To think there is no real alternatives to plastic right now?

[speakout]

Like many I have been horrified by the videos of plastic floating in our oceans. I have been thinking about my own plastic use. I recycle ( council waste collection) as much as I can, but over the past week or two I have been looking at ways of cutting consumption.
There seems no real alternative to lots of stuff.
Shampoo? I see bars of solid soap like stuff in the health food shop- are they any good? Shower gel- OK I can buy soap wrapped in paper, but wash up liquid? Toothbrushes ( I have seen boar hair alternatives, not sure I fancy that) cosmetics? Detergent? Even loo roll is wrapped in plastic. Seems an uphill struggle- ant ideas?

Plastic bottle deposit schemes. Refilling bottles. Glass bottles. Not buying everything in plastic shrink wrap. Paper bags instead of plastic bags.

plastics didn't exist until relatively recently, and clearly people survived and thrived. No-one needs to buy it, but it is certainly convenient to do so, it all depends how much you are prepared to change your lifestyle.

Lush sell shampoo bars and any soap can replace shower gel as a lit come in boxes. I remember seeing bamboo toothbrushes somewhere. I'm trying too

I order shampoo & soap bars from www.wild-sage.co.uk and I love them. (I don't go to Lush because I don't like their ethics).

I go to my local independent supermarket, where I can buy veg loose & put them in my mesh bags instead of using plastic ones.

I agree though, it's still hard to avoid plastic altogether.

It is extremely difficult when supermarkets package so much in plastic. I do my shopping online, I simply don't have time to visit markets etc to buy my food. Yes I feel guilty filling my bin with food packaging, most of which cannot be recycled, but until the major players make a real effort to change, it is almost impossible to do anything about it.

I agree.the government should put the onus on shops and manufacturers not to produce plastic wrapped items in the first place as they are so hard to avoid and recycling is just a sticking plaster. Toilet paper didn’t used to come in plastic. Shops don’t have to sell fruit and veg in plastic bags etc. They could all offer refills.

Lush solid shampoo and conditioner are great and last ages, you need to buy the metal tin for each the first time but can then re use for next purchase.

Soap bars are better than shower gels, they get rid of dirt better and you'll find they get you cleaner.

For things like washing liquid its better to buy a massive bottle and then if necessary decant into a smaller container for use, less disposable plastic and travel miles on 1 big bottle then lots of small bottles. It does require you to have somewhere to store the bulk buys.

I also shop online to save time. Here is last night’s delivery to still be put away. All of this plastic is unnecessary but Tesco did not offer an alternative.

OP you are right in that, for an ordinary person with an ordinary amount of time on their hands and not living next to a market/alternative shop, escaping lots of plastic can be an issue.

However, there are a few little steps you can take.
You mentioned loo paper - buy the huge packs rather tha lots of little ones and you have cut your plastic use by half with a much smaller surface area : volume. Same goes for other plastic-wrapped stuff.

Buy only what you need and nothing 'just in case'.

On plastic containers, re-use what you can. We save plastic boxes from take-aways to store our leftovers in for freezing. We re-use bottles until they fall apart. Most plastic toys for my child are hand-me-downs. Most of their clothes are. I rarely throw clothes away - they either go to charity shops, get used to clean with or get sewn into something else (currently a patchwork blanket). We re-use bags until they can no longer be repaired.

We rarely buy anything for crafting. I save whatever plastic boxes and containers I can for that and visiting children love it.

If you look at microplastics, many of them come from tyre erosion, so driving less cuts plastic waste. As does using make-up without glitter and shine.

You can do so much without changing your entire lifestyle. Some here go to extremes and that is okay if it works for them. But for many, a life like that is not practical, so a bit of common sense helps cut down your use to a more reasonable level.

Stop using supermarkets wherever possible. I've been avoiding plastic for years. Fruit and veg is bought in greengrocers, milk delivered in bottles. Soap instead of shower gel. I struggle with shampoo though.

I am open to ideas.

Refilling stuff sounds great- but my nearest Lush is 30 miles away. I recycle all my plastic bottles atm. I re use ( hessian) bags. I try to buy loose fruit and veg where possible.

plastics didn't exist until relatively recently, and clearly people survived and thrived. No-one needs to buy it, but it is certainly convenient to do so, it all depends how much you are prepared to change your lifestyle.

And yes I get that- but life was not so geared around plastic- it was easier to avoid. Butcher meat was wrapped in paper ( only posh places do that now) Milk was delivered to the doorstep in glass bottles, even cream came in glass bottles.
Glass was much more widely used - for shampoo, cleaning products etc. Toothpaste came in tins.
I was born in the 60s and although plastic was available we did not use as much as now.
I do remember broken glass being everywhere as a child.

