, and no plastic storage bags or containers.  I use glass.  If I need to store something in the refrigerator in a container (glass) that doesn't have a lid, I use a plate. I keep the freezer full and the refrigerator not so full.  Plan-ahead meals where the cooking style and container is as important as the food...well, maybe not quite...

Also belong to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group which means a box of fresh produce (sometimes eggs if they have enough) every week for about nine months.  I've been to the farm where they are grown (the farm people have become friends)  so I know the growing practices and know that the items are fresh, organic, and local.  We use little dry cereal and almost no pre-made mixes.  A book I recommend is Make-A-Mix Cookery where you make your own mixes for almost everything and store them...great for families.  Your local library probably has a copy.  I also have a loose group of friends who cook in enough quantity to feed the group at least once a month.  Some things you just can't make in tiny quantities...chili and soup come to mind...and we each then get a meal that way.  I get tired of my own cooking once in a while. 

As for clothes, I haven't bought any new clothes in over four years.  I'm not hard on my clothes and that's what I get for gift-giving times.  My jeans, as an example, came from Goodwill and cost me $3.50 four years ago.  I wear them daily and while they are now held together with string at the waist (I have an impossible figure to get jeans for) they serve the intended purpose of keeping me from getting arrested when out. I'll wear them another two or three years, minimum, or until they literally fall apart.  They came with no packaging at all, which is probably the best possible precycling arrangement you can find.   

I've talked enough.  Good luck to everybody, and I love the concept.