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Toothpaste, toothpowder, dentifrice homemade

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , , , , , , 2 Comments

Dentifrice – toothpaste or  toothpowder whichever, it  is basically an abrasive to clean and polish the teeth. Most brands come packed in masses of plastic. Plastic which cannot be recycled. Or rather it probably can be as most plastics technically can be recycled, but is far too difficult and costly to do so.
Which is bad BUT worse still the paste itself may contain plastic! Did you know that at least 12  Crest  toothpastes have been identified as containing  microbeads of polyethylene (PE). You can find a full list here  And Crest are by no means the only manufacturer who does this.

There there’s all the other stuff. “Every toothpaste contains the following ingredients: binders, abrasives, sudsers, humectants, flavors (unique additives), sweeteners, fluorides, tooth whiteners, a preservative, and water. Binders thicken toothpastes. Some binders are karaya gum, bentonite, sodium alginate, methylcellulose, carrageenan, and magnesium aluminum silicate.
Read more about toothpaste and how it is made here.

VERY IMPORTANT

What with the sudsing agents and binders you might be tempted to make your own toothpaste. It’s very easy but there are some important issues you need to be aware of.
The abrasivity of your home made paste
That it will not contain flouride.

Please Note

The following information is for guidance only. None of the following recipes or tips have not been tested on anyone other than me. I strongly advise you do your own research and proceed very carefully. These are your teeth!

Disclaimer
Be aware of the risks of listening to someone who
a) doesn’t have any training in this field,
b) most of what they know comes from Google,
That’s me I mean.

Research well and discuss everything with your dentist.

Abrasivity

The key to making tooth powder is to find something abrasive and ugh to remove the plaque but not so harsh it removes the enamel from your teeth. Which is why you need to research carefully and take internet claims with a huge pinch of salt.
Relative dentin abrasivity (RDA) is a a way of measuring the effect that the abrasive components of the toothpaste have on a tooth.[7]
The RDA scale was developed by the American Dental Association The higher the abrasive value the greater the wear on the enamal. Toothpaste makers regularly measure their product’s abrasivity. It’s necessary for FDA approval,
BY US law, a dentifrice is required to have a level lower than 250 to be considered safe .
RDA Score
Level
0-70 Low abrasive: safe for cementum, dentin and enamel
70-100 Medium abrasive: safe for enamel, dangerous for cementum and dentin
100-150 High abrasive: dangerous for cementum, dentin and enamel
150-250 Very high abrasive: harmful limit, damaging for teeth
250 and above Not recommended.

Some findings
4 brushing teeth with water
7 baking soda

Commerical pastes from 8 to 200 Colgate 2-in-1 Tartar Control / White

can find a full list here

Stuff I have used to clean my teeth

Salt
Bicarbonate of soda
Chalk – Calcium carbonate
Kaolin
Bentonite

Salt and Bicarbonate of soda can be used neat. And as you can see bicarbonate has a very low RDA score

The rest have to be mixed because they have different abrasive qualities.

My home-made toothpowder contains chalk kaolin and bentonite clay. Sadly there are no RDA scores that i can find for any of these abrasives. The following is what I have gleaned from the internet. Please do your own research.

Chalk is the hardest and so most abrasive element. Chalk is often in commercial toothpaste but not as often as silica. When comparing the two it seem that depending on particle size…
A comparison between different abrasives with similar particle sizes showed that silica presents higher RDA values than calcium carbonate. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11413496

Aromantics reccomend Use up to 40% in Toothpastes

That kaolin and Bentinite are both very soft,and have a positive score on the cleaning efficiency index.

The Cleaning Efficiency Index’ (CEI)
This is a very interesting article but sadly I can find no links to original research. Google hasn’t come up with anything either.
Researchers studying stains, abrasivity, and cleaning ability found that a relationship exists between the relative abrasivity and the cleaning ability.  They came up with what they call ‘Cleaning Efficiency Index’ (CEI).

The Cleaning Efficiency Index really ranks the combination of abrasivity in relation to cleaning ability.
low abrasive AND low cleaning ability. Not good = low efficiency score
high abrasive AND high cleaning ability. Not good either = low efficiency score
low abrasive AND high cleaning ability. Very good. This combination would give the highest ‘cleaning efficiency’ index score.
Read the full article HERE

And then there is this about Bentonite.
“The real benefit of bentonite clay is that it is abrasive enough to remove the plaque but not so much so that it will do damage to your enamel,” Graves says. Like charcoal, it may also help raise the pH of your mouth, making it more challenging for bacteria to grow.” Read the article HERE

The following is an account of my own experiences which may help you in your own research.

