So after attempting to go disposable plastic free for 1
month, I can tell you that it really wasn’t easy and doing it strictly would
not be for the large majority of people; however there are things we can all do
to help reduce our usage of these plastics, and if we all do what we can than
that will certainly help our planet (and us!).
A list of things I will be 100% keeping after this month include:
A list of things I will be 100% keeping after this month include:
- Reusable water bottles – metal and insulated ones/
- Paper bags – for fruit/veg/bread shopping, good for sandwiches too.
- Ecoleaf toilet rolls/kitchen rolls – wrapped in potato starch instead of plastic and 100% recycled too.
- Milk – Glass bottles (mine from Dawlicious local jersey farm and is delicious!) but milkman is a great idea.
- Lush products – shampoo bars, conditioner bar (great for shaving with), toothpaste powder, deodorant bar). Take the pots back clean and they 100% recycle the pots themselves into new pots for the stores and take back 5 for a free face mask!
- Reusable shopping bags – cloth bags and my amazing ones made from old t-shirts and jeans.
- Natracare tampons – 100% cotton, wrapped in paper and come in a cardboard box.
Things that I will attempt to upkeep wherever I can and
where possible are:
- Refill products – Wherever I can I will aim to get refills of rice, pulses, pasta (if I can find a cheaper alternative to Planet Organic), dried fruits, nuts, oils and vinegars.
- Butchers and fishmongers – I will be shopping much more at my local butcher (I seem to have a bit of a name for myself in there now, so I feel more accepted!). However it may not be possible all of the time.
- Bread - Aiming to get my bread from the bakers or Lidl that have fresh loaves (however it doesn’t last long, so I may not always use this).
- Metal Straws / non-plastic straws – I will try where possible, the metal straws are great, but I’d recommend buying paper straws or bamboo straws if you plan on drinking alcohol.
- Homemade chips – will look into a chip cutter that my friend has to aid me making my own, but again it needs prep time which I don’t always have.
- Homemade crisps – they are great, but not convenient, so will make them as a treat as I do not have the time to make them.
- Clothes – I aim to look into clothes that are 100% cotton and organic, however for some things you cannot get 100% cotton and money wise, may not always be the best option.
- Metal safety razor – I’m still trialling the razor I bought, but I do see me using this in future.
And finally things that just aren’t feasible for me to keep after this month’s challenge:
- Planet organic and farm shops – might be good for a few things, but very expensive and out of my way.
- Cereal – for me there is no substitute to shop bought cereal, but I’ll keep looking. At least you can recycle the plastic packets at supermarkets though!
- Sunscreen – Lush do sunscreen, but I haven’t tried it yet, so maybe in future, but for now I’ll stick with the lotion.
- Bamboo toothbrush – a bit painful to use, kept hurting myself with the wooden handle on my wisdom tooth and the bristles are plastic anyway.
- Crisps and Biscuits – It is too time consuming to keep making these, and I personally cannot give these up.
- Internet shopping – sometimes a lot of plastic involved, but I will be trying to ask suppliers not to use It where possible – however I will not be stopping ordering online.
So that’s my month in a nutshell really, there’s a lot I will keep and maybe some I haven’t mentioned too. I suggest if you are environment and animal conscious that you look at your own usages to see where you can cut back and remove plastic too. If we all do a little then that’s a start! I hope to have been of some inspiration and I wish you luck in your own plastic free endeavours.
As always, thank you for reading!
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