A month without plastic

Day 1:
We think that we are already quite good at not using too much plastic, and being aware, but we still use it so we have decided to go plastic-free for one month. By plastic-free we mean we are not going to buy anything plastic for a month, no plastic packaging or bottles or bags. We'll continue to use what we have in the house but we won't buy anymore.

When we first thought about it, it really didn't seem to be that much of a task but in the short amount of time that has passed since we started, (we made the decision last night after tea) we have already realised there are lots of challenges which include:

* dog poo bags since we have a dog this could get messy,
* coffee- mum drinks loads,
* screen wash for the car- the warning light came on the other day
* toilet paper- as far as we know the only brand of loo roll is shipped from Australia which is potty (excuse the pun)

Another issue is supermarkets or shops in general. Fruit & veg- we grow our own apples so that's no problem while our crop lasts, but all we could find in terms of other fruit in Asda was melon and bananas. Milk is going to be expensive, especially being a family made up of two children and an adult and we drink at least two pints of it per day. We're lucky enough to live in an area where it can get delivered but it costs more than twice as much as the supermarket's £1.10 for four pints!

Currently we are doing okay as we already have things wrapped unfortunately in plastic which we bought before, but I reckon we only have a week before the toilet roll runs out!

Oh and did you know that none of the plastic ever made has biodegraded yet?





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3rd day and mum still hasn't phoned the milkmanšŸ˜³

Yesterday was our 3rd day of living without plastic. Each day makes us aware of another thing that we don't know how to get without plastic- either because it is made from plastic or because it is packaged with plastic. We are having to do lots of research! I need some new pyjamas but most clothes shops use plastic hangers (we can give those back and they can be re-used but that still involves plastic in the process, which, as we know doesn't break down) and even more shops use little plastic loops to attach the price tags! In town there are two shops that use string or ribbon to attach price tags- fat face and white stuff (well done for using wooden hangers too) but they don't sell PJs for children or teens. We also found that we can buy things from the deli counter in Booths without plastic. They wouldn't put things in our re-useable tubs but they did (after a long conversation about how greasy the paper would get) agree to using paper bags that we could then put in o...
Read more

Half way and a day

Eek, this is becoming more normal! And we’re starting to see the fun. We got some junk mail today in a brown envelope with a see through window. We assume the window is plastic so we’re sending it back in the helpful self addressed pre-paid envelope! Because we’re running low on yeast, mum has made a sour dough starter which is ace because we love sourdough bread. And it’s easy. You just whisk a cup of flour and a cup of warm water together and then leave it until it starts to bubble then you add another cup of flour and another cup of warm water. I’ll let you know how it goes. We’re getting worried about pet food now. We had already gone to using tins of dog food but it’s cheaper to buy them in packs of 6 but they come wrapped in... you guessed it, plastic :-( I don’t get why or even how it’s cheaper to buy 6 cans with plastic than 6 cans without. How does that make sense- you pay less to get something extra that you don’t want?! We also have hens to feed and their food comes in ...
Read more

Day 5 of a plastic free month

Image
Day 5 is almost over. And we have successfully sorted out Sunday dinner (toad in the hole). So that's alright. This morning our local  Quaker meeting invited us to talk to them about our adventures without plastic. After the meeting we explained what we are doing and why. Everyone was very supportive and told us all the things they do to minimise the amount of plastic they use. Someone told us about re-useable wraps that the shop Lakeland sell and we told them about our wax wraps that we made. The bought wraps are great but they're quite expensive whereas our home-made ones only cost about 75p to make. Someone told us that they use old margarine tubs and they have some that they remember their mum using when they were a child. Lots of people talked about switching to shampoo bars and going back to solid soap and they had some top tips for buying them. There's a small independent shop on the shambles and the friendly soap company in Hebden Bridge who do mail order and wrap t...
Read more