Home Made Dentifrice

Salt  Ughhh you buy plastic free salt here.  
Bicarbonate of soda can be used neat. Also ugh!!!
“Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), a product used for many years by itself or in combination with other ingredients has several excellent properties. As a soft crystalline substance that dissolves readily, it has a mild abrasive potential. In solution it will kill on contact all of the motile microorganisms associated with periodontal infections, e.g. spirochetes, motile rods, etc. It will also kill other disease related bacteria. It will also neutralize and detoxify the bacterial acids and toxins that form in plaques (bacterial biofilms). ” for more got to mizar

And of course it has a very low RDA of 7.
You can read more and find out where to buy plastic free bicarb HERE
BUT for all its sterling qualities, I find bicarbonate far too soapy tasting to use un-cut. Knowing how it is made I am not sure I want to put it in my mouth

My Home Made Toothpowder

1 part chalk NB Chalk This is pharmaceutical grade not the rough old stuff they use in fish tanks.
1 part kaolin
1 part bentonite clay. Yes I am literally cleaning my teeth with earth and it doe feel gritty.

I like this one but the bentonite does feel gritty in your mouth. The paste however has no taste which is nice. After the salt and the bicarb.
Put in a jar and shake well – use as tooth powder or mix to a stiff paste with water. You can add flavour with peppermint oil.
It is just like real toothpaste. Even leaves white marks on your clothes!

Paste with Bi-carb
I used to use bicarb in one of my early toothpaste recipes mixed with two dentifrices and Orris Root. Orris root is a natural preservative and helps the flavor along.
1 part chalk
1 part kaolin
1 part Orris Root
1 part bicarb

Put in a jar and shake well – use as tooth powder or mix to a stiff paste with water. Though it worked I wasn’t really happy with the taste and orris root is very expensive.

Buy

Buy plastic free bicarb HERE

Chalk -Buy pharmaceutical grade not the rough old stuff they use in fish tanks.
You can buy the chalk, kaolin and Orris Root from EBay or Aromantics . The products come in a plastic bags – booo… but they are polythene so easily recycled and  I get huge amounts tooth powder out of one small bag of ingredients.  I consider it a worthwhile compromise and far less plastic than any other option.

buy ready made dentifrice

More info

If you want a better informed opinion I suggest you head on over to the Aromantics website. . They will sell you everything you need to make toothpaste including recipes you can download as a PDF. They have been in this game for years and are far more qualified then I am.

Do You Even Need Dentifrice 

You might want to consider if you even need to use a dentifrice. According to many a good brushing will do the job just as well…

“You can remove food debris and plaque from your teeth without using toothpaste.
Dental plaque is a sticky, colorless biofilm of bacteria and sugars that is constantly in the process of forming on our teeth. Dental plaque is acidic, and can break down tooth enamel and cause cavities to form. Plaque can also irritate your gums, causing gingivitis (red, swollen, bleeding gums), infections and eventually tooth loss.
Plaque is the primary cause of cavities and gum disease. If you don’t consistently remove plaque from your teeth it can harden into an even sticker substance called tartar, which provides a perfect environment for bacteria colonies to grow under your gums and on your teeth.
One of the best ways to control plaque is brushing your teeth thoroughly at least twice a day. But you don’t need toothpaste to do this, just a soft toothbrush and good brushing techniques will remove plaque.

What, No Flouride?

You must consider this
Of course home made toothpaste or a no toothpaste regime will mean a cut in fluoride.
“Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral which helps to prevent tooth decay.
Which is why it’s added to many brands of toothpaste.
“Brushing your teeth thoroughly with fluoride toothpaste is one of the most effective ways of preventing tooth decay.” Read about fluoride and the NHS here.
And this Article is also USEFUL.

