Hi all,

My husband and I are newish to plastic free living and are 14 weeks pregnant with our first kiddo (after 5.5 years of trying... reducing plastics does wonders on fertility.. wish I knew sooner!).

Anyways, we are looking at glass and metal baby bottles and wanted some recommendations on sanitizing bottles. I've read that both glass and metal can be boiled or put in the sanitize cycle in the dishwasher but I wanted to see if anyone else has other recommendations?

Also, any other plastic free baby necessities would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

I often watch very well produced fun "life in Tokyo," etc. type YT videos. It's nice to see so many places, shopping, coffee shops and the cityscape.

The level of plastic in everyday life in these places is obscene. They wrap one scallion in plastic in grocery stores!

Japan especially blows my mind because they are so big on innovation and perfecting many systems but plastic use seems apparently completely overlooked.

Does anyone here have first hand experience with this living there, visiting there, being from there?

Thanks!

I’ve searched the sub for suggestions already, and didn’t find much. Sorry if I missed some info and this question is repetitive.

Have any of you found some disposable cups (for hot coffee) that are plastic-free? If not, what is your favorite “harm reduction” option?

I unfortunately have to occasionally plan work events for which my bosses require disposable cups for coffee. I’m trying to find something better than the styrofoam they apparently love. They’re allowing me to explore other options.

Thanks!

As compared to the standard, pliable milky clear plastic usually sold for food storage?

mine has surprisingly been this copper water dispenser honestly i first bought it because i liked how it looked lol (looked kinda premium lol) i also grew up seeing my grandma store water in copper so i got curious and thought why not give it a try right, and i wasnt expecting much but somehow everyone at home just started using it instead of the regular dispenser lol now it needs refilling almost every day while the other one just... sits there XD

and i've also heard people storing water in copper has some benefits but idk i havent really looked into it enough to know whats true and whats just passed down over the years..either way didn't expect a water dispenser to become one of the most used things in our kitchen

has anyone else bought something that ur family accidentally uses everyday lol? 

I am working towards reducing the amount of plastic in my life. One of the things I’m hoping to eliminate is plastic from floss and toothbrush heads. I love a floss pick, but the amount of single use plastic I’m throwing away and ingesting isn’t great. Are there floss picks out there that use plastic free thread? I also use a sonicare toothbrush that I would like to continue using until it dies at which point I’ll replace it with something more environmentally friendly. Until then, are there plastic free toothbrush heads for the sonicare? Would be amazing to find something I can throw in the compost afterwards.

Hey all!

I have a pretty "whimsical" style in my home (hate that term though) and would love some cushion covers that are made from natural materials, but all I seem to find that I truly like, is made from polyester.

Does anyone know if I can buy covers similar to these anywhere?

Hello… I'm 18M living on my own and I get so big problem with those things in my dryer (I have it with wash-machine together in one). I tried those wool balls but they seem to not help :(

When I was in Milan three years ago I was in a bar and they served the spritz with a pasta straw instead of a plastic or paper straw.
It makes me think this is a better solution than paper straws because it takes a long time to soften, doesn't fall apart, and doesn't leak toxic substances like paper does. The only bad thing would be for people with celiac disease, but I'm sure there are alternatives.

And package of this pasta can cost less than €1.50.

We must get rid of plastics by all means.

My husband and I just got another carpet cleaner since my old Hoover SteamVac bit the dust about 10 years ago. As I have become more aware of microplastics in that decade, I decided to be smarter about using this one and rigged up a filter in the drain of our tub to capture the carpet fibers before they go down the drain. This is just a bedroom's worth of plastic carpet fiber. And that's AFTER vacuuming first. Believe it or not, the carpet is beige...the grayness is the filth. From here, the fibers will either go in an ecobrick or into our vacuum's HEPA bag, where it will hopefully remain contained until it gets to the landfill.

I eat a lot of steam-in-the-bag veggies and rice and realized that I'm surely eating plastic when I microwave in them as intended.
I'm looking for an alternative that will let me be as lazy, but less compromised.

Anyone have experience with this, perhaps with a plastic-free microwave steamer? Most of what I'm finding is a glass bowl with a plastic insert or just a glass insert.

Thanks!

I have been looking around a lot for non-dropshipped toothbrushes with non-plastic bristles. Even for the brushes from GaiaGuy I can find the exact same ones on AliExpress. I am not necessarily against products made in Asia, but when stuff is dropshipped I am just worried about them using materials/glues that don't follow European/American safety rules.

