Plastic-Free July + Plastic-Free Rest Of The Year = Plastic-Free Life? If you only do one thing this hot, hazy July – or chilly winter for our friends in Australia and New Zealand – why not make next weekend your #PlasticFreeJuly one, and go plastic-free?
Image: From the documentary film “A Plastic Ocean”
Big journeys start with small steps, but it’ll be so worth it in the end. To celebrate Plastic-Free July, zero waste advocate and green beauty blogger (and Beauty Shortlist Awards judge) Ana Green of Anagoesgreen.co.uk and I are sharing our best tips for getting plastic out of your life and off our fragile planet. My plastic-free journey started with an embarrassing moment in a big supermarket with a long queue behind me, and if you’re a new mum, Ana shares what worked for her.
Are you up for the ultimate declutter?
We’d love to hear your practical ideas for cutting down on plastic pollution – so feel free to share what you’re doing (not just in July but for the rest of the year) in the comments below. Our planet, our health, our sealife and our oceans will thank you for it.
OUR TOP TIPS FOR A PLASTIC-FREE JULY AND PLASTIC-FREE LIFE
1. What’s your favourite plastic-free eco product?
ANA – As a mum of two I would have to say one of my absolute favourite things are washable wipes! They are brilliant on dirty hands and faces and do an excellent job of mucky bottoms too. They have saved us from sending hundreds of packets of wipes to landfill and two years later are still going strong.
“ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE THINGS ARE WASHABLE WIPS, THEY HAVE SAVED US FROM SENDING HUNDREDS OF PACKETS TO LANDFILL”
I also am very passionate about reusable menstrual products, most people don’t realise how much plastic is in the average sanitary product (it can be the equivalent of several plastic bags!) and also because I find they are much more comfy and absorbent than what I was using before. I urge everyone to research this topic, there is a variety of products available to suit every need.
In the kitchen I use a lot of glass containers and jars for food storage and beeswax wraps instead of clingfilm. I have a reusable glass water bottle and bamboo coffee cup, these are perfect for when out and about to save waste. In my beauty routine I try and pick refillable make up options and use a safety razor instead of a plastic one. I do a lot of research before buying any new item to make sure it is right for our lifestyle.
FIONA – A reusable water bottle and 2-3 really strong, big cotton shopping bags. Plastic leeches xenoestrogens which are endocrine disrupters, which can alter your natural hormones. This is bad (very bad) because it triggers a host of problems from cancer to endometriosis and miscarriage, and I don’t think there’s enough awareness out there about the dangers of xenoestrogens. These are a very real daily hazard and we need to be much more proactive about avoiding them. Xenoestrogens are in pesticides, nail polish (the not free-from ones), food preservatives, sprayed onto non-organic fruit and veg, in flame retardant materials (eg in cars) and in beauty – parabens. Avoid like the plague. Health-wise, this is a very big deal.
“I TRY TO MAKE SMALL BUT LASTING CHANGES THAT OVERALL REALLY ADD UP”
2. When you first began your zero-waste journey, what was easiest – and what was hardest – starting out?
ANA – I think the hardest thing is knowing where to start as it can feel very overwhelming. It is a journey and one that I am still on, rather than expecting everything to be perfect I try very hard to make small but lasting changes that overall really add up. I think the US is a little bit further along in terms of less waste than we are in the UK, but I still find getting everything I need for a weekly shop tricky if I want plastic free/less waste. Sometimes I will need to adapt the way I shop to do several smaller shops a week rather than one big one.
Something I did at the start of my journey and I do periodically now to keep us on track, is have a “waste audit” where we look at the kinds of packaging we are putting in the bin or recycling and try to find alternatives. Rather than obsessing over every piece of plastic, I find it easier to start with simple swaps and then refine things over time. Some items are really easy to find without plastic and others are much more difficult, I think most people will have several easy swaps they can make before tackling harder items. It is also important to recognise glass and other packaging options will often have a higher carbon footprint than plastic, so it is about trying to reduce the amount of packaging used overall as much as possible, rather than simply focusing on plastic free.
FIONA – Easiest, for me, was training myself to ditch plastic bags. Triggered by an embarrassing moment in Tesco’s in Dublin. I’d dashed out to buy dinner ingredients and (with a long queue behind me) the cashier said “Sorry, we don’t have any plastic bags, maybe try the warehouse at the back and see if they have some boxes?” Gah??!!
So, step one. Get a couple of duplicate sets of sturdy eco shopping bags, put them by the front door, in your bike basket, in the car boot so you have some in the house AND in your car/bike, whatever your means of transport is and use them every time. Plastic shopping bags are simply and purely no longer an option. Morocco banned them two or three years ago – why can’t we all? Hardest though…for me…is single use plastic. You didn’t have time to make lunch, so you grab a plastic-wrapped sandwich or salad and a plastic cup of orange juice. With a plastic straw.
Restaurants should reintroduce natural material-based cartons/food containers. Salad bars could charge a bit extra for natural containers (reusable ones) which you could return and get your small deposit back. I go to a surf café where they do this, and they have paper straws. So much plastic comes from fast-food places and supermarkets, that’s a big problem and as consumers we should be putting pressure on them to adapt and go plastic-free. We don’t need red peppers or strawberries or mint in plastic boxes? Support stores that sell bulk loose teas, loose fruit and veg, grains, etc.
3. And your top “Plastic Free Tip” for July – and the rest of the year?
ANA – My biggest tip is to prepare ahead and think about what single use plastic items you might need when out and about or at home that can be replaced with reusable alternatives. Often people feel that the plastic free option will be more difficult and whilst that can sometimes be the case, due to availability or personal circumstances, some of the switches I have made have actually simplified my life in different ways. It is about a change of mindset rather than adding lots of work in to your day.
“IT’S ABOUT A CHANGE OF MINDSET…SOME OF THE SWITCHES I HAVE MADE HAVE ACTUALLY SIMPLIFIED MY LIFE IN DIFFERENT WAYS”
If I have a big day out planned I think about how many nappies and wipes I will need, make sure we have drinks bottles prepped and ready as well as snacks. All of these things add up to less waste, but also can in some instances save money too. It is important to recognise that any change can be challenging to start, but with the amount of information and resources on the topic of waste there has never been a time to take the first step.
FIONA – Yes, preparation is key. Invest in a reusable water bottle (there are lots around, from steel to copper to glass – I prefer glass). I think there’s room for better designs in this area, ergonomically-speaking. Invest in some reusable silicone “food/sandwich” bags and “the thoughtful alternative to cling film” natural beeswax food wraps (like these, which won BEST ECO PRODUCT, 2018 BEAUTY SHORTLIST MAMA & BABY AWARDS) We need more bamboo in our lives (e.g. bamboo electric toothbrushes, toothbrushes in bamboo are a “thing” now, but I use an electric toothbrush and would prefer a bamboo version).
“GOING PLASTIC FREE CREATES A POSTIVE DOMINO EFFECT”
Going plastic-free creates a positive domino effect…it’s more zen, there’s less clutter, you feel you have more space and you’re doing the right thing. But you have to be innovative and consistent on a daily basis. It’s so freeing. After a while it really hits home how disgusting and what a hazardous health-risk plastic is. Not to mention what it does to our land, sealife and oceans. It’s toxic. It pollutes. It’s cheap and nasty. We live on a plastic planet and as we can’t get off it so we must get all that plast-shit out of our homes, fridges, cars, offices, restaurants and lives.
You can also support (eco) holiday resorts and islands that are actively doing something to solve this problem, by choosing to stay there instead of at a “normal” hotel – eg some of the Greek Islands.
SEATTLE BECOMES FIRST MAJOR CITY TO BAN PLASTIC STRAWS AND SINGLE-USE UTENSILS
Seattle just became the first major city to ban single-use plastic utensils and straws this month. That’s big. San Francisco and NY are rumoured to be next. I can tell you, once you’ve chucked plastic out of your life, you won’t miss it.
BOOK A DATE FOR THE ULTIMATE PLASTIC-FREE WEEKEND
Why not set a date, a weekend, and replace all the plastic that’s moved in to your place, office and life, with glass and natural alternatives? Your life will feel cleaner. Our planet and oceans are crying out for a detox. It’s up to us.
Going plastic-free is the ultimate declutter. Everything feels better for it.