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Valentines Day

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged 3 Comments

Wethers it’s Valentines Day, a very special date, an anniversary or just because,  here’s a round up of plastic free posts to woo your plastic free sweetie.

Argh last minute Valentine day fixes….

Forgot !?! Quick, go get this free down load and print out the coupon book. Serve with a deep soulful look and "Experiences mean so much more than things, baby". I ...
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Candles

Nothing sets the mood quite as well as candles but it is hard to find plastic free candles. Most come in a protective plastic wrap or  bag. However we tracked down ...
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Condoms & Lubricants

If all goes well on Valentines day you may well be planning some intimate moments. Time to check out condoms. Condoms come in the following materials.... Latex: made of latex ...
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How to wrap gifts plastic-free

Which wrap should you choose? Well we prefer reusables over all else so here are some wraps you can use over and over again... Reusable Wraps Wrap your presents in ...
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Sweets, Snacks & Nibbles

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 ...
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How To Buy Flowers Plastic Free

You don't even want to know how many plastic wrapped roses we are going to get through on this one Valentine's day.Oh you do? According to the Flowers & Plants Association, ...
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Greetings cards

Cards  have been the bane of my life , (I mean greeting cards not gambling  - that's all in the past), as many come wrapped in icky plastic. So what are the alternatives? E-cards ...
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More Special Days

Other special days can all be found 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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Fibres & Bristles

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.6 Good to know, 4 About The Alternatives Tagged 1 Comment

A  guide to natural and biodegradable fibres that are safe to compost and can be used and washed without shedding tiny plastic microfibres that go on to pollute the land and sea.

What Are Fibres & Bristles

Fibres are thin strands that can be spun to form one continuous thread that can be used a rope or thread or if fine enough woven into cloth.
Bristles are short stiff animal hairs or feathers. Or very  stiff vegetable fibres used in brushes.
Plant derived fibres/bristles include everything from the finest cotton to the stiffest bassine
Animal derived fibres/bristles range from fine silk to boar bristle hair brushes.
Bristles and fibres can also be replicated in plastic. So acrylic mimics wool and plastic brushes replace natural brooms.

Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics

Fibres (and then yarns and ultimately fabrics) can be can be natural, synthetic or chemically produced hybrid called regenerated fibres.

Know Your Fibres

Natural Fibres
These are plant or animal derived.
They biodegrade
Coarse Fibres for rope, string, sacking and industrial uses include:
Abaca can be used for rope, coir from coconuts has a wide range of applications, jute is used for sack cloth and