Garbage in, garbage out?

My no plastic challenge.

I'm sharing my no-plastic ideas in the hope that they inspire others to do the same.

Photo: Silvie Tittel of Unsplash

I'll start with the basics...

Crunchy green stuff.

My fruit and veg shopping bag is like a United Nations of produce. Green apples chat to tomatoes who dance with carrots and broccoli as they roll around in my bag. In other words, I get them all loose. At the checkout, it means picking them out of the bag, grouping them and laying them on the belt. And hoping they don’t get shuffled again as the belt jerks forwards in sporadic bursts.

 Thomas Le on Unsplash

There’s a first world problem!

Ages ago that raised eyebrows at the checkout. These days nobody even blinks. 

Progress! 

Small things like green beans can be challenging. I need to remember to pack a few bags for them. Or just not buy them if I don't have a bag for them. 

Paper bags work a treat. I open the bag so the checkout person can eyeball the contents without forcing other customers to wait an additional three seconds.

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But produce shopping - that's really picking the low hanging fruit.

What about other essentials?

A meat-ing with the butcher.

I can testify that it’s possible to buy meat using reusable containers.

However, I don’t know of any obliging supermarkets. Styrofoam meat trays covered in clear film is the norm. Not all councils accept plastic trays in the recycling, and the styrofoam variety simply cannot be recycled. More bin fodder!

Butchers can be more accommodating. They will happily pack your containers with sausages and whatever if you ask. But due to the risks of cross contamination, they handle meat with a fresh set of gloves each time. The number of gloves chucked out must be able to stretch to the moon and back by now. And they stick a fresh sheet of clear plastic on the scales whenever they weigh it. That’s a lot of plastic waste.

However, there’s some good news. 

I have bought meat from the butcher using my own containers, and by bringing along two pairs of tongs and lining my containers with baking paper, the butcher obligingly used these- he didn’t even put any gloves on. He simply handled the chops and mince with each of the tongs. He totally got it. I took them home and washed them.  

Of course the whole issue of meat production is another biggie.

Methane, anyone?

I’m vego but three out of the five people in my family aren’t. So sometimes I buy meat, because I’m a nice accommodating mum.

But that’s a discussion for another day.

Buttering up

Margarine containers add up and there are only so many uses you can find for discarded ones before you need to put them in the misleadingly-named recycling bin. Which is a shame coz the stuff is so spreadable, compared to butter which is not so much - but comes wrapped in paper!

I have experimented with making butter more spreadable by mixing four parts butter with one part oil (something with a mild flavour like Canola, not olive). I whizzed it around the mixer for a few minutes (tip – start on slow speed and gradually speed it up). 

The result initially looks a bit greasy (well, duh) but refrigerating it overnight solidifies it enough to be usable. It spreads like a proper marg but maybe I need to fiddle around with the ratios a bit because it does leave an oily texture in the mouth. 

Photo by Jo-Ann S

Experimenting isn’t wasteful because what’s not top quality for sandwich purposes could easily find its way into the cooking pot.

I’ve also gone retro with a butter dish. It gets left on the bench with the rectangle of butter in it. It’s been working well, other than first thing in the morning when it needs to be shaved off and left on the toast to melt.

The teens have been unimpressed but I think I can find a good counsellor to help them work through this issue….