The first week of Plastic Free July was for me to look at what plastic we use at the moment. I made a few changes as they came up but I didn’t go cold turkey on the plastic. If I end this month with just a few ways we can reduce our plastic use I’ll be very happy. There is no point making huge changes we won’t stick to.
What is in the bins?
I live with my teenager and 2 cats. Our landfill rubbish is collected every two weeks on a Monday. Today is Sunday. Sometimes I have more than this, never less. It is 3 bread sized bags, one has plastic that cannot be recycled. One has newspaper the cats have peed on and the other contains a broken glass, wrapped up in newspaper.
My recycling boxes are collected weekly and look like this today:
A weeks worth of tins, paper, bottles and cardboard for the 2 of us.
A week worth of plastic recycling for both of us
It is not as good as it looks!
I went to a music festival yesterday and beer only came in plastic glasses. It was an all day event so there was a fair bit of drinking and throwing away of plastic pint glasses done by all, me included. My son went to a science fair and came back with a nice cloth bag, rammed with plastic wrapped goodies he hasn’t gone through yet. And the natural cleaning materials I ordered came wrapped like this:
Natural cleaning products chosen for cardboard packaging, wrapped in plastic.
Wilkos were totally fine about removing the plastic and getting rid of it themselves. I bought vinegar in a spray bottle that I’m hoping to be able to refill. Citric acid and bicarb came in boxes.
There is more stuff around the house
I havent gone through the fridge to see what needs to go in the recycling. There is a pile of scrap paper that only gets put in the recycling when it gets too big for the box it is in. Other bits of rubbish have not made their way to the bin.
What worked in week 1
I’m sorting out the rubbish for collection early because I know that if I leave it too late, I’ll be tired and I’ll chuck away things that could be recycled. My big win for week 1 was discovering the wonderful cleaning power of vinegar and that is a plastic free solution that is a keeper.
Plans for week 2 of Plastic Free July
As things run out I’m trying to replace them with a plastic free alternative. Next week the shampoo will run out. I’ll keep the bottle in case I have the time and energy to try to make some but I doubt that is going to happen! I’m going to split my shopping so that veg comes loose from the market instead of packaged from Lidl. We have loads of markets in Bristol and there is a good outdoor one on Friday which is more affordable than the Wednesday farmers market. To help this work I need to get off this computer and write a meal plan!