Easy Brownie Girl Scout Service Project: Plastic Lid Recycling

I'm a firm believer that service projects should be something the girls can do, not something that requires extra work from mom and dad. That's why I was thrilled to find a simple recycling project that ties into both the Brownie Household Elf badge and the Wonders of Water journey.

Last summer, I was reading Beth Terry's book, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, and stumbled on a nugget that cried out for girl involvement:

While no organism can digest plastic, there are quite a few animals that are harmed while trying: according to Greenpeace, at least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of ocean plastic debris, including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales, and fish.38 Leatherback sea turtles choke on plastic bags they mistake for food; Laysan albatross chicks starve with their bellies full of plastic bottle caps and lighters...

But how can second graders in Indiana make a difference in the world's water? By becoming aware ad learning how recycling can impact our world.

I thought, let's do a plastic project that won't require a lot of space or mess, and will bring to their attention all the plastic that we use.

For a month, the girls were challenged to collect all the plastic lids they could. While we didn't charge them to specifically look for No. 5 plastic, we asked them to look for clean lids from milk jugs, water bottles, soda bottles, prescription bottles, etc. The girls were asked to bring them to the February meeting, with the girl collecting the most winning a water prize (in this case, a "snow" making science kit that we stumbled on at clearance.)

The girls collected more than 300 lids - which, compacted, fits into about a half of a cookie case. The lids will be sent to CapsNCups, based in Evansville, Ind., which collects bottle caps and No. 5 plastic cups to downcycle into an array of secondary products ranging from mud flaps to stadium seats. Even better, since I have family in Evansville, we won't waste the shipping and will just bring the box to them at our next visit.



Need other service project ideas for Daisies or Brownies? Check out previous posts on Christmas shoeboxes and shoe collections for tornado victims through Soles for Souls.

The hardest part is letting go

One of the hardest parts of parenting is letting your children blossom into whom they are meant to be. And that process of letting go is painful.

Those baby steps of watching your child not following through on something or not holding to your ideals can make you crazy. But it's worth the wait.

Case in point: As part of my daughter's Brownie troop's Household Elf badge and Wonders of Water journey (and admittedly inspired by Beth Terry's My Plastic-Free Life), we are bridging the themes into a small community service project: collecting  lids for plastic bottles to recycle at an Evansville company that specializes in it, For the next month, the girls are challenged to collect as many plastic lids as they can; the winner receiving a prize (a small water-related science kit).

But while my daughter is interested on the surface in saving plastic, the reality is it's harder to follow through. While mom dutifully washes lids to milk jugs, orange juice, and (admittedly) Diet Coke 2-liters, the lids rarely if ever make it to her collection. They languish on the kitchen table for days, until mom, frustrated, tosses them in the trash.

Does my daughter care about the environment? Absolutely. She's into gardening and composting, learning about saving electricity. But her heart is less into America's needs as it is in Haiti's, a result of her experiences in school.

The toughest lesson is that while our journeys interconnect, they are not one in the same. And my daughter's green journey, while started earlier in life, will weave the way it wants to.

Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too: A Review

My family could be using 400 pounds of plastic a year. A pound per day in our household alone.

It's a statistic that's shocking but not exactly surprising. When you factor in toys and my husband's creamer containers and toothpaste containers and everything else we use on a daily basis, you can see how quickly consumption adds up. Even if you consider yourself on the more environmentally friendlier side of the equation.

I recently read Beth Terry's Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too I've followed Beth's blog for years and was thrilled to get a chance to read her book that was just released.
Admittedly in one of my more lax phases as a parent and environmentalist (hampered by bad work schedules and led astray by back to school and store closure sales), I know I also have a responsibility to my children and to future generations. We've been having family conversations lately about reducing our consumption - from turning down the lights and water to whether we want to buy "things" or "do things" for Christmas. (I'm paving that path now.) But Beth's book gives me great discussion starters and family project ideas that even young gradeschoolers and preschoolers can tackle:

