The three "R"s

Though I find Glave's arguments aesthetically seductive, before I came out strongly one way or the other, I'd need to know the amounts of energy needed to create the product from plastic, glass or metal.

Then I'd like to know how much energy/water is required for washing the glass/metal container vs simply recycling the plastic.

My final consideration would be knowing how much energy is required to recycle these materials.

My guess is that plastic would win in all three individual categories. This is strongly indicated by the fact that plastic is the cheapest of all three to buy simply because it requires the least energy in manufacturing.

Our obviously huge failure then, lies in our lack of concern re recycling the plastics we generate.

That doesn't seem nuts at

That doesn't seem nuts at all to me. Plastic is pretty useful stuff, that's for sure - but why do we absolutely need to store food in it?

Mason jars are worth another look. Glass does break, yes, but why not wrap it in a wool sock or something to make that somewhat less likely? The best thing about glass jars is that (if they don't break) they last forever - way more than one can say for stainless lunch kits from Japan. There are enough glass jars in anyone's house, I'd wager, to replace a set of Tupperwares. You don't have to go off to the store and buy something new...

obese from snacks?

This may be a good time for many families to consider why they keep and store snacks?
Look at your waistline and decide if a snack really is such a good thing?
The medical plan will thank you

Sell them bottles

Nothing like a good health scare to move some product. SIGG can't keep up with demand for their bottles.

My cursory examination of the topic is that the risks associated with BPA are real, neglible, and vastly overstated.

If BPA contamination is so disruptive to our systems, doesn't it invalidate most medical research done using Nalgene and similar products, due to the fact that endocrine disruptors may affect the outcome?

The bigger picture

I also struggle to find alternatives to plastic. I've started using glass jars to store leftovers but I find they're heavy to carry if I'm taking food out with me. Stainless steel sounds like a good option but it still means further production and consumption - and is this use of resources really necessary? I think what will need to happen in the future is a complete reorganization of our geographies and day-to-day lives so that we eat most of our meals at home or make food with others wherever we are.

your R's must be different

The problem with the argument (ME2, others) to just "recycle the plastic" vs. washing glass and metal, is that plastics aren't truly recyclable. They can be melted down to make something else, and then from there they can make another item - but it's life is indeed finite. Unlike metals and glass that although they use more energy can be melted down and rebuilt infinite amounts of time.

It sounds very much like the other weak arguments I've heard about cloth diapers ("it take's more energy to wash cloth diapers than to make my disposable pampers") - which is a lame excuse mostly said by people who use disposables to justify their use and so they can sleep at night. Same goes for plastic containers.

Good for you James for making that switch. And as cavers says - we probably have the glass jars in our very homes - and if not - swing by your mother's place - she's got them for sure.

Your Comments

Thanks, all for the comments and feedback. I'll probably pick up a couple set of the Indian tiffens sets for the kids lunches in Sept. As for the glass jars, I've actually been hoarding them for a fair while now; I've got a good collection.

The irony of all this (well, one of them, anyway) is that my dentist told me to get a night guard to protect my teeth, which I grind in my sleep. Guess what it's made of? Yeah, plastic. So all night long I grind away on this thing and doubtless swallow the particles that result. Sigh.

ps... about the grinding. Yeah, I know, treat the problem, not the symptom. Slow down your life. Sign up for yoga. Go to Hollyhock. Sorry, not going to work, not going to happen...

Wax paper comes from where?

Talk about a disposable society. Let's all throw away perfectly useful items for 'the cause' with absolutely no thought given to the fact that the carbon footprint for keeping them is zero.

Reuse that glass!

I remeber the canteen I had from scout camps in the 1970s, a steel discus with a canvas cover. That cost a couple of bucks at Canadian Tire. Those SIGG thingies now cost 25 bucks! Even a dollar store sells 300mL aluminum bottles for well over a dollar. Daylight robbery, as Wallace would say to Gromit.

