It’s been a while since I’ve posted about plastic as I’ve been waiting to accumulate some more ‘sustainable swaps’ to write about. The truth is many of the previously discussed initial lifestyle changes one can make, such as seeking out loose fruit & veg, always carrying a reusable coffee cup, bags for life and straws, swapping to a bamboo toothbrush and even reusing old spray bottles to make homemade cleaners rather than buying new, have all pretty much become habit for me now. Whilst it’s become a bit of a light-hearted joke around the office, that doesn’t change the fact that more people need to be making these alterations to continue to encourage wider change – which so far, thankfully, seems to be working as my friends and family begin to make their own small changes! The more the merrier though as the saying goes.

If you’re unsure where to start or simply ‘haven’t gotten around to it yet’, head back to my first post of the series for some inspiration and dare yourself to read many of the current news articles about why reducing single-use plastic is so important. Yes, we’re never going to see huge changes overnight but the planet was here before us and will be here long after us and, in my view, is far more important than our lives will ever be. It is our home at the end of the day.

“It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.”

Source: IEMA

I still have plenty left to change; try as I might, I still can’t buy unpackaged like Quorn, yoghurt or milk. I’ve looked into using a milkman but I don’t think will work for us at the moment as we don’t have a porch or tucked away doorstep, so that’s one for next time. Fortunately, a large proportion of plastic milk cartons in the UK are made from already recycled plastic so don’t beat yourself up too much if you’re in this same situation or haven’t yet made the milkman switch. Some things have changed since my last post though, so what’s new?

Plastic-free shopping

This isn’t as easy as I’m sure many of us would like and the truth is that we do need to, as consumers, use our purchasing power and vote with our wallets where we can to show companies that we care about this stuff. I do realise though that this isn’t possible for everyone and that buying loose, free-range, high welfare and organic isn’t perhaps a luxury everyone can afford, so do work within your means. These are the ways I’ve been trying to make my shopping as plastic-free as practically possible:

• Loose fruit & veg – I’ve touched on this before but if you can seek out a greengrocers or farmers market it honestly isn’t as ridiculously pricey as the supermarkets make it
• Tins – beans, chickpeas, sweetcorn etc; tins can be washed out and put in the recycling bin
• Milk – as mentioned, most plastic milk bottles are made from recycled plastic already and can be recycled again, but there are glass options growing in popularity now
• Yoghurt – I tend to buy large pots of Skyr/natural yoghurt and keep them to use for other things or refill at zero waste shops like Natural Weigh or the soon-to-come Ripple in Cardiff
• Meat/fish – ask your fishmonger/butcher if you can use your own container, Asda, Cardiff Market and now Morrisons do this and I’ve had success with Sainsbury’s once but am unsure if this is a company-wide thing
• Seek out zero waste shopping opportunities – e.g. Lidl; you can buy nuts loose and bread if you want to, just let the shop know that you’re using your own containers

Hygiene products; panty liners

I was about to write *WARNING: taboo content* and apologise to any male readers but

then thought better of it. Periods should not be taboo and it’s absolutely ridiculous that one feels the need to introduce a warning before discussing something so common to half of the population. ‘uhnonee‘ previously The Tiny Tank has a brilliant talk about this on her podcast ‘Adulting’, which I absolutely love and strongly recommend, and this article from The Guardian is also highly relevant.

As long as I can remember I have worn a pant liner every single day, sometimes changing it to a second new one throughout the day and it became obvious to me that this was something I was over-looking in my plastic and waste reduction journey.
What were the alternatives? First of all, don’t wear one at all. Whilst this may seem the most obvious option, I find it uncomfortable and habit is a funny thing. So whilst searching online as I often do to read up on other zero wasters’ journeys and recommendations, I came across washable cloth panty liners as a thing and was intrigued.

These tend to be handmade from natural fabrics, mostly cotton but sometimes also bamboo, made to the shape and size of regular pant liners you can buy in the shops. Manufactured liners have a sticky side to attach it to your underwear which is plastic-based in addition to the plastic fibres infusing the pad itself. Cloth liners have wings with little poppers on instead which are visible when undressed but help keep it tucked into the pants, though you may need to put it back into position every time you go to the loo as they can slide around a bit.

How do you wash them? Are they sanitary? The simple answer is that you can rinse them in warm water or give a little scrub pre-wash if you like, but otherwise they just go in with your normal washing on 30 degrees and bob’s your uncle. I honestly love mine; in the weeks awaiting their delivery (they were made to order from Etsy) I made sure to try and use up every last shop-bought liner I could find lying around in handbags, pockets, make-up bags etc. and they arrived in the nick of time. I actually wouldn’t go back now! As with many other eco-friendly alternatives (cloth nappies, period pants, menstrual cups etc.) the cost is higher than your regular shop-bought, but over time it’ll cost you and the environment a lot less.

