And that's a wrap - plastic free of course!
On the first of July we set out what Plastic Free July means to us:
It means making deliberate choices to buy and consume less plastic. Our goal is not to become a strict Plastic Free Household, but a household that produces as little waste as possible based on: Refusing, Reducing, Reusing and as a last choice, recycling. When we need to replace a product we want to make sure that we choose an appropriate no, or low plastic replacement. This goes for everything from toilet paper, to oats, toothbrushes and oils for cooking. We want to make sure we are not contributing to our planet drowning in plastic any more than is necessary.
At the end of July we have noticeably less waste in our rubbish bin and our recycling bin, and holiday aside we've also spent less money.
A reminder of some of the basics we were already doing (and have continued to do):
- Using our recycling bin and collecting and recycle our 'soft plastics' at the local Coles supermarket
- Carrying our own water bottles
- Generally choosing to make time to have tea or coffee at the cafe, but we have a selection of keep cups.
- Taking our own cloth bags to the grocery store, along with a collection of homemade mesh bags for produce.
A few things we’ve added to this list:
- “Taking three” picking up and removing three pieces of plastic from the beach or our local waterways whenever we visit.
- A renewed focus on home grown produce - we're gearing up for spring.
What we plan to add:
- A commitment that each time we travel we will make one more change to reduce our plastic consumption while away from home.
- Baking more of our own bread.
- Taking our own containers to the Deli and butcher.
- Exploring options for plastic free personal care products – as we need to replace them.
The Big Four
Inspired by the Slow Your Home podcast we did a series of four blogs on 'The Big four'. Four single use plastics that we challenged all our friends, family and readers to stop using altogether, with some easy swaps and changes of habit.
The Big four single use plastics are:
- plastic water bottles
- drinking straws
- takeaway coffee cups
- plastic shopping bags
We feel that eliminating these four single use plastic items is easy, and will have a really big impact. There really is no need to use any of these items - there are so many alternatives.
How did we go?
This month while at home and on holiday we’ve taken some time out on our weekends and checked out some great coffee shops. It’s been much more enjoyable than rushing away with a take out, and we plan to continue with this, buying less coffee but sitting down to enjoy our coffee or tea. We’re also proud that we’ve not bought any straws or plastic water bottles.
The only “fail” for us was one plastic shopping bag, on a late night pharmacy for our daughter. We are not being hard on ourselves for plastic free July not being front of mind on this occasion.
Check out
Slow Your Home - Plastic: Say No to the Big 4.
Most unexpected discovery
The discovery that the majority of teabags are actually only 70-80% biodegradable because they contain polypropylene. Ouch, that was a shock. Thankfully we made a shift to loose leaf tea years ago and haven't looked back.
One for the ladies
We were really surprised that our most read post was ‘One of the ladies’ all about cloth pads. Here’s the link in case you missed it!
Here’s a summary of some of the suggestions and ideas we’ve shared this month:
Food and the Kitchen
- Try Beeswax cloths, they have significantly reduced the amount of Gladwrap used.
- Bulk buy dry goods with other families - we've done this once and will defiantly keep doing this. It's not that difficult with a couple of families to have sufficient quantities to set up a wholesale account with traders like Honest to Goodness.
- Meal planning – get organised and reap the rewards, we buy more food in bulk (less packaging) and we have little to no food waste. Remember the average Australian Household throws away about $40 worth of feed a week – this should be motivation enough!
- We keep our compost bin on the kitchen bench top. This means it is the most accessible bin (so there's no temptation to just use the rubbish bin, which requires effort) and it gets emptied more frequently than when it lived in a cupboard under the sink.
- Eat more seasonal vegetables. They are usually fresher and better quality, cheaper, and over the course of the year you'll eat a greater variety of foods.
- In terms of planting for food start small. Add in more plants when you're ready and when you've masted what you're already growing. If you've got space think about some fruit trees. Citrus trees are pretty easy to grow well in and around Melbourne.
- If there's a community garden nearby seriously think about joining for the support and knowledge that comes with joining a group a larger group of gardeners.
The Bathroom and laundry
Revisit the hierarchy of refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle:
- Refuse: do you really need every single one of your cleaning and personal care products? Could you buy one produce to replace two or three different products?
- Reduce: could you buy in bulk - and reduce the packaging, or change brands to a similar produce with less packing. Alternatively could you use less of a particular product?
- Reuse: reuse some of the containers - if you choose to make your own
- Recycle: Put a recycling bin in your bathroom and laundry, seriously this simple action has made a big difference in our house. There was a real temptation to place empty containers in the rubbish bin that sits in the bathroom - rather than walk to the kitchen recycling bin!
Gadgets and phones
- Investigate whether a broken electronic gadget can be repaired, before you replace it or upgrade - you might be surprised. If you're in Perth or Melbourne we highly recommend Haiou for the service and speed or repairs.
- If you must upgrade please, please please recycle your mobile phone. Check Mobile Muster in Australia, it's the only industry-led mobile recycling program in the world.
Travel
- Say no - if you don't need that toiletries bag, don't take it. If you have room pack your own comfy socks and a small light weight blanket or scarf (as both these items tend to be wrapped in single use plastic).
- If you really want to make sure your waste is recycled, especially on the return trip you could take your waste off the plane and deposit it in recycling bins at the airport, or take it home to compost.
- Please use airline and airport social media to support the good things you see and tell them how you feel about the increasing amount of waste.
Toys, and gifts
- To try and limit the amount of plastic toys we have always tried to emphasise that we love and would value gifts of books and clothes.
- Practical suggestions for plastic free toys and children’s gifts: think about wooden and fabric toys or consumables, like soft toys or blankets, wooden tea sets, dress ups, wax crayons, pencils and interesting paper.
- If you do want to give a physical gift, buy a book, give a plant, or something homemade - this could include baking a cake, muffins, biscuits or something yummy.
- Donate to a charity.
- Reuse gift bags and wrapping paper or wrap in fabric.
(Modern) cloth nappies
- Find a family who uses MCNs and talk to them before you decide one way or the other - we are always happy to chat about MCNs and dispel a few myths.
- Check if you Council, or anyone local has a cloth nappy library - there is a bewildering number of types and brands of cloth nappies these days.
- Consider starting small, give it a go. There are lots of great trial packs (for example three nappies) to see if you like them. Even part time cloth nappies will reduce your amount of waste, and save you money.
- Consider buying MCNs second hand - there are some great forums for this and there can be some real bargains to be had.
More research required!
Bioplastics
We plan to do some more reading and research in to ‘bioplastics’ so watch this space for an update. We’re intrigued by the idea of bioplastics but worried that they may actually do more harm than good. We will continue to focus on reducing or reliance on plastic rather than switching to bioplastics as an alternative.
Airline waste, maybe, just maybe it’s not so much about the unwillingness of the Airlines?
One of the things that really stood out on the flight home was the volume of waste generated from one Jetstar flight. This is something we want to find out more about – and find ways to change attitudes and policy reduce waste and at the very least find ways to support more waste being diverted to recycling.
The amount of airline waste ending up in landfill each year may not be so much about the unwillingness of individual airlines. It may have more to do with:
- Quarantine regulations (for example in Australia international aircraft rubbish is classified as quarantine waste and must be disposed of accordingly);
- a lack of end of trip recycling facilities. For airlines to develop a comprehensive recycling programme they require (standard) reprocessing facilities at every airport they use. It's not feasible or practical for items from a previous flight to be transported back to a central processing facility.
That said some airlines do better than others! So call out the airlines that are doing well and those that have room for improvement!