The most effective ways to avoid tooth decay are avoid sugar and good brushing. But flouride also helps.
In the UK fluoride is added to some tap water. Contact your water authority to find out if yours is.
You can also buy fluoride tablets and mouth washes.
It is also present in tea and the NHS reccomended you limit your intake to 3 mugs a day.
This was a study of fluoride levels in 38 teas, mainly bought from UK supermarkets. The authors point out that fluoride is an essential micronutrient, needed to prevent dental decay and promote healthy bone growth. However, consumed in excess it can lead to a condition called fluorosis, which can damage both teeth and bones.
Flouride can be poisonous even kill if consumed in large amounts.
Flouride powder can be bought on Amazon. Where I also saw this
Question: Can I add this to homemade toothpaste?
Answer: Yes, many folks add this to their toothpaste formulas, typically in commercial toothpastes there is a concentration (by weight) of 1 – 1.5%
By Professor Fullwood SELLER on February 7, 2016

No comment your call.

Brushes

While the RDA score has been shown to have a statistically significant correlation to the presence of abrasion, it is not the only contributing factor to consider.[19][9][22] Other factors such as the amount of pressure used whilst brushing, the type, thickness and dispersion of bristle in the toothbrush and the time spent brushing are other factors that contribute to dental abrasion.

More

See all our posts on plasticfree dental care, HERE.

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Toothpaste

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , 2 Comments

In A Tube
There are still some tooth pastes come in metal tubes BUT be aware that all metal tubed toothpastes I have come across have a plastic cap and the tubes are lined with a plastic liner. If you are happy to go ahead one such is
Marvis Classic Strong Mint Toothpaste
Apparently ” What makes Marvis unique is the range of exotic flavours – enticing and addictive tastes that produce a whirlwind of sensations. Marvis search the world to bring you irresistible new and original flavours that turn the simple act of teeth brushing into a daily pleasure of discovery and taste.”

In A Jar
Recently started using Georganics toothpaste, and would highly recommend. Comes in a glass jar with metal lid and the seal is biodegradable. It does come with a little plastic spoon, but if you email them, they’ll send yours without one (they’re also hoping to swap to wooden spoons soon).
with thanks to Rebecca.
You can visit the website HERE.

And thanks is to Carriad Wholefoods for letting me know about Truthpaste
natural toothpaste which also comes in a glass jar. They stock it and you can buy on line.

Both the above come in glass jars with metal lids. Chances are the lids are plastic lined but it’s an improvement.

More

Find other plastic free personal care products here…

Making Other Personal Care Products 

Its quicker then  trying to choose between a hundred different shampoos and it’s really simple, fun to do, so much cheaper  and  I get to control what goes on my  body, where it comes from and what environmental impact it has.

Lots more info here on making your own personal care products

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Tescos

by Posted in 3.2 Shops & Businesses, 3.2.3 Supermarkets & Chains Tagged

I have one near me so I tend to visit more often then I think is ideal. here are some of the products they do;

PLA compostable plastic bags
Paper bin liners
Apple vinegar
Coconut oil
All kinds of oil in glass bottles
Big tins of vegetable oil

Tescos  sell bulk pasta in polythene bags – not plastic free I know but better than film!

Other Products

From Louises database

Bath Salts, Radox – Cardboard
Coffee Beans, Lavazza 1kg – Usual non-recyclable packaging, largest available
Double Edge Razor Blades 10’s– Cardboard and small plastic cover
Ecover Washing Powder – Cardboard, no scoop
Fish Fingers, Birds Eye 30 MSC – Big pack to save on packaging – Cardboard
Cat litter, Sanicat Eco – I believe this is in a paper bag
Olive Oil, Il Casolare – Flip top glass bottle, reusable?

Louises Data Base?
Louise Bayfields   “POSTIVE PRODUCTS LIST (UK) a list of High Street and Supermar-ket products that have no packaging or in some way help reduce packaging.”

The List
The original PDF will be updated as  Louise shops around so do check back there for updates. 
Remember not all stores stock all products. It might be wise to check ahead if you are making a special visit.
Once again thank you  Louise for such a fantastic resource!

Shopping Tips

If you want to buy loose, you will need to take your own reusable packaging – produce bags, tupperware even compostable disposables. You can find them here.

Sneaky Plastics

The plastic free freak should remember that
metal lids to glass jars are of course plastic lined .
Tin and cans including those for cosmetics are also plastic lined
Paper and foil wraps will be plastic lined.
Find other sneaky plastics here….

