40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day 19

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day 19

How's everyone's week been? It's been seven days since my last confession blog. I'm happy to say that changes I made at the beginning of this challenge are still going strong and they are simple changes that everyone can make with a bit of forethought:

• Saying no to plastic bags - which means always having your own bag for life or one of those "fold away to virtually nothing so can fit in your pocket" bags with you. You know the ones I mean?
• Saying no to disposable tea/coffee cups and bottled water - again it means taking one with you. Soon it will become the norm - just another thing to pack.
• Saying no to fruit and veg in plastic bags - whether this means changing where you shop or taking your own paper produce bags.
• Making your own lunch box snacks and biscuits - fortunately I'm a keen baker but cookies and flapjacks are probably some of the simplest things you can make so go for it!
• Doing away with clingfilm and using paper sandwich bags instead - bulk buy from Ebay.
• Buying waste free toiletries - this will be a slow process as you finish what you have already before gradually buying packaging free alternatives.
• Making home baked bread - I'm still doing this despite my earlier reservations. Today I made white baps for a BBQ pulled pork and home-made apple sauce filling. Before anyone criticises my choice of filling, we probably eat meat 2-3 times a week and make an effort to eat vegetarian meals regularly.

This weekend we went to a local farm shop at Stanhill Farm (coupled with an afternoon at the neighbouring park) as I had heard that they offered a packaging free service on dried goods. So off I trotted with my bag for life stuffed with containers of all shapes and sizes.

I had a list of what we needed so I wouldn't go crazy. At present it is still a very small concession within the farm shop but hopefully they will add to it as demand grows. We bought sultanas, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and couscous but they also had pasta, rice, pinto beans and lentils. We also bought rolled oats and bread flour in paper bags. The other cereals were a bit pricey so we passed on that but bought some veg we needed instead. Might have to rethink our breakfast menu as most cereals come with plastic inserts and many are very sugary anyway. Avocado on toast perhaps?

Who remembers Ready steady cook? The photo above reminds me of what they used to pour out of 

their bags for the chef to create something magical with. Aubergine and rhubarb flapjack anyone? 

I took out my general rubbish bag this morning - 2 weeks of rubbish in the picture below consisting of film lids, freezer bags and wrappers. There's probably a lot of kitchen towel in there too which is another change I want to make as using washable cloths and hankies will cut down on the waste levels in general and save money. Let's see if I can make it to 3 weeks before I have to empty my kitchen bin again.

I had to laugh when I saw this post on Morrison's facebook page promoting their wonky veg selection. 

Who at their head office thought that this was good PR? All the feedback in the comments criticised them for all the plastic packaging. Let's hope they listened and went back to the drawing board. Imagine how much extra attention and popularity they could get if they did it without the packaging. If you want to find out more about what they have and plan to do then check out their page here .When I searched for an image of wonky veg I came across some articles about veg box schemes that Morrisons offered - but I have not seen this in store, on their Facebook page nor on the page about their UK Plastic PACT - you'd think that they would push this wouldn't you. 

Morrisons is a 2 min walk from me so I do not tend to shop as Asda's, Tesco's or Sainsbury's but if you have seen something worth mentioning then do comment below.

A couple of vegetables we love and can't get packaging-free are lettuces and baby spinach so I will be looking at the cut and come again varieties that I can grow on the patio. We have just brought some strawberry plants today to fill an upcycled wheelbarrow that we have. 

Head up everyone- Spring is coming!!

Have a great week and thanks for reading.

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day 12

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day 12

A few days break from blogging for a couple of reasons; it might start getting a bit tedious reporting every day (for you I mean not me), there's not a lot to report each day and I have relations staying so today's blog entry will be a summary of the past few days ...but it does not mean that, although I have been out of site, the thought of cutting out plastic has been out of my mind - far from it. 

