Farewell convenience

If you do not know me, you may wonder what this whole thing is about, 'my fake plastic life '. What is that?

Long story short, this is my journey over the next month to see how plausible it is to live without plastic in todays disposable world. Living in London UK, I expect this could be especially hard, with large supermarkets everywhere and all things made for convenience and quick disposal. I expect this to be a long month but I will aim to share all of my wins and losses here with the feasibility and affordability of this lifestyle.

Why? I have grown up fortunate to know all of my grandparents, who grew up in war time Britain, having to make the most of everything they had; meaning you shouldn't throw anything away without attempting to fix it or if it works find a home for it. One of my nans hates the idea of food waste, and because of this she will eat anything you put on her plate, apart from a very select couple of things. Any leftovers get eaten the next day rehashed or if it's not usable, nan throws it to the birds who  have  learnt she brings food (mostly seagulls and pigeons that'll eat anything she gives them!). One of my grandads was an electrician and also a darn good hand at anything he tried to fix or  do. He would rewire electricals for us, find uses for odd bits of wood, keep random bits of metal just in case, reupholster chairs, fix cars /bikes and I can honestly say I wish he was around now to help guide me in his ways. So my whole  life I've been taught by my parents not to throw things on the floor and try to recycle where I could. Don't buy things you don't need etc etc.

On top of this I am extremely  passionate about wildlife and the environment - and basically anything I can do to help conserve what we have on this planet whilst  we have the power to do so. As a marine biologist I love anything to do with water and so naturally I am very aware of the rising concerns over plastic waste and that it is doing to our ecosystems. It seems to me that we have unlearnt how not to throw things away and that is all we can seem to do now. Companies coming up with more and more uses for plastics, smaller travel size single use bottles, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant etc. It's all such a waste!

This is why I'm doing this. I want to learn the art of sustainability and unlearn the wastefulness that is what our lives are right now.

So we begin tomorrow. Good night and wish me luck!