to ask what you're doing to reduce your use of plastics?

[k2p2k2tog]

Lots of coverage on the BBC yesterday about how we used to ship loads of plastics for recycling to China, and China have said they aren't taking it any more.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42455378

Of course recycling is a good thing. But that should come third after reduce and reuse.

Plastics are an environmental nightmare - we can't avoid all plastics but we can certainly reduce what we're using. I've just ordered reusable sandwich wraps for the kids to take to school rather than wrapping in cling film. Little steps. If everyone does a little bit, we can reduce the total amount of plastics.

So what are you doing???

I wash and reuse self seal plastic sandwich bags.

Use reusable things wherever possible.

The real culprits are retailers who use a ridiculous amount of packaging on everything.

I hate posts like this

I've just ordered reusable sandwich wraps for the kids to take to school rather than wrapping in cling film.

Wtf?

You didn't seriously do that as a matter of course in the first place did You?!

In all the time I've had packed lunches for school or work, a reusable sandwich box for the sandwiches.

You shouldn't have to be told.

Im interested in this. Following for ideas.

Also use a sandwich tub and tubs for fruit for ds lunch

Younger one uses one of the Sistema hard boxes for his lunch so never wraps his sandwiches. Older two are at senior school and apparently lunchboxes are uncool, so have food rattling around loose in the bottom of their bags. It needs wrapped. We are pretty good in other ways - we very rarely buy bottled water, or carrier bags, or pre-packaged fruit/veg.

Feeling guilty, Eastwest??

We use about ten tons of little boxes for inches so there is no cling film or.foil used each day, but guess what# my boxes are plastic, because let's face it, I'm not sending my five yr old off with a glass box or bottle.

I've been thinking about this . My main one is not but anything with microbeads. The toothpaste I currently have had them I think so I'm looking for something different next time.ive found a natural exfoliate so that's good.

I've been thinking about making or buying some little mesh bags for loose vegetables.

I started last year using my refillable water bottle (it's plastic too....😭) for out and about. I wouldn't be one for buying lots of bottles of water though soon was kind of pre empting thirst. Did make me.drink more water though! Straws get a lot of publicity...but I don't use so many of those.

It's more the forced upon me plastic that I don't know how to solve - like the plastic round multipack of tins, fruit and veg etc.

I am open to ideas too.

Lush shampoo bars. You can get a little metal pot of them and wash your hair over and over before they wear out. I use normal shampoo once a week. Great for the kids and for my OH. Reduces my use of plastic considerably.

Older two are at senior school and apparently lunchboxes are uncool, so have food rattling around loose in the bottom of their bags

Just give them it in a box.

They can do what they like with it once they leave the house.

Yes that's another thing - we're using soap in the shower instead of shower gel in plastic bottles.

I didn't know you could buy reusable sandwich bags? How long will they last because you have to chuck them though I wonder? I use pots for fruit but sandwich bags for sarnies, dc have soft lunch bags rather than hard washable ones as they squash better into rucksacks. No matter what little bit we all do, the main problem is the majority of plastics companies use still aren't recyclable anyway.

Metal water bottles

Soap instead of hand wash. Not drinking fizzy water anymore.

k2p2

Quite the opposite.

There is a good thread over in Ethical living about this very thing, it has some great ideas for reducing plastic use and waste in general.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/ethical_living/3098227-Save-the-planet-What-small-steps-have-you-taken-today

I think eastwest is possibly feeling patronised and smugged upon.

I can't stand soap scum so continue to use shampoo and shower gel. We nearly always get public transport though so that offsets it

I think eastwest is possibly feeling patronised and smugged upon

Eastwest doesn't have to read or comment on the thread then. It's clear what it's about in the title.

I can't stand soap either, don't like the smell or texture or the fact you have to share it!

We're switching to bar soap once the current lot of hand soap and shower gel is done. Will try the Lush shampoo bars as well.

Have also decided to start buying my meat from the local butchers and my fruit and veg from the market to reduce packaging. I'm very fortunate to have these resources on my doorstep so should have been using them anyway but did a big weekly online order from Sainsburys anyway out of laziness/convenience.

Is foil better than cling film, environmentally speaking?

We just don't do bottled anything. We avoid buying plastic bottles. We don't eat a lot of prepared foods so this helps.

But retailers have SO much to answer for. I'm sickened by the amount of waste created by our supermarkets. They will have to do better now that China is changing its policies regarding our waste disposal.

I like this thread for ideas, but I get how eastward feels when NewYearNiki reacts so OTT when the OP admits they used to use cling film.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and as I was bored at ILs at Xmas I spent a few hours on the Internet. Also been thinking about what plastic is in our bins.

Also while reading I read that only 5 percent of plastic sent for recycling actually gets recycled so it pretty grim.

Recycling bin is full of milk cartons. So I’m thinking of switching to bottled milk. We drink a lot though so it will be expensive.

Easier things are switching dishwasher tablets and laundry detergent to powder or tabs in cardboard boxes.

Have already found a bar of solid shampoo that I gave DH for Xmas that was from Amazon. Smells lovely and significantly cheaper than Lush. Need to get it out.

Also going to swap liquid hand soap to bars and from shower gel to soap too. Looking forward to having less bottles lying around the bathroom too! Had already got a refill pouch of hand wash although that is in plastic pouch.

Once our plastic straws run out I will never buy any again. Seen some pretty glass ones online to keep at home that apparently you can keep in your handbag. Think I’ll just avoid plastic straws though.