Choose Well
If you really can’t do without it and you have a choice a plastic wrapped products, choose to buy the one in simple plastics that can easily be recycled

More

see all our supermarket info HERE.
Find out more about the individual products here via the food index
Other places to buy unpackaged food are listed here

N.B.

lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x

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Snact in compostable packaging

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink, 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises, 3.6 P-f U.K Directory Tagged , 5 Comments

Snacks… so good when trekking, so hard to source plastic free. The best we have is loose nuts as sold at Lidles,  Until now!

Take a look at Snact. Fighting food waste and plastic pollution and making some fine tasty vegan goodness while they are at it.

They “make snacks from surplus produce. That’s produce that would otherwise be thrown away for being too big, too small, too ugly, or simply too abundant. Tonnes of perfectly good fruit and vegetables get rejected before reaching shop shelves in the UK. We turn that surplus into healthy snacks that contribute to one of your five a day.

Already like them but here’s the really good stuff. “fruit jerky will now be available in 100% home compostable packaging – the first of its kind in the UK!”

Our new innovative packaging, developed by Israeli start-up TIPA, is just as durable and impermeable as ordinary plastic – but it biologically decomposes within just 180 days and becomes a fertiliser for soil, behaving similarly to an orange peel.

Currently they do 3 flavours
Apple & Mango
A full and juicy flavour combining the natural sweetness of mango and tartness of apples.
Apple, Blueberry & Banana
A guaranteed crowd-pleaser with the deep flavour of blueberry and a subtle hint of banana sweetness.
Apple & Raspberry
Naturally sweet, tangy & punchy, just like you’d expect raspberries to be.

All are
100% fruit
Vegan & gluten free
No additives or preservatives
Less than 65kcal per bag
Made in the UK
In home compostable packaging. That means you can compost the wrapper at home!

Buy

You can find out more about Snact and buy bars here

More About The Snacks

Hand made on a family farm in Kent with whole fresh fruit sourced predominantly from British surplus produce, it is vegan, gluten free, low calorie, and counts towards your five a day. We don’t use any concentrates, additives, or preservatives, just 100% fruit.

Until they went BANANAS
Their new banana based bar will be out soon. Congratulations on raising the money to do this “Bananas are the most popular fruit in the world, but also one of the most wasted. We want to stop 1.4m bananas going to waste every day by turning them into awesome food waste-fighting delicious banana bars – or if we may: the best bars on and for the planet!”

More About The Packaging

Tipa have developed a a bio- plastic which I take to mean made with plants. It is compostable and meets composting standards. “Tipa’s products, compounds and films comply with EU 13432 and ASTM D6400 standards and are certified for both home and industrial composting through the OK Compost mark by the Vincotte institute. Tipa’s materials also meet food contact regulation requirements in Europe and the US.”  And they say it can be composted at home.

Composting Plastic At Home
FYI While most agree that some  plastics are indeed compostable, many say that they can only composted in large scale municipal schemes. I have used and composted a number of compostable plastic products 

Biodegradable, Compostable Plastics

What is biodegradable? Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism into simple, stable compounds which can be absorbed into the ecosystem. More about biodegrading here

What is compostable? To be classed compostable, items must biodegrade within a certain time (around the rate at which paper biodegrades), and the resulting biomass must be free of toxins, able to sustain plant life and be used as an organic fertilizer or soil additive. Read more about compostable plastics here

India Plastic Free Trekking Ladakh

by Posted in 3.2 Outside the U.K.

Organized by the Snow leopard Conservancy, these treks allow you access to some of the amazing scenery around Leh. You stay in villagers homes – I say village but sometimes it is a single farmstead and have to walk from place to place. There are no roads. Everything that goes into the mountains has to be carried there on the backs of donkeys. Needless to say there is no rubbish collection everything that goes into the mountains stays in the mountains.

For hundreds of years the ecological balance has been maintained. Rubbish is composted or burnt or eaten by other less fussy animals. Even now this landscape is wonderfully clean and rubbish free. But all that is changing with the advent of plastic. Plastic is of course difficult to burn, doesn’t biodegrade, and kills those animals who eat it. Once it is in the landscape it is there for decades looking horrible and causing trouble.

Thankfully there are people like the Snow leopard Conservancy who are trying to preserve snow leopards and the environment in which they and the farmers live. They have several amazing projects including the home stay treks. As well as board and bed, your host will provide you with boiled filtered water. All you have to do is take your own refillable water bottle for plastic free hydration.

