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.

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