The proliferation and consumption of microplastics is a huge and growing problem. They are ubiquitous, making it nigh unto impossible to avoid them. However, there are some measures you can take to reduce the issue in your own eating. The one that most people talk about is eliminating the single use water bottle (which is easy and a big savings), but the one that really grates on me is scraping things like mayonnaise or peanut butter out of plastic jars. Most spreaders are sharp, often serrated, and inevitably are chiseling plastic for your sandwich. You would hope more products would be sold in glass, but I am not seeing a lot of movement. Got a favorite spreader that is blunt? Metal, silicone, wood, or something else?
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No… we need a butter knife post.
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Have at it. I just use table knives and a butter bell that keeps my butter soft.
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Really? I thought most spreaders are smooth. I don’t have a dedicate spreader. I just use a regular dining knife.
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TBH, when It comes down to the last bit of mayonnaise in my Dukes or Best Foods /Hellmann’s squeeze bottle, I use my finger.
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I have a small silicone spatula for this. It is not an issue.
While I would like to see more glass/paper than plastic, unfortunately I don’t see plastic going away.
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Sad emoji coupled with angry emoji.
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I have a skinny silicone spatula from Cuisinart (came as a set of 3 in different shapes).
Here:
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Injecting some drift here. There are lots of plastics that are not taken by most city recycling services, things like plastic film and bubble wrap. We joined Ridwell, and I love it.
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When I come close to the end of a jar of mayo, I usually toss in some buttermilk or milk and lemon, garlic, green onions, fresh herbs, shake like crazy and use it for dressing greens or asparagus or grilled zucchini or…,. The jar usually rinses clean without any abrasives.
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That sounds good too!
I just use a large metal spoon to scrape out the bottom of mayonnaise and peanut butter jars. I’m not one to waste food but there comes a time when I don’t feel the need to scrape up every last bit. Especially from top to bottom. Call me paranoid but I don’t think of the top as fresh.
OTOH if you’re making macaroni salad for instance, add a little milk to the mayo jar and shake it up. Just like I do with jarred pasta sauce and red wine.
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Squeeze bottles for the win! And the Kewpie ones roll up like rolling paper! Okay, not quite. I just wanted to say that.
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I wish the Duke’s squeeze bottle were like that. Until that day, maybe home made in a Mason jar will be my path.
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Yes, that’s how I do the Kewpie bottle when at the bottom. 
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Hard to get every last bit out of those upside down squeeze plastic bottles. Like mayo or sour cream or a tube of toothpaste. You squeeze and fold as far as you can go. There’s still some left inside.
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Well that is true. Maybe I’m only semi-ethically mayonnaise. 
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Smooth and thin, as in the edges scrape plastic too well.
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Yes. And squeeze pouches. There are now many products that come in larger versions of toothpaste tubes, e.g., sour cream, tomato and anchovy pastes, pesto, etc. I’ll be a happy camper when someone squeezafies extra chunky peanut butter and good preserves.
