Your plastic consumption

[Littlebyerockerboo]

Just curious to see who out there is aware of the effects of plastic on the environment, much documented before all this convid, and if you have made any swaps to try to lessen your consumption of plastics, what changes did you make?

Ive tried to use:

Bar soap rather than dispenser soap
Bar shampoo/conditioner/bath bombs
Toothpaste in glass jars
Mouthwash in glass jars
Sparkling water & milk in glass bottles
Bamboo tooth brushes
Coke in cans
Other consumable items eg. Mayonnaise is glass jars rather than plastic squeeze bottles
Requesting no pizza table be included in take away pizza
Using reusable bags wherever possible - making no sew tshirt bags has been fun
Trying to buy cards without plastic coverings
Visiting local greengrocers for veggies fruits etc, not packaged
Trying my best not to buy travel drinks, use plastic cutlery when out and about.
Using cornstarch dog poo bags, or news paper for home dog deposits

I'm afraid convid has put the reusable/refillable movement on hold big time, but still trying my best to do what I can.

Are you trying to lessen your plastic consumption?
Do you recycle?

I'm still amazed by the amount of people who dont care about this stuff, particularly people who have children.

(My Dp is frustratingly difficult when it comes to buying new carrier bags, he brings 1 - 2 into the house daily!)

@stayathomer

Can anyone recommend soaps that are suitable for sensitive skin/people with eczema? I'd love to switch from shower gel but I cant see anything being suitable. We do much the same, except now unfortunately I buy fruit and veg in plastic:(

I always use simple soap

To add to your list:

Reusable batteries (low hanging fruit everyone should do it )
Make my own bread and yougurt
Own containers when you do get mean/chicken/fish from butchers
Olive oil refills
Balsamic vinegar refills
Fabric conditioner refills
General purpose cleaner refills
Eco egg for washing machine
Make my own dishwashing mixture (I don’t recommend this)
We also have a hot compost
6 items of new clothes per year the rest second hand.
Recycled toilet paper made in the Uk
All flour delivered in 16kg bag from a Uk mill
We cycle most places and only take the car once a week
We eat meat rarely.

Re: shampoo bars I love beauty kubes.

We use bars of soap, always have, I don't see the point of shower gel. We use Splosh for all cleaning products and recycle the refill pouches. I don't buy bottled water, again never have, just use tap water. We grow what we can to eat and use a vegetable box scheme for most of the other things. I'm vegetarian and DH eats very little meat - so no polystyrene trays with meat wrapped in plastic. If I can't find yoghurt in cardboard cartoons or glass, I buy one large container as that uses less plastic than several small ones.

We use reusable silicone covers on bowls and containers (they last and last) and beeswax wrap rather than cling film. We stopped having milk delivered as it arrived after we had both left for work, but might look into that again (currently using cartons).

@Allmyfavouritepeople
It’s fucking exhausting. I really agree with that. I hope it’s worth it, but not enough of us seem to be making changes

This post makes me sad I'm very much aware of the issues with plastic waste but we are currently living with my inlaws and they really don't care.... I've tried implementing a couple of things but it just doesn't work. The sheer amount of wipes!!!

Can't wait to have my own house....

I buy in bulk ( 5/ ltrs tho can buy 20/of washing liquid / conditioner)
Laundry liquid, conditioner, washing up liquid using for dishes, as shampoo and Hand wash, all bio d.
Use an eco powdered bleach .
Use loofah sponges for bath time and dishes

I also so agree with PP who say it is exhausting living this way, my problem is now ive seen the difference and im educated in this area, there is no way of ever going back for me. Even when for financial reasons the plastic creeps back in, its soon back out when I can afford for it to be.

Its so sad that making choices that benefit the whole world is this difficult and costly.

Surely a reusable bin liner is a bin that you can wash.

Can anyone recommend a good face cleanser or balm in a glass jar?

All flour delivered in 16kg bag from a Uk mill

Well, I've done this by necessity, given the lack of bags of wholemeal during lockdown, and the amount of paper and string involved seems to be far greater than the amount in 11 1.5kg bags of doves farm wholemeal from the supermarket.

But to be positive, it can be fun as well as exhausting (and depressingly lonely!). We took to emailing small producers to ask about their packaging (eg butter /cheese) and it's really lovely to get emails back from the business owners who are usually onside to some extent. + a number of businesses changed their delivery packaging for us and it just felt so lovely and personal and not at all like clicking on Amazon.
God I miss mozzarella though. And diet coke in a bottle so I can screw the lid back on. And why oh why can't they wrap kitkats in the foil and paper like they used to. The buggers!

.....i say all this as a woman who's DP has just driven to the local garage to buy a plastic bottle of coke face palm

And i totally agree with the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra.... but i still love my reusable bin bag. Its been a fantastic purchase. I do try not to buy into "greenwashing" items.

