Last week I had the awesome, humbling experience of cleaning up a stretch of the LA River with a group called FoLAR and a couple thousand local volunteers. What a great community we have here in Los Angeles.
The biggest take away for me was a renewed conviction of reducing and, ultimately eliminating, plastics from my kitchen, my closet and my home. We drink plastic, eat plastic, cook with it, wear it on our bodies, sleep in it and on it and store our food in it. Last weekend I filled huge trash bags with it. Literally tons of plastic bottles, bags, clothes, Styrofoam, straws, children’s toys, and storage containers were floating in the river. More waste from our everyday lives than any city realistically needs. We are conditioned to believe that plastic is the cleanest and most convenient option for storage available. It’s easy and often it’s the only option we are given.
I posted these waxed cotton food wraps on Instagram last year when I saw them in my local Trader Joe’s. (No, this isn’t a pitch for Trader Joe’s. As you can see from the image, there is a display of plastic bottles right behind this basket…case in point. TJ’s just happened to be the cheapest and most convenient place, at the time, that I discovered these, outside of the internet.)
If reducing your plastic consumption is high on your list this year, consider giving these little goodies a try. I love them and use them to wrap up veggies, leftover dinner, condiments, sauces…anything. If you don’t like the sizes, grab a pair of pinking shears and trim away!