No Plastic Vow - Day 2

It' s really easy not to buy plastic, if you don't go to the store. Staying at home, eating from my garden, doing my chores, I feel like it's a piece of cake. Then, the daughter and the husband make a deal that he'll work on her hula hooping video if she makes dinner. They agree on a menu, and get their appetites all worked up over the wonderful things she wants to cook. She calls her aunt to get the recipe, then says the fateful words, "Mom, I need you to take me to the store for ingredients." I try to no avail to talk her into making something with the things we have, and end up driving her to the store. We don't have a co-op in Albany, so even the idea of bringing our own glass containers and buying bulk food won't work. Walking in the doorway of the store I blurt, "No plastic." My daughter says, "Oh no, Mom! Can't you fudge and say that technically you're buying it for me?" "No," I say. She thinks of the first thing on her list, and decides to ask the fish guy if he can sell her fish without any plastic wrap. He says that's no problem, and wraps it in butcher paper. Whew! My daughter walks through the produce aisle, carefully choosing exactly the items and amounts she needs, so she doesn't have to put them in plastic bags. So far, so good. We go to the spice aisle, and she finds a brand of spices that is in glass bottles with metal lids. They're even organic, but the only spice they don't seem to have is ground mustard seed. The only brand that turns out to have it has plastic containers and plastic lids all wrapped in a plastic seal. I have a brilliant idea to try the bulk section of the store. They have it! But all they have available to carry it in is plastic bags. We walk away from the ground mustard. The really great thing is that we get out of the store with all fresh ingredients, and we only pay $12 for everything.

We manage not to buy ice cream, because it has a plastic seal around the lid, and we pass by the gelato store, because they use plastic bowls and spoons. Wow. I could lose some weight and save some money with this adventure! On the way home, my daughter notices that our neighborhood cafe now serves ice cream, and she says, "We should go there sometime. I bet they would let you bring your own bowl." Later in the evening, the reward comes when we drive her to stay the night at a friend's house. We venture to the local Yogurt Extreme shop and get fat free, sugar free, gluten free, kosher yogurt in a paper cup and eat it with the wooden spoon they supply. Yes, I do also want to save the trees, but today, the battle is plastic, so it's a small victory.

The big question for Day 3 will be, "Can we manage to print/buy a lease agreement for renting out our house without either buying a plastic printer cartridge or buying paperwork wrapped in plastic?" Tune in tomorrow to find out.