What a great scheme.

NB  Don’t rely on there being bottled water for sale – there isn’t any. Ha!

For more details go to

hymalayan homestays
markha-valley

Snacks

Though the food at the home stays does the job it is sometimes basic and often repetitive. Though they will make you a packed lunch the less said about them the better. You may feel the need to take some additional provisions with you.

The purchase of plastic free, light weight snacks is difficult I know but here are a couple of options.

Dried fruit can be bought loose in the market on the main street of Leh or in paper bags from Dzosmos. (where you can also refill your water bottle with filtered water while you are in Leh)

If you or the trekking party you are with do buy plastic wrapped snacks please do ensure that they are disposed of properly even if that means taking your plastic wrappers back to Leh with you. There is no guarantee that they will be properly disposed of there but at least it will keep the hills cleaner for longer.

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Flat Breads and Maryam Bakery

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged , ,

Last year I gave up plastic wrapped bread – which was pretty easy, for English bread at least. However for middle eastern breads it’s a different story -pitta breads, lavoche and other types of flat bread are not to be bought in anything other than plastic wrappings. The husband hails from far off lands and often gets a yearning for the flat breads of his youth. It felt a little unfair to deny him the pleasure of a properly wrapped kebab, so I supposed that a special dispensation would have to be made for foreign bread.

But no more thanks to the arrival of Maryam Bakery on Blacker Road Huddersfield. They do four nan breads for a pound. They call them nans but they are in fact more of a Kurdish style flat bread. They are freshly baked and better than any plastic wrapped pittas or dusty dry lavoche.

And they come wrapped in paper… but you have to ask specially for that.

Find more yummy baked things at bread, buns and biscuits

 

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How To Stay Safe In The Sun

by Posted in 3.1 Personal, 3.2 How To...plastic-free 5 Comments

The following information is for guidance only. Much of the following info was taken from www.skincancer.org – an invaluable source and should be read by everyone. Though you might find yourself spending the rest of Summer cowering in a cellar coming out only after dark after doing so.
But educate yourself and you can enjoy the sun sensibly.

Why Limit Exposure To The Sun
There are two types of ultraviolet radiation, UVA and UVB
UVB is the chief cause of sunburn and linked to sun cancer.
UVA rays, penetrate the skin more deeply, and contribute to photoaging. They do not primarily cause sunburn but are also linked to some types skin cancer.
There may be no indications of damage being done
Anyone over the age of six months should use a sunscreen daily.
Sitting inside might not help. Glass windows filter out UVB but not UVA rays.
Up to 40 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation reaches the earth on a completely cloudy day.

Use Protection

There are several ways to protect yourself
Stay out of the Sun
Use a cream to provide a chemical/physical block
Wear protective clothing

I would suggest you combine all of the above.

Which Cream
Staying out of direct sunlight reduces the need for cream but you still burn in the shade so cream is always advisable.You need a cream that protects from both UVA and UVB. You can read more about all that HERE

Get Plastic Free Sun Block

Buy
Anything But Plastic online sell this – Shade Sunscreen for £9.75 for 100ml

Make
But at that price I will also have to continue making my own. You can find my recipes HERE

Clothes

Hats  
Research has shown that broad-brimmed hats provide protection equivalent to an SPF (sun protection factor) of approximately 5 for the nose, ears and neck.

How Shady Is Your Shirt
UPF, the ultraviolet protection factor, measures protection from UV radiation in fabrics. A shirt with a UPF of 30 indicates that just 1/30th of the sun’s UV radiation can reach the skin.Read more here

Self Tan
Sit in the shade and don’t bother trying to tan. instead  make your self tanning lotion by adding some DHA. Find out more here

Natural Sunblocks
There are claims that certain oils like coconut oil have a natural SPF. I personally don’t believe this and strongly advise you do not rely on this alone.

N.B.

Lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project (read more here) or

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

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mop and bucket

by Posted in 3.1 Cleaning Up Tagged 2 Comments

 mop bucketI am something of an old pro when it comes to scrubbing. In my youth I was the cleaner of casinos. I swabbed down the gaming area, restaurant and croupiers changing rooms. What with the slopped drinks, overflowing urinals, greasy kitchens and industrial strength makeup  spills, theres not a thing I don’t know about  mopping up.

