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???

Can we please stop making out that normal households are the sole problem for global warming and if we stop us using cling film the ice caps will stop melting. Can we please do proper research and realise that it's the numerous HUGE companies doing this? All the fucking packaging and zero respect for the environment? Not sally down the street who uses shampoo from a bottle!!!!! Get a fucking grip OP

I have plenty of grip thank you :-)

I'm not talking about the environment in general - it's a massive topic and one that individuals can't solve.

But we are all in total control of what plastics come into our house. If big companies like Coca Cola, or dairies, or shower gel manufacturers suddenly found that their sales were slumping because people were buying different things, using soap instead of gel or milk in glass bottles, they'd respond to that. Or go out of business.

@ProseccoMamam, nobody is suggesting it's just Sally who's using shampoo bottles, but we're all part of the problem ultimately.

If we vote with our feet and support the more environmentally aware companies, surely that will have an eventual impact?

ProseccoMamam
denying to be part of the problem is not helping either.

Who do you think works and makes decisions in these HUGE companies by the way? It's people like you and me.

I lived in Germany in the 90s. Fizzy drinks like Coca Cola/Fanta were sold in really thick plastic bottles which you then returned to a machine in the supermarket and it printed you out a voucher to the value of the deposit on however many bottles you'd returned. You'd then use the voucher at the checkout to reduce the cost of your shopping. The bottles were then washed and reused.

They have this deposit system in place where I live in the US too, but the bottles are recycled rather than washed and reused. I'd love to see them being reused rather than recycled - we have the infrastructure in place already.

I remember the really thick plastic bottles in Germany too. Not just Coke - all soft drinks products. And mineral water. There was talk about doing something similar in Scotland recently but I'm not sure anything's really happening with it.

I went to the park today and as it’s january we could go into the bushes

Bottles and bottles there . So I picked them up and binned them

This thread has given me a much needed kick up the arse

Something invented only 70 ish years ago is on its way to destroying the planet

Ive switched to soap and I also want switch to a bar of shampoo but scared of taking the plunge as I have a sensitive scalp.

I was talking to DS2 (16) about this issue the other day, while he was making a cup of tea, and pointed out that many tea bags have plastics in them. He has just texted me from the large shopping centre where he has gone with his mates, to tell me he has bought some loose leaf tea, and a metal infuser!
We have also moved back to soap, away from shower gel and handwash

Glass bottles fell out of favour because they are heavy to transport. The British consumer will not pay the extra however many pennies to cover the additional materials and transport costs (primarily marginal fuel, but also how much can be loaded on each lorry, so can double).

Most replacements are not better for the environment than sticking with what you've got - e.g. replacing your 5yo petrol car with a brand new hybrid, when you don't actually need a new car, or replacing your existing reusable plastics with reusable jute/aluminium/wood etc. Look into alternatives only when you're already needing to buy new (and even then, could it be better to repurpose old plastic than buy new non-plastic?).

Shop charity shop, if you must shop at all. Swap with friends if you can - has one of you lost weight and one got pregnant? Resist buying stuff even if it does have green credentials.

That said, I agree that we can make better choices when we do buy new. It's awful to buy imported salad in December, but buying local salad is no better because of the resources needed to create artificial conditions for it. Buying local seasonal vegetables and not complaining that it's beetroot yet again is better. Buying frozen or tinned if you want variety.

I've learned a lot about this recently so it's definitely on my radar to make positive changes this year. Microbeads are absolutely out, and bar soap wrapped in paper/card replaces bottled shower gel - another benefit is that soap users don't need as frequent showers as shower gel users so there's a water and energy saving there too.

Tap water (even though I really don't like drinking plain water) is in. Breaking DH's fizzy drinks habit needs to be a priority too. Straws not needed. Avoid takeaways and eating out generally.

The reason why we don’t see glass bottles in the supermarket (apart from wine and beer) is that they’re really heavy. Each one used instead of plastic bottles or cans implies a substantial additional use of diesel for transport, with all the carbon footprint and pollution that implies. And whilst you can recycle glass, it’s a pretty energy intensive process, so by the time you’ve transported the heavy used bottles to the recycling plant, and melted them down, there’s very little saving over making them from scratch.

If you were reusing the glass bottles locally as they do with milk then the equation would be different.

I also think glass baby bottles fell out of favour over safety concerns about glass breaking. I remember when my middle child was a baby the worries about BPA in plastics was at its height and lots of mums were trying to buy glass bottles and couldn't.

Step away raises some interesting points and I would assert people in waste management know a lot more than I do .

I have been trying to research this and it’s very hard to get concise facts as to the merits of glass recycling versus plastic waste .

However . As we know there was a storm last night and as a result the streets are full of one thing only . All the plastic that has been blown away and we now have it in the greenery , the parks and eventually the rivers . I don’t like that aspect of this material at all.

So I think whilst education needs to be upgraded reducing what we use is also key and critical

Mooncup
Re useable Water bottles
Composting (best thing ever!)
Less take aways PERIOD. I feel so guilty I can’t even enjoy my Starbucks
Buying used and new
Proper recycling (ie washing it and separating the film from the RECYLABLES plastic)
Teaching our children
Picking up litter

I am not virtue signalling in anyway but I want to do more not less here

We use:

• Eco Egg laundry detergent in the washing machine to save on bottles of detergent.
• Ecover hand wash (buy a 5L tub, which you can refill whenever you need) in place of new handsoap bottles each time.
• Ecover washing up liquid (refillable bottle)
• SodaStream instead of fizzy water (still not great but down at least 8 plastic bottles per week)
• Don't use cling film at all
• Considering cloth nappies for the new baby but not sure if that's overly optimistic...

