We have spent nearly two years trying to rid our kitchen/home of plastic containers. BPA freaks us out and our stash of older plastic has an unknown BPA content. So we made the decision to chuck all it. Plus we like the old-school charm of glass and stainless steel.
But we can’t do it all at once because we lack the hundreds of dollars to go out and buy new containers for left-overs and lunches, storage for freezer goods, and such. Rather than give up on it, we’ve had to do it a bit at a time.
It takes a while. We’re trying not to repeat past mistakes, so each piece requires research. This process is mixed in with our efforts to have a home free of preservatives and an economical kitchen. Also, each item removed from our shopping list requires new research into recipes and safe sources for alternatives. Now we make our own refried beans from dried beans and our own marinara sauce from fresh tomatoes. These home-made items require their own storage solutions. As we complete the Lunch Container part of the program and the meal Left-Over Containers for the fridge, we’re moving into Freezer Storage. Home Canning looms on the horizon.
Rather than give up at the price tag of all these bits, we have set ourselves on a steady path to have each purchase of a BPA-free alternative count as a step in the right direction. We are steadily removing the plastic from our lives.
We have purged three quarters of the plastic from our home. We feel good about this and don’t let the other few pieces that remain get us down. We know their time to depart is coming.