An Effort in Green

Today I thought I'd write a quick post highlighting some of the more ridiculous uses of disposable plastic I've seen since starting this plastic-avoiding adventure of mine.

What you see to the left is probably my favourite (least favourite?) example. Those are t-shirts from the souvenir shop at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. They come in plastic tubes. Seriously. I don't even know what more to say about this one...

To the right, witness the plastic resulting from a meal at Salisbury House. This wasn't even take out. I ate inside. As if it wasn't bad enough having to navigate the meat-eaters-oriented menu, my butter and syrup come beside my pancakes in little plastic cartons. As a frame of reference, at other, similar breakfast-specialising restaurants, pancakes usually come with a pile of butter on the plate, and syrup comes in glass jugs.

And last but not least, we have this monstrosity, from Folklorama. Even if you just needed a spoon for your ice cream, you had to take a fork, spoon, knife, sugar packet, and napkin, all wrapped together in a big plastic bag. I chose to eat my ice cream without cutlery instead. Now that's dedication. (Actually it was pretty fun.)

Now it's your turn! Tell us about the worst uses of disposable plastic (or even packaging in general) that you've ever seen.

Recyclable Items (1)

• 1 orange juice carton

Non-Recyclable Items (3):

• 1 cereal bag
• 1 microwave popcorn wrapper
• 1 bread bag (not pictured) (thanks to a mix-up at the bakery)

Total Items: 4

Recyclable Items (0)

Non-Recyclable Items (5):

• 1 Styrofoam soup bowl
• 1 microwave popcorn wrapper
• 1 juice box straw
• 2 restaurant mint wrappers
  

Total Items: 5

Not a new record, but if I was weighing my plastic each week like Fake Plastic Fish it might be a new record for that!

Recyclable Items (2)

• 1 soy milk carton
• 1 focaccia bread bag (paper with a plastic window)

Non-Recyclable Items (12):

• 1 soy milk seal
• 1 microwave popcorn wrapper
• 1 tortilla wrapper
• 7 candy wrappers (The candy I bought was plastic-free, but I got these at work... Candy is my weakness.)
• 1 pill package
• 1 Clodhoppers bag

Total Items: 14

Recyclable Items (1)

• 1 orange juice carton

Non-Recyclable Items (9):

• 1 cereal bag
• 1 Tostitos bag
• 1 cracker bag
• 1 toothpaste tube
• 2 cheese slice wrappers
• 1 video game wrapper
• 1 pop can holder (Those plastic ring thingies... I normally avoid these like the plague! Make sure if you do use these that you cut them up after, because birds, fish, and other small animals can get caught in them otherwise.)
• 1 orange juice seal

Total Items: 10