Food Pack: No One Time Use Plastic

Let's face it, it is hard, impractical, and almost impossible to escape from using plastic. My PakCanoe has plastic parts, my favorite fleeces contain plastic fibers, most of my back country travel gear contains some kind of plastic synthetic material. I'm not ready to trade my cozy sleeping bag for an elk skin or my lightweight rain pants for a  heavy waxed canvas pair. I am ready to be conscious of my one time use plastic consumption; the things I buy that only get use once and tossed.

Food packing for expedition travel often looks like taking food out of its original grocery store packaging (usually plastic) and putting in an easy to open and close plastic bag. Things get packed by meal, organized so that each meal and its ingredients are bagged individually. In the backcountry this means that food stays dry and organized, but each meal produces several plastic bags that get thrown away at the trip's end.  I am tired of bringing groups back from expeditions and throwing away trash bags full of plastic bags. As innovative, conscientious, adventurers, we can do better.  The outdoor industry can do better. Leave no trace ethics should extend beyond picking up food waste at our campsites. It should raise the question: What is the overall impact of my expedition?

The Task. How do we pack 40 days of food with no one time use plastic? How do we purchase food when trying to minimize waste?  



Stay Tuned for Canoe Ungava food packing updates.