Ten Things You Should Never Buy Again

Hat tip to One/Change for pointing me to this list of Ten Things You Should Never Buy Again from Co-op America.

Let's see how I score. (You can give me your score in the comments if oyu feel like playing along:

1. Styrofoam cups-I'm good on this one.

2. Paper towels-I'm a paper towel user, although I often do buy them at Trader Joes or Whole Foods and get the "green" kind, but still I'm very wasteful with the paper towel. BUt you try dealing with a cat who pukes every other day!

3. Bleached coffee filters-I'm good here, my coffee maker has a metal mesh filter.

4. Overpackaged foods and other products-Hmm. I'm probably not so good on this. I don't do CostCo or other bulk buying. I don't use those silly bags when I buy veggies at the store, though, does that count? I mean you're just going to wash the damn things anyway, so what are you protecting them from? I just toss them in the cart as is.

5. Teak and mahogany-I'm good here.

6. Chemical pesticides and herbicides-Yup, I'm good here. Mostly because I totally neglect my garden in all ways, organic or chemical.

7. Conventional household cleaners-I'm probably not good here at all, for two reasons. First, because most real cleaning is done by a housekeeper who comes in every other week and brings her own stuff. I'm not sure what she uses, but in all likelihood it's not green. Then the light maintenance cleaning we do in between her visits (and we're talking very light) is done with pretty much traditional dishwasher soap. I will say that our laundry detergent is Planet Earth brand, and we use cruelty free personal hygiene products (hand soap, lotion, shampoo etc.)

8. Higher octane gas than you need-Oh, I by the lowest octane gas they offer.

9. Toys made with PVC plastic-Hmm again. I don't really buy many toys, but I can't say I really think about this when I do by toys.

10. Plastic forks and spoons-I'm good here.

So:

Good on 6
Only so-so on 3
Really pretty bad on 1

how about you?

(Oh, and do click over to the One/Change post, because she has lots of helpful links on how to do better in each of the ten areas above.)

Comments

[Lara Berch]

Hello. I am sorry to bother you here but I just have a quick question. I just started a new website on environment and health. I was wondering if you could take a look and if you like it, perhaps we can exchange links. www.downwithbasics.com
Thank you very much for your time
Sincerely
Lara