• Tallying up your recyclable and non-recyclable items to see how much you add up in a week's time. It's a natural extension for our kids - who fight over who gets to take out the recycling - and has the added benefit of a quiet lesson about addition and charts.
• Collecting all those plastic bottle lids from prescription bottles, milk jugs and soda bottles - those that I've tossed for years - and send them to Evansville's Caps N Cups. (This may actually end up being a Brownie scout service activity during our Wonders of Water badge journey this year!)
• Choosing fresh, more waste-free ideas for school lunches. (I confess: Though we use reusable bags and containers for school lunches, I'm not perfect on this. My son's spacer and his troubles chewing means I've stocked up on fruit cups and other soft options until this brief phase is over. Then we'll be back to his much-missed apples!)
• Cook a little - whether it's crackers, bread or even nut milk or yogurt. (It's healthier, and a great way to spend the afternoon with your children.) 
• Make your own sugar scrub and other toiletries. I love the variety of recipes and tips in this section, and I'm anxious to try them out once my work project passes!

Wherever you are in the journey towards lighter living, whether you're a young child or have hours to devote to a cause, Beth's book has a new idea for you. Check it out!

Putting plastic out of schools

"Plastic is good," my daughter announced to me one afternoon on the way home. I think my eyes bugged out of my head.

What I didn't realize until we talked further is that that my recycled toothbrush-toting child had interpreted a plastic recycling message into "It's a good thing" after her Earth Day lessons.

But what if our kids were really taught that plastic is a good thing? That's what may be happening in San Francisco, and it's a scary thought. There, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the plastic lobby has influenced children's textbooks, adding statements like plastic bags are convenient to use and use less energy than paper bags. (Yes, and they hold one to two items, have to be doubled up because they constantly rip out before even one use, and will still be here for generations to come!) You can read other edits the American Chemical Society proposed and were incoporated into school textbooks on the Chronicle's website.

If you live in California, stand up about this interjection into your children's education by signing this petition.

Really?

Saw this posted on on a relative's Facebook page today:

Just saw a commercial at a gas pump that said to live greener -- buy heavy
duty plastic silverware so you can wash it again and again.

Is this the dumbest green push you've ever seen, or have you read worse?

Persistence, patience and a princess

Patience is a virtue. And tonight, my princess learned that things can be worth the wait.

This tale starts with a night like many other nights. A casual drive home from daycare. A discussion of all highlights of the day: from what was eaten at snack to who fell down or got into trouble.

Then, as we turned a corner in our subdivision, I saw it. A pink dressing table, complete with mirror and stool, stood at the side of the road, beckoning to be saved. No princess would be complete without one. At least that's what my daughter has mentioned from time to time.

Nevermind that her birthday was next month; cost and reality of a child's fickleness meant that a gift of this nature was not in the making. But a freebie was worth the consideration. I pulled to the side of the road.

It was technically free, but it would come at a cost. The thing was covered in grime, smudges I suspect (hope) were simply mommy's makeup, and in a few cases, things I'm just not sure I'd want to know what they were. (To give you a sense, the pictures were after a good hosing off!)

I walk to the car and sigh. And I propose a solution. "It's gross, really gross," I tell my daughter. "If you want it, you're going to have to help clean it up and clean up your room so it can go there."

She eagerly agrees. And I pick up the encrusted dressing table and toss it in the back, hoping nothing too disgusting makes its way inside.

Yes, my daughter has learned another lesson tonight: How to scrounge at the tender age of four. I guess she's ready for college.

After dinner, I cart the thing to the backyard and hit it with a power wash. Or two. At least half the dirt and the crusty stuff is gone. Then I summon the troops.

Both troopers come outdoors with rags and a small bowl of baking soda, ready to help.

The toddler lasts a few minutes before he turns to the hose, soaking me in the process, cackling enthusiastically. My daughter, to her credit, keeps scrubbing until I announce that with the heat, it's time to quit for the evening.

While it's not quite perfect yet, we're down to small smudges that I can take care of quickly on my own. And as soon as that's accomplished and the bedroom is successfully tackled, this might actually make it indoors.

What you don't see here is the face of a pretty princess, dressed to the nines in her frilly pink swimsuit, perched on a freshly washed stool by her freshly washed dressing table. With the smile of satisfaction and pride on her face.

Because something she waited for and worked for finally came to be.

I hope it's a lesson she'll remember for years to come.

Fake plastic worms

Ever since my daughter got a fishing pole for her fourth birthday, she's been aching to learn how to use it.

