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Ethical living

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Plastic free living

197 replies

stargirl1701 · 13/06/2015 19:29

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.

OP posts:
YoungBritishPissArtist · 26/12/2017 01:21

I'm wondering this too, theonlyoneiknow.

Milk & More deliver in my area but I live in a block of flats and it's difficult, for various reasons, to accept deliveries.

FourOnTheHill · 11/01/2018 19:04

I’m working towards this. Did cloth nappies, ditches cling film, always use travel mug. But I don’t do well at sourcing unpackaged food. Don’t have the time or the appropriate shops near me. Would like to do better

picklemepopcorn · 11/01/2018 20:41

Yes, the savings made in every other area of my life are swamped by the waste with food buying. I'm in the process of switching from online shopping at tesco to Aldi, so I'll be able to make more choices on packaging.

User5trillion · 11/01/2018 22:09

I have bought some pyrex dishes they do have plastic lids as they are designed for cooking and freezing food, but the smaller ones are great for using in the fridge to store odds and ends. They also stop me buying a ready meal when I dont have anything in for dinner and force me to be organised. I batch cook on a sunday and try to cook several things at once. Saves me money on food shopping as well as I.need to be organised.

I buy massive bottles of shampoo and conditioner but when they are done I shall be buying lush shampoo bars.

We switched to double edged razors from disposables.

I try to cook from scratch to reduce reliance on jars and packets.

I shop at lidl and try to buy seasonal and things with limited packaging but its tough. I buy frozen berries as they havent been air freighted here and have less packaging compared to individual fresh tubs.

We need the supermarkets and suppliers to do more instead of continually pushing the onus on us - although we should all take personal responsibility. We need a mn campaign to tell them, we want them to do their bit. Only use plastics that can be recycled, reduce unnecessary packaging etc.

We made a decision to meat less meat so therefore use less plastic that way.

We have reusable coffee cups and water bottles - although they are plastic I will get years out of them.

We refuse straws and single use cutlery.

Its food packaging I struggle with, so much of it is totally unavoidable.

We buy secondhand clothes and toys and dont fly but I am still keen to do more.

The defra publication today staring Mays 25 year plan for the environment and plastic was interesting and I read most of the 151 pages and there were lots of vague terms and get out clauses for industry - where economically viable or practicable and the like 😕 so we will see.

In my county 55% of rubbish is recycled, 25% is burnt in an energy from waste plant and 25% ish is landfilled ( I forgot the exact numbers but its something like that).

ememem84 · 18/03/2018 10:38

An update from me. Still trying to reuse reduce and recycle where I can.

I’ve used up an awful lot of beauty products. And am now trying our bar soap. I quite like it.

I’ve replaced our shower poofer scrubby things (the plastic mesh thingies) with flannels. Dh isn’t keen but im persevering. I have two “poofers” left which came with gift sets I was given for Christmas so will use these at some point but won’t buy any more for us.

Am using cheeky wipes for my make up removal and am seeing a difference in my skin so that’s good.

Have bought washable sanitary towels. Yet to try them but hopefully they’ll do the job. Still dubious about mooncup though.

I spoke with dad the other day about all of this and he thinks we’re stupid. One or two people can’t make a difference he said. I pointed out that surely if more people are more conscious then a difference will be made. He was Hmm

stargirl1701 · 18/03/2018 10:52

I spent yesterday learning how to make my own Beeswrap. I also got a dishwasher powder recipe to try. I made lemon vinegar for the base of a surface cleaner.

OP posts:
1000piecepuzzle · 12/05/2018 20:13

stargirl I'm interested in your dishwasher recipe, did it work ok? I've been looking for plastic free dishwasher powder for a while, but can only find plastic-wrapped tables or powder in a plastic bottle.

Yoghurt making - have had great success with the Lakeland one, using UHT milk (although it is tetrapak but still seems less wasteful than a million mini yoghurt tubs).

We've just started using "who gives a crap" toilet roll and kitchen roll, I really like it although you do need storage space as it comes in a large bundle!

Other easy swaps:

  • All cleaning and toiletries bought in 5L containers where possible
  • Solid shampoo and soap
  • Butter wrapped in paper rather than marg tubs
  • Glass bottle milk delivery
  • Breadmaker
  • Decomposting bin bags
  • Fruit & veg in paper bags from market stall
  • Pate in glass jar from deli (soooo nice!)
  • Wax-wrapped cheese
  • washable san pro
  • Laundry powder in cardboard box

Things I want to try next:

  • solid deodorant - any recommendations?
  • cellulose sellotape

Things I am struggling with that we still use a lot of:

  • Cereal packet plastic bags
  • All meat
  • Lettuces that aren't in plastic bags
  • Toothpaste
  • suncream & other moisturizer creams

Thanks for starting this thread OP Wine

OhHolyJesus · 13/05/2018 07:13

PiecePuzzle Lush has some good solid deodorants to try as well as solid massage bars which are good moisturisers and I haven't tried their solid sunscreen but will be trying that out on my next visit to the store.

If you have a slow cooker you can make great yoghurt in that with milk from glass bottles. It's my new favourite thing and made a pineapple and mango frozen yoghurt yesterday from leftover fruit and it was delicious and healthier than ice cream.

picklemepopcorn · 13/05/2018 08:13

I've been making my own peanut butter. It's much cheaper, no plastic lid or jar. The peanut bags are still thrown away, but the transport cost would be lower than the jars, so...

I think Lidl and Aldi do dishwasher powder in a cardboard box.

I can't get my family onto bamboo toothbrushes, so I bought a rechargeable one with just the heads to bin and replace.

I must go back to lush.

OhHolyJesus · 13/05/2018 09:54

Oh Pickle do send the peanut butter recipe - another thing to cut down on plastic!

picklemepopcorn · 13/05/2018 13:46

Well Jesus, I'm not sure about that... it's very hard! .