Stir fry was on the menu for Saturday night so I needed to make a trip to Morrisons. Instead of buying bagged stir fry mixed vegetables and another bag of beansprouts I bought a few loose veg in paper bags and tinned bean sprouts instead. I also stopped at the deli counter with my container and asked for a few pieces of chicken breast. So far so good! Knowing that I could recycle crisp packets and Pringle cans I bought these as snacks for my family to to eat whilst watching the big rugby games. I had a very patient Mum and Daughter with me who waited whilst I checked various packaging and tried to find alternatives in the shop... on a Saturday lunchtime... so thank you...

I would maybe have prepared some homemade snacks for the ruby game but I had a big celebration cake to decorate before the end of the day. 

Fortunately the packaging for most items I need for baking can be recycled e.g. egg cartons, paper flour bags and some butter wrappers (which I need to look into further because on the Morrisons label it states that it is foil but in Sainsbury's it is mixed packaging and therefore cannot be recycled). But the fondant icing is a different matter - all these are wrapped in plastic and I believe that when they are opened any left overs are best rewrapped in plastic to maintain the softness until next time. I might have to find a recipe to make my own fondant icing especially if I want to be baking more cakes!

One other thing I wanted to top up on was porridge but in the supermarket many of these are in plastic bags or with inserts. However a bag of Morning flake porridge looked like it was a paper bag. 

But when opened it it was lined with plastic so I have emailed them as it was not clear after reading through all the small print on the back. I did not know what the Mobius Loop symbol meant - do you? So here is a link to an explanation of all the different symbols you may find - now I just have to memorise them for my next shopping trip......

Today we had a trip to the softplay and I had the forethought to take a water bottle for my daughter and a reusable coffee cup for me. At the cafe they were serving tea and coffee in disposable cups. They did not bat an eyelid when I asked if I could have it in my reusable cup even through it was twice the size of their disposable ones - so double points there.  My idea of a family cinema voucher for my nieces and nephews went down well as it made a nice change to more toys and more boxes and packaging strewn everywhere. I think we may start saving up theatre vouchers to create some special days out especially as the family orientated West End shows are probably the most expensive.

I tied in the trip to the softplay with another trip to Lush - this time for a moisturising bar and a shower gel bar,  It does seem pricey compared to the £2 bottles from the supermarket but at least you also know that you are using 100% ingredients too and there is no palm oil used. I'm touching on another environmental issue there which I may tackle after this challenge.

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” ― Rumi

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge Day 9

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge Day 9

If you read my article the other day you might remember I had ordered some paper sandwich bags with a request to send them with no plastic packaging following my husband's online order for trainers. So they arrived in the post in a box and I thought cool that can be recycled but I opened the box only to see a grey plastic mailing bag inside! I was mildly annoyed to say the least. But onwards we march even though it has been a frustrating day. 

I went to Sainsbury's to check out the deli counter and the lady was not too confident about putting stuff in my own containers despite my email from their social media team last night, She even proceeded to insert a layer of plastic between each slice of ham after I told her what I was doing - just goes to show that many of us are on auto-pilot when it comes to relying on plastic. I was not impressed either when shopping their for fruit and veg as they still use plastic bags for their loose produce and I was determined not to purchase them there. Instead I made a slight detour on the way home to get the few things I needed at a local greengrocers. I talked to him about what I was doing and we had a good natter and a moan and we were joined by another customer too. Felt quite good really - not sure I would get that with the supermarket cashier or self service tills!

So I have a dilemma, when it comes to gift giving - why should my attitude change towards plastic and waste when it comes to giving gifts? I have 3 lovely nieces and nephews to buy for this week and I know their place is full of stuff already so have opted to buy them a family voucher for the cinema so they can enjoy an afternoon out on me. We did something along these lines for our daughter last Christmas and made up a voucher book which she could cash in over the year - picnics, ice cream trips, baking days etc etc which would encourage us all to spend quality time together.  

Hand made cards without the cellophane would also help cut down on waste too - I have a stash of those I have received over the years with a plan to recycle them at some point. I just need to clear our room of requirement to take back my crafting space and get crafting again.

