Materials and Waste 📍

While for a long time now I’ve been buying in bulk sizes whenever possible, my calorie reduction program has me buying less food which means less packaging. Even when camping I’m trying to use less plastic. For years I’ve used styrofoam dishes and plastic forks. It’s easy, doesn’t waste water, burns well. And it was a way to give the middle finger 🖕 to the greenies and their burn ban.

But I got reading how potent the blowing agents for styrofoam are when it comes to global warming and how unnecessarily toxic they are to burn. Plus it stinks if you don’t have a hot fire from the styrene gas. Inflation raised the prices and fewer places stocked foam for eco reasons. At the time I didn’t think much about the waste from production, I wasn’t making trash by burning them.

So I mostly just use paper now at camp. Still used plastic forks but stopped after their price kept going up and I discovered how cheap basic metal silverware is at Walmart. Forks and knives are relatively easy to clean even after a messy camp meal. I discovered this originally when I bought cheap metal forks for use at work after getting tired or broken plastic forks and spoons I had been reusing at work.

Maybe inflation is turning me into a greenie or maybe I’m just starting to have a more holistic view of waste and pollution. Burning it may be fun but it doesn’t mane it disappear, especially not the materials consumed in production. Plus it’s not like I’m already cleaning out pots and pans and spatulas after cooking.