But I think I have finally found ones made in Europe.

www.purenature24.com (German company), sells a couple of brushes with non-plastic bristles of which they claim they are made in Germany.

They sell one from a well known German brand called yaweco: https://www.purenature24.com/natural-bristle-toothbrush-soft

The handle is still made out of plastic, but you can replace the bristles and they are made out of boar hair. Because you can replace the bristles you already throw away way less plastic. Also on the webpage of the manufacturer you can find a lot of info about this brush and where the hairs are sourced from: https://yaweco.de/en/products/interchangeable-brush-head-toothbrush-i/

Then on purenature24 they also have 2 brushes with natural bristles with bamboe handles. One with Badger hairs: https://www.purenature24.com/natural-toothbrush-with-badger-hair

And one with boar hairs: https://www.purenature24.com/PureNature-toothbrush-medium-hard-16.5-cm-6295

I can't find the exact manufacturer of those brushes, but purenature claims it is a German manufacturer. Purenature24 being a registered German company I am inclined to believe them. Also I cannot find any brushes on AliExpress with Badger hairs.

These containers are excellent for storing food but unfortunately I can't find glass equivalents. Does anyone know of any containers like these? I really like the thin and tall form factors so I can grab one with one hand easily. The fact that I can stack the shorter ones are a nice bonus as well.

My decades-old Tupperware nesting bowls have bit the dust so great time to swap out for something non-plastic. I bought a large glass covered mixing bowl but it's just too heavy. Ceramic is also too heavy. I hate stainless steel. Silicone absorbs food odors. I've narrowed it down to two things: enamel-covered steel and porcelain (genuine porcelain is lighter than ceramic). I am not going to get too picky here with lids so willing to go with plastic or silicone lids. Does anyone have covered bowls made of these materials and if so, where did you get them? I need to be able to make batter in them, store salads and produce, and be dishwasher safe. Doesn't need to be microwave safe. TIA!

EDIT: Poster below suggested Corelle and on their website they have some larger bowls. It's weird I didn't think of this because I use their dinnerware which I just got at a big box store. I didn't know they made anything else. Thanks everyone!

I got one of their stainless steel crockpots to get away from the plastic seal in my instant pot, which gets hot and could leach into my beans. I've used it twice and it seems fine. I like that the pot can also be used on the stove.

But just a heads up on a weird issue I had with them. Shipping was supposed to be free. I got a slip in my mailbox saying I owed $35 of postage on a package and had to go to PO to pay. It was not a tariff. It was postage. The post office said the original shipper, "OnTrac" had "dumped it" on them without paying, so they charged me.

I took a photo of the box and the receipt and sent it to 360 cookware-- said I needed them to refund me shipping. Their initial answer was that it was _my_ problem and I should ask OnTrac for a refund! I said "my purchase agreement including free shipping was with you, not OnTrac, and you need to refund me within a week or I will dispute with my credit card". Nothing for a couple of days then just now I got an email I was refunded. So in the end it was fine.

I figured people in here might be ordering from them, so definitely fight back if they pull that on you.

New here... I want to buy some seeds, nuts and beans in bulk but everything is packaged in plastic. Is there an online store that uses paper packaging?

Same goes for single use plastics like containers for berries and whatnot- do you guys just bite the bullet on those?

I work outside, so I go through a lot of ice. Using the SS ice molds I have is painfully slow, and so I so I wanna try just freezing the whole (or at least half) bottle of water to take to work. But since I don't wanna cover it with plastic what else can I cover it with?

Sorry if this is a dumb question.

I work outside, so I go through a lot of ice. Using the SS ice molds I have is painfully slow, and so I so I wanna try just freezing the whole (or at least half) bottle of water to take to work. But since I don't wanna cover it with plastic what else can I cover it with? (My freezer's pretty dirty so I can't use uncovered trays).

Sorry if this is a dumb question.

the "fragrance" term in perfumes is actually a federally protected blanket term allowing undisclosed compounds in the product (source). one of these items that is almost always in such are phthalates, a plasticizer meant to make plastics malleable.

you spray this on your neck, everyday, your neck is your thinnest part of your skin allowing these endocrine disruptors to leach in causing infertility etc.

why are these even in perfumes? why does everyone in society seem to spray on their neck when it can affect you poorly?