Katie Callahan

This has been a fun challenge, and very opening as to how much single use plastic is all around us.  I am very happy to report that my husband, all on his own, said that we should continue with our plastic-free shopping changes that we've started this month!  Yay for a lasting impact!

It's nice to be back home where I have everything convenient and am more in the habit of going around single-use plastic-free.  Being plastic-free while traveling was much more difficult than I had anticipated.  One definitely needs to prepare well in advance to travel without using single-use plastic.  I wish that weren't the case.

Going plastic free while traveling is definitely more... I don't know if I want to say difficult... but at least requires a lot more pre-planning.  I flew today and was going to request to have my beverage in just the can... only to have the stewardess bring it to me (and everyone) in a plastic cup.  At least I did bring my own straw in when I went out to eat/drink, so saved a couple of straws from going to the landfill.  Small steps add up to giant leaps!

Thank goodness for bulk bins!  It's amazing how, once you start looking for it, *everything* seems to have plastic involved somehow or another!

Practiced what I preached today and brought my own containers, utensils, and cups to a summer barbeque.  I'll definitely have to do this more often.

I am thankful today to live in a place where other people also understand.  I had family visiting today and I purpose chose a restaurant that was eco friendly.  It was nice to have delicious food, support a local business, and not have to worry about using any single use plastics! 

Had a very productive shopping trip to Whole Food's today (where it's much easier, although still a little tricky, to shop plastic free).  We managed to buy bread without any plastic packaging (we bought an unwrapped loaf from the bread section and used our own bags [they even had a neat machine that would slice it for you]).  I purchased shampoo and conditioner that used recycled plastic and most of which could be composted/planted (!) when you're done with it.  The only two products we purchased with plastic were sliced cheese and vitamins...

Hubby went to the farmer's market and shopped completely plastic-free.  We had sandwiches today made out of bread that I made last night.  Feeling good tonight!

It's been surprisingly hard to eat a plastic-free meal.  Since we're trying to save money, I've just been using what I have had at home and haven't gone grocery shopping yet this month (my husband did a small trip and forgot about the challenge).  However, most conventional products have plastic somehow or another, so this has been rather tricky.