The end of a reduced plastic year

Well, yet again, I have learnt that I'm not that great at this whole blogging thing....I've had so many thoughts on ideas for posts since my last one in May (although nothing that monumental), but just have never managed to find the time to sit down and type out the ideas, but I did feel that I should summarise the year that has been before it actually ends....so here goes. 

In many ways I don't think our life has changed that much, but I think that's mainly because I've taken one thing at a time so over the course of the year we've changed lots of habits, but it hasn't been a giant shock to the system.  Admittedly there have been some things that simply haven't changed...I can't source toothpaste out of plastic yet, and haven't found the time to work out a homemade recipe, we still use tissues (these don't involve plastic as they're wrapped in cardboard and potato starch, but the tissues still end up in our bin) and although we buy lots of things in bulk now, they all still mainly come in plastic...just bigger bags, so less plastic.  And we don't eat crisps anymore as they all come in oodles of plastic....need to improve my homemade recipe for the family to enjoy them.

Bird filled with plastic. Photo courtesy of http://www.simple-green-living.com

And we've still managed to go camping, we've celebrated Christmas and Easter, we eat, are clean, fit and healthy....life is great and not some strange environmentally-mad-odd way of living (I guess others may judge that differently ;-)

What we don't do is put out much rubbish though (general or recycling)....I think we may get down to about 4 times a year this coming year, which compared to our waste 3 years and just last year is amazing!


So what's different?  (If you scroll to the bottom I've also reviewed what's changed from January's bin log, but that's just more for my interest probably.)


Laundry - now just use eco-balls (no conditioner) so no packaging to ditch, other than possibly a small bag when the refills come through, but haven't needed yet, so will wait and see.


Cleaning - trying to use use bicarb of soda and vinegar, and have washing up liquid in bulk.  We've also changed to fabric dishcloths/scouring pad type thing so when it's lived its life it goes in the fabric recycling bank

Personal Hygiene - soap and water does an amazing job :-)  We've given up shampoo and conditioner and either use soap or bicarb of soda.  We buy organic soap in bulk which comes in a cardboard box.  When the electric toothbrush dies we're going to change to bamboo toothbrushes that are compostable.  I've managed to make shaving oil, and still intend to investigate toothpaste recipes (on the list of things still to do).  And I am a total convert to a mooncup.

Food - we have almost entirely given up meat (a very quick way to reduce anyone's carbon footprint) and eat mainly from weekly delivered fruit and veg boxes.  We have milk delivered in glass by the milk man, make our own jam and marmalade (kids have even got in on the act now),still make our own bread and source bulk flour from the mill.  And I've set up an organic food group which now includes about 10 local households and we buy most dry goods in bulk and divvy them up (we've had four deliveries this year).  I still need to get butter from a local supermarket and a few odd other items, but just tag that into other local people's online orders.

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/how-help-keep-oceans-clean

The key has definitely been raising my awareness of plastic and taking a little time to think of alternative ways of doing / buying / considering their necessity, but one thing at a time.  Several people have commented on a what a giant change it must have been, but honestly it hasn't seemed that way, and one step at a time is the only way to make any progress at anything.  But 'yes' it does take more time if you take it seriously and want to not be without some things e.g. cakes/biscuits/shaving oil etc.  But quite surprisingly it's not cost us more financially, if anything it's actually saved us money, which I certainly wasn't expecting....eliminating meat, cleaning products and lots of personal hygiene products saves lots!


And so new habits have been formed, and I'll keep journeying along in finding ways to reduce it that little bit more, but this is certainly the end of this blog. I'll wait to see if in the coming months/years I feel drawn to write about any other parts of my journey to tread more lightly on our wonderful planet and kids' future.  And if this has inspired you to give up a little bit of plastic in anyway, go for it!  I'm not looking back!  (And am always up for any tips and hints from others.)

Photo from: http://www.projectgreenbag.com/how-does-plastic-get-into-the-ocean/

End note:
So in case anyone else is interested in revisiting my original post in January which listed what was in our waste bin that week, and how that's changed read on:

• The black sack itself - we now have a plastic dustbin in the back yard and I empty our house bins into them whenever they fill up, but I don't bother with a black sack as they bin men are fine with just taking the lid off and emptying it directly into the lorry. 
• Tissues x too many to mention - we still have these :-( can't convince the household to change to handkerchiefs...maybe one day
• Chocolate biscuit wrappers - I bake biscuits and cakes instead....much more tasty, and even manage to recreate some family favourites, including party rings for one birthday (but shaped as sixes)
• Cereal inner packets - we buy bran flakes, oats and muesli in 10kg sacks (stored in the boxes in the hallway), but still have a few cereal inner packets for some of the kids favourites (all organic now, so using less petrochemicals overall)
• Napkins - still using up the old packets, but will then use our fabric ones
• Crisp packets - don't ever buy these anymore...we live without
• Kitchen paper sheets - we still use these from time-to-time, but mainly use washable cloths.  Papersheets go in the compost now, and we get them from Suma so even the 'plastic' they come wrapped in are potato starch, so entirely compostable.
• Margarine cover - we've given up marg, and now use butter.  We still need to bin these wrappers (but only once they've been used for greasing the baking dishes/trays)
• Pie packaging - don't buy anymore....pastry is very simple to make...phew!
• Cucumber wrap - occasionally have these when we buy them out of season from a supermarket as organic supermarket ones always come wrapped in plastic :-(  Thankfully the veg box ones for the rest of the year don't.
• Horlicks pot - don't buy anymore, switched to an organic hot chocolate drink that comes in glass
• Small bag from sweets - only get these when given to the kids by others
• CD wrapper - think we pretty much manage with downloads now.
• IKEA Shelf system packaging - there still remain things that get delivered to us and arrive in plastic.  As far as possible we try to reuse everything (freegle jiffy bags, bubble wrap, boxes and bags...it's really just the shrinkwrapped things that are impossible)
• Pasta packet - now source all pasta from Suma in bulk (have set up a local organic food buying group and we get a giant lorry arrive every few months and divvy up the food amongst about 10 households...good fun!)  So with 5kg bags at a time we reuse the bags where we can.  We manage to get rice in a 25kg paper sack which is great!
• Pop corn bag - get popping corn from Suma too, and still comes in a plastic bag, but bigger, so less overall
• Risotto rice box window - managed to source just a box version now
• Frozen pea packet - live without peas now.  Other freezer food: sweetcorn we now get in bulk and in tins, I make chips/potato wedgies from real life potatoes ;-), but we still get icecream in plastic, as haven't found another source.  All the tubs are becoming containers for other things and plant pots, so repurposed.
• Cling film - we don't use this any more.  We wrap sandwiches in fabric, or have in lunchboxes, and cover things in foil which we reuse when we need some other kind of covering.
• Tea bag packaging - buy this in bulk from Suma now, and just has the outer crate shrinkwrap so reduced the plastic
• Envelope windows - reuse those that we can
• Disposable nappies - just doing terries nappies again and praying night nappies will be a thing of the past in the not too distant future.

Is a young child's birthday possible without plastic?

So on Monday is was my youngest's 3rd birthday, and I continued my reducing plastic challenge in all the planning.  Here are my top tips on how to avoid plastic.

Presents
All the things that we gave him (from us and his sister) were second hand or homemade.  The beauty of second hand is that they don't come wrapped in all the packaging, as who keeps the packaging and then puts it back on to send to an NCT sale, or give to a family member or friend, and they're recycled?  So thanks to a local NCT sale, charity shops and family/friends that often give us things that their kids have outgrown as had a total success on this front.
I also made him a headboard holder for his cars/dinosaurs/sea creatures/dinosaurs etc which was a big hit!
 
(Obviously we can't influence what others give him, but some friends who know about my current downer on plastic removed packaging before wrapping their gifts, or bought things not packaged in plastic!)

Wrapping
He is only 3, so part of the fun of presents is ripping open the gift wrap.  However, he couldn't care less if it's wrapped in magical, expensive wrapping paper, or the cardboard box that it was delivered in when sent from a relative, so I left quite a lot in the boxes it arrived in, and also wrapped our bits in boxes and ribbons, and fabric and ribbons, so we can use it all again.
I've also salvaged what wrapping paper I can from other gifts he ripped open, as there are always little gifts to be wrapped throughout the year.

Party Food
The simplest thing is to make it from scratch, and he made it pretty simple with his requests for food, so we had:  

• Dinosaur shaped sandwiches
• Veg sticks
• Homemade carrot hummus
• Chunks of cheese and pineapple
• Cake
• Squash (Rocks Organic comes in glass)
• Fruit

And I made the Mum's PSB & Leek soup with bread, followed by cake and a cuppa.

 Party Games
Let's face, it at three you're just happy to play, so that was the main gist of the party, although I also did a little pass the parcel which included foil wrapped mini eggs in each layer (recyclable) and used some old maps and recycled wrapping paper alternatively for the wrapping.

Party Bags
My eldest and I had fun making little crocodiles for everyone out of old egg boxes, and then we popped a balloon, some second hand dinosaurs, stickers, more foil wrapped eggs, a foil wrapped chocolate lolly (great to see the stick was made out of paper), and a cup cake.  So probably the only thing that couldn't be reused or recycled was the cake wrapper. 

All in all a pretty plastic free affair.  Success! 

Eco Balls to Lend Out & Jam Jar Lids

Fancy trying Eco Balls before buying?

So if you've been reading this blog you'll know that I'm a convert to the Ecoballs, although we had a slight blip at the start of this week.  I opened the door to the washing machine and found the nappies mixed with the innards of one of the balls.  One of the joins had worked loose, and out they came.  No disaster as I managed to just scoop them back up, and the washing was still done, but slightly annoying.


I contacted Ethicalsuperstore, where I'd bought them from, and they apologised and sent me another pack.

I haven't heard of this happening to anyone else, so I'm up for continuing with them, but I do now have a couple spare, as they last for 1000 washes.  So rather than squirrel them away for a few years, I thought I'd see if anyone wants to experiment with them, and have the chance to 'try before you buy'.

Jam Jar Lids

So if you live locally, let me know and I'll send them your way for a couple of weeks.

My other revelation recently was on the recycling of jam jar lids.  I lot of jars I reuse for my homemade jam, but there are some that are just unusable due to their size, and I've been frustrated that you can't also recycle their lids in the glass banks.  Locally they've started to advertise that you can leave screw tops on wine bottles now, but they dont't seem to have extended that to jam jars etc yet.

I googled and came up with a revelation from Somerset: 

Can you accept can and jam jar lids? Yes, but because small lids sometimes get stuck in collection vehicles and sorting equipment, it helps if lids can be squashed inside a food can. All can and jam jar lids can be recycled as they are made from steel (test with a magnet to see if sticks), but not screw tops from bottles, which are made from various alloys and are not steel.

And don't forget steel biscuit tins.  (Just remember to not put lids in if they are lined with plastic...life's not that simple of course.)

And one week on....

...I can't quite believe it, but the whole of our household's general waste this week did fit in that one carrier bag!  Even our recycling bin was pretty empty as I'm being better at using the back of paper/card etc before it goes in there, and we've elimiated all the plastic milk bottles.  Am quite astonished, although one week is just one week...so let's see how the next few weeks go...birthday wrapping paper from others could scupper it all! 

P.S.  This didn't last for long in the gales, so ended up buried under the neighbours black sack pile :-)  (And if anyone local has a outside dustbin that they no longer use, I'd love to give it a home, so we can eliminate the need for the plastic bag too!)

This Week's Waste Diary

Yes, it's a pretty boring image....let's face it, it's a pretty boring list, and hasn't told me much that I didn't know.

And the week has been quite stressful, considering all the things that will need to change to reduce the plastic!  But the lovely thing is other people's interest in the journey and their ideas/thoughts/research/help in finding solutions. 

The other stressful thing has been research.  As soon as you google anything, you get conflicting reports and research on just about everything.  And the reality is that I generally like to keep things simple, and life is too short for me to analyse the carbon footprint of every different variable in the packagings journey.  So I guess my main principles are that as little involvement with plastic that can't be used a lot of times is best for our future, our children, the air, the oceans..,..  And if I can find a way to reduce it from our lives, I'll attempt to give it a go.  (I've heard 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle so much in my lifetime, I'd pretty much forgotten the importance of the order of the words.  It's so often the logo on recycling things that it is the last word that my brain seems to have fixed on, but actually that's really the last resort....we should be looking to reduce, and reuse way before we give in to recycling.)

So back to the list.  Below I've typed it out, and in brackets I've put my initial thoughts on things I might explore/attempt in the year ahead.  My desire is to go full gusto and get it all done tomorrow, but that's not reality....so let's see what energy levels I can keep up on the journey and have changed by the end.

(The list is just what went into our black sack, and helpfully my 5 year old decided to start her own list of things going into our green bin (recycling) and nursery's junk modelling bag...so I'll also include those at the end.)

THE LIST!

• The black sack itself x 1 (not bother with a black sack, just put out a dustbin each week, and take the time to wash the bin each week)
• Tissues x too many to mention (go back to the old fashioned world of hankerchiefs, and try to make them out of some old bed linen I have stored for a rainy day)
• Chocolate biscuit wrappers x 5 (stop buying them, and make cakes, biscuits and flapjack for snacks at work)
• Cereal inner packets x 2 (try and find a local weigh and save? bulk buy, to at least minimise?)
• Napkins x 3 (don't give them to guests....use our fabric ones we got when we got married)
• Crisp packets x 4, plus outer large bag (stop buying them, attempt to make our own?)
• Kitchen paper sheets x 3 (just use cloths that we can wash...get a stash of them)
• Margarine cover x 1, plus there will be the tubs in future (?????)
• Pie packaging x 4 (don't buy them...make them)
• Cucumber wrap x 1 (find somewhere that sells them without, that are organic)
• Horlicks pot x 1 (had been in the cupboard unused for 6 months and gone rock solid anyway, so just don't bother buying again)
• Small bag from sweets x1 (given in a party bag, so can't change what people give us, but do need to think about homemade sweets/treats for the kids and their friends)
• CD wrapper x1 (ever possible to buy without them?  Just use downloads in future?)
• IKEA Shelf system packaging x lots (make own shelves in future?)
• Pasta packet (source pasta in bulk to minimise?)
• Screw packets x 2 (see if possible to buy them without packaging, although certainly our small DIY local store where I got them from don't sell them that way, and I'm sure the big boys don't either)
• Pop corn bag x 1 (leftover from Christmas...should source popping corn in future, and see if we can get in paper or at a weigh and save type place, or in bulk and share with others, or just live without)
• Risotto rice box window x 1 (the box was card, but had a tiny plastic window...try and source in just card and ideally larger)
• Frozen pea packet x 1 (I think we're going to have to eliminate freezer food, and we don't have much, peas, sweet corn, chips and ice cream....have to see if it's possible to get in another way, or just not have it?)
• Cling film x 1 (bits left from wrapping half an orange in daughter's school lunch...not sure of the solution as think the little compartments will leak in her existing lunchbox)
• Tea bag packaging x 1 (see if our local tea company will sell to me in bulk and directly into my tea caddy....or even an old biscuit tin, so it's a bigger stash?)
• Envelope windows x 3 (mail that I've been sent, and had to remove the window before putting the paper in recycling....could reuse the envelopes by sticking a label on top of the window....however, don't use that many envelopes personally...share them with anyone else?  And try and get removed from as many mailing companies as possible to stem the flow.) 
• Disposable nappies x 7 (since just having nappies at night I got lazy and changed from terry nappies to disposables, but at the end of this pack, I'll dig out the terry nappies from the loft and do one wash load a week...might even spur him out of nappies at night :-)
• Washing ball wraps x 3 (have bought the ecozone bales that do 1000 washes....they are made of plastic, but you can refill them, so in theory should last my lifetime and be passed onto my children's children...will be testing them out and feeding back in a later post)
  
