Week #3 - No New Plastic Challenge

I really don't know what I was thinking doing a weight loss and no plastics challenge at the same time. Needless to say, my diet has changed because of watching plastic, but it would have anyway since I'm watching what I put in my pie hole.

While I wish I was 100% successful and 100% creative, I am not. There's a lot of weighing cost vs. plastic and sometimes there's little or no options. Here are some things I learned or experienced this week.

1. New Yorkers get a little weirded out about this challenge. When I went to farmers market I asked the  guy selling yogurt and the woman selling duck sausage about packing in something other than plastic. The yogurt seller was downright rude and the duck lady was basically confused. One of produce sellers did have paper bags for my mushrooms and arugula. Sadly, the apples were a little mushy and I forgot to eat one of the yummy carrots I bought and had to throw it away.
2. I keep forgetting to ask servers and bartenders to not give me straws. I have been stopping them as they do it, but I think they just throw it out rather than reuse it.
3. My new french coffee press is plastic and glass. It cost $20. I could have gotten one that's glass and metal for $43, but I didn't think it was worth it and I will have this one for a while, knowing that if I break the glass, I can just replace the glass.
4. For a single person with limited kitchen space, I have a lot of food. I have not had to do a full shopping trip since I just need to supplement what I already had.
5. I did remember to bring a plastic container with me for leftovers at the restaurant last night, but I didn't need it.
6. Carrying around a glass Pellegrino bottle to refill is HEAVY!
7. I have yet to be super creative and make things that I can only get in plastic. Like granola bars. I still have 2 left, so I may be okay.
8. I have started cleaning with apple cider vinegar and baking soda since I'm out of Nature's Miracle to clean the cat messes. It works surprisingly well.
9. It has not been a pain to bring my waste (in the waste baskets) down to the basement every few days to dump and wash. No plastic bag liners needed.
10. My friend Julia is moving to Atlanta, so she gave me lots of panty items. A good number of glass jars and cans, however I could not say no to the plastic bottles of vinegar, mustard and spices.

Questions? Comments? Successes? Add them below!