Recently Will and I went to a discussion group at the Swansea Environment Centre about ways to reduce plastics in Swansea, and in our lives. The conclusion of this discussion group was pretty much that we all hate plastics, but we were still left pretty clueless as to what we could do to reduce use of plastic. A few people suggested alternatives to disposable materials such as clingfilm and sandwich bags, however many of these alternatives, while reusable, are still made from plastic, albeit recycled. The issue I have with this is that I have huge concerns about plastic full-stop. This doesn’t just apply to single-use plastic, but plastic as a material, specifically plastic coming into contact with food and drink which will then be consumed. We have been trying to reduce our use of plastic over the last few months and years, and have done so by changing the kinds of (and for me significantly cutting down on) toiletries that we use. For example only buying soaps that come without packaging or with paper packaging, switching to bamboo toothbrushes (if you do this, Save Some Green is the brand to go for), and switching from plastic sponges etc to loofahs and cotton flannels.
One of the main hurdles of going
plastic-free is that, while that is in itself enough of a challenge, if you
combine it with other ethical concerns it is near enough impossible. If for
example we are going to try and remove plastic from our lifestyles, while also
buying local, organic foods you are really quite stuck.
About a month ago we decided to cancel our weekly organic
vegetable delivery. We did this for a number of reasons, I suppose the catalyst
though was that over the last few weeks we have been adapting our diet and
lifestyle to make it more macrobiotic. We found that our delivery of vegetables
then included a number of things we would have preferred not to eat despite
being local such as potatoes, but also more exotic foods which we had overlooked
because they were organic, for example peppers. We considered that we didn’t
even want these foods, but we were just taking them because they were what was
available organically, and this is very important to us. We decided to trial
putting in a custom order with this farm instead, choosing vegetables such as
greens and carrots that were more suitable for our diet, but hit a wall there
because not only did this work out more expensive, but there was also no way
for us to find out beforehand whether these vegetables were local or imported,
and in the event a lot of them turned out to be imported. Another issue we had
overlooked in order to support this local business and buy organic was the fact
while many were in paper bags, a lot of these vegetables arrived wrapped in
plastic and we had no control over this.
When we decided to cancel the vegetable box we weren’t
really sure what to do. We looked at a couple of other schemes but ran into the
same issues, so in the end decided that we would just have a go at shopping at
the supermarket, buying organic vegetables. When I came to do this however I
found that absolutely everything came in plastic, even quite often in instances
where the non-organic alternative was available loose! There was also a very
limited selection available of British organic foods.
The short and short of it is that we were left feeling
pretty disheartened and not really knowing – short of growing them oneself,
which is the aim for the near future when we have a garden – where you are
meant to get your vegetables from, when someone tipped us off about the local
market now stocking a small selection of organic vegetables, something which
hadn’t even occurred to me. So I took myself down the market and found a
pleasantly limited amount of organic vegetables. I was able to talk to the
woman who served me and she showed me the invoice from the farm proving the
vegetables’ organic credentials (I didn’t ask, but it was nice to have it
confirmed!) I came away with two big bags of vegetables feeling very pleased,
but when I got home found I still had rather more plastic than I would have
preferred. So when I went back today I did the most ridiculously obvious thing,
and I asked if I could leave the plastic bags behind for them to reuse, and
they said yes, something you definitely couldn’t get away with in sainsbury’s!
So, although we’re certainly nowhere near perfect, by talking to a couple of
people and asking for what we wanted we’ve managed to cut down our weekly
consumption of casual plastics almost completely! (Nb. For several months I
have also been taking a reusable tin to the market for our laverbread. We
occasionally get some quizzical looks, but they have always been happy to spoon
laverbread into our tin for us rather than give us a polystyrene tub)
I guess the point
that I’m getting at is that though we’ve met several hurdles along the way, if
you persevere with what you’re after there is usually a way of getting it, and
sometimes all you have to do is talk to people, an instinct I feel has almost
completely left us, especially with the modern shopping experience of either ordering
online for delivery, or whizzing around
the supermarket and then paying using a self-service machine – no human contact
required!
Spot the difference! What happens when you just ask for less plastic - must remember to tke my onions bags back next week too!
I have been shopping at the market once a week now for the
last month, and it’s something that I really look forward to. I walk into
Swansea with my cotton bags, I pay in cash, I chat with the ladies on the veg
stall, and I come away feeling satisfied and comfortable rather than confused
and helpless.
This has been a bit of a ramble, but I will finish it with a
list of easy-peasy ways we have reduced the amount of plastic we both dispose
of and come into contact with in our daily lives.
- Switch from plastic to bamboo toothbrushes
- Stop using shower gels, shampoos etc that come in plastic bottles. Lush do everything you might need without packaging, or even better switch to a natural all-purpose soap bar
- Stop using scrubbers (kitchen and bathroom) made from plastics. In the kitchen we use a recycled aluminium scourer (which can then be recycled again) and a piece of canvas as a cloth. Bathroom use cotton flannels & loofahs/other natural materials (but please no natural sponges!)
- Shop for your vegetables somewhere where you can ask for the plastic to be removed and reused. Take paper bags, or reusable bags with you if you prefer for loose items such as mushrooms
- Where possible buy grains, flours etc. in bulk – even if these are still coming in a plastic bag you are using much less plastic. We also buy all of our cleaning products (washing up liquid etc) in bulk containers, and decant into smaller bottles for use
- Have a reusable bottle made from metal, or even better glass. We have a large glass bottle & two smaller glass beer bottles which we always use
- Exchange any plastic cutlery, utensils, plates, Tupperware etc with ceramic, metal, wood (acquired second hand where possible!) I also have concerns about deposits left buy metals on foods, and we try to mostly cook with ceramic and glass pans
- Never ever use plastic bags – remember your own! We also do not use bin bags – we line our household bins with (very) old plastic bags. When they are full we sort the contents for recycling and leave the plastic bag in the bin
- Bake rather than buy (actually make as much food yourself as possible). When you buy bread it comes in a plastic bag. Bake it, and you can wrap in a clean tea towel to keep it fresh, no contact with plastic required! Baking bread needn’t be a lengthy process with proper forward-planning
- Stop using clingfilm. Cover foods with clean cotton tea towels. Sandwiches etc can be wrapped either in paper or put in a tin
- Ditch the disposable razors. Will uses a metal safety razor, you only have to change the blade every month or so and there is no plastic. Better still, switch to a cut-throat razor which can be sharpened (this is next on our list)
- Stop buying new! Pretty much everything you buy new comes coated in plastic. You can buy almost everything you need second hand at car boots, second hand shops, gumtree, ebay etc without all of that packaging to worry about. Even many items which label themselves as green or eco friendly come covered in the stuff, and would be better replaced with a preloved alternative
- Something we recently found out – tea bags are sealed with a glue containing plastic! Not only does this mean they are not completely biodegradable, but this plastic will be finding its way into your tea, and therefore into your body. We will be using up and phasing out teabags and switching to loose tea in the coming months
- Recently we have sold quite a few things on ebay. We have not needed to buy any packaging, as have always reused what we have or managed to scrape something together. So when buying second hand stuff on ebay, in a sense we have also bought some packaging that can be reused.
- Ditch disposable nappies, sanitary towels, sanitary bags etc. More to follow on this...
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