Since starting this challenge my daughter has really got involved and is quick to point out what plastic we are using and how bad it can be which makes me think it would be easier to encourage a sense of stewardship towards our planet in the next generation especially as we seem to be slow on the uptake so there is hope for us yet.

40 day plastic-free challenge: Day 8

40 day plastic-free challenge: Day 8

Does anyone use any of the Terracycle drop off locations? 

These look like a great idea and you can recycle lots of different items but through different drop off locations. I would probably need a small bin or bag for life to store these in and then drop them off every month or so. I will make a list and pin it on the message board so everyone in the household remembers and see how full it gets by then end of this challenge. Products include toothpaste tubes, pet care, crisp packets and more.

If you are in a a position to, you can even set up your own drop off point and earn money for your chosen charity or school. As I'm part of the school PA I think I'm going to see if we can invest in one...imagine all the crisp packets and biscuit wrappers we could collect.

Baking bread every other night is not really turning out to be very feasible and one of the items I can recycle using Terracycle are bread wrappers. If I'm not in the evening before or go to bed early then it won't get done, which we learned last night, so had the remainders of the loaf today but it was touch and go really and it may not be cost effective at this rate. So maybe going back to fresh bread for the weekends would be better unless we can cut it a lot more thinly to make it go further.

I received messages back from Sainsbury's and Morrison's regarding their Deli counters. Sainsbury's confirmed I could take my containers to my local superstore but Morrisons said that they are still looking into these options but could not divulge any further information at this stage. Fortunately Sainsbury's is on my way home from work so not out the way. Just a bit of planning and my Nectar card at the ready and we will be good to go.

Another message I got last night was from Greenpeace after I cheekily put a link to my blog on a post they made about plastic - someone out there is listening and reading this after all.😃

Back to tonight, we grabbed some cheeky fish and chips on the way home from a school meeting and discovered too late that they had put the chips in a polystyrene box. We thought we were being good when we took in our own bag and declined their plastic bag - only to realise the error too late. But the next time we go we will make the request for the food to be wrapped only in paper when we plaice 😂 our order.

Thanks for reading and happy recycling!

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge: Day Seven

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge: Day Seven

Storm Gerald has arrived here with strong winds and torrential rain and after the mini heat wave we had a few weeks ago it really does suggest that the weather is becoming very unsettled. Remember the long summers of our childhood, April showers and snowy winters? They seemed to be definite seasons back then didn't they? Now it's August wash outs and May heat waves.

Some days are bound to be quieter than others on this 40 day challenge but I am still sticking to my new routine of home made bread, bottled milk, loose fruit & veg and a ban on clingfilm.

I did need to buy a pack of cheese this evening as they would not serve it in my container and I have been looking online for recommendations which included shopping at Farmer's markets, local deli's or even making it yourself! I think this might be my first obstacle as the above options do not sit well with a busy life in a suburban town but it will test how serious I am about banning single use plastic from my life. Apparently cheese freezes well so a trip to a market to stock up might serve me for a couple of weeks until the deli counters in the supermarkets are a bit more open to change. Have emailed Sainsbury's and Morrisons to see what plans they have in the pipeline so will definitely feature that on here.

My facebook newsfeed is now filling up with news from different charities and action groups relating to the environment and there's positive stuff there too showing new inventions that clean the ocean, volunteers cleaning beaches, youngsters taking a stand against the government and petitions galore so I think the PEOPLE have spoken which is more than can be said for my contacts on Facebook (anyone out there?) but then again my posts might be lost amidst the endless prankster videos or 5 minute craft ideas that go round and round on social media.

Apologies for the reflective post tonight but I am wondering what the next steps are after I have made all the changes I personally can - I might end up marching through London perhaps or lying across the road outside parliament like this gentleman aged 82.  Time to move on from being a couch activist.

40 Day Plastic-Free challenge: Day 6

40 Day Plastic-Free challenge: Day 6

A big thank you to my readers who are keeping up with my 40 day challenge. Do let me know if you have decided to replace anything plastic in your house with a more eco-friendly alternative. 