I can tell you that a cotton mop and galvanized mop bucket  are the only things that can take the strain. Plastic tubs and sponge heads are crap (that is a technical term used by cleaners). Only the strength of galvanized steel allows you to get a good squeeze on your mop essential for good scrubbing action.

mopCotton mop heads are also replaceable. The old ones can be safely burnt on the bonfire or used to make Guy Fawkes hair – it makes him look really rascally. If you think Guy had the right idea and you don’t want to burn an effigy of him,  put the old mop head on the compost heap. The wooden mop handles last for ever, but should they ever break they too can be burnt or composted.

So give up on plastic mop buckets and sqidgy sponges and get down with the old school charlady look. Its really cool, plastic free, biodegradable and lasts for ever.

So you want to use a cotton mop? There are a few things you may wish to consider before you purchase.
Firstly, not all mop heads are not created equal. They come in different ply which means that the strands of cotton come in different thicknesses.

Which mop head should you use? 

Thinner twines will wear away quickly leaving your mop head scraping on the floor, but dry quickly after use.

Thick twines are better for heavy duty mopping but a thick head takes longer to dry and a damp mop head can very quickly become a stinky mop head.

Drying out, or getting stinky, is not an issue if you use the mop every other day.

If you don’t need to mop every day the 16PY is a good choice. It is a medium weight so thicker than your average mop head but not so heavy it takes forever to dry out.

Changing a mop head

Remove old head put on new – as easy as

You can nail the head into place but we have never bothered.

Works fine for us

Buy Mop & Bucket

Mops and buckets can often be found on markets and in hardware stalls.

You can also buy them on line here from independent sellers operating through Amazon.

Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them.  Heres why I went ahead…..

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Toilet Roll

by Posted in 3.1 Personal Tagged , ,

For a long time the only plastic free toilet paper I could find was Isal Medicated. It is extremely hard more like greaseproof paper with a shiny almost waterproof finish. Obviously this makes it extremely uncomfortable to use in a number of ways. Still I was prepared to use the beastly stuff till I went to buy in bulk and found the paper wrapped rolls were shrink filmed in plastic. Damned if I am going to suffer scratches if the rolls are not in fact plastic free.

Loose

However if you are prepared to buy loose, try your corner shop.Here in Huddersfield  Khadims sell loose toilets rolls very cheap.

Compostable Packaging

Eco Leaf Toilet Tissue.

Supplied by the good folks at Suma ( a workers cooperative), it comes in a 100% cornstarch compostable wrap called Bioplast. Just so you know, Bioplast is certified to EN 13432 and confirms to the European OK Compost Standard. Made of potato starch it is similar to biobags I am guessing. The rolls themselves are 100% recycled paper and Suma donate some of their profits to www.treesponsibility.com.

If you live in Huddersfield you can buy these at Half Moon Health FoodsAddress: 6 Half MoonStreet HD1 2JJ.

Or you can buy it on line from the Ethical Superstore.

You might want to check these shops. They sell plastic free products and send them out in plasticless packages. Find them HERE

A big plus with these Suma rolls is that they are made in the UK from recycled paper.

Quick Overview

As with our other Ecoleaf paper products, our toilet tissue is made from 100% recycled fibre sourced exclusively from the UK. It’s produced from a mix of consumer and trade waste using chlorine-free processing. The tissue comes in 100% compostable wrap making our packaging sustainable, renewable, non-polluting and non-toxic.
We work in partnership with Treesponsibility to minimize the environmental impact of our products

Made in the UK by Suma, an ethical worker cooperative.
Read more here

Plastic Spoiler
Plus I have heard reports that if you buy in bulk it comes in a plastic bag!

Greencane

Will deliver toilets rolls in a cardboard box.

Each box contains
Total 48 rolls
12 packs of 4 rolls.
Each roll 300 sheets, 2 ply.
UK £23.80 per carton.

The rolls are wrapped in cellophane, a compostable plastic.

Find out more about Greencaneproducts here.

To order products  visit the website

Give A Crap do something similar.

The downside is the paper products are made in and imported from China.