Literally, roast peanuts in the food processor with a slug of oil. I make a big jar at a time. It's great. Slightly crumblier than commercial peanut butter, but you could solve that if you cared enough. You'd just need to do a small batch first with the oil and a third of the nuts and get it really smooth, then add the rest of the nuts in.

EqualityIllusion · 15/05/2018 21:31

Hi everyone 🙂 - I'd love to join this thread and to learn from you all.

I'm trying to be mindful of what I buy, and working towards less single use plastic etc. I just went to the supermarket and felt a bit overwhelmed by everything!

picklemepopcorn · 16/05/2018 07:28

Hello!

I found a recycling website recently that tells you where to take things your council doesn't collect.

I've now got a big bag of thin plastics- bread bags, frozen veg bags etc, to take next time I go to the supermarket.

picklemepopcorn · 16/05/2018 12:37

I'm making kefir, so not buying any probiotic drinks or yogurts any more.

1000piecepuzzle · 20/05/2018 23:42

pickle please can you share the website you found?

I would like to start making peanut butter. However also trying to be realistic about what I have time and energy for. So at the moment buying it in glass jars (Whole Earth company).

This week I have:

  • got solid deodorant from Lush, thanks for the tip! I'm pleased.
  • got plastic-free gift wrapping sorted with paper tissue, cellulose and brown tape, and a box of birthday cards.
  • got myself on a community trip to the local dump / "waste management park" to find out more about what plastics can and can't be recycled in my area
  • finally managed to remember to take reusable cups to the local pool cafe where they always give me single use plastic ones for water dispenser for DCs
  • got given some bamboo straws! Any tips on how to clean them?

Next week:

  • bamboo toothbrushes
  • fit in a trip to Aldi to investigate dishwasher powder options and bulk buy!

Struggled with:

  • travelled away with work and ended up buying lunches on the go including the dreaded plastic bottle of water.

EquityIllusion it is overwhelming when you try to change everything at once, I'd recommend just changing one or two things a week and before you know it you will be making a big difference.

picklemepopcorn · 21/05/2018 07:42

Here we go...

www.recyclenow.com/

There is a 'where can I recycle' function half way down.

Also, I've joined a zero waste making circle on FB. They organise make workshops, and post ideas and photos.

EqualityIllusion · 21/05/2018 13:13

Thanks 1000, I think you're right about taking one step at a time.

I've now got a re-usable water bottle, some beeswax wraps, and a solid shampoo bar 🙂.

Onwards and upwards.

ShamelesslyPlacemarking · 22/05/2018 05:13

Just found this thread. Have been working my way through becoming plastic free (well, more accurately, single-use plastic free, as I have a number of reusable containers, long-term kids' toys like Lego etc that are plastic).

For me a big part of it is petitioning manufacturers to take responsibility for the products they make. At the moment a huge amount of the responsibility for waste rests on consumers - which is partly fair, because we're the consumers after all - but as a lot of people are finding out, sometimes there are very few feasible alternatives.

For example, where I live, there's no alternative to dairy products in plastic except for just not consuming them. That's not a step I'm ready for, so I'm frustrated about lack of alternatives. I've been petitioning local boutique groceries and dairy companies to offer a dairy refill service.

Although individual action is really important, I've seen a lot of people on plastic-free forums etc tie themselves up in knots about small uses of plastic, when the reality is that significant change can really only be achieved at the manufacturing level. Perhaps we can be a little kinder on ourselves, and use that extra energy to push for change at a higher level.

Mmmmdanone · 22/05/2018 20:09

Don't know if this has been mentioned but I just made liquid soap. My kids get through loads of this so was chucking out a plastic bottle every fortnight. Just melted half a bar of grated soap in hot boiled water in a pan, then transferred to an empty soap dispenser while cooler bit still runny. Got thicker after an hour or so. It's a bit of an odd texture but works fine!

Mmmmdanone · 22/05/2018 20:12

I've also just bought an easiyo yogurt maker as my own efforts were bad.

OhHolyJesus · 22/05/2018 21:34

Love that idea MmmmDanone - definitely worth a try as we get through she's loads here too and a bar of soap is quite slippery for little hands.

EqualityIllusion · 22/05/2018 22:03

Shamelessly - I completely agree with you. There is only so much that consumers can do, whereas companies could do a lot more if they chose to (or if they were forced to due to legislation).

1000piecepuzzle · 29/05/2018 23:16

Shamelessly, yes I agree. Having spent this week googling to try to find a toothpaste with fluoride but no plastic / easily recyclable, and failed. Over to the manufacturers on that one.

On a more positive note I am liking the bamboo toothbrush and found some plastic-free dishwasher tablets on the internet.

Next week I'm going to look for plastic free cat food. I get tins but they come wrapped in plastic. Perhaps just buying the individual tins rather than a multipack. And the dry cat food is also in a plastic bag, but I feel like there should be a cardboard alternative somewhere...

I do feel though I am starting to reach the end of easy swaps and future changes will require more "giving up" of stuff rather than replacing with alternatives. Goodbye grapes, lettuce, meat, cat?? Not sure.

3kidsandafewcats · 01/06/2018 14:52

I’m finding these mumsnet threads great in helping me reduce my plastic waste.

1000piecepuzzle I buy single Whiskas cat food tins from Poundland 2 for £1. Last week I bought Harrington’s dry food in a paper bag from PAH.

So far I have bought Lush shampoo and conditioner bars, bar soap and bamboo toothbrushes. I also have glass milk bottle and fruit and veg deliveries.

mamapants · 09/06/2018 12:40

Has anyone found ground coffee in recyclable packaging?
Googling is useless.

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