I’m really, really bad at participating in challenges, y’all. For example, I’ve been half-participating in a challenge called Plastic-Free July.

This challenge tests your ability to refuse single-use plastic items for an entire month. Notice how it doesn’t say “avoid ALL plastic items” for an entire month. I love that the focus is on single-use plastics, like grocery bags, water bottles, Ziplocs, and Tupperware. Single-use plastic is a particularly horrible atrocity to both our wallets and environment (plastic bags can take 500 – 1,000 years to biodegrade, depending on who you ask).

So when I first heard of the plastic-free July challenge, I thought it sounded flippin’ cool. I actually meant to, y’know, write a blog about it announcing my participation, but I guess I saw something shiny and got distracted. Who knows.

But I’m doing it now! Here’s how my semi-conscious efforts were for the Plastic-Free July Challenge.

The wins

Ziploc avoidance

Ziploc baggies are a biiiiig sin of mine. We’ve been low on Tupperware lately, so I’ll just toss a scrap of food in a Ziploc and forget about it. And yes, I do throw away Ziplocs–gasp! I’ve tried washing them, but I think that went a little too far for other Picky people in our household!

Anyhoo, I challenged myself to avoid Ziplocs (as much as I could, anyway). Here’s what I did instead:

• I used up food. Instead of storing bits of food to use later, I just incorporated it into something then and there. If I had leftover beef, I turned it into a tostada for a snack.
• I opened a pack of tea and discovered they put four tea bags to one packet. I have no idea why they would do that, but it left me in a tea conundrum. Fortunately, Mr. Picky Pincher thought of a great solution. We stored the tea in a glass Mason jar.
• I made beeswax cling wraps! These suckers are great for storing stuff like leftover heads of cauliflower, cherries, etc.

I did still use some Ziplocs, but I avoided using more of them, which is a step in the right direction!

Plastic bag reduction

We’re actually not that bad about plastic bags. We generally shop at HEB and bring our own cloth bags, so plastic bags aren’t a big thing at our house. But hey, we still get them every now and then at Wal-Mart or fast food joints.

Instead, we:

• Went bagless. We bought some small item at Home Depot and chose not to get a bag for it. If you can hold it in one or two hands, why would you need a bag?? Once I bought a toy shovel and pail at Wal-Mart. Instead of letting the cashier bag it, I asked her to put all of my items in the pail. She thought it was hilarious, but I thought it was prudent. I told her “Buckets are self-carrying.” Droppin’ frugal wisdom at the Wal-Mart, y’all.
• Bring our own bags. We usually keep one cloth bag in our trunk at all times. If we’re about to shop for odds and ends somewhere, we’ll use our cloth bag. It’s funny how many stores don’t “understand” cloth bags and freak out when they see them on the conveyor!

Small restaurant changes

I already felt guilty about plastic straws after seeing this video of a turtle with a plastic straw in his nose (he’s okay).  So for Plastic-Free July I really tried to avoid straws.

Here’s what I did:

• I skipped the straw and lid. If y’all know anything about me, you know my love of fast food. So whenever we ate at Raising Cane’s or Whataburger or Chikfila, I tried to be mindful about not using a straw and lid. In other news, I’m a messy eater and spill things all the time. But I digress.
• BYOB. I brought my own water bottle with me when I went out to eat. It has a built-in straw and everything, so I’m not missing out on a thing! As a plus, I never had to buy drinks at the restaurant.

The big, fat fails

I mean, it’s just not Picky Pinchers if I don’t have some fails, too, right? After all, I’m a normal lady with a normal life, and yes, sometimes I use Ziplocs by default. So here are a few of my fails.

Plastic bags–d’oh!

I went to Wal-Mart one day and spaced out while I was checking out. Before I knew it, I whipped my head around and all of my items were in two Wal-Mart plastic bags. Without thinking, I grabbed my bags and walked away. I could have just carried my items without the bags, but my mind had left me. Argh!

I do still have the plastic bags. I plan to reuse them for something down the line, so I guess they’re technically not single-use? Right?

…Right?

Restaurant forgetfulness

I sat down at Jimmy John’s to enjoy my usual, a #5 Vito sandwich with a Cherry Coke. But wait–what’s that? A Cherry Coke with a plastic lid and plastic straw.

Sonofab$%#@.

The bottom line

Honestly, I did the Plastic-Free July Challenge a little half-heartedly. I was also following the Frugalwoods Challenge too, so I was having challenge overload. But it was still great to see how easily we can avoid single-use plastics in everyday life! I’d like to take the challenge again with a little more gusto. For now, I give myself a C for this challenge. I know I could have done better, but overall I did passably well.

We want to know: How do you avoid single-use plastics?

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