Plastic Free Blogs - Sarah
About me
Project Manager in green tech, political activist and busy mum of three girls. Part of an extended family who is passionate about the environment.
Decided to give Plastic Free July a go in 2018 to see what changes consumers can make alone, and where we need manufacturers and supermarkets to make the big changes.
Given the number of plastic-free gifts I received for Christmas, these campaigns seem to be making waves!
The Changes I’ve Made So Far
In preparation for going plastic-free in July we stopped buying milk in plastic bottles and now have ours delivered in glass bottles three-times weekly. Even when we moved house, we took our delivery with us.
Beeswax wrap for sandwiches and for covering food in the fridge is another habit we have changed. It isn’t perfect but it does the job and my sister-in-law actually made us a new wrap by soaking a fabric square in melted beeswax- it’s easy to wipe clean and looks a lot nicer than clingfilm. It’s worth knowing that the PVC used to make clingfilm is really hard to recycle even where it is collected, so weaning ourselves off it is really important. We have also been using paper bags for packed lunches.
Of course, we also take our reusable shopping bags with us when we go shopping. Hopefully, everyone does this by now! I love my little foldable one that stays in my handbag just in case I end up buying something unplanned.
We switched to reusable drinks containers a long time ago and so disposable water bottles are out, as are coffee cups. The bamboo cups are much prettier and coffee shops all seem to be on board now with refilling a reusable cup- no more excuses here!
We also switched to bamboo toothbrushes, which we use alongside our electric toothbrushes. We tried homemade toothpaste but it was not nice so unfortunately we’re still using plastic tubes…
Lastly, at shower time, we are complete converts to shampoo and conditioner bars, homemade soap and plastic-free deodorant sticks.
My New Year’s Resolutions
Being better prepared! I am often out and about when I realise that it’s lunch time and I haven’t packed a sandwich. I still buy plastic-wrapped snacks and most of the films that they come wrapped in are not collected locally for recycling. I need to get organised the night before and make that sandwich!
The areas I would like the supermarkets to work on are to stop plastic-wrapping cucumbers and broccoli. There is a good argument for plastic packaging on some foods, but not all need it and it is almost impossible to avoid. We will also stop choosing anything in a black plastic tray as this is very hard to recycle.