Trying to live a plastic free life

​My interest in trying to reduce my carbon footprint and living a sustainable life goes back many years to joining my then Alderman and friend, Joe Moore’s 49th Ward Green Corp.
We worked at trying to decrease our carbon footprint by starting and supporting a farmer’s market, using organic cleaners, sharing our garden plots with neighbors, etc. The group was successful and we learned a lot while having fun.
When I made Grenada my permanent home, I was introduced to the Grenada Green Group which had similar aims. The group was largely responsible for eliminating single use plastic bags by grocery stores and banning the use of Styrofoam containers for takeout food. We are currently running a anti-litter campaign, working to enforce existing statutes which are widely ignored. We have reached out to primary and secondary schools to engage students in our campaign, with great success.
On a personal level, I’ve made a commitment to get rid of the plastics in my life, wherever possible. Not an easy task. To get an idea of the challenge, take a look in your house to see how much plastic you use. When I did this, I was amazed.
Where to begin?
My first attempt was to get rid of sponges and scrubbers in the kitchen, which I replaced with a reusable dish cloth and a loofah for scrubbing. That was followed by replacing the hand soap and body wash in plastic bottles with soap bars, which I place in pretty candy dishes.
Then there are the ubiquitous plastic bags, impossible to avoid, so here is my strategy - if the pharmacy offers to put a sealed, securely packaged item in a plastic bag, I do not accept it.
I wash the plastic bags I use for market produce and re use them until they disintegrate. The same with bags I use when I shop at the fish and meat markets. At the supermarket I place items like fruit and vegetables into my shopping bag directly.

Instead of buying plastic storage containers, I reuse glass jars that had previously contained sauces. In the garden, my husband recycles old laundry detergent bottles, with holes punched in the cap, instead of buying watering cans.
The most significant commitment, however, has been ordering household and personal care items from a company I discovered, called ETEE which stands for Everything Touches Everything Else. The products are not inexpensive but are high quality and range from storage bags to cleaners to shampoo, dental floss, etc. Nothing they use either in their products or in their packaging uses any petroleum based products The owner has actually visited Grenada and ships orders here.

Shampoo and conditioner bars last an incredibly long time. Hand lotion in container
Chewable toothpaste tablets, dental floss and bamboo toothbrush which just doesn't seem to wear out