u/StardustZJackson

I'm still on my quest to try and find one plastic-free alternative each time I go grocery shopping. Mostly so I don't get overwhelmed by trying to do everything perfectly all at once.

I don't like that a lot of oil and syrup comes in plastic bottles. This might seem like a small thing, but it annoys me that even the ones that come in glass bottles with metal caps will have these plastic reducers/ flow restrictors (Picture 2 for reference, I don't actually know what these things are called). The worst part is I can't even tell if a product has the plastic on the inside until after I buy it and open it. However, I recently found a brand from a Middle East grocery store that doesn't have the plastic inside (with bonus points for it being a nice shaped glass). Then when buying soap online the website I was on had a brand of "olive oil refills" that come in aluminum cans! So when my glass jar is empty I can refill it from the can. It actually makes me so happy!

Honestly this makes way more sense than buying a new glass jar every single time I need more oil or syrup. That extra container expense is being passed onto the consumer I'm sure. Plus I know some states have aluminum can returns where you can get money for recycling. Not the state I live in, Texas hates the environment, but still I think most aluminum gets recycled. I wish I could find more things like canola oil and agave nectar in cans, and if we had a national recycling program people could get money back for their refill containers!

I go to the laundry room AFTER I transferred $10 to the previous app they were using (why are we switching apps I don't know). They literally covered up the old payment system and made no announcement. So I have to download and set up a new app, make an account, confirm account, confirm email, send verification code, oh there's an option to transfer funds from old account, log into old account, confirm old account, confirm you're a human, restart transfer because process was interrupted, OH AND LAUNDRY IS AN EXTRA 25 CENTS NOW HOPE THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE.

So I spent 30 minutes messing with a stupid app instead of doing my laundry because every aspect of society is horrible now.

One of my biggest annoyances in my plastic-free journey is buying a product that says they're plastic-free, but they have a plastic cap. Even more annoying when I actually find a product that's 100% plastic-free and I double check that fact, but it gets shipped to me in a plastic mailer. It's the most annoying when I buy from a brand that is plastic free, I confirm that there's no plastic components, I confirm that there's no plastic packaging or mailers, and the SHIPPER decides to put plastic tape over the product.

This is not a rant against this brand of TP. I've been buying from them for years and they're great. It's a rant against Amazon. This brand gets shipped in a cardboard box with paper tape. Whenever it's delivered by the Post Office it comes as is, a plastic-free product in a cardboard box with paper tape. However, whenever Amazon is delivering it they put plastic tape over the paper tape! I know it's Amazon every time too because whenever this happens it's Amazon's stupid sticker on the side of the box. I don't even know why it's sometimes one company or another delivering the box because I have it on auto-delivery directly from the Reel website.

My brother suggested that maybe Amazon does this as a way to prevent product damage. Let's ignore the fact that I've been having this product delivered to me every 3-4 months for years and never had any damage or issues. I want to focus on the fact that I'm going out of my way to buy a plastic-free product, and when Amazon puts their stupid plastic tape over the box it ruins the purpose of the product. If Amazon is worried about product damage: THEY ARE THE ONES RUINING THE PRODUCT AND MAKING IT SO I'M NOT GETTING WHAT I ORDERED! There's not even a way to prevent this that I know of, since like I said I order it directly from the company website and it usually gets delivered by USPS, but randomly Amazon and their superfluous plastic tape darken my doorstep.

I've been trying to reduce my plastic consumption. My method for cosmetics and such is to find a plastic-free alternative when I run out of my current product so I don't get overwhelmed. Obviously most plastic waste though is from single use food and drink containers/wrappers though so that's the next frontier for me. I'm actually having a difficult time finding food that isn't wrapped in 3 layers of plastic outside a few products. Something I have been seeing more of lately though are "low plastic" products. For example, tomatoes and mushrooms that are in cardboard containers but still have plastic wrap on them. I guess the point of this post is I never know if I should support these products. Low plastic is better than all plastic, but I don't know why they can't just... not put the plastic wrap on it? It frustrates me. I've found a couple stores that actually do sell things such as mushrooms and grape tomatoes with no plastic layer, but it's further away. I shouldn't have to drive to the further grocery store just to find tomatoes not wrapped in plastic.

There's also this brand of yogurt called Coco June that comes in a paper container, and they advertise themselves as "plastic negative". I know it probably still has a plastic lining the way milk jugs do. There's another brand of yogurt called "Coconut Cult" that comes in a glass jar, but they have a plastic cap. I actually don't know the answer to that. Is it better to buy a product lined with plastic or a mostly glass product with a plastic cap knowing probably neither will get recycled? I'm going to have to start making my own oat milk, tofu, and yogurt I swear. 🫠