Plastic free living

[stargirl1701]

Has/Is anyone worked towards this? I have just started and could use a buddy. I feel quite overwhelmed tbh. I'm hyper aware of all the plastic in my life at the moment. It seems a momentous undertaking right now.

[Wildernesstips]

Sorry to report but my plastic free mascara was awful - ended up with panda eyes within a couple of hours, so back to plastic until I find an alternative. Open to recommendations.

[augo123]

I found that this is generally getting a lot cheaper. I like to make as much myself as possible but unfortunately time doesn't always allow me to do everything I want to!

My favourite plastic-free shop is www.lifebeforeplastik.com - it's run by two sisters who also give out good know-how. Things like buying a shampoo bar instead of 'normal' shampoo (in a bottle) as they can last for up to 6 months! You might need to invest a little more at the beginning but it often goes a long way.

Also - shaving! So I got myself a bamboo razor from www.shorelineshaving.com/. And it's the best thing I've ever gotten! All you do is change the blades (which is a very minimal cost) but the actual razor should last a lifetime. It's brilliant!

[ememem84]

We’re moving house and I’ve bought proper things to recycle and am trying where possible to be plastic free.

Dh is on board.

I posted a while back about the small steps I’d made. Still ploughing on with these.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Squelchy that’s really interesting about cross contamination and for me it’s one of the big issues with kerbside recycling. I have been wondering whether collecting card/glass/cans separately and taking them to the council tip (ie self sorting them) would cut out the possibility of cross contamination and whole batches being sent to landfill despite being ‘recycled’

[Squelchy]

NewLampsForOld- Have you checked the recycling labels on the outside of your cereal packets? I too got really excited seeing that Weetabix seemed to have reverted to paper wrappers, but on closer inspection it's mixed materials, not recyclable. If it goes in with our paper recycling, the whole batch it ends up in at the plant will be contaminated and have to be chucked.

[Squelchy]

I'm in the same boat on sensitive toothpaste and have been looking for a while with no joy, so have resigned myself for the time being to using the ones I get on with (containing stannous fluoride) as a necessary "medical" requirement. Which reminds me, does anyone know of paracetamol/ibuprofen sold the way it used to be, in child-proof jars? My assumption is that the law changed to make blister packs a requirement, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-leicestershire-45759712

Also, has anyone seen this? I’m definitely going to be saving ours from now until this scheme is up and running.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

We’re just scratching the surface too but I really feel the weight of it at the moment. Lots of high profile stuff about it will hopefully spur more people on, and then manufacturers might get the message. They need to tax the hell out of plastic when there’s alternatives available for a start, don’t they?

I’m starting by collecting our non recyclable plastic in a bag in the kitchen, as leverage with Dh and dc that this is something we ALL have to be more focussed on, just a few minutes extra a day, but that we HAVE to. I think up to now it’s been portrayed as a choice, and I think the government really need to make it non negotiable.

[PlasticAlternative]

Hi, I am looking for a non-plastic washing up liquid in the UK. I'm not interested in buying bulk in plastic.
Anyone ANYONE found a decent toothpaste not in plastic yet. I have sensitive teeth and have not been able to find an alternative.
Also toothbrushes. All the ones Ive seen are either plastic bristles or v.expensive and slightly ick hog bristles!

[Wildernesstips]

@OhHolyJesus it's from Luna Beauty Zero Waste. I found a blog post from Moral Fibres which listed sources of ethically packaged beauty products. This one was the only one in my price range at £11!

[OhHolyJesus]

@Wildernesstips oooh share share...I haven't quite found the time to burn almonds individually as advised by a Buzzfeed zero waste make up trial!

[Wildernesstips]

I'm taking baby steps on plastic free living. I am running out of mascara and have just ordered one in glass and metal. It has no brush but I can reuse my old one.

Walked round the whole town this week looking to buy apples not in a plastic bag. Does anyone know why you can't recycle the plastic bags that apples and similar come in? It seems like they are similar to bread bags which can be recycled with supermarket bags.

[NewLampsForOld]

We are only scratching the surface at the moment, but getting lots of great suggestions from this thread. Thank you.

We buy our washing powder in cardboard boxes, use our water bottles and reusable coffee cups when out and about, use cloth shopping bags and walk whenever possible, rather than take the car for short journeys.

We recycle our glass / metal jam and marmalade jars to store small amounts of leftovers in the fridge, make overnight oats and as containers for odds and ends or home made gifts (sewing kits, truffles, peppermint creams, mini manicure sets).

On the cereal front, Weetabix, Shredded Wheat and Porridge Oats don't have plastic inners.

I do feel we should only move to a non-plastic option when replacing stuff. No point in throwing anything away regardless, but wait until it is broken or no longer fit for purpose.

