To ask you to share easy ideas for eliminating plastic

[AnotherDayAnotherIdea]

The easiest one that strikes me is not buying those plastic bottles of pancake mix, given how simple the recipe is. I am amazed they are even still sold.

Please share plastic-eliminating ideas!

Thanks for this thread op - some great ideas on here.

For me bar soap instead of plastic bottles of shower gel or hand wash.
Shampoo and conditioner bars.
Reusable water bottles
Laundry powder in cardboard boxes, we use either Lidl or Aldi own brand non bio as it is cruelty free, good value for money, concentrated and causes no itchy skin reactions for us.
Tupperware for packed lunches
Refillable deodorant - I like wild deodorant
I try and use a local refill shop for things like granola and washing up liquid. Although I've just purchased a washing up bar ( looks like soap) so I'll see how that goes.

Sodastream
Milkman

I avoid plastic bottles as much as possible, which is most of the time.

I buy second hand as much as possible, including furniture, clothes, books. I'm quite passionate about this. All my clothes etc go on Vinted or to the charity shop.

I’ve never heard of a bottle of pancake mix. I knew you could get it in sachets but a pre mixed bottle is madness. It’s flour, eggs and milk ffs.

Veg from Abel and Cole (uk only to reduce food miles as well)
Reusable glass milk bottles from the local milk station.
Smol for clothes washing and eco dish tabs for the dishwasher.
Hot food flasks and metal water bottles for the kids lunchboxes.
Like a PP we avoid ultra processed foods and we buy flour, eggs, sugar etc to make snacks rather than upf's in plastic.
I still hate how much plastic comes into the house and some of it is so unnecessary.

Go back to good old glass bottles that you used to take back to the off license and be given x amount per bottle back.

Unfortunately so many of these brilliant ideas are more expensive. It would be so easy for the government to legislate away a lot of plastic packaging. I genuinely have no idea why they don't want to. People used to put their tomatoes into a little paper bag for years.

I just started making my own yoghurt to save money and plastic waste. It's really easy (boil the milk, cool it, mix a spoon of yoghurt in, leave it), cheaper and way less plastic waste (we were getting through lots of tubs weekly)

Just to add it goes in a large glass jar with a lid like a kilner jar.

Sorry to be that person, but paper is not the great alternative companies make it out to be, either. It might be more biodegradable, but it comes with many drawbacks compared to plastic, too.

It takes more energy to recycle (let's face it, generated by fossil fuels), more chemicals to recycle due to bleaching, has a larger carbon footprint because it is much heavier by volume than plastic (so needs more fuel in transport) and uses vast quantities of fresh water in production. People also don't tend to reuse it, making the cycle worse.

So reducing is the only way forward, and also the only one to save money and not spend more.

Buy metal, glass, ceramics or wood over plastic where you can (kitchen utensils for example - there are a lot of swaps to make), but where you buy plastic, make sure it's good-quality hard plastic that can be reused over and over. Learn to mend and sew and get things fixed or turn them into something else that's useful before throwing them out. Clothes into children's clothes, bags, patchwork throws, rags for cleaning. Use the trades to get things mended before considering buying new. That sofa can be reupholstered, that car can last 20 years, these shoes can be reheeled and that piece of jewellery just needs a new link. Stop fixating on things matching a theme in your home and buy second-hand where you can. All of these will have a far bigger impact than a soap bar.

I know you have good intent. But reducing should be at the forefront of our shopping and living habits, and a lot of what is suggested here is about more consumerism, where we worry about the type of straw to buy without considering just drinking from a glass in the first place.

In our house.
plastic free toilet paper
smol products for - dishwasher and laundry tabs, body bars, cleaning products,
bqr soap for handwashing
mostly plastic free toothbrushes.
no plastic sponges or cloths
no wet wipes
reusable nappies when we were at that stage
never use fabric conditioner
have the same roll of cling film for ten years
re-use sandwich bags
use jam jars for storage of lots of things rather than plastic - so reduce the number of plastic containers we need
will buy lower plastic packaging options - eg paper trays or not double wrapped things
where possible - loose fruits and veg ideally.
will buy cans and jar alternatives for packaging when available
never bought plastic forks, table covers, plates etc for kids parties
Avoid buying bag for life bags at supermarkets and have too many tote bags or use bike pannier bags when shopping
compostable dog poo bags (dunno if these really are better but can’t be worse)

I now unwrap all the items - remove cardboard or plastic wraps etc - and I give them back to the supermarket to deal with.

