Well, I didn't do much more than I'd done for my second post. July really got away from me.
Plastic Free July is over.
I've already decided that I need to keep going in August since I didn't get to some of the stuff I wanted to. Here's how I did for July!...
Stuff I used to do and will do again/more:
I did all of these! Okay, I probably bought a couple things packaged in plastic, but resisted a lot. Also I didn't buy any new clothes so I didn't really do the last one... but it's better to not buy clothes I don't need.
New stuff I want to try/reattempt:
It came out like gelatin. I think I overcooked it. We'll see if it comes out more paste-y next time. But it worked! I just had to kind of mush it to spread kind of normal. I tried it on cardboard, so hard to say how I'd feel about it for paper.
And it's supposed to go bad in like a week (I added a little bit of salt to make it last longer), and I don't actually have anything to glue, so I'm going to try freezing it until I need it to see if that remedies the short fridge-life.
I've already decided that I need to keep going in August since I didn't get to some of the stuff I wanted to. Here's how I did for July!...
Stuff I used to do and will do again/more:
I did all of these! Okay, I probably bought a couple things packaged in plastic, but resisted a lot. Also I didn't buy any new clothes so I didn't really do the last one... but it's better to not buy clothes I don't need.
Buy milk in glassMake yogurt from said milkMake salad dressing from said yogurt!Don't buy ANYTHING packaged in plasticUse bar soap (just say NO to liquid!)No plastic-fiber clothes/only allowed if used.
Oh, wait. I did buy husband a shirt for a costume (see next post when it comes out). And I did make sure to get a cotton shirt! It was unfortunately packaged in plastic :/
- Make fresh mozzarella
- Cleaning products
- Make lip balm
Buy/use metal safety razor- Make lotion
Use reusable containers for fish/meat/cheeseMake glueUse a shampoo bar- Make deodorant
Henna hair dye (I mean... I don't dye my hair... it's totally all still brown.)- Make tortillas
Make powdered sugar (*new!)
The new ones I did:
I used the recipe for glue from My Plastic Free Life which consists of flour, water, and hot water. I made a much smaller version of the recipe.
I cooled it in the fridge and then tried it out!
It came out like gelatin. I think I overcooked it. We'll see if it comes out more paste-y next time. But it worked! I just had to kind of mush it to spread kind of normal. I tried it on cardboard, so hard to say how I'd feel about it for paper.
And it's supposed to go bad in like a week (I added a little bit of salt to make it last longer), and I don't actually have anything to glue, so I'm going to try freezing it until I need it to see if that remedies the short fridge-life.
This was very nervous-making. I was sure I was going to mess up my hair. I only wanted to dye my roots dark brown, so I was sure it was going to be a disaster. Especially because there was nothing online that was specifically useful for what I wanted to do. Well... I read at least two things that said I had to use the henna to make my hair red first and LATER use the indigo to make it brown. I was not going to do that.
Well, I didn't ruin my hair but it also didn't work as well as store-bought stuff (no, I don't go to salons to dye). Since I still have a ton more of the stuff I will keep using it till it's out and see if making adjustments helps. It does also say that it may "settle" for 1-2 days. Not sure if that means that it will darken or lighten.
Make powdered sugar:
This was on my list two or three years ago to start doing. Then Husband came home with a giant bag of powdered sugar from Sam's Club. We finally used it up and I needed it to make cookies.
Husband had also told me that it would be impossible to use a blender to get it fine enough and that I really shouldn't because the sugar hitting the sides of the blender would result in getting microscopic bits of plastic in my sugar.
But then I remembered that I have a coffee grinder that we don't use anymore, and haven't gotten rid of yet because I was pretty sure I needed it for some reason, that has a metal cup.
YES! It powdered the sugar perfectly. And then I added arrowroot powder per my "recipe" (if you can call it that) which is 1 TBSP of arrowroot powder per cup of sugar. So then I was able to make icing and ice my Super Mario cookies.
Oh and here's the plastic Husband and I used for the month:
Not as good as I did when it was just me. Although, these bags also included anything that we used up in July that we already had, so it's a little bit less. Not sure how much. I blame him. BTW prescription bottles suck. Can we get a recyclable paper option?
I'm going to work on the rest of my list over the next month and report back! The main issue is needing to buy stuff to then make the plastic-free stuff.
Stay green :)
But then I remembered that I have a coffee grinder that we don't use anymore, and haven't gotten rid of yet because I was pretty sure I needed it for some reason, that has a metal cup.
YES! It powdered the sugar perfectly. And then I added arrowroot powder per my "recipe" (if you can call it that) which is 1 TBSP of arrowroot powder per cup of sugar. So then I was able to make icing and ice my Super Mario cookies.
Oh and here's the plastic Husband and I used for the month:
Not as good as I did when it was just me. Although, these bags also included anything that we used up in July that we already had, so it's a little bit less. Not sure how much. I blame him. BTW prescription bottles suck. Can we get a recyclable paper option?
I'm going to work on the rest of my list over the next month and report back! The main issue is needing to buy stuff to then make the plastic-free stuff.
Stay green :)
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