This little plastic fork was photographed in its natural habitat… a parking lot.

This has been on my mind for a while.  I try my best every day not to use anything disposable, especially if there are other options or if I can do without.  You might be asking, “What does that mean?  Plastic forks?  Napkins?  Plastic bags?  Toilet paper?”  Here’s what I mean.  Any time I have a choice, I go with something non-disposable.  If I’m eating at work, I’m the oddball that grabs a metal fork, while others clutch their plastic forks.  I’m not saying that to be judgmental, I’m saying it to make a point that it’s the acceptable norm.  We are so surrounded by disposable containers, disposable utensils and disposable gadgets, that finding alternatives is difficult, if not impossible.

Here’s the plan.  For one month, I will not buy anything in disposable containers. 

Now you may be thinking, “Oh, she probably shopped before doing this and bought all of the stuff she needed, like toilet paper, deodorant and food items.”  Nope.  I would have started this 2 days ago, the day I decided to do it, but I was in the middle of Nowhere, Wisconsin.  The place was so remote and covered with snow, I thought if I were to look out the window, I would see Kathy Bates walking toward the cabin.  The closest store was 45 minutes away and I had no car.  Seems like a good place to start, right?  No, I still had to get home and tell my kids what we were doing, no to mention I would have been abusing my sisters.

I try not to get too legalistic with challenges like this.  The purpose is not to torture myself or others, but to show how we can change some of the things we do to better ourselves and the world.  In every challenge I’ve done, there always comes a point where a decision must be made that may not fit neatly into the original plan.  For example, while doing the no retail shopping for a year, I had to buy a set of tires for my car.  Not doing it would have placed me, my kids and other drivers in danger.

Here are the guidelines:

1. No purchases.  This means buying nothing in disposable containers.  The only exception to this is if the container is 100% biodegradable.  No plastic food containers, nothing disposable from restaurants, no toiletries in disposable containers (this one scares me the most), and nothing new that comes in any type of disposable packaging.  Yes, I know.  This is a bit crazy.
   
2. Limited use of disposable products.  I know how this works.  Someone will think of the worst thing and ask me about it.  “No toilet paper for a month?”  If I have to use anything disposable or out of a disposable container, I will look for alternatives and blog about it.  I’m not going to throw away everything I have and start at zero.  That would be wasteful.  As I run out of things, such as laundry detergent and food items, I’ll have to find non-disposable alternatives.  And, I plan to keep using toilet paper.
3. My kids will have to participate.  Yes, you should feel bad for them.  I’m not making them participate 100% though.  By simply being my kids, they get roped into stuff like this a lot.  And on some level, they get it.  My kids will still be able to buy their own things with their own money.  If it’s disposable, that’s their choice.  And no, I won’t make them buy me anything disposable to eleviate the pain of looking for good alternatives.

What do I hope to accomplish?  A few things:

1. Awareness.  Just how much stuff do we throw away?  How much could be eliminated?  What is the financial impact?  What is the environmental impact?  How will people around you react to what most would consider radical?  I will blog everyday for the month, posting the things I run into during this challenge.
2. Alternatives.  What are the alternatives to disposable stuff?  Are they reasonable?  What extra time does it take?  Is there an additional cost to the alternatives?
3. Life change.  Like I said earlier, I already make non-disposable choices when I’m presented with a choice.  I want to be more intentional about how I shop, what I recycle and what I place into landfills.  People that come to my house and see the small trash can and recycling bin are usually shocked.  Everyone that has seen them have commented on the size.  Well, size matters!  I’ll be blogging on those little cans.

There are many things that scare me about doing this.  The biggest is that I’ll have to cook more.  From scratch.  I hate to cook!!  This should be interesting, but I have come to the plastic fork in the road.  Do I just keep on going or try to make a difference?  I’ll chose the “try to make a difference” path.  Off to start day one…