Composting Plastic At Home
While most agree that some  plastics are indeed compostable, many say that they can only composted in large scale municipal schemes. As we don’t have many large scale municipal schemes this they say is a pointless advantage.I say the days of large scale municipal schemes is fast approaching as governments aim to divert biodegradable rubbish from landfill sites.
AND I have been composting my PLA plastic for years. We have used and composted a number PLA plastic products (including Biobags , Deli pots  and disposable Cutlery)
It does take longer than other products and  sometimes I have found shreds of it in my compost but I dig it into the soil where it quickly disappears.

Biodegradable, Compostable Plastics

What is biodegradable? Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism into simple, stable compounds which can be absorbed into the ecosystem. More about biodegrading here

What is compostable? To be classed compostable, items must biodegrade within a certain time (around the rate at which paper biodegrades), and the resulting biomass must be free of toxins, able to sustain plant life and be used as an organic fertilizer or soil additive. For a man-made product to be sold as compostable, it has to meet certain standards. One such is the European Norm EN13432. You can find out more here.

Read more about compostable plastics here

More Info

You can find other ways to wipe here….

And you might like these other health & hygiene posts

Buy On Line

These shops sell plastic free products and send them out in plasticless packages. Find them HERE

N.B.

lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project (read more here) or

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

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Sweets, Snacks & Nibbles

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged , , , 6 Comments
I don’t care if the lady loves milk tray, she’s not getting a box of chocks from me. Not with that plastic wrapping, plastic cover sheet and plastic sweet tray. Before you call me hard hearted there is a plastic free alternative.

Chocolates

There are shops out there selling British and Belgium chocolates loose.  You can buy a separate, cardboard box to put them in or you could make your own packaging.

Chocolate Bars

And there is always chocolate wrapped in foil and cardboard. Tescos do some wrapped in cardboard and foil. Original Beans who sell  their chocolate in certified compostable packaging. Expensive but plasticfree and delivered to your door
https://lovecocoa.com/collections/letterbox-gifts-chocolate
Why choose Love Cocoa? This product is:
  • Free from Palm Oil
  • Vegan Friendly
  • Slavery Free
  • Made from Single Origin Chocolate
  • Comes in Plastic Free Packaging, beautifully designed by us in London
By buying this product, you will help to plant a tree in Kenya. Find out more about our tree planting here. 🌱

Waitrose

Not so expensive and also plastic free, Waitrose do a great range of home brand chocolate bars. Packed in cardboard and foil.

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Homemade If handing some one a big slab of chocolate seems a bit blunt, you could tart it up by turning it into something else. Check out the marbled minty things made by Jen. Or these wonderful truffles.  Find them here. They also make a great Mother’s Day gift.

Sweets

If the loose chocolates are too expensive you can buy other kinds of sweets from jars – for mothers day my  mum got two ounces of liquorice torpedo’s in a paper bag from Queensgate Market. Huddersfield.
Tescos and Ikea have a pick and mix stand where you can get chocolate beans ( smarties), and other sweets unwrapped and loose.
Every time I have been to any of the above, they have had paper bags but you may want to take your own plastic-free bag to be sure. Crisps Its now possible to buy crisps in home compostable packaging! Find them here! Other Snacks And fruit jerky also in home compostable packaging.

N.B.

Lines changes, products get removed. For more information why not ask the Plastic Is Rubbish FB group for updates. They are a great source of tidbits, personal experience and the latest news. Why not join them and share the plastic free love x

And before you go…

If you have found the #plasticfree information useful, please consider supporting us. It all goes to financing the project (read more here) or Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com
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Sneaky Plastic Tea Bags

by Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged , , 8 Comments

Whats in your tea bag? Paper and tea you wish but actually no.

Firstly is your bag made from paper? Are you sure? Because when you think about it if it really was made from paper why doesn’t it go all soggy when you submerge it in boiling water?

Plastic In The Bag
Well it could be because the actual bag that you thought was paper, does in fact contain plastic. This came to light when keen composters found fine plastic mesh in their  compost bins. It was the plastic web that holds the teabags together and that doesn’t biodegrade.
The following was taken from the  Guardian  A report published today by Which? Gardening reveals that teabags produced by top tea manufacturers are only between 70-80% biodegradable. As a result, gardeners are finding the net part of teabags – caused by the inclusion of heat-resistant polypropylene – left on their compost heaps. Which? Gardening contacted the major tea manufacturers to check the content of their products. PG Tips responded: “‘Like most of the teabags in the UK, our teabags are made with about 80% paper fibre, which is fully compostable along with the tea leaves contained in the bag. The remaining packaging includes a small amount of plastic which is not fully biodegradable.”

