Where possible, my family tries to reduce the amount of plastic we consume. One example of this is our choosing not to purchase tubs of spreadable butter, a food staple we eat plenty of. Instead, we convert sticks of butter (which come in paper containers) into spreadable butter. The recipe we use to do this is shown below. It's an easy way to prevent extra plastics from entering the waste stream.

• Two sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup oil

Bring the sticks of butter to room temperature by leaving them out overnight. Place the butter into a bowl, along with the salt and oil of your choosing. We use avocado oil, as it has a pretty neutral taste. Olive oil is also a good choice, but be aware that olive oil can have a fairly overpowering taste.

Mix the ingredients well with a hand-mixer. Pour the contents into a container (we reuse old, plastic butter tubs) and refrigerate. Two sticks of butter fit nicely into a 15-ounce butter container.