Tonight I cleared out the freezer and did one of those dinners using up odds and ends, You know the ones I mean. So we all had something different with oven chips and frozen veg - two things which come in large plastic bags! So, I can either give up the frozen chips, stick to home-made potato wedges or buy a deep fat fryer. What would you do? I'm thinking the home-made wedges but my fussy 8 year old may not agree!

As for the bags of frozen veg, which we use a lot of, I might have to do lots of bulk prepping and improve my kitchen knife skills which are, to be honest, non existent. But then again if we are eating healthier meals as a result then we may not need to freeze the vegetables as we would be getting through them a lot quicker. Therefore problem solved!

One item I really want to cut down on is the individually wrapped cereal /snack bar so I have made a round of cookies and flapjacks using what I had in the pantry..well cupboard. The peanut butter cookie recipe is from Hummingbird Bakery and are SO moreish. It is easy to freeze the cookie dough in balls and then bake as and when you need them..ahem no comment there.

As for the flapjacks I have yet to find the perfect recipe for eating on the go as they tend to be a bit too gooey. Today I used this one with cherries, chocolate chips and almonds from Globescoffers.com. Nice flavour combination I thought but it is a bit sticky. These can then be wrapped in beeswax wraps or paper instead of cling film or foil and popped in your lunch box for a healthy snack. (Later on I am going to have a go at making my own beeswax wraps as they are quite expensive to buy. I have the beeswax pellets ready so watch this space although it could be one of those hilarious Pinterest Vs Reality moments).

I will need to stock up on sunflower and pumpkin seeds etc for a nut-free alternative so need to find a refillable station. Apparently there is one at Stanhill Farm and are also available at some farmer's markets. Do you know of anywhere in North West Kent?

If you haven't seen it already doing the rounds on social media then be sure to give this petition from Fairies Against Plastic (love the name!) your support to bring forward the date of banning single use plastics from 2025 to 2020. 

Thanks for reading.

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day Five

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day Five

Day Five sees my family and I on a trip to the cinema. Yep we are all Marvel fans 😊. It was a 1pm showing and I made sure that lunch was ready at 12pm before we left so we didn't have to grab a sandwich en route. I also made sure that I took enough drinks for all of us.

When we arrived we grabbed some pick n mix - not again though as £7 for the two of us so will think again next time - probably for Marvel Avenger's End Game 🤨. 

One issue I wanted to touch on today was online ordering. My better half ordered some trainers from a well known online giant and it came with the following plastic packaging!

I have put it to the test and have placed an order through Ebay and made a request that my 200 paper sandwich bags are not sent in plastic postal bags - they arrive Wednesday so will let you know when I will also talk about packed lunches. I already have a stash of bubble wrap, jiffy bags and postal bags to reuse whenever I sell anything on Ebay but I have struggled with disposing of polystyrene sheets and foam chips. Has anyone successfully returned these to a vendor? 

I am very aware now of all the plastic in our house and look forward to it getting less and less as I use things up and then replace them with their more eco friendly equivalents. For example; hand wash, bathroom or kitchen cleaners, scouring pads - the list goes on. I am going to look to see if I can trial some of these products and feature them on here and be a bit cheeky and send out some emails to request samples. You never know.

One of them is Peace with the wild who I have approached already who sell a lovely range of items. 

So if you ever struggle for present ideas.....😉

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day Four

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge Day Four

Dinner's in the oven and just sitting down after a productive day to watch The Six Nations.  Ooo another England try as I type. Woo Hoo!

Anyway, back to the task in hand. I was up early for a Saturday at 7am I tell you, with jobs to do buzzing round in my head - bake fresh bread for the day, go fruit & veg shopping and finish off some pyjama shorties for my daughter (which I may feature later in this challenge when discussing second hand/thrift shopping - a favourite hobby of mine). 