Loving seeing everyone's swaps, picked up a few more ideas to implement in our household too.

Are you trying to lessen your plastic consumption?
No, i buy whats affordable, what we like and suits our needs.
We have no local bring a container places, plus i have favorite products that i wont change. Plus i dont drive so its not a practical solution if im shopping on my own
Bar soap is dire for my skin, i use a shampoo and conditioner for colored hair, to help keep colour
I will never use reusable menstrual products, some things should only be single use, they one of them.
I wont shop 2nd hand any more, i got sick of ill fitting clothes i tolerate and not really like.
DD an electronics kid, 2nd hand is outdated normally

Do you recycle?
If its easy, dry cardboard, no rinsing
Pasta sauce jars get binned, i dont wash rubbish

The amount of mental admin to live like this is massive
Basically this is why i wont do much, i dont want or need the extra stress.

@PickAChew we use nelstrop mill. I haven’t found their packaging excessive. Never used doves as the delivery time has always been horrendous and I think they’re quite expensive!

[quote Espoleta]@Allmyfavouritepeople
It’s fucking exhausting. I really agree with that. I hope it’s worth it, but not enough of us seem to be making changes[/quote]
I like that post doing the rounds that says something along the lines of 'we dont need a few people doing it perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly'

I've had to swap back to a pack of disposable razors, cant see my own hairs well enough to use the safety razor. But I will use less plastic overall once I get the hang of it.

Reusable nappies, bar soap, bar shampoo for me, refills for DH and conditioner. Glass milk bottles, moon cup (well, POP now so no periods). Coke in cans, try and buy glass containers where possible. Cannot find fluoride toothpaste in glass containers.

@squeekums

Your reply makes zero sense..... like answering a thread asking for cookings tips, with cooking is wank all I eat is ready meals.....

Getting there slowly.

Shampoo bar, soap bar, facial soap bar
Using a Lumea drastically reduces shaving so fewer razors
Paste deodorant in a tin, works a treat!
Cleansing face balm in a tin
Flannels instead of make up remover pads
Reusable sanpro
No fabric conditioner
Second hand clothes, coats, shoes, books and toys where possible
Composting garden waste
Veg and meat boxes delivered. Much less plastic than a supermarket delivery.
Reusing wrapping paper or wrapping presents in a pretty scarf and ribbon, or plain brown paper. I have a nice ribbon box and always save wrapping stuff when I can.

squeekums wow. Are you so selfish in all areas of your life?

Weekly shop at local refill shop so pasta, rice, laundry liquid, cleaning sprays and loads more can all be bought plastic free, usually in glass jars that I bring myself.

Buying glass ketchup, mayo etc.

Cloth nappies.

Cloth baby wipes.

Have never bought a single baby food pouch.

Glass milk bottles delivered.

Wax wraps.

Reusable coffee cup.

Period pants.

Shaving soap and other plastic-free toiletries e.g. coconut oil.

Green grocers for fruit and veg.

Generally not buying so much stuff, thinking do I really need it.

Dish cloths instead of synthetic sponges.

We do plenty more but I can't think right now! I really do feel like I'm in the minority / an outsider in my efforts which I find depressing and frustrating. For example my friend's dh couldn't get his head around why I wouldn't want to buy my son fruit shoots. He just kept saying 'but the sugar level isn't that bad' etc and literally couldn't grasp that it was the plastic bottle that was the problem for me.

The plastic crisis does make me worry and feel helpless. People don't want to change their ways but it's creating a huge problem.

We use nonplastic whenever we can but it's amazing how much is still packaged that way. We use bar soap except in the guest bathroom, where we're also using paper towels for obvious reasons. Shampoo is tricky, still not found a bar shampoo that doesn't leave my hair dry. Large pots of 1 litre yoghurt rather than the little pots we used to buy (and we reuse them for planting seedlings), canvas bags for shopping. Still buying plastic toothbrush heads as our dentist told us all to use electric brushes and not seen bamboo heads yet. Trying to be responsible with clothing ie natural fibres and some charity shops. But there is waaaay too much plastic in the shops. Some veggies are loose and some in cardboard trays. They ALL should be. Sometimes there just aren't the loose options.

Some swaps are easy. I ditched all wipes - baby wipes, toilet wipes, makeup wipes about a year ago and didn't miss them at all. Cloth, chuck in the wash. Cheaper too.

Ditching wrapping paper was easy. You literally buy it to throw it away. In my area it can't be recycled. So it's a huge waste.

If you buy shower gel you pay mainly for water and plastic. Soap is better value.

Reusable bin liner, that's a funny one. I'm impressed you've found them and are using them, but presumably since you'd have to wash them you could just wash the bin?