Are you up for the challenge? Plastic free July!

So with life slowly returning to a new normal I’ve been thinking about the good bits from lockdown.  We’ve managed to get loads of jobs done round the house that have been on the to do list for yonks, we’ve enjoyed lots of walks with our pooch and it’s meant that I’ve had lots of time on my hands to launch and enjoy this venture. 

We’ve also made a lot of changes to the way we live including upping our recycling game, starting to compost, growing our own fruit & veg and making lots of eco swaps throughout the house and I’m committed to making sure these changes are sustained as we edge our way out of lockdown.

I also want to push myself further to make more changes and encourage others through my social media platforms to join in and I am going to start with Plastic free July.  Plastic free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution so we can have cleaner streets, oceans and beautiful communities.  The movement is asking participants to either

🌎 Avoid single-use plastic packaging,

🌎 Target takeaway items like bags, bottles, straws and coffee cups

🌎 Or go completely plastic free.

Whether its for a day, a week or the whole of July your commitment to the cause will make a huge difference in the long run and hopefully some of the small changes you make will become normal habits for you.  For more info on the movement and to make a plastic free pledge yourself please visit https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/.

Whilst my bathroom is already 95% plastic free (just one bottle of mouthwash to get through!) and I try to keep my beauty routine as ethical and eco-friendly as possible, the kitchen is an area I struggle to keep plastic-free and has been even harder during this pandemic.  I’ve found products like milk, condiments, fruit & veg are quite easy to keep plastic free by using our local farm shop and deli but other products are not so easy.  To try and help combat the kitchen, I’m starting to gather together all of the single use plastic we have been disposing of over the last few weeks and then looking at my plastic free options when purchasing these products again.  I’ll be posting my tips and tricks throughout July on my social media channels so make sure you’ll following us on both Facebook and Instagram.

One product I will struggle with is Vimto!! Vimto is probably my biggest downfall in the kitchen and even though the plastic bottle it is packaged in is completely recyclable I would still prefer to buy it in a glass bottle.  In 2017, they actually designed and produced a special glass bottles to mark Ramadan but these were only on sale in the Middle East and it isn’t something they’ve rolled out since so I’ve made the suggestion through their website that they look at having the option of glass bottles.

As I said earlier on, I’ve been using this lockdown period to up our recycling game.  Until I started on this eco-friendly living journey I believed that just separating my plastic, cardboard and garden waste from the general waste was enough and that I was doing my bit.  I can’t believe how wrong I was! Recycling is so much more complex than that and our councils recycling systems are not set up nor do they have enough money to recycle complex packaging such as crisp packets, toothpaste tubes and disposable coffee cups.  With items such as these, that you can not avoid buying in plastic packaging there are other recycling options such as using the services of Terracycle.  Terracycle are an innovative recycling company that has become a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials.  You can find out more information about Terracycle plus lots more recycling tips in last weeks blog here.

If you’re struggling with plastic free options, the plastic free July website has lots of tips and options for you.  I think the two main things for me will be research and preparation.   Researching what materials product packaging contains and researching my options but also being prepared when it comes to packed lunches, day trips and takeaways.  Not being prepared is one of the easiest ways to slip back into buying single use plastic.

I’ll also be posting my own tips and tricks throughout July on my social media channels so make sure you’ll following us on both Facebook and Instagram.