Month 1 done - We did it! (sort of)

So we did it! The lid fits on. Here's the inventory. Working from the left and clockwise:

...fruit wrappings, twist ties and stickers

...2 tea bags that are not compostable - won't buy those anymore. Lipton, change your packaging please.

 ...straws from the child who forgot about our project when out with friends

...those plastic packages that don't have a recycling symbol on them. We will shop more carefully in the future

...gum. Hadn't thought about that one, nor are we sure we're ready to give that one up yet. I remember having teachers with horrible breath. I refuse to be one of them.

...on that note - floss. Going to buy compostable silk floss next, and then due to its price, we're going to try to rinse and reuse it. Grossed out? You rinse your toothbrush and use it again, right?

...toothpaste. I'm willing to try to make our own. I've heard it's tough to get used to. I'm not committing. We'll try it.

...deodorant. Already sourced some from a friend (shout out to Nourish products by Andrea) whom I can return the packaging (glass jar) to and she'll refill it. I've only used it a few days now and I like it! Lavender and lemongrass wafting from my pits.

...foil-lined packages from teabag wrappers, chip bags, croutons...some of these are easy to reduce, some will be a sacrifice. We have started buying only compostable tea bags or loose tea. But chips!?! Really? If anyone knows how to buy chips in a bag that is not destined for the landfill - I'm all ears.

...lip balms. So we'll use up the ones we've got, but after that I'm going to use the lovely stuff they sell at 10,000 villages which comes in this little paper tube.

...halloween candy. Who knew that added up to be so much waste? Wow. Eye-opening. We are already scheming about what we could hand out next year that is waste free. Caramel apples, popcorn, waxed paper wrapped toffees... And the one child who still likes to go trick or treating said that maybe she could make a bunch of homemade treats and have a party instead. We've got some time to think about that one.

...foil lids from containers. So part of our goal is to also reduce the items in the recycling bin, especially plastic, so with that will come the reduction of these tops. It means making more things ourselves, like salad dressings, mustard and the like. This is something we have often said we'd like to do anyway for health reasons, so now we're motivated in two directions.

...foil wrapper from butter. For now it will just have to be so.

...bread ties. These I don't feel too badly about because I buy bread from the "day old" stand where it was destined for the landfill anyway.

So that's the run down.

However, we need to come clean here. I say "we did it - sort of" because technically all of our plastic bags are going to the landfill too. We separate them and put them out with our recycling, but they are not recyclable here, so our town bails and buries them at the landfill. Bailing and burying them means they won't blow around and they won't take up so much room so it's marginally better than just throwing them out, but not much. Sad, but true. There is no market for them apparently. If we included these plastics, our bucket would be overflowing for sure.

I don't mean shopping bags, I mean all the "wiggly" plastics like pasta bags, cheese wrappings, cucumber wrappings, produce bags (the ones where the produce comes pre-packaged).
So...it's our next step to try to drastically eliminate those plastics from our household. Easier said than done! Every stinking thing is wrapped four times over in this stuff, but the recent announcement from Bulk Barn that they will be allowing customers to bring in their own containers should help some. Apparently Scoop N' Weigh in Winnipeg has been allowing this for a long time (thanks Heather), and I've never seen the bulk areas of Superstore post signs that you can't, so we're going to try that route.

In terms of shopping bags you need to employ one of the "R's" that doesn't get enough attention: Refuse. I have refused plastic bags from stores for years and I love it. You have to be downright pushy sometimes and quick too. Before you know it they've put it all in a bag for you.

I know what some people are thinking - "But I use them as garbage bags." Let me tell you that even though I haven't accepted one in years, they still come into my life, so don't worry about not having any. They're EVERYWHERE.

And on the note of garbage bags, once you start composting everything, and I mean everything, you don't really need a garbage can liner anymore. Or use a bag that you were going to throw away anyway, like a chip bag. This is a terrible picture but this is my bag organizer. Did I mention that I haven't accepted a bag in years?