Today, weather and schedules collided, and she got her opportunity to go fishing with her dad. After assembling his and her poles, the pair walked off to one of our neighborhood ponds.

It wasn't long before they returned, due to the simple fact that she'd already broke her reel.

But as my husband explained what happened, he said he need to do something about her "worms" she'd gotten along with the pole from grandma.

"She probably won't be able to catch anything with it," he explained. "There's no scent; the fish won't bite. I'll probably have to get some spray for it."

I just shook my head. So we have fake plastic worms. That we need to buy a fake scent for. I'm just wondering if a little "reality" might just be better - Why not dig up the real thing?

Parting with the plastic: ISO home for kitchen containers

A silent weapon resides next to our fridge: Open the cabinet, and you'll be attacked by a sea of plastic containers.

Plastic food containers have taken over my life. OK, at least one kitchen cabinet. But I admit I'm at a loss of what to do with them.

I'll be the first to admit that our consumption of those Ziploc lunch containers has dropped considerably the last two years. Eliminate one full-time job and invest in a few glass containers to take your meals to work, and you suddenly burn through a lot less plastic. (And yes, burn is an appropriate word, considering how many of them have warped and melted in the dishwasher over the years.)

I've gotten more glass bowls of varying sizes to use for prepping veggies, and rarely get out my mixing bowls. Yet I've got container after container of these storage boxes, and no idea what to do with them.

It's not like you can casually say, "Hey, would you like some used plastic containers for your lunches? You know, because we don't use them anymore on principle." And donating them seems awkward, as you're essentially giving chemical-leaching things to others in need.

Sure, some of them become temporary homes for Goldfish crackers, or other small snacks for my rambunctious toddler. And I can use a few of them for random storage in the garage or other areas. But, really, I'd like to part with them as quickly as possible and reclaim my home! Any great ideas?

Printer ink headaches

A new color printer for an early Christmas gift... Great, right?

Until you find out, to my husband's dismay, that the new printer takes five cartridges of ink instead of two.

Add to the insult is that HP apparently sets your ink to expire and refuses to print if the ink is out of date. Here's one way to get around the hassle.

In the meantime, I'm voting for keeping the old printer running for those day-to-day jobs and using the monster for my photo projects.

Recycling glue sticks

Glue sticks - from a mom's perspective anyway, are a far better alternative to piles of glue poured on, well, anything. But the containers pose a problem, and frankly, our budding artist goest through the sticks quite quickly.

Did you know you can recycle them? I read on the Green Phone Booth that Elmer's glue offers a glue stick recycling program. What a great idea! You can get the details here.

Cloth diapering: One year of dissing disposables

Cloth or plastic? It's a question I considered with the birth of my second child. Was going cloth worth it if you could only do it part-time?

One year into our family's experiment, I can say that yes, it is. I'm saying as a mom who's juggled cloth through wiggly babies, tumbling toddlers and, now, the start of potty training, all-in-ones are a great resource for moms to have on hand!

When I first seriously considering going cloth at home (our day care insists on disposables), I did the math, and found out that if I went conservative on quantity and washed each night (which I was doing anyways on weekends), I'd break even in 26 weeks. And that's with using them twice a week.

I have had to buy new diapers as the little guy's grown, but I've found that by shopping around you can find brands of diapers that stretch longer across the sizes. Luckily, I found great resources like Toasty Baby, which even delivered the diapers to my home, Zwaggle, and Craigslist. Granted, the latter two required a lot of visits to the sites to find cloth diapers, but when I found them, the prices couldn't be beat. I got 5 cloth diapers for $20 from one and a set of 6 new diapers for the cost of shipping with the other! So for the cost of three packages of disposables, I was set for another six months or longer.

Soon, I got braver and added cloth wipes into the mix. And you can even get by without those, in all honesty. How many infant washcloths do you have lying around your bathroom?

Sure, I may have a little bit more laundry to do, but I simply toss dry diapers and cloths into a box in the bedroom. No folding's required.

As potty training has approached, I've actually found cloth diapers are easier to manage than disposable. He responds to wetness faster, and the cloth diapers don't tear or get ruined after multiple times of opening the velcro to use the bathroom. And my laundry load has dropped as well as we're having more success!

Would I go cloth again? Absolutely. Investing in all-in-one diapers are easy, and, after the initial expense, well worth the hassle!

