Still on my quest to find plastic free groceries, I stopped at one of my favorite stores, a German butcher and delicatesse shop. I was convinced I would get my German deli produce on paper. I could not even speak up fast enough before my paper was placed in a plastic bag. I felt sad.
Fortunately, some of our favorite staples come in glass: Sauerkraut, gherkins and pickled red cabbage. How German of us. :-)
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All excited but also a bit anxious I took both kids grocery shopping (usually not a great idea) with the challenge to avoid any plastic packaging. We brought a couple plastic containers and mesh produce bags.
We found rolls in the bulk section and baguette wrapped in paper (without the plastic strip). I asked at the meat counter if I could get 3 chicken breast put in my container. Done. This felt great. We are on a roll. We got apples, bananas and grapes (took some out of an open bag to put in my reusable fabric bag). We got salad and cucumbers. We got a bottle of milk. I patiently waited at the deli counter to buy some deli meats and cheese and asked if it would be possible to get some turkey breast plastic free, so on butcher paper, so I can put it in my container. Apparently, he did not like a word I said and got immediately defensive. No to paper. No to container. He would lose his job, if he would do any of the things I just asked. He would need to put any deli in a plastic bag or he would lose his job. I could not really believe what he just said, but I didn't want to argue and his response to my question was so aggravated, that it shook all three of us. It felt a bit like we would demand him to do something very illegal. We used self check out, scanned all the food and the chicken (which seemed to be a big risk the other guy took by filling it with chicken, as I now realized) and I felt very defeated and unsure I wanted to shop plastic free in the future if I would get these kinds of reactions each time I would ask politely. I also felt very sad that there won't be any changes anytime soon if he really would lose his job by handing me deli meat wrapped in paper instead of plastic. How hard will this be to get changed? Who else caring way less than us would go through the hassle of shopping this way, if I already feel so defeated? These were the only items we found that we needed that were plastic free. We didn't bring any boxes or containers, so that was all we could find that was conform with our mission.
Each year at our Climate Families group retreat we talked about our environmental impact as a family and what we can do to reduce our Carbon footprint another 10 to 15 % each year.
We still recycle paper and plastic, and compost. We do walk to the store some days. Kids walk/take the bus to school. Parents still take their cars (one hybrid, one old minivan) to work. We still share our house cutting most utilities to about 3/4 of an average single family home. We still use more water (+50 %) as the average 4 person household because of a health condition. We get most of our clothing second hand from Goodwill and Thriftstores. We donate unwanted clothing and household items to Goodwill. We wish for experiences instead of stuff. Each April we reassess our progress. This year we will work on getting an electric car and try to shop plastic/waste free. During our retreat we order bamboo toothbrushes. It first took a bit of getting used to the wood handle in the mouth, but now it's plastic free.
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AuthorChallenge of family of 4 living the WWMFD ('What would Michael Foster do?') way. Inspired by our friend, the Climate Warrior Michael, we are doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint at least 10 % each year by going plastic free, travel less, being a more mindful consumer. Archives
December 2021
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