#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.

I am doing this. We have a plastic free bulk food store just opened near us where I can take jars and fill them with all dried goods. I also bought shampoo and conditioner dispensers from there and can take them back to refill. Without that store I could not dream of this.

Other things we have already done:
Switched to soap instead of body wash
Got bamboo toothbrushes
Switched to mooncups
Got reusable coffee cups and water bottles

Where I know we will fall down:
Plastic food wrapping. I work full time and don’t have time to go to a greengrocer etc each day so we have a weekly Ocado delivery and everything is wrapped in plastic. I will try my best to order wisely but I won’t succeed in avoiding all plastic.
Toothpaste
Medicine packaging

Hi temple, welcome. It sounds like you are doing quite a bit already.
We also have a food cooperative here where I can buy things in bulk. You're right, it would be so much harder without.
I normally get my shopping online from Sainsbury's and all the fruit and veg comes in the little plastic bags. I actually live less than five minutes away from a supermarket so I'm going to try using a combination of going there and using the cooperative to try and buy more unwrapped items.
For me, going completely plastic-free will be nigh on impossible. But I'm challenging myself to see how close I can get!
Good luck to you as well.

I'm aiming to do this. What I've done so far:

Sun - bought a shampoo bar (non-lush) and a bamboo toothbrush.
Mon - took my own jar & got loose herbal tea from the herbalist and dog biccies from the bulk bin at the pet shop in a reused bag.

Had to buy poo bags today, can't see a hygienic way round that. They are degradable, but of course that means they just break down into microplastics.

Another problem is buying milk. We live in a town house directly opening onto the pavement, so getting it delivered in glass bottles would mean having it stolen more often than receiving it. I do get local organic unhomogenised. There's a dairy farm about 5 miles away along a cycle path, but can't see myself doing a 10 mile round ride to get milk.

I do the main supermarket shop in Aldi, which is horrendous for plastic packaging, but I do get quite a bit of meat from the butcher and veg from the greengrocer. I've already started taking my own tupperware and mesh bags so I'll amp that up and just stick to recyclable store cupboard stuff like tins & jars in Aldi. Also have a wholefood store, so I'll get nice local cheese in wax paper there and they also do Ecover etc refills.

I've already been using a mooncup, bar soap, tea infusers as regular tea bags contain plastic. A tip for bar soap is to store it on a dry folded up facecloth between uses to save it from becoming soggy.

I've made my own toothpaste from coconut oil, bicarb and a few drops of peppermint oil, and deodorant from bicarb with a few drops of lavender oil, so that's two plastic non-recyclable containers I've avoided. My teeth feel super-zingy clean, and I'm totally non smelly in this heat, despite being hot & sticky

Ooh I haven’t heard of this but always trying to do better. Packaging is the bane of my life. Also wish I could find a non-plastic electric toothbrush???

Have been using for a while:
Cloth nappies
Cloth pads
Cloth.... cloths 🤣 as opposed to kitchen roll
Stainless steel straws
Beeswax wraps
Ermmmm... there might be more. Want to buy some nicer Tupperware-ish tubs (stainless steel ones) but then obviously I already have a load of plastic ones which I won’t throw away so seems silly to buy non-plastic ones for the sake of it.

Keep meaning to get a safety razor instead of Venus etc type ones. You can get the razor blades packaged in paper so zero plastic all round.

Oh, I’ve got a veg patch this year which is obviously reducing my food plastic. I ask Tesco to deliver without bags but they still insist on putting loose veg into plastic bags.... literally what is the point. I never use those bags in the supermarket??

I’m vegetarian so not participating in the meat industry which can’t be good for the environment (I’m newly veggie and not evangelical).

Some great ideas on here - thanks for starting the thread. I’m trying to do plasticfreejuly, but realistically it’s going to be about reducing it rather than totally eliminating it.

I’m looking at alternatives every time I come to the end of an empty bottle/bag made of plastic. First challenge is shower gel. Is bar soap the best alternative? None of the refill shops near me do shower gel and the solid shower gel from Lush costs nearly £10 which is well beyond my budget.

Also do my normal home delivery shopping through Ocado but they are one of the few that don’t let you choose no plastic carrier bags, so Ocado won’t be getting my business this month. Have contacted their customer services about this who say they are studying the viability of offering customers the choice to say no to plastic bags. They need to hurry up!

thesunrising Bar soap is definitely far superior to shower gel. There was a long thread on S&B about it, the OP was complaining about getting whiffy half way through the day. The upshot was it was suggested she try soap and lo... no more whiff! Because shower gels are detergent based, they leave a slight film on the skin which can be a breeding ground for bacteria. Just don't use Dove bar because that's detergent based, not a proper soap.

Thanks Kimcheesepickle. Bar soap it is!

So far: shampoo/conditioner bars
Face soap
Reusable.cloth sanitary towels
Eco egg
Dryer egg
Loose veg
Ceramic coffee cup
Reusable lunch boxes
Water bottle
Paper straws

Hello Bendydick, sunrising, kimcheese and Martha. Welcome to the thread!
Loads more excellent tips and ideas.
I haven't been brave enough to try homemade toothpaste or deodorant yet, I must up my game!
Yesterday I made my own pitta breads to avoid buying them in plastic wrap. They weren't perfect, but perfectly edible and so I will try them again and see if I can make them better. Only took about half an hour.
I also made my own black currant cordial from the glut of blackcurrants on my allotment. This was a bit more time consuming and messy. It doesn't taste quite like Ribena, but it is very nice.
Here's to day 3 of trying to reduce our plastic consumption.

I am waiting for the uk to get plastic free suncream s so far the ones i found are too expensive and go off.

@houndofthebasketballs Belvoir do an acceptable blackcurrant cordial in a glass bottle that’s a 90% match for Ribena. Expensive, but good.

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.

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?

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 @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.

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

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

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 😁

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

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

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...

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 :)

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