Fighting Plastic – a journey
Fighting Plastic – A Journey
Like many other people, we are trying to reduce our use of plastic. It’s important to keep in mind that the enemy is single use plastic, not all plastic. The plastic mugs we’ve had for 40 years aren’t a danger to the planet. Also, plastic is much lighter to transport than eco-friendly glass, so it saves tons of fossil fuel. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems.
The issues which triggered our journey were a combination of the David Attenborough effect and a dark suspicion that what we put into the recycling bin may not actually be getting recycled. You hear stories. As our contribution to Wendover Fighting Plastic, this is a list of what we are currently doing, with websites where appropriate. Other retailers are available; these are just the ones we have found.
We hope other readers of Wendover News may find our list useful, and contribute their own ideas.
*Shop at village markets:-
- Reuse egg boxes
- Reuse paper bags for bread, mushrooms
- Buy most veg loose and just put it in your own bag
- Visit Fillable at the market and see what changes you can make. (fillable.co.uk)
*Never accept plastic bags from shops. Bring your own bags. Since a small charge was introduced there has been a huge drop in the number of these menaces.
*Bathroom:-
- Buy bar shampoo and conditioner. Don’t be scared; it’s just as good.
- Use soap instead of shower gel. Remember soap? It still works!(Both the above, plus lovely solid bubble bath we get from Lush – MK or Oxford or online)
- Try toothpaste tablets. It’s a bit strange at first, but you get used to them (anythingbutplastic.co.uk/product-page/denttabs-toothpaste-tablets-with-fluoride)Alternatively, Colgate toothpaste tubes can be recycled. Nearest place currently is Westgate Dental Practice, 46 Wedgewood Street, Fairford Leys.
- Compostable silk dental floss in a little glass container we get from (ethicalsuperstore.com/products/georganics/georganics-natural-silk-dental-floss—cardamon—30m/)Switch from plastic back to metal razors.
*Kitchen:-
- We make our own yoghurt, using a maker we got from Lakeland. No more yoghurt pots.Compost as much as possible.
- Teabags don’t compost. Switch to loose tea, and be as surprised as we were by how much better it tastes!
- You can get eco-friendly dishwasher tabs from (ethicalsuperstore.com/products/ecoleaf/ecoleaf-dishwasher-tablets—25-tablets/)We are now using a washing machine egg from the above site. It lasts for ages and you don’t need conditioner. Remember when conditioner didn’t exist? We weren’t wearing barbed wire!
This is as far as we have got. We’re trying to think of vinegar as the universal cleaner, but can’t as yet get past the chippie smell. Of course other people have made different choices on their journey against single use plastic. It would be good to hear their ideas.
Richard & Val Brown
Editor’s Note: to see updates and participate more regularly why not join the Wendover News Fighting Plastic Group on Facebook, click here?