Mine are made from brushed cotton and are so comfortable and natural to wear that I’ve asked my mother to have a crack at making me some more to add to my current 6, which I wash and rotate religiously as obviously it’s not a whole week’s worth. I really would recommend making this switch if liners are something you use a lot, or even just to have handy at that all important time of the month. You can find a variety of sizes online (I reckon 6″ is about the same size as ‘regular’) as well as many tailored to actual period/sanitary pad purposes, though the thought can seem a little daunting. Just something to think about – it’s an insane amount of waste when you add it up!

I’ve also invested in a menstrual cup from Cardiff-based TOTM, but am yet to use it so will share my thoughts another time.

Natural deodorant

This is one that’s taken some trial and error, as does toothpaste but I’ll come back to that later. Lush do several different types of natural deodorant, including both a bar you buy in a block and this funky-looking powder that a friend of mine says is miracle stuff. I recently tested out the bar for size and had high hopes, but I have to be honest I couldn’t stick it out for more than a few weeks.

The first thing when it comes to natural deodorant – you have to accept that you will sweat. It’s not anti-perspirant; sweat is inevitable. Once you’re over this you can crack on trying out what works for you. I started using the deodorant bar from Lush a week or so before my holiday in April in order to get the hang of it, then continued to use it for some of the holiday. The problem I faced with it was BO I wasn’t accustomed to, nor did I particularly want to get accustomed to. Like I said, you will still sweat, but it was the residual odour of that sweat that didn’t work for me. This is a very individual thing so that’s not to say it wouldn’t work for others, everyone is different.

The one pictured that I’m currently using I bought on my last visit to Natural Weigh and I have to say, this one I’ve loved and intend to buy again. It acts like a roll on where you have to push up from the bottom to bring the deodorant to the top, rather like twisting a lipstick, then simply apply to the necessary area, let it dry and off you go. It’s from Kutis, the lavender and bergamot flavour, and I think that’s what makes the difference for me – essential oils are a wonderful thing and fantastic for a whole host of plastic-free alternatives. Plus, they smell good!

Lunch boxes

You may have seen on my Instagram a while back that I got really excited about finding some plastic-free lunchboxes in TK Maxx. Whilst it’s totally okay to have plastic lunchboxes because they aren’t single-use and you can keep old yoghurt or ice cream tubs etc., it’s particularly nice to find other alternatives out there that aren’t as fragile as glass can be. I’ve so far bought two bamboo lunch boxes, a set of three bamboo boxes with clip lids (for fridge/cupboard storage) and a lunchbox made from rice husks. Absolutely no complaints, they’re fab. Just be careful because many aren’t water-tight.

Toothpaste

As I said, this is another tricky one. I first tried a small pot of Truthpaste, peppermint and wintergreen flavour, and whilst to begin with I found it gross (the boyfriend couldn’t stand it) I got used to it after a while and it wasn’t so bad. It’s not the minty fresh feeling nor the frothing up you get in a regular toothpaste, but it’s not tested on animals either so it depends on your priorities. Once this ran out I dived in for a bigger pot from Natural Weigh which is Georganics, peppermint flavour, and this has sat on the side pretty much ever since. If I thought the first one was bad, this one actually tastes like a foot. So I’m yet to find one I love but perhaps will get another pot of the Truthpaste… be warned though: it’s one of those eco swaps that is sadly a hell of a lot more expensive than its plastic tubed counterpart.

Wax wraps and cotton produce bags

I recently expanded my collection of beeswax wraps and I use them loads to be honest, I really do recommend these for anyone looking to make the first few steps toward a more plastic-free lifestyle. A friend just got me for my birthday one with a stretchy bit specifically to go over bowls, how cool?!

Cotton produce bags are also something I’ve begun using recently because not only can you take them shopping with you as they weigh next to nothing, but also helps you keep things organised at home. I started off with three and have now expanded, all from Tabitha Eve Co, recently labelling my most used ones for convenience which I actually think looks kinda snazzy!

So there you have it. If you’ve read all of the posts in this series so far you should have a pretty good idea of what you can do to reduce your own plastic use by now! But it’s important to remember that nobody is perfect; unfortunately there are still too many occasions where I’ve had to find compromise such as buying reduced food to save it from waste, which seems pretty ridiculous to me that one can’t often do both. Every little thing does help though, especially if others are encouraged to join in too.
Please take the opportunity today, World Environment Day 2018, to make a small change and stick to it #PledgeLessPlastic – you can find all kinds of info and make your pledge on the IEMA website here.

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx