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Plastic is versatile, useful and everywhere. But, it's destroying our environment and littering our oceans. Could you help by going plastic free?
New blog post on OneKind Planet.
July is the Marine Conservation Society’s #GoPlasticFree month. Are you up to the challenge?
Day 11: Big fail. Thought I could get away with a cup of tea at the pub, but the milk came in sad little plastic cups!
The cost of going plastic free
Today is the last day of the #plasticchallenge and in many ways it hasn’t been as hard as I anticipated.
The biggest ‘sacrifice’ has been the kind of food I probably shouldn’t have been eating anyway: crisps, chocolate bars, bottles of fizzy pop, ready-made sandwiches. I’ve swapped them for homemade popcorn and cakes or carrot sticks with DIY hummus. Unfortunately the fizz is a real weakness of mine so I invested in a Sodastream which might not be perfect but at least it drastically cuts down on the plastic bottles.
I’ll admit it’s not always cheap to find an alternative to plastic packaged goods. A glance at the grocery bills shows the money I’ve saved with homemade recipes has more or less balanced things out. It would be interesting to properly track the ‘cost’ of going plastic-free in this respect.
Overall I’ve found that if we all just made a few small changes to our lifestyles, it could mean a big difference for the environment.
I’m going to continue with the changes I’ve made - no more clingfilm, avoiding ‘convenience’ foods and paying more attention to packaging labels. Hopefully I’ve inspired you to do more too. Here’s a reminder of the general advice:
Refuse - say no to plastic bags and extra packaging Reduce - cut down on so-called disposables Reuse - if it doesn’t break down, put it to good use Recycle - get to know what can be revived
I’m going to finish up with a little bit of consumer action, writing to the companies that have done well and those who have disappointed me this month.
There’s some good advice and a template on the Recycle Now website if you want to do the same.
The plastic challenge: Part three
At the start of #plasticchallenge week 3, we had just two plastic bottles in the recycling bin and not enough non-biodegradable waste to bother putting it out. I’d call that a big result!
Here are a few more tips I’ve found handy:
Sort your waste - Sorting your waste into recyclable, compostable and non-biodegradable really brings home how much you throw away
Find loose goods - try to find a place to weigh out your own dried goods, I found nuts and popcorn kernels at Whole Foods Market
Buy in bulk - if you can’t avoid the dreaded plastic wrap, at least buy it less often
Cut out the clingfilm - I’ve switched to these reusable, stretchy silicone lids
Reuse pots for storage - an easy way to prolong the life of plastic packaging and when they start piling up you know it’s time to cut down
In my reuse challenge I’ve turned an ice-cream tub into a stick blender tidy in the cupboard, a yoghurt pot served as a bowl to soak very small laundry, the loose hazelnuts were transferred into a former dip container and a couple of plastic trays are sitting under the bathroom plants to keep the windowsill clean. I also did my usual trick of sending out Ebay orders in plastic envelopes I’d collected (just turn them inside out if they’re a bit scrappy) and I’m researching how to pass my old jiffy bags on to a local business / charity that needs them.
Following the three Rs, the next challenge is recycle. I’d really like to know more about all those numbered squiggles on plastic packaging and how much of it can actually be turned into something useful.
Plastic problems
Well, for a household that normally puts a carrier bag of rubbish and full recycling box out every week the bins are looking a lot more barren today! There were just eight plastic items in our recycling and two hand-fulls to go to landfill.
There was still the odd bit from before we made the Plastic Challenge pledge so next week should look even better. Here are the main changes we made in week 1:
Avoid junk food - Dramatically cuts down on the wrappers
Packed lunches - Turns out chopping a few carrots isn’t too much effort
DIY hummus - This is a very easy recipe if you own a hand blender / food processor, I made the tahini paste and baked pittas too
Cancel catalogues - I received a couple of these, plastic-wrapped and a waste of paper, so called up and asked to be taken off the mailing lists
Tissue holders - I’m making a couple of these fabric pouches out of my scraps pile so no more plastic-wrapped tissue packs in my handbag
The hardest things to avoid plastic packaging with were definitely: breads, grains, nuts, dried fruit, dairy items, meat, fish and toilet roll. Yes, that’s most of the weekly shop but I’m not totally disheartened - I did manage to reduce a lot.
This week’s challenge is to reuse so I’ll see how creative I can get with the stuff that would otherwise be thrown away.
I’ve written about marine plastics from a Bristol perspective for the European Green Capital website too with lots of links for anyone else interested in taking on the challenge.
Starting Monday..
I am living a week out of my life without plastic. I'm not sure if I'm insane or stupid but it should be interesting.
