Tupperware "ware" do your's go?
Gabi Siewczynski
How Tupperware is made
Most Tupperware products are made of LDPE or PP, and as such are considered safe for repeated use storing food items and cycling through the dishwasher (low-density polyethylene, polypropylene)
- Crude oil found in deep sediments are extracted from the Earth to make the plastic used for Tupperwares. Cardboard used for packaging is made of mainly second hand paper. Paper which is made from the cutting down of trees.
How Tupperware is used and for how long?
Tupperware is primarily used to store food.
1947 was the first year their products were factory made and plenty of older Tupperware remains in use, a testament to the plastic's durability.
Tupperware parties take place in more than 100 countries, Often, Tupperware party organizers will serve and possibly prepare food and beverages in Tupperware products to demonstrate their usefulness.
- Vintage Tupperware products are sought after by many and are still in great condition.
What happens to your product when it is no longer needed?
When these products are no longer needed for storage they are either recycled or thrown away. Although the plastic which make up Tupperware products are recyclable most products get thrown away.
According to Penn State University research plastic containers take 50-80 years to decompose in a landfill however for cardboard packaging it takes 2 months.
Consumers have to worry about dioxins which settle on pastures and crops and get eaten by cows, pigs and chickens. They get into lakes, streams, and ocean and are taken up by fish. They go through the food chain and appear in meat and milk and accumulate in the fat cells of our bodies.
- Although we must worry about dioxins for the sake of our environment, Tupperware is “the safest plastics for repeated use in storing food”
How can Tupperware products be reused or repurposed?
Vintage display, storage for things other than food which do not enter our bodies such as shoes, toys, clothes, makeup, etc.
- This allows the materials needed for the product to complete a full "lifecycle", or back to the cradle, where the process starts again.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle and Preserving the Earth's Biodiversity!
- Reducing our intake of plastic on a daily basis, and our use of paper are two simple steps which allow us to reduce wasting.
- Reusing products that are safe and practical to use again is extremely important and often overlooked meaning we must be more cautious.
- The final step Recycle! This is a beautiful system that allows us to works towards not being as wasteful and harmful to our environment. Countries all across the world have recycle systems and if put to good use through simple efforts from everyone we will be able to reuse so much we take from the Earth