Plastic Glue To Seal Them
Then there is the sealing. Wikipedia claims “Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC

Chemical Treatment
OR that the paper has been treated with Epichlorohydrin to make it stronger
In the USA Epichlorohydrin is considered to be a potential carcinogen for purposes of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) hazard communication standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200.
European Statement from Dow Chemical:
“The substance should be regarded as if it is carcinogenic to man. There is sufficient evidence to provide a strong presumption that human exposure to the substance may result in the development of cancer.”
It is also used in epoxy resins, textiles, inks, dyes and rubber. Read more here.

Chlorine Bleaching
And those bags are so white because they have been bleached with chlorine.

All Plastic Bags
So much so you might feel almost relieved to know that some tea bags are actually made from plastic. Just plastic . Those silky pyramids for posh tea may not be silk but synthetic fibres.
Or maybe not. This post claims that chemicals each from the plastic into your te.

Plastic Free Tea Bags

The technology is out there to make plastic free teabags. You can find them here

Loose Tea

if none of the above suit you could always try The only alternative is loose tea. Initially this might seem like a lot of faff. First you will need to source some loose tea. You can find that here

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Find other sneaky plastics here….

You can see all our hot drink posts here.

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Cooperative Supermarket

by Posted in 3.2.3 Supermarkets & Chains Tagged ,

Plastic free teabags

For those of you who didn’t know, most teabags contain plastic. not just the packaging but actually in the bag.
However the co-op have stepped up to the mark.

“The Co-op’s own-brand 99 tea will be developed without the use of polypropylene polymers, which are used to enable the teabag to hold its shape. The Co-op sells around 376 million teabags annually and has worked with tea suppliers Typhoo and sustainable fibre developers Ahlstrom-Munksjö to eliminate the use of plastic. It is believed the move could stop nine tonnes of plastic being sent to landfill annually.

Co-op Food’s chief executive Jo Whitfield said: “Many tea drinkers are blissfully unaware that the teabag from their daily cuppa is sealed using plastic. Even though it’s a relatively small amount, when you consider the six billion cups of tea that are brewed up every year in the UK, we are looking at around 150 tonnes of polypropylene – that’s an enormous amount of accumulated plastic waste that is either contaminating food waste compost collections or simply going to landfill.
“A cup of tea is part of our national psyche, so we felt it was imperative that we fix the problem as soon as possible. We’re absolutely committed to reducing plastic in our packaging and want to ensure that tea lovers can enjoy a guilt-free brew.”
The new method uses heat sealing bags which eliminate the need for the widely-used plastic seal. The bio-degradable bags will undergo rigorous testing throughout the next month, and Co-op is hoping to commercialise them later this year. The intent is for the product to be rolled out across the Co-op’s entire own-labelled tea range. The retailer confirmed that the teabags will be fully compostable in food waste collections.
Plastic pledges
The Co-op already has a target in place to make 100% of its product packaging recyclable, with an interim target of 80% by 2020. The target also accounts for reducing hard-to-recycle plastics and using more recycled content “wherever possible”.
Co-op, which was also the first retailer to source 100% Fairtrade cocoa, has previously voiced its support for the introduction of a nationwide bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) to help reduce plastic pollution.

Other Products

*Bread and Cake mixes – Paper – Really good selection in some larger stores

*Louises Data Base
The starred information was taken from Louise Bayfields   “POSTIVE PRODUCTS LIST (UK) a list of High Street and Supermar-ket products that have no packaging or in some way help reduce packaging.”

The List
The original PDF will be updated as  Louise shops around so do check back there for updates. 
Remember not all stores stock all products. It might be wise to check ahead if you are making a special visit.
Once again thank you  Louise for such a fantastic resource!

Shopping Tips

If you want to buy loose, you will need to take your own reusable packaging – produce bags, tupperware even compostable disposables. You can find them here.
The plastic free freak should remember that
metal lids to glass jars are of course plastic lined .
Tin and cans including those for cosmetics are also plastic lined
Paper and foil wraps will be plastic lined.

Choose Well
If you really can’t do without it and you have a choice a plastic wrapped products, choose to buy the one in simple plastics that can easily be recycled

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see all our supermarket info HERE