Ethical living for beginners

[Karlwho]

Hi guys, admittedly I'm new to this. I mean, I've always recycled (or did my best to, whether it actually gets recycled idk), and only recently I've really thought about making a commitment to living as plastic -free as possible.
My kids are like real-life Lisa Simpson's, and for years my eldest has been encouraging everyone to think about the environment.
Basically, I'm trying to go plastic free. And I'm struggling.
There's a plastic free shop about an hour's drive from my home, which looks beautiful and it stocks everything I need (in terms of cupboard foods like pasta, cereal, rice etc) but I don't drive, and getting there is very difficult for me.
I'm starting small, howev er like I said, I want this to be an ongoing lifestyle change, and frankly I'm sick of seeing cheapplasticcrap filling my home.
Any tips? Advice?

Just stop buying stuff (except food), you probably have enough stuff, most people do. If you do need something try and buy it second hand first. If you are getting rid of things either sell them on or give them away, don't throw them away.

Stick with the non-driving. Try and eat a plant based diet. Don't have any more children. Holiday in this country. These four things are the most important things anyone can do.

Recycling and using less plastic is less important. Getting to the plastic free shop would probably cause more harm than good in terms of pollution. I think just reducing your plastic use would be more realistic. I honestly don't know how anyone eliminates it completely. I also don't really understand the importance of it, when plastic is recycled anyway??

Thanks for tips, I watched a few documentaries (groan) or recycling, and it said that most of it just sits in storage yards not doing anything. Or because it gets mixed in with other materials its scrap.

have you done all the things like switching to soap and shampoo bars...no buying plastic tat....loose tea instead of bags (which have plastic, argh), no mad coffee machines....

etc etc

@RosaWaiting I've used solid shampoo for a while, mainly because they tend to be the only thing that works for my hair. I did try some solid conditioner, and really did not get on with it (I need to look at other options).
Pretty decent at not buying plastic shite, and my kids hate it too so I don't feel under-pressure by them luckily.
Coffee machines... YES I have a massive plastic monstrosity that I feel no shame in owning, >.< It's meticulously maintained. And I use the grounds as a body scrub.
I only just found out about the tea bags on this forum! It's gross. I buy loose green tea, however that's packaged in a big plastic bag so I need to look at another supplier.

OP, I couldn't find a decent solid conditioner either, if you find one, please let us know.

the coffee machine - hopefully it's not a pod type one?

so actually you're doing well. Cleaning products is the other thing that some people seem to be mad on.

Its a bean to cup one
I do use coconut oil a couple of times a week as a hair mask, its the daily one I struggle with.
Dh makes cleaning products and some cosmetics, so any household cleaners are brought home in massive containers and decanted into smaller container s etc.
I've just read about someone using loo roll to clean the toilet with instead of wipes, that seems ok.

dare I say, toilet brush!!

coconut oil - careful, that stuff clogs pipes.

Splosh for cleaning supplies

Milk and more for glass bottle milk deliveries

Also think about any “food miles” you can cut down on... I get my fruit and veg locally where I can

(Pretty new to this too so will be watching in anticipation)

Oh and loo roll... we use “who gives a crap”. It’s made from bamboo. A box of 48 lasts a bloody age so I don’t think it works out dramatically more expensive.

Re. Conditioner, check if anywhere local does refills. I've never got on with solid either so get liquid refill as a better than nothing option.

Thanks everyone for the tips etc.
...
and i love the loo roll name

Milk and more for doorstep milk delivery BUT our local dairy offers same service and charges 10p pint less. See if you still have a local dairy - will be harder to google because they don't have the advertising power, but they're probably online.

I did find a local dairy that delivers in the glass bottles, and it'd cost us three times what we normally spend. I don't even drink milk, it'd be for dh, and he flat-out refuses to cut d own, and I don 't expect him to.
I'll have a better look around, see if there's any more options.

This is the hurdle that's so hard to get over - often the more ethical option is much more expensive.

I'm new to ethical living too (and mumsnet, hope I'm using this correctly!!)
I just wanted to share some things I have done so far.
Milk delivery
A recycling station in my utility room for Terracycle stuff like crisp packets
Make my own yogurt
Bake my own bread
Only buy fruit and veg plastic free (pretty easy to do really! Even my local mini Sainsbury's has plenty of options. But I do miss berries 😭 )
Using soap instead of shower gel.
Make my own cleaning products.

I'm quite passionate that it needs to fit into my existing lifestyle. So fit example I won't switch toothpaste. I can't find an actual paste, that has fluoride, and I am not willing to switch to tablets because I can't use them with a 2 and 4 year old.

One big concern of mine was Christmas. I always receive so many toiletry gift sets, and I don't want them this year, and I also didn't want to use Amazon. I'm using this website: https://www.thingstogetme.com/
and asking for mainly experiences like tickets to things, and me and my husband have a gift fund for a big canvas bell tent so we can do more staycations and less flying.

Grow your own! Raspberries require little maintenance and our crop is usually good. Take your existing containers and pick blackberries now. Both freeze well.

You probably do more, for the environment than most people, simply by not driving!

Look at bioD cleaning products on a website called biggreensmile, they sell bulk 5L containers of cleaning protects products so you can refill existing bottles.

Use cotton dishcloths and run them through the washing machine regularly.

Buy what you can second hand, kids toys and clothes, your clothes, furniture. eBay is your friend as you can be very specific with what you want if you are patience.

Don't fly on holiday, this is a hard one for a lot of people, I still have an (ever growing) bucket list of places I want to visit, and accepting that I won't get to see these places is tough. If you do have to fly, only do it if you are going for a decent length of time. Weekend breaks abroad HAVE to stop!!

Thank you!! I will do that next year. I grew strawberries this year but it was mainly insects that dined on them ☹️
I did pick some blackberries and made jam from them as well 😋

unsubscribe from all junk/routine shopping emails, clear your inbox frequently, don't email/cc people unless necessary and don't send attachments multiple times.

The amount of energy used by cloud servers storing junk is astonishing.

loads of blackberries still around waiting to be eaten

Really kjhkj? I never knew that about The Cloud. I have unsubscribed from shopping emails anyway because i’m trying to stop mindless shopping and it’s amazing how much they and other advertising influence my decision making without me realising.

Can I suggest you look at a site called Splosh? They do refillable kitchen cleaner/bathroom cleaner/fabric conditioner/ shower gel etc. You get the bottles, then buy refill pouches that you send back to them for recycling.
The shower gel smells divine, as do the cleaners.
Worth a look, I think

Thanks! I have heard of them. I’ll have a look.

I often buy from here www.lovehealthhatewaste.com/ which sells goods past their sell by date at discounted prices. They deliver in recycled packaging too and often stock a lot of organic, green brands eg Faith in Nature.