I'm just trying to adjust my mindset- I mean how can I buy yoghurt in a non plastic container? Or cheese? ( without again having to spend three times as much in a fancy shop?)

I'm looking to do more as a consumer, but I feel limited in my ability without spending £££.

Lush solid shampoo is great, the conditioner not so.
Bamboo toothbrushes are now available online,
I’ve bought the very largest sizes of things that are unavoidable like conditioner, so as to cut the plastic down as much as possible.

You can get Simple soap in Boots. It really isn't a niche product.

I think if everyone could drastically reduce their use though AND we made sure none ended in the sea it would be wonderful

Question- why does so much plastic end up in the sea? I appreciate we use a lot of plastic in the UK but how many of us chuck it in the ocean?! Anyway...

I agree we need huge change from supermarkets.

Until then I am trying to do my best in other ways such as big containers of laundry stuff i refill, soap bars (I love soap bars and but local, home delivered veg in paper)

Out of interest, what is up with Lush’s ethics? (I’m not a huge fan for other reasons)

but until the major players make a real effort to change, it is almost impossible to do anything about it.

I am sadly coming to that conclusion spaghetti.

And yes I don't have the time or money to seek out farmers markets and artisan shops.

why does so much plastic end up in the sea? I appreciate we use a lot of plastic in the UK but how many of us chuck it in the ocean?!

Take a walk down a beach on any given day and you find your answer.

That, and erosion of plastics over time (like I said above, microplastics, which don't get filtered out of our ground water).

Lush are pretty dodgy anyway - there are several examples online of how badly they treat their female staff.

Small changes - what we’ve done

The dishwashing sponges - replaced with rough cotton scrubbies, can be chucked on a hot wash.
Loose veg rather than packaged
Bags for loose veg - string ones that are reusable instead of plastic
Reusable metal water bottles
Bigger packs of non- perishables
Refill packs where possible (pouches etc)

There do need to be better and more widespread alternatives. We are lucky in that almost none of our waste goes to landfill (eco incinerator plus biogas and composting.)

empress thanks for the Wild & Sage link, I’ve just ordered shampoo and soap.

Speakout I’m like you, trying to do what I can. I wish the supermarkets would put out brown paper bags for loose veg (I only take the plastic ones for small stuff like sprouts). We try not to buy stuff in plastic bottles (pop etc) and I make sure I recycle all the plastic. I’d buy milk in glass bottles if I could as we get through loads. Have gone on to soap instead of hand wash.

I know what you mean OP. But I do think that doing what you can counts for something.

We use bamboo toothbrushes for the family (plastic bristles unfortunately, but still a lot less plastic).
Soap - I choose a brand that sells it in little cardboard boxes.
Mooncup and washable pads cuts out a huge lot of plastic.
Reusable bags / boxes for the weekly shop obviously, but also little reusable net drawstring bags for the weighable veg.

For washing up liquid / laundry powder I buy the most massive one I can and decant it. Not ideal.
I have really cut down packaging from the kids lunches too by getting them lunch boxes with sections. Plastic lunch boxes with sections...

But I still fill a recycling bin with plastic every fortnight, and take bags of soft plastics to the supermarket bin :(

At least we throw away very little landfill. One small size binbag a week for a family of five.

I reuse plastics in my garden- especially at this time of year. I try at least to give most things a second or third shot at being useful. Making beeswax cloths to replace cling film is another project I'm going to try. With the emphasis on "try" . Plastic is convenient and most of the time you need convenience.

But presumably there is a role for properly recycled or disposed of plastic? Not in huge quantities but recognising that it can be useful whilst at the same time
Minimising?

I feel like we have two issues. The first relates to the people/countries that dispose of plastics into the river and the second to how much plastic we all use to begin with

Eee
Flaming, thanks for the reminder. I'm going to order reusable pads today.
Calling, there's this blog by a woman who worked at Lush.

Lush are dicks. They sponsor Plane Stupid (terrorists) yet every Middle Eastern country I have lived in has malls crammed with their crap, all air freighted in. They certainly don't employ zany students overseas and pay a fair wage either. Just the usual 100 quid a month salaries for Philipinas.

There are new materials appearing all the time which may fill the need for more disposable yet light packaging. The majority of consumers will not radically change their habits, so we need to work with that.

We have used solid soap and shampoo for ages, just have two old school soap trays on the wall above the shower flow so they stay dry and last ages. Shampoo takes a bit more lathering, but works well.

Kids have Bamboo toothbrushes, we still have our electric ones but they are nearly 10 years old! Haven't moved away from toothpaste tubes though.