#plasticfreejuly

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Is anyone else having a go at this?
I'm far from perfect, but I'm going to give it a go. To keep me on track I'm going to keep hold of all the plastic waste I generate until the end of the month and have a sift through it to see where I can make further changes.
So far I've got the wrapper from a chewy bar I ate earlier and the wrapper from a packet of pitta breads I finished off at lunch time. I've bought all the ingredients I need to make my own pittas to see if I can do it. It looks fairly quick and easy.

[ClarabellaCTL]

Has anyone found a good solid moisturiser bar? I'm trying solid shampoo, conditioner, soap and a serum bar from lush but I haven't yet found a solid facial moisturiser with good reviews.

[PaulMorel]

We've been living plastic free for almost 2 weeks. It's not that perfect but we're trying our best. We've already bought some organic shampoo bars and whenever we go for groceries, we would bring our own containers for the cereals and other stuff.

[MERLYPUSSEDOFF]

I'm very late to the party here but I have HAD ENOUGH!
I am trying to change our house hold buying habits fro now on. So far...
Convinced the kids to have no individual snacks for school. I buy a large pack and divide it into small pots. This is a baby step, I realise, one week crisps, next week h/m flapjack...then???
Bar soap (and shampoo for me so far) for me and kids. Need a way for OH to take a body/hair wash to gym that wont go sloppy.
Stainless steel straws and take my own cup.
Reusable shopping bags. Will try to remember to pack pots for when I buy ham etc from deli s they will use your pots.

Any better ideas for me???

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Major fail today. I intentionally bought a Solero.
It tasted so good. But now I have it's plastic wrapper in my box of plastic waste.
I'll try and do better tomorrow!

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Thank you!

I will have a try and report back.

I've generated quite a lot of plastic waste already this from snack bars, cereal bars etc.
My son has Bear Fruit Yo-yos for his snack at school and I was really pleased to see they are wrapped in paper!
I now just need to find something for myself, or make my own. At this rate by the end of the month there won't be many things I won't have tried making myself!

[KimCheesePickle]

This recipe says to blitz up half the porridge oats

frugalfeeding.com/2014/03/05/scottish-oatcakes/

Other recipes I've seen use mostly pinhead oats, then a few porridge oats for texture.

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Thanks kimcheese. I'll have to give them a try. Do I need to blitz the oats first so the oatcakes aren't lumpy?

[KimCheesePickle]

Hound oatcakes are really easy to make... just oats and olive oil or another fat, pinch of bicarb and salt. Double up the oven while something else is baking, and they're practically free

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Welcome knitjob!
Cosmetics are plastic central, aren't they?! I'm really not sure what I'm going to do when I need a new mascara.
Good tips from kimcheese though. I also have a little bamboo rack that my soaps sit on. I got it on Etsy for about £1.
I'm really raging about food packaging tonight, specifically Nairn's oatcakes. They come in a cardboard box, which is great. But then inside they are packaged in sixes, in little plastic cellophane wraps. I know it's for convenience/freshness but it's so annoying - and I really love dipping them in my soup. I'm going to try Sainsbury's own and see if they are packaged better.

[KimCheesePickle]

Knitjob, store your bar of soap on a folded up dry facecloth to stop it disintegrating in the puddle of water around the wash basin. Also, bar soap is available in most grocery and personal care retailers

Re your hair, have you tried the curly girl method. Skip the shampoo and co-wash it (conditioner - try to get the bottle refilled at bulk stores - see here thezerowaster.com/zero-waste-near-you/ ) Look for styling gel in a glass jar. Spritz it with a little leave in conditioner (make your own... just water it down & decant into a spray bottle). Blow dry with a diffuser.

[Knitjob]

I want to focus on beauty products for my plasticfreeJuly challenge.

I'd like to switch to bar soaps but I find the smell of Lush really overpowering. I also don't know how you stop it getting slimy in the water. Bar hair conditioner would also be good bit I've got really curly hair that takes a lot of moisturizing so that might be tricky.
Any recommendations?

[torthecatlady]

We've been trying to cut down on plastic for a while and generally be a bit more eco friendly (whilst hopefully saving money).

Looking forward to hearing some tips

[LemonysSnicket]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/10-easy-swaps-plasticfreejuly-one-avoid/amp/

[MarthaArthur]

Ditto pick your own fruit farma if any close by. Is also a fun day out so I hear.

[MarthaArthur]

Oh i urge anyone who uses honey to look up beekeepers in your area. I live in a city and stumbled across a local beekeeper who sells his honey. You can contact them and ask to decant honey into glass jam jars :)

[Thesunrising]

Just did our weekly recycling. Thought I was doing pretty good, but the green box was still half full of plastics - main culprits were packaging from strawberries, raspberries and grapes, olive oil and tonic water. The drinks and oil can definitely be bought in glass in future, but soft fruits really tricky...

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

If I can make my own cordial, celtic, I reckon I can have a go at making my own beeswax wraps!

[Celticmombella]

@HoundOfTheBasketballs
Google how to make them... They are so simple and cheap to make compared to the price they are sold for.

[NoNotheresnolyrics]

As hard as this is I’m just trying to make changes where I can. I’ve stopped my nasty costa coffee habit which is s good start 😁

[NoNotheresnolyrics]

Thanks both for the suggestions! I’ll have a look into beeswax and use tinfoil for now x

[HoundOfTheBasketballs]

Welcome Nono and Celtic.

Sunrising - I definitely won't be making my own cordial regularly! It was quite the faff. I will look at the Belvoir flavours, although tbh we don't actually drink much squash!

Nono - I think to go completely plastic free takes an awe inspiring level of commitment and the ability to make enormous lifestyle changes. Not easy for everyone. I feel like any small changes I can make are good, and I'm using this month to look at what plastic waste I generate and how I can reduce it even a little bit.
I reuse a lot of butter/spread tubs to store food in instead of wrapping things in clingfilm. I'm also going to invest in some beeswax wraps potentially, which are supposed to be really good.
www.beeswaxwraps.co.uk

[Celticmombella]

@NoNotheresnolyrics @Thesunrising
I just got some bees wax delivered and I've have old sheets... 100% cotton. I googled how to make bees wax wraps. Totally reuseable.
All you do is cut material to size you want, sprinkle on some bees wax and put on a tray in oven to melt. Then hang it up to dry and you have bees wax paper. Use it just like cling film.

[Thesunrising]

Substitutes for cling film suggestions: Tupperware with lids for leftovers/storing stuff in fridge, greaseproof paper for wrapping things like cheese, tinfoil (again not great though...)

[NoNotheresnolyrics]

I’m finding it impossible!!!!!

I’ve switched my ketchup etc to glass bottles but Everything comes with plastic, as they still have plastic labels.
Even loose fruit I bought a plastic label attached to it.

What do you all use instead of cling film?

[Celticmombella]

I'm am trying also

• I've got a bamboo tooth brush
  
• I got cloth reuseable sanitary towels. I just put them in a separate bowl and wash them. Find them great
  
• I've saved all glass jars and reusing them various food items pasta, rice etc.
  
• I do my food shopping online (I don't drive). I've been buying food in larger packets and decanting it to glass jars. food is dropped into my house in plastic boxes that are emptied and put back on truck for next delivery... (They have a sticker with my order no on them) so no putting shopping into plastic bags/long life bags.
  
• I also try and do food shopping every 2 weeks to cut down on emissions from truck.
  *I'm also trying to make/buy organic cleaning products.