I want to find a solution to shower gel as others have mentioned. Also the quantity of single use plastic tubs and sling film from the shops is something to behold. Should shop at the market, but don't.

You get a fucking grip ProseccoMamam how stupid and ignorant to think that the end user/consumer doesn’t have influence over the packaging/buying decisions of shops and supermarkets. They have whole departments dedicated to market trends FFS.

Of course fossil energy and heavy industry play a massive part in the pollution of our planet - massive - but they are not the whole story.

See that turtle on TV with a six-pack ring on its fin, restricting the growth? See the multiple decomposed seabirds with deposits of plastic where their stomachs used to be on remote islands? I could go on. Where do you think that

Sorry - posted too soon.

As I was saying - where do you think that plastic came from? We are all part of the chain.

I would also like to see shops where you can refill bottles. So a massive vat of olive oil, or washing up liquid, or shampoo or other household liquids. You take along empty bottles, they fill them, and then you pay for the quantity you use.

I'd definitely be up for that sort of thing and yes you'd have to buy a 2 litre bottle initially, but it could be used hundreds of times.

Oh, and I recently learnt that a huge contributor of microplastics in our oceans comes from non-organic fabrics that we wash that release plastics. I'm sure many are well aware of this, but I wasn't and it's been a real wake up call for me.

Obviously natural fabrics cost more than poly alternatives but we've stopped buying poly and will try to get rid altogether as and when clothes need replacing.

www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/microfibers-why-our-clothes-pollute-oceans/blog/58853/

I find plastic bottles, the reusable type aren't to bad. As long as their looked after and cleaned they can last years.

I use a lot of stuff from lush because although you by it in plastic pots, you can take them back and they'll refill them for you, or recycle them for someone else to use. They also do toothpaste, and shampoo in the same pots.

I have a wooden tooth brush, I have a fabric bag I keep in my hand bag for shopping. Fabric wraps for loose produce.

I follow lots of zero waste blogs and youtubers.

Not doing anything to reduce plastic usage if I'm being honest. I've got more pressing matters.

@demirose87 but obviously not pressing enough that you can't post here about it

I listened to the report on Jeremy Vine earlier and I found it totally shocking, even though I´m fairly clued up about plastics… I’ve been following zero waste youtubers for months.

China banning the import of our waste plastics is a seriously big deal… having the rug pulled out from under us so suddenly means we have to buck our ideas up about waste… fast.

Pragmatically I do think we have to build incinerators to burn the waste… plastic can only be recycled to a degree, and only really “downcycled” to an inferior product. But incineration causes huge air pollution problems, reduction needs to be the main aim.

It’s necessary to tackle the problem at both ends… both at a personal individual level and at a collective governmental and industry level.

Here’s my contribution to reducing waste:

-Use loose leaf tea in metal infusors and teapot instead of teabags which contain plastic.
-Use a mooncup instead of disposables.
-Use mesh produce bags for buying loose veg (available from Amazon/Lakeland etc). If I’m buying say just a couple of carrots, I won’t wrap them, just put them straight into the basket.
-Buy meat from the butcher’s that comes in a tiny poly bag instead of a huge hard rigid plastic tray from the supermarket. Will see about taking my own tubs to cut that out.
-Get refills of shampoo and washing up liquid at the health food store. List of stores with refilling stations here. thezerowaster.com/zero-waste-near-you/
-Go to the wholefood co-op where I can buy goods such as rice, beans, muesli etc loose in my own bags/tubs.
-Simplified my toiletries usage by just washing my face with plain cold water and moisturising with rosehip oil. I use bicarb with a few drops of lavender oil for deodorant… yes it is very effective - try it out on a quiet day when you’re pottering at home. Switched to a bamboo toothbrush.
-Always take a folded up cloth bag around with me.
-Never buy any soft drinks, all we drink is tea, coffee, water, milk, the odd bottle of wine or cider.
-Buy almost all of my clothes second hand, bar socks and knickers. Also many household goods - the xmas tree and decorations were all charity shopped last december… we got a fab deluxe one for a tenner
-Take a mini tableware kit with me if going out to eat somewhere like Pret… camping cutlery wrapped up in a cloth napkin. Metal straws for life are available if you use them. Plus carry a glass water bottle.

Getting lots of good ideas from here - keep ‘em coming.

I use these for sandwiches: www.onyabags.co.uk/products/wrap-n-mat

They do have a plastic layer but I've had mine 10 years or so!

There's also a waxed fabric wrap my SiL uses, can't remember the name.

I'm going to buy a bamboo toothbrush next time and me and DP are going to get a second reusable coffee cup so we can both have one!

I just put my supermarket fruit and veg loose on the conveyer belt next to each other, then in the shopping bag...

Does anyone know of any campaigns to get big retailers to use celluose/paper etc alternatives? It was very successful with a company I used to work for (student services, the SU campaigned for sustainable packaging)

I think the other thing with food in landfill is that it decomposes and releases gases (methane??) that contribute to global warming...

I’m doing nothing, because I really couldn’t care less and there’s nothing that could even make me care.

You’ll find the majority of the population thinks the same, they just don’t want to admit it.