Someone in my local Aldi does this - takes items, eg frozen pizzas, out of the boxes and leaves the boxes on the packing counter. I've often wondered if it's making a statement by putting the responsibility of disposal on the supermarket, or just a sensible practicality of having less to carry home and put in household recycling. Perhaps they live in a small flat or bedsit and don't have much space.

Or there’s these, fabric bowl covers.

www.amazon.co.uk/PHOGARY-Reusable-Vegetable-Preservation-Elasticated/dp/B0CLRBT54B/ref=asc_df_B0CLRBT54B?mcid=fc91a52c4524382c9ee4a1b19eb7606f&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697206362100&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3400726773451740957&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045370&hvtargid=pla-2265273882668&gad_source=1&th=1

In addition to all the other suggestions, just generally reducing buying stuff, especially if you don't actually need it.

Stopped buying fabric conditioner years ago - was using so little of it in each wash that it wasn't making any difference to laundry anyway. It was such a freedom not to lug it back from the supermarket, eventually rinse out the giant bottle, plus the detergent drawer no longer gets gunky. Win win win!

Trying to avoid the temptation of supermarket lunch meal deals, especially to reduce the unnecessary drinks option. Occasionally it's a nice treat but few people need a disposable drink every time. I shudder to think how many cans and bottles are disposed of every day, just because it's part of the meal deal.

Butcher for meat. They do put it in a little plastic bag. But it’s tiny compared to enormous supermarket plastic trays and film lids. I’ve joined my local growing Co operative so get cheap unwrapped organic veg in exchange for weeding and picking. So flavoursome, we also have a community apple orchard which is free to pick, the trees are labelled for when should be ready.

It is crazy how much stuff is wrapped in plastic now. When I was younger you’d pick your own carrots, potatoes, apples, grapes

I don't use clingfilm. I use bar soap for hand washing and in the shower. We use metal straws. I try and buy things in glass containers rather than plastic (not always possible), take cloth bags when I go shopping.

Sadly I did try this a few years ago...it was actually disgusting!

I use: https://serioustissues.com/ for loo roll. Made in uk from recycled paper, no plastic, and they plant trees.

Also..use your Library!!!!

I'm on a mission to return to wool. I have a wool mattress topper and I love it. Wool jumpers are so warm compared to acrylic. They are hard to find but luckily I knit fast and knitting yarn that's wool seems much easier to find.

My next mission is to replace my worn out coat with a wool one but I'm finding that difficult. Even really expensive coats seem to be polyester nowadays. I used to have a beautiful long purple wool coat I bought as a student that cost me £60 in BHS (1980s prices! Was still half my savings) but sadly it eventually wore out and I've never managed to replace it.

Don't buy processed foods , no-one needs to buy water in a bottle, think every time you pick something up is there an alternative pack (shampoos, washing powder etc)

I recommend vinted for proper wool coats. I think lots of people bought them “for best” then they never got worn or very rarely. I’ve managed to get a lovely boiled wool coat for spring and a fantastic greatcoat, silk lined. I genuinely love it .

We are gardeners, so grow a good bit of our own veg and salad. We have even grown mushrooms at times. I re use mushroom containers, both plastic and cardboard, use as seed trays. They can last years. Toilet roll inners are seed pots. Plastic bottles are used as mini cloches, funnels for killing weeds. Wax wraps for picnics.

We do what we can.

It would be so easy for the government to legislate away a lot of plastic packaging.
But the government has to look at the bigger picture. Less plastic food packaging = more food waste. Food waste and the environmental cost is a big problem. Transport costs (fuel) etc are lower if the weight of the product is lower. A plastic wrapping weighs far less than a tin can or a glass bottle. Plastic is an efficient barrier to protect food from contamination and protect it in transport.

I bought a box of glass jars for jam making, they were bigger than I expected.
Turns out large jam jars make brilliant containers for just about anything. Craft supplies, rice, flowers, leftovers, stuff I'm freezing (lid off until it's frozen). And jam. They also look nice.

No cling film
Washing powder in cardboard boxes
Milk delivered in glass bottles
Always try & buy loose fruit & veg. I dont really have a problem with this in the supermarket.
Take my own reusable bags shopping
Try to avoid buying things in plastic bottles if there's a glass alternative.

When the kids were small, we used washable nappies.

I'm aware we do still use a lot of plastic though. ☹️