February plastic tally

I've decided to do what all the other plastic bloggers do: keep a plastic tally.

So I've tried to keep all the plastic from the last month that I've used and would normally throw out. Now, much like the rest of this plastic challenge, I've been much less stringnet about this than some of those other plastic bloggers, and I'm sure I will have missed a few things. I am still hopeful that this process might bring some items to my attention that I can work on removing from use. So, here goes.

The tally:

- Ten plastic window envelopes
- One styrafoam cup (the most evil of the plastics in losingplasticland, it would appear), used when my incessant coughing required a warm drink while at an olympic event
- Five plastic milk bottle lids. It's funny, I don't usually drink this much milk, but I've been making a lot of yogurt. So those five lids are replacing at least four yogurt containers. Much less volume of plastic waste, but the yogurt containers are recyclable. I wonder what that means in the overall plastic tally
-Three random pieces of plastic packaging. I'm not completely sure where each of these came from. One lost like the shape of a cd, which may have been something I just opened from Christmas, one is from that metronome I posted about, and one is, I think, from the calender I ordered from fujifilm, but I'm not sure.
- One plastic razor. Left over from a few months ago, just cleaning out cupboards and got rid of it
- One travel toothbrush. Used for two months straight in Panama and Colombia. This little baby served me well, but it is time for retirement
- Two contact lense containers. The fact that there are only two in this bag suggests to me that it is time to replace the contacts I've been wearing. They are only intended for two week at a time use!
- One plastic garbage bag and tape. These had been used to pack some boxes I had in storage which I finally unpacked this month. The garbage bag ended up pretty ripped, so I don't think I can reuse it.

All in all, not too bad I feel. I'm most astonished at the envelopes. I've never realized how many plastic-window envelopes I receive, because I usually just toss them in the recycling without thinking about it. Looking this pile, though, has made me reconsider if I really need to receive all of this mail. I have since gone paperless on my bank statement, and will be cancelling my subscription on one other regular sender. I'm still considering my options on some other bills, but I think that's a good start.

I feel certain I must have used more plastic than this.

Oh yes, I just remembered. There was a sushi container that should have been added to this pile. And a beer cup, again from the Olympics.

And probably more. I will try to be more vigilant in collection for next month.