[1000piecepuzzle]

I recommend watching "The secret life of the landfill" on bbc4 iplayer. Very depressing to see old landfills being eroded into the Thames tideway. When I will euromillions I will invest in landfill mining!

[PaulMorel]

We're also starting a plastic free living. Whenever we go out for groceries we bring our own containers. Also we don't use plastic straws, instead we use paper straws. I'm not also a fan of using steel straws. You can purchase paper straws at amazon or any nearby supermarkets.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

I shall follow this. Looks good.

[gigi556]

I'm not sure if this idea has been mentioned but I’m looking into organizing a food buying group. Basic concept is group get together and order wholesale food, household goods, etc. Less packaging waste, money saving, community, building are some benefits. I have quite a few local families interested and I've set up a wholesale account with Suma to check into pricing etc. More info on concept here: www.sustainweb.org/foodcoopstoolkit/buyingclubs/

[1000piecepuzzle]

Its great coming back to this thread to get new ideas and see new people keen to make changes. I've started talking about this more in "real life", which I'd been avoiding as I didn't want to get all preachy, but its surprising how many people are interested and making changes themselves already.

Its been a plastic full summer holidays as DH has been doing much of the childcare and isn't too fussed about our own plastic use, so loads of buying lunches out with all the associated packaging rather than packed lunches, etc. However he has got us all into the habit of picking up litter at all the playgrounds we visited. We picked up 80 pieces one day in an hour while the kids played. He reckons this is a much better way of preventing plastic from reaching the sea, rather than obsessing over our own recycling.

I am still making choices to buy plastic free items to replace stuff as it wears out - e.g. got a metal and wood dustpan and brush, and a wooden toilet brush.

Does anyone here support charities working to reduce plastic in the oceans? I do think our own efforts are a bit pointless sometimes when I read about elsewhere in the world. E.g. small tourist islands in Indonesia which have no waste facilities, simply pick the rubbish off the beaches and dump it back out at sea. I am looking into the Ocean Cleanup Project but has anyone heard of any other projects?

[thedevilinablackdress]

@DontFundHate I'd use up everything you have. That's proper zero wasting. You could give away but they might not get used.

[OhHolyJesus]

@DontFundHate for my slow cooker I use two pints of gold top milk from milkman and about 2-3 tablespoons of yoghurts (about 100 ml I think but to be honest it's whatever is left from the previous batch). It thickens in a jar in the fridge and you can mix with puréed mango for a mango lassi with milk and make frozen yoghurt lollies with that or fruit compote (the blackberries near us are ripe and free if you can them growing nearby).

[OhHolyJesus]

@DontFundHate you could try making your own yoghurt in a slow cooker or just heating/cooling the milk. You heat to around 80 degrees, let it cool to around 40 then add active yoghurt and leave covered overnight. Strain it for a Greek style yogurt and use the whey as a hair conditioner/food for the plants. Keep some back to make the next batch.
As the milk comes in glass bottles it's plastic free aside from the original yogurt used but then you never need to buy yoghurt again! I've been doing this once a week for about 3 months.
You might want to sweeten with honey but that comes in a glass jar so it still counts as Plastic free!

[DontFundHate]

So many typos sorry!

I meant I can't shop in Aldi anymore, big supermarket has more choice

And my question - I want to do soap bars etc but have a backlog of liquid hand wash.

Phew sorry folks!

[DontFundHate]

I am.looking for recyclable instant coffee without plastic lids though, thoughts on kenco eco refill?

[DontFundHate]

@mamapants yes! Illy is in a tin and union coffee, three-sixty, Costa and Caffe Nero in paper bags. Can get them all from ocado

[DontFundHate]

Hi! Can I join please? Still working my way through this thread

This is what I already do - bamboo toothbrush, deodorant soap, bar bubble bath, reusable coffee cup, I use my own cutlery, reusable shopping bag, cotton bags for produce, Tupperware for butchers counter, I try to buy loose fruit and veg but that's frustrating as it means I can't shop in also anymore as it's all in plastic, our big supermarket has so much more choice so more change to get plastic free. I've also ordered beeswax paper. It's great to see it all written down!

A question though - I want to switch to hand soap, soap in shower etc but I have a huge collection of spares. I'm tempted to give these to charity and buy bars from now on, does that make sense or is that a bit silly??

Also interested to hear about butter paper. Anyone had any luck with plastic free yogurts? We buy tubs of natural yogurt (also trying to go sugar free like someone mentioned above, aren't we all great people!) So I'm.goinf to switch to buy a very big tub every so often instead but I think that's the best I can do?

Thanks everyone, keep it up!