Reusables

One unfortunate aspect of our modern lives is how we tend to view so many things in our homes as disposable.  Much of it ends up in a landfill if it can’t be recycled.  So I’m on a mission to cut down or eliminate non-reusable items in the house, such as plastic baggies.  It’s too easy to grab one, stick food in it, and toss it when done. It’s much harder to save them and clean them over and over, and even if you do, how can you assure yourself that they’re really clean?  Coffee filters are similarly disposable, but buying reusable filters isn’t terribly expensive.

So yesterday, I found a reusable coffee filter at Target.  Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long.  They’ve been around for years.

It’s made in the USA, dishwasher safe, and cost me about $4.  I don’t make coffee at home often, but it will save me money in coffee filters eventually.  It’s easy to dump the used coffee grounds in the compost bucket as well, and compost loves used coffee grounds.  I used the filter this morning and it made great coffee.  I’m pleased so far with this purchase.

I’ve also started cutting down on using plastic containers for food storage and microwaving, or as much as possible anyway.  I’m not entirely sure what I’ll do with the mountain of tupperware and similar items in the cabinet.  It’s threatening to revolt, I believe, but when I’ve let the herd reproduce indiscriminately for so many years, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.  Some containers have already become bulk food containers, and there’s much less BPA – and other – risk when they aren’t heated.  Some may be given away on freecycle, and some may get recycled or used for storage for other items that are not food.  I’m replacing most of it with glass, as glass is inert (so no chemicals leech into your food).  My brand of choice so far has been Pyrex.

I don’t mind used Pyrex at all, but I haven’t found a lot of it other than my Pyrex measuring cup at the local thrift stores.  Usually ebay has better prices on new items, but given the shipping charges, the best prices for Pyrex in my experience are found at Target.  Since I was there yesterday, that’s where I picked up these. If Pyrex items aren’t dropped, they should last years and years, and Pyrex is also made in the USA.  It’s probably not the best choice for those who have small children and you can’t recycle it like you can other glass, unfortunately.  The idea is that I’ll never have to recycle them.

Then this afternoon I walked to Green Home Experts here in Oak Park to find reusable replacements for sandwich baggies.  I decided to try a couple of these:

They have a plastic liner, which makes them easy to clean, and they aren’t air tight which is better for sandwiches in a lunch bag.  So we’ll see how it goes with them.  There are other similar choices if these aren’t exactly right.  I also met Maria, the President of Green Home Experts.  I hope to talk with her further about the store and write up a post about it soon.  Thanks again for the assistance with the snack bag choices, Maria!

Now for the meta-discussion.  Normally, I would prefer not to buy something to solve a problem, but if I can buy something once and keep it for years rather than buying several things over and over, I’ll achieve several things. I’ll reduce my consumption of material resources, I’ll cut down on the energy needed to produce those products, I’ll reward makers of green products with my money, and I’ll save money over the long term.  Besides, do you really want to try reusing paper coffee filters?  You could, but don’t don’t say I didn’t warn you if your coffee eventually has a greenish tint.  And they look a little scraggly when you run them through the dishwasher, don’t they?

So here’s an example of reusing without buying something new for that express purpose.

What’s this?  Trader Joe’s yogurt?  Actually, no, not anymore.

It’s red lentils.  All my bulk legumes are going into clean Trader Joe’s yogurt containers, I may start putting rice in them too, and maybe by the time I have enough, I will be successful in making my own yogurt in reusable glass canning jars (which I can flavor with my diy vanilla extract).  So far I’ve made a combination of yogurt and, well.  I like to call it gloppy mess.  My adventures in yogurt and gloppy mess-making will be the subject of another post, perhaps when I get it right.  ‘Til next time.  In the meantime, what are some of your favorite reusables?