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

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