I found some duct tape and wrapped empty SOBE bottled. A lot of small (half-litre or less) glass bottles take a lot of punishment, or at least aren't terribly fragile. I mean, for the last thousand years, people weren't walking around in fear of shards every day, begging for some inventor to rescue us with cans, plastic and tetrapaks, right?

The worst that happens to my home taping job is the bottle breaks and the tape holds the mess together safely as I toss it in the garbage.

Big ups to Cavers with the Mason jars. I didn't think of using wool sox to cover the jars. Way easier to wash the jars after using 'em; I only put water in the bottles because dish soap isn't great for the tape job.

glassism the vegatarinism

good luck!
we cut out plastic a little over a year ago after a failed attempt in '98 around the time of the zeno estrogen findings. all of our food containers and plastic toys went to value village. maybe "snert" can pick up some of our old stuff. at the same time i happily got some glass ware and a nice iron skillet to replace the non-stick.
as for the curry containers, well i hope you don't like soup all that much. for everything else the are pretty sweet.
one big discovery was that dried beans are far superior to canned beans, but the soaking, not sure how my grandparents managed to feed everyone.
if anyone can tell me what the lining is in the sigg bottles i would sure appreciate it. looks a lot like plastic to my eyes.
kudos on the snack less post! fruits with thick skins.

Something else to factor into the equation:

...remember this one from The Tyee:

Although no official title has been given to the mass yet, a popular label thus far has been "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

As suggested by the name, the island is almost entirely comprises human-made trash. It currently weighs approximately 3.5 million tons with a concentration of 3.34 million pieces of garbage per square kilometer, 80 per cent of which is plastic.

Due to the Patch's location in the North Pacific Gyre, its growth is guaranteed to continue as this Africa-sized section of ocean spins in a vortex that effectively traps flotsam.

Hey Lynn, I was told that

Hey Lynn, I was told that the huge garbage dump in the Pacific Ocean is refered to as the "8th Continent". And it really isn't between California and Hawaii but a little more to the North and West. Midway Island has tonnes of that crap wash up on it's beaches daily.

Hi there, Van Isle:

Hi there, Van Isle:

A friend sent me this link to a series on that "8th Continent".

It's a series of twelve videos made by a film crew that ventured there. I can't vouch for the series as my computer is basically garbage ;-) and it takes so long to download that I give up before I even begin....but just going on first impression of the series, it looks quite interesting.

Here's the link to series three but you can access all twelve videos from this site:

http://www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1485308604

Cheers, L.

Plastic Nightguard?!

jglave wrote:

On top if it all, you are grinding down those silver amalgam fillings and swallowing the mercury. Then you are waking up and washing your teeth that neurotoxin - fluoride. We all do it!

Ack, one cannot hide!

Tupperware

Now let me make certain I understand you correctly here. What you are saying is that I should take you and the Mrs. off our Tupperware Party list for this Tuesday night? Fine, but you could just have easily called. Also, Stanley has a new gig as the neighborhood rep for Fuller Brushes. Since you are otherwise now available Tuesday, how would a visit then suit? Thank you!

Good For You

Good for you James. I am looking forward to reading your new book -- Almost Green -- and making some own changes to my lifestyle.

Don't dump...just change the use

I completely support switching from plastic to metal/glass for your food...my family is doing the same but I would say that instead of dumping all your plastic at the recycling centre it might be worth finding other uses for it instead of entering it into the waste cycle.

We now use our tupperware for playing in the sand at the beach and storing a variety of things...crayons, sidewalk chalk, clothes line pegs, nails/screws, the dozens of little cars that just have to go everywhere with us, etc. You get the point.

toothbrushes

Something I forgot to mention in my last post...

After deciding not to eat out of plastic it occurred to me that it was sort of irrelevant given that we still use plastic toothbrushes. I’ve found a source (ordered online, still can’t find somewhere local that sells them) for wooden toothbrushes so we’re giving those a try…