I wanted to feature fresh produce shopping today as a big problem area when it comes to plastic packaging. I love to bake, cook from scratch and eat quite a few vegetarian dishes when we can therefore we buy lots of fresh fruit & veg. With at recent move to shopping at Aldi's, where there are hardly any loose fruit & veg on sale, it was getting very noticeable how many plastic trays and wrappers were going in the bin. I even wrote to them a while back to ask what there plans were but no luck.

My first move today was to go back to Morrisons where they offer the paper produce bags instead of the flimsy plastic ones or pre-packaged products. So, armed with my shopping list we brought the items below which came to just below £9. 

There were no loose cherry tomatoes and only one type of orange sold without packaging. All the more reason to shop seasonally when you can. Missing my allotment even more now but the one I had was way too big for me to tackle on my own and it usually involved weeding, weeding and more weeding so wasn't very enjoyable. I am going to look at incorporating growing some fruit and veg into our tiny garden this Spring especially berries and salad items.

I have a couple of other avenues to explore when shopping for fruit and veg - the local town market, a greengrocers a mile away or farmer's markets. Maybe I will get to know a local vendor and strike up a rapport and get to know what's good and when. 

When I was in Morrison's today I enquired at the Deli about buying items to put in my containers that I had brought with me but was told that that this service was only available at the fishmonger's and butcher's. Not sure why it should be any different. The cheese at the Deli counter was all wrapped up in large drums and looked like they could only be purchased as such and not by desired weight. As for the sliced ham surely they could have put that in my container?  But when I next need some chicken, sausages or gammon I'll try again at the butcher's with my tubs and let you know how it went. 

Now that I am doing more bread baking I searched out the baking isle and found yeast sold in a small metal container which I can pop in the recycling bin when done rather than throw away the little sachets. I also checked out the butter packaging which says it is made of foil and is widely recyclable. Doesn't look or feel like foil so may need to check further. Stocked up on maple syrup and honey (in glass jars) ready for some snack making later on which I aim to use instead of all the individual cereal bars we buy.

Tomorrow is day 5 of my challenge and sees us going to the cinema! We will have to avoid the packets of sweets, plastic bottles and fizzy drink cups. My husband did mention that the popcorn and pick'n'mix comes in paper packaging so not all doom and gloom. Or I could sneak in some healthy snacks to munch on.....

Oh and I want to check out some local Deli shops too for cheese. If Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson can frequent them and get paper wrapped products then surely I can too.......

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge: Day Three

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge: Day Three

Thanks for checking in to my 40 day challenge on day three. I am feeling quite spurred on at the moment but am sure I will meet a few pitfalls soon, especially with cinema trips and birthday celebrations coming up.

Today I am revisiting something we have done before as a family: Having milk in glass bottles delivered direct to our door. We did this a year or two ago but stopped due to a couple of reasons but was determined to restart as part of this challenge. We probably use a lot of milk for cereals, baking and the quintessential English cuppa. I have even looked at various ways of upcycling the large plastic bottles - from Halloween glow lights, upcycled jewellery to storage jugs and more. Lots of the ideas I have saved on my Upcycling Pinterest Board

But why feel the need to do this in the first place when I can send the glass bottles back to the supplier when empty? Who remembers the fizzy drinks the milkman delivered when you were young? Giving away my age now!

So I searched for my local milkman and set up an account including specifying delivery days and payment method so no more searching for cash every week. You can even add changes up to 9pm the night before which will maybe stop those last minute dashes to the convenience store paying premium prices at the local garage etc. Talking of prices it is approx 80p for a pint of milk so a bit more than your local supermarket giant but hopefully as demand grows the prices might go down as the buying power increases. Some companies offer recycled plastic cartons as another alternative. Most glass bottles can be reused up to 18 times which helps compensate against the carbon footprint.

At the moment the large supermarkets don't seem to be making plans to change what they offer their customers but if we were to a make a call to action they might take notice.

You'll just have to weigh it all up and go with what is best for you.

.