  

So obviously that's just one week's worth and other weeks' items would add to the list, but gives an idea of the types of things I'm up against.

Other than paper and tins, we also put milk packaging into the recycling bin, and as of tomorrow we're changing to our local milk man (literally our neighbour) and organic milk in 1 pint glass bottles.  http://www.dairycrest.co.uk/  And we've also put a large Yeo Valley Organic Yoghurt pot in the junk modelling bag...so I'm going to attempt to make my own and get the kids to love it?!?!?!

It's exhausting just thinking about it all, let alone finding the time and money to change it all...but here goes!

 

What's this all about then?

Some of you will remember my blog from 2012, entitled 'Finding Richness in Less'  I attempted to journal my year of trying to be less of a consumer and trying to challenge myself and where I put my trust.  The year had a great impact me, and I can honestly say that lots of my day-to-day life and thoughts changed during that time.  2013 has been a year for consolidating a lot of that, and as we start 2014 I felt the need to take one of the issues further.

During 2012 one of the things I focused on was our household waste, and I spent time

weighing our bin sack before trying to make some big changes.  The result was a bokashi system which is now deeply embedded in our household's life, so much so that my 2 year old always wants to help me with compost and a month or so ago his daily catchphrase was 'Mummy, I love bokashi & minis'.  (People could understand the mini fascination, but often thought he'd made up the word 'bokashi' :-)

We've also greatly reduced what we buy, so naturally have less waste, and we recycle as much as possible.  But recently I realised we appear to have reached a plateau.  I reckon that our sack is now half to two thirds full each week, and the majority of what remains in it is plastic related.  So little can be recycled in our city, and I don't blame our council for that, but the manufacturers and packagers, and us for being happy to have the convenience of the shrinkwrap, tidiness, hygiene, presentation etc.

So one of my challenges for 2014, and the subject of this blog, is to see how we can reduce the plastic that goes into our rubbish bin each week.

I'm pretty terrified of where it's going to lead and how frustrated I will get at times.  Over the past few evenings as I've pondered it, I've realised the irony is that even the black sack, and the bins around the house are all made of plastic!  I did an online food shop earlier this week and realised that probably 95% of it came in plastic.  Where am I a going to find toilet roll that doesn't get packaged in plastic?  Squash, marg, cheese.....the list goes on.  And how am I going to reconcile these hunts and inevitable decisions in relation to my other objectives of fairtrade, organic and local.  Let alone the time involved and the cost.

So let me be straight with you from the start!  Nothing is going to change over night.  My aim is to make one change every fortnight and update this blog with the journey of researching that, and the additional (or not) cost implication of the alternative, as well as the time involved in sourcing it.  I am also not going to get rid of anything that we already have and use that is made of plastic, e.g. storage containers, the laptop upon which I type this!  Some plastic can be recycled, but is can only be downgraded in it's use, so while it's still got life in it, we'll be using it.)

And for those of you reading this and interested in following the blog, I'd really apprecaite your help & ideas.  I've already had one lovely friend deliver some homemade yoghurt for us to try, with the promise of the recipe to follow and the revelation that it's cheaper than the product we currently buy, involves no plastic, and pretty importantly, tasted delicious!!!  So all ideas and knowledge appreciated.

Plan for Week 1: I'm putting a large piece of paper above the bin and will make a tally of exactly what gets put in it over the week.