Another week in this awesome journey has gone by and I have learned quite a bit.  The green challenge for the week was to learn about packaging and to reduce or eliminate the packaging I use.  I think I did a fairly good job on this week’s green challenge, but there is always room for improvement.  This is a look back at what I learned about packaging and its impact on the environment.

First, I learned about the evils of Styrofoam and that our landfills compromise about 25% of this junk.  Unfortunately, Styrofoam is not very friendly for the environment.  I had previously thought that it was completely unrecyclable, but my friend @Frankejames pointed out that Toronto DOES, in fact, recycle Styrofoam.  It is still not an ideal situation and the world would likely be a better place without it.  When recycled, this type of waste is typically used as filler for other plastics and cannot be re-used on its own.

We also kept track of the packaging waste we brought in and I think I did ok.  There were certainly some things I could have done better with, but I think that our overall intake of packaging has been relatively small.  I know that I cannot eliminate the packaging I use, but we can always improve.

I have looked at paper product in our landfills, food waste in our landfills and now packaging.  Between the three, most of our garbage is accounted for.  My wife and I are on a journey to lessen our impact on the environment and reducing our packaging waste is part of the master plan.  Thanks for reading this week and let me know about your packaging stories in the comment area below.  Also, stay tuned for our next challenge that will be posted later today.

This week’s green challenge is to learn about packaging and its impact on the environment.  In the process I have learned just how horrible Styrofoam is to our landfills and ultimately for the environment.  Well, I am pleased to say that I have not used any Styrofoam or have purchased anything that used Styrofoam as packaging.  I have, however, used some packaging.  Today, I am going to do a small review of the packaging I have accumulated this week…. My naughty list

1. I bought my wife some flowers this week.  No, I did not get in trouble, but like doing this kind of stuff for Ashley on occasion.  It is me paying her off for putting up with me.    Seriously though, there was a wrapping around the flowers was packaging.  There was some paper wrapping which we kept for future use.  Also, there was some plastic wrapping that we had to throw away. 
2. Weather stripping – I bought some weather stripping that had a hard clam plastic wrapping.  This will go into the garbage.  Hopefully, the offset will be made by the energy savings
3. Grocery Shopping – This was likely my biggest contribution to packaging throughout the week.  Here, I accumulated the wrapping for cauliflower, box and wrappers for Popsicles, package for Jell-O, some Gatorade containers, a plastic milk container and a can for Pizza Sauce.   Much of the packaging is due to a special diet I need to follow this week for a medical procedure, but some was not.  Also, much of the packaging will be recycled, but not all.

I think that is about it for the packaging I have brought into my home and know I can still improve.  Tell me your story in the comments area below.

This is an interesting talk about the future of packaging.  Althpough I would like to see a movement to less packaging rather than different packaging, I thought it was a nice listen.  Let me know what you think.