 Be sure to check in tomorrow for Day 4 of my challenge,

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge

40 Day Plastic-Free Challenge: Day Two

It seems my lent challenge idea was not so novel after all. This article in The Metro dates back to last year but it is probably  even more relevant today as the situation is worsening but on the plus side is being addressed more and more than before by companies and individuals alike. Time for the government to step up now especially reading about the actions taken by other countries around the world. The plastic bag issue is probably the most commonly addressed here in the UK but what about other packaging?

Day two of my challenge is to stop buying shop -bought bread. My family takes in pack lunches to work and school nearly every week-day plus there's the weekend too so we probably go through a loaf or more each week. Unfortunately we cannot recycle these plastic bags very easily at the moment and I do not live near a local bakers where I can nip in with my 100% cotton produce bag asking for a fresh white loaf. My parents lived in a remote hamlet in France for a bit and a local baker in their van would do the rounds with fresh bread of the day...sounds idyllic doesn't it?

Is there a gap in the market for surburban London perhaps? So the other option? Bake them myself.

I've had a bread machine for several years now but only really used it as a nice treat - fresh bread on a Sunday, Hot Cross buns at Easter or Foccacia bread for buffets and picnics for example. It gave up on me a couple of weeks ago and the manufacturer had made it impossible for us to replace the motor belt which was the only thing wrong with it. So that's another conundrum I'm faced with - disposing of electronics but maybe that's for another post.
Anyway back to the bread, I think the main advantages include the unbeatable taste of freshly baked warm bread (obviously), the amazing aroma (another obvious ..even at 6.30am this morning when it woke me up), plus you get to know exactly what is in it and finally no plastic bags to put in the bin. (Note to self - find bulk supplier of yeast rather than all those small sachets.) So are you sold on the idea yet?
The main disadvantages I suppose are timing and planning - no more last minute dashes to the convenience store but if I have all the ingredients in bulk it should not be a problem (crossing my fingers). The other downside is that it does not go as far - no matter how hard I try I cannot cut it thinly enough. So doorstep sandwiches it is.

Tried some wholemeal rolls for a change too today hoping that they'll stay fresh a bit longer than sliced bread.

Join me for Day 3 tomorrow for more zero waste antics. Again would love to hear your stories.

40 Day Plastic Free Challenge

As Lent starts I thought I would try something different and do 40 days of cutting out single use plastic - not sure if this is easier or harder than giving up biscuits! Many of us are probably stuck in the same old routine of buying plastic milk bottles, toiletry bottles, plastic wrap and so much more. So I am using this as a much needed nudge to change my behaviour one day at a time. The going may be slow and there may be many mistakes along the way but hopefully I will find some easy swaps and great alternatives to use going forward. Why not join me on my journey? Wish me luck...

Day One: Naked Toiletries

Shampoos and shower gels are purchased regularly in our house and I wanted to cut down on the plastic bottles as well as choose a more natural product that inevitably ends up down the plug hole and out into the world beyond. I often walk straight past Lush thinking that the strong scents wafting out would give me a headache the moment I walked in the store. But I had heard much about their naked packaging as well as their much publicized opening of their new store selling waste-free products only so took the step over the threshold.
When I walked in I did not know were to start so commandeered an assistant and asked for help choosing naked a shampoo bar and a facial wash bar to get me started as I was running low on the usual bottled stuff back at home. They're not cheap at approx £7 a go but I think they last about 80 washes. The assistant asked about skin and hair qualities before we started and she even let me test them on my hand to get a feel for them. I eventually chose a honey based shampoo bar and a Jade based facial bar. They will take a bit of getting used to but I will let you know how my skin and hair feel at the end of this journey. My daughter was with me and of course she did not want to feel left out so she got a lavender bubble bar which you can break off in chunks for each use. I will review these items and update the blog later on once they have all been used a few times.

I would welcome your stories below about products you have tried and other great places to buy similar waste free products.
Be sure to join me tomorrow for Day 2 of my 40 day zero waste challenge