I really never paid much attention to the plastic wrappers and bags that fill my shelves. As I finished a package of Thomas’s English Muffins, I decided to ask them if their bags are recyclable. The good folks at Thomas’s replied back quickly, noting their outer bags are #4 Plastic and the inner bags are #5 Plastic. Maybe your bread bags are recyclable too.
While I love cheese, I do not love plastic wrapped singles. However, my husband loves them in his grille
d cheese sandwiches. All those wrappers…I wondered if these too could be recycled. Land o’Lakes answered me, and unfortunately the answer is no. So the eco-friendly choice is to buy sliced cheese from the deli counter, and buy only what you need for the week as the cheese won’t last nearly as long as the individually wrapped slices.
I had a friend who had a "slicer" machine specifically to slice thier own cheese and meats at home so as to not have all the wrapping. They were also interested in cutting down on preservatives and nitrates in thier food. Then, there are the people who do all thier own bread baking at home, even if it's with a bread machine to cut down on the energy it takes to buy processed foods from a grocery store. While that may be taking things a bit far, the idea of recycling and reusing the plastics used in grocery wrappings such as bread and cheese begs to be addressed. Personally, I am always looking for ways to re-use the bread bags. Specifically, I use the bread bags to wrap my own sandwiches and instead of using any type of "new" plastic, I use them to store leftovers, wrap baked goods I have made myself, and to use for craft and storage projects around the house. There is afterall quite a movement to stop the use of those plastic grocery bags which people bring home thier purchases in. Apparently these bags are one of the biggest litter and trash problems we have in the USA. Some states have even banned them. They don't use them in Europe. So next time you go to the grocery store, bring your own bags from home to either reuse or use a cloth bag to pack your groceries. If all of us used 1 or 2 LESS plastic bags a day, it would make a huge impace….Now, don't even get me started on paper and the way that is wasted….haha – Very Thought provoking !! Thanks 🙂