Other people's stuff

I'll be straight and just say I've got flu big time on my brain. Thankfully, it hasn't hit the family yet, but I've been swamped with H1N1 communications at work the last few weeks in particular. It's interesting, but I'll be glad when I quit dreaming about it at night!

Rather than hear me rant about being smart and staying healthy again, here are a few articles I've seen that are worth sharing:

Erin writes a great story on eating seasonably on the Green Phone Booth. I have to agree with her - the tiny strawberries we picked from our garden the other day had far more flavor than the pound of red, tasteless things we picked up at the supermarket this weekend.

Beth writes about how cotton clothing just might not be over on Fake Plastic Fish.

I know we're all about saving money these days, but sometimes a little investing is good, too. Rachel writes about 3 great ways to save money over on Small Notebook.

The other day a friend said to me, "Your Facebook always says your work is making you nuts, or your kids are making you nuts..." While it's a bit of an exaggeration (I torment my friends with cute kid stories and social media articles too), I know it's tough sometimes to remember the joys in parenting. FishMama writes about balancing the two on Life as Mom.

And Kellie sums up what other APLS'ers have to say on prolesythizing green. Stay tuned for the November carnival topic.

Have a safe and healthy week!

Having faith in your actions

“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” – St. Francis of Assisi

Sustainable living, living green or any other catchphrase of the week, in part, can be argued a part of living out your faith. After all, what is more appropriate to living your faith than caring for God’s creatures? (Which, in case you forgot, includes us.)

Yet, for as vocal of a person as I am about the little things in life, I’ve always struggled with the idea of pushing my values onto another person. The people who shoved politics or religion down others’ throats – the “my way or no way” types – were the ones I’d avoid the most. So not preaching loudly is (hopefully) what I’ve not practiced this many years.

I do believe actions speak louder than words. For as trite as a saying as that is, it’s true. I can tell you how plastic is choking the fish in the ocean – but I can far easier show you that it’s simple for you to do something about it, that it doesn’t take much time or resources to make a difference in these uneasy times.

Hopefully seeing our very small examples might rub off on you in some small way. After all, our family is living proof that even a one-year-old can grasp the most basic concepts of caring for the earth. Does he understand it all? No. Does he make an impact? I believe so.

I’ll be honest too, that I do hide behind my blog and in real life often have to hold my tongue. I tolerate the husband of a friend who truly thinks being green is a conspiracy. We simply agree to disagree. And there’s too little time in the world to nag a person for sending their kids out with a disposable milk container or single-serving bag of pretzels. Instead of worrying about the little details in life, I focus on the ways we can make small changes to make the biggest difference. That mostly ends up in slight tweaks in our lifestyle, rather than a overwhelming “event” that impacts our extended family.

Which leaves me once again with the words of St. Francis: "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

This post is part of the APLS October Carnival on "Proselytizing Green,” hosted this month at Greenhab. Check out the carnival posting on Oct. 19. Want to participate? E-mail greenhabgoods {at} gmail {dot} com.

Protecting ourselves: Lessons from "The Body Toxic"

As a parent, you want to do everything you can to protect your children. What worries you most are the things far beyond your reach.

We bottle-fed our non-nursing son during the height of the BPA controversy, wondering if we were doing the right thing. In my ignorance, I didn't realize it was a minute tip of the iceberg.

And then I read "The Body Toxic: How the hazardous chemicals of everyday things threaten our health and well-being" by journalist Nena Baker. It's quite possibly the scariest book I'll read all summer.

In it I learned about the breakdown of my government in protecting our nation's health. Spurred by lobbyists from the chemical industries, we've evolved the last 50 years into a toothless siutation where weak laws and tiny budgets leave littel room for our government to examine what chemicals are truly hazardous to our health. In fact, we're often lagging far beyond Canada and European nations in taking action against known harmful substances.

What's scary is that the chemicals you're exposed to come from the most unthinkable of everyday places:

• the microwave popcorn packaging
• your shower curtain
• the flame retardants in your TV
• non-stick skillets
• grease-resistant food packaging

One interviewee in the book likened the situation to 9/11, where the hijackers were under the radar screen and grabbed control. "Certain contaminants can hijack the control of gene exppression, contributing to a number of illnesses on the rise."

What frightens me the most is potential damange not done to me but to future generations. Tiny bodies are more susceptible to the chemicals exposed to during pregnancy or through breast milk and every day life outside the womb. (Not that formula is immune - chemicals can leach from its packaging, too!)

So what do you do?

• Write your political leaders and encourage stronger legislation (an update to the Toxic Substances Control Act) regarding oversight of chemicals, and larger funding for those oversights.
• Choose organic whenever possible.
• Ditch plastic, particularly for food and drink - reheating can cause hazardous substances to leach out.
• Avoid stain protection treatments from floors and upholstery.
• Filter your tap water rather than use bottled.
• Use low-VOC paint.
• Choose cast-iron or hard anodized aluminum pots.
• Think twice about using air fresheners.

It's a little overwhelming, to be honest. Keep in mind that the author writes: "I don't obsess about chemical pollutants; I make informed decisions based on my understanding of the hazards of pesticides, plasticizers, flame retardants and stain protectors."

Second life for stuff in the garden

Thinking about starting a garden this season? You’re not alone. Seed sales are up about 30 percent this year over last. Even if you planned ahead, or thought you did, like I did, you’re likely still waiting in the queue for your seeds or sets to arrive in the mail.

Frugality is the name of the game these days, and gardening for seed can seem like an attractive option. Unless you have to buy tools. Or soil amendments. Or are more aggressive and want things such as raised beds or vast container gardens.

But you can still be frugal when working on your garden. Recently, In My Kitchen Garden posted ideas on how you can keep your garden “greener” by reusing things you may have already had at home:

• Seedlings can be started in toilet paper and paper towel tubes, then planted in the ground once they're well-started.
• Old metal strainers can serve as compost sifters.
• Old bedsheets and blankets can protect plants in cold weather.
• Cracked plastic buckets that no longer hold water can still carry weeds, rocks and compost.
• Rusted baking sheets make handy trays for seedlings and other things.
• Old metal pots not nice enough to be donated to the thrift store can be used as planters or for carrying soil amendments, compost, etc.
• Yogurt, sour cream and other No. 5 plastic containers can become weatherproof seedling markers when cut into strips – an idea I’m trying soon!
• Containers for fresh mushrooms at the supermarket can be used for seed starting. (You can also use egg containers, and just plant the entire thing in the ground if using paperboard containers.)

Since I have gardening on my mind this week, check out these stories:

• Tiny Choices: DIY Self-Watering Planters
  One Green Generation: How to Keep Rabbits And Other Animals Out Of Your Garden – Humanely, Organically, Frugally, & Sustainably

And, in case people give into panic over this swine flu (yes, I'm on information overload already) and our systems shut down, keep in mind you can always make a pizza with your tomatoes and veggies from your garden. The Green Parent shows you how to build a solar pizza oven.

Parting with plastic painlessly

I've always been impressed with people like Beth Terry or the BBC's Chris Jeavans, who were so moved by the damage done to this world by our actions that they virtually gave up plastic.

As for me, change is a difficult thing. Whie I strive to make a dent in my consumption, the recycling bin and trash can tell a different story.

But you can reduce your plastic impact, one step at a time. In fact, you can start off relatively painlessly. Those baby steps to environmental friendliness often mean less waste from packaging.

Consider these ideas as you're getting started:

• Choose environmentally friendly cleaners from your kitchen. Use baking soda and white vinegar for much of your cleaning. You'll have less hazardous chemicals in your cabinet - always a worry with little ones - and require less plastic waste. Can't live without lemon or orange scents? Just slice open a citrus fruit.
• Choose cloth. Disposable paper towels, diapers and napkins may be convenient, but they're also swaddled in a layer of plastic.
• Choose your pharmacy wisely. If you have a choice on where to fill your prescription, consider using one that packages your pills in recyclable containers. Locally, I choose Target, which uses #1 plastic containers, over Marsh or Walgreens, which use #5 plastic that I can't easily recycle. If you don't have options in pharmacies that have more easily recycled plastic containers, consider switching to a 90-day prescription instead of filling your bottles monthly.
• Bring your bags. I've found too often that what would fit in five plastic bags can fit in one disposable.
• Rework your snack habits. Drop the prepackaged snack packs and 20-ounce sodas. Instead, make your own "100-calorie" containers for lunches. Even better, turn to fresh fruits and vegetables, which we ought to be eating anyway! Swap your soda bottles for tea, coffee or lemonade. If you must drink soda, do so from alumninum cans or glass bottles.
• Reuse what can't be recycled. It's not fun, but I wash and reuse plastic bags from breads, my husband's trips to the store or even the freezer bags that have been used. By extending the life of one plastic bag, you've created less waste overall.

Written for the Green Moms Carnival for April. Visit Fake Plastic Fish on April 14 to see others' inspirations on reducing our plastic consumption.

Edited April 14 to include Walgreen's use of #5 plastics. Guess I'm switching my script back next month!

A cracked idea

I realize that every major holiday has been commercialized beyond recognition, but I’m really drawing the line and saying that we’ve fallen into stupidity. I was at the store the other day and not only saw branded Easter treats, but also things like "Hannah Montana" egg decorating kits and "High School Musical" Easter grass.

Are you kidding me? Do people really buy this?

One less gift card in the landfill

I love gift cards for their ease of use - particularly when it comes to running to the gas station. I also love it because I'm able to buy them at church and support our youth programs while buying things I know I need to buy.

The reality of this arrangement is that most of the cards come in $20 or so denominations. Fine if you're buying a gift, not so fine if you're buying groceries or a tank of gas. So I struggle with balancing my desire to help others out on my limited budget versus generating more plastic junk out there.

Who knew I can recycle them? I just learned on No Plastic for a Year that gift card recycling is available. I'm very excited. Read on...

Inspiration from Fake Plastic Fish

If you've ever been interested in abandoning your sea of plastic, Fake Plastic Fish is an inspiring place to turn, focusing on the big picture issues as well as little changes we can make.

Periodically, she shares inspiration from other blogs she's read. This week, my blog was among the ones featured in the Voices from the Plastic-Free Blogosphere. It was a fun interview, and I definitely felt inspired when reading the other bloggers' comments.

Here are some of the great ideas I picked up from other voices on this post. They're surprisingly easy. I'll admit the last one never even crossed my mind!

• The next time you replace your shower curtains, choose cotton or bamboo instead.
• Cut down on take-out food.
• Swap plastic food storage containers for glass.
• Ask for no straw when eating out.

Two blogs I'll definitely add to my feed directory:

• At No Plastic For A Year, Katie invites a different "buddy" to try plastic-free living out with her for a week and post his/her experience on the blog. What a great idea to engage others!
• At Cre8 and Re-Cre8, you can find DIY projects to "create useful items and to re-create old items into something new and functional."

Have a great day!

Do the Amish really use plastic bags?

Last week at our women's group at church, a member of our group brough in Amish Friendship Bread. For the few people in this world who haven't heard of it, it's a sweet bread that takes a 10-day process of fermenting.

It's great for the kids to mush on and play with, but it requires patience. And timing. Because at the end of the 10-day process, you actually create four more starters and start the whole process over again.

So in the end, according to the recipe I got, you have 2 loaves of bread, four starters to make an additional eight loves of bread and 5 unloved, funky plastic gallon-size Ziploc bags.

Which got me to wondering this morning, as I'm frantically mixing the dough and popping in the oven before I left for work: Do the Amish really use plastic bags?

I have a hard time seeing that the Amish, a largely simple culture eschewing the "American" ways of life, would grasp on the time-saver/trash-creator of Ziploc and incorporate it into their breadmaking routine. Is it me, or am I crazy?

In the end, I ended up dumping the four starters' worth because I had no time, no plastic bags on hand. And frankly, the little-known secret of Amish Friendship Bread is that no one wants to hurt your feelings, but they don't want to mess with the 10-day process and the bunny-like reproduction of the starters!

Apparently I'm not the only one thinking this way. I read this morning on Fake Plastic Fish:

You can also "feed" it less on the 10th day and not have so much starter. I
cut it down to 1/4 the recommended amount and have enough for the batch I'm
baking and one starter for next time. I use a glass Pyrex baking dish with a
glass lid. Also if you do an Internet search you can find a lot of other recipes
that use the same starter.

Want to make the bread but don't want to mess with plastic? Learn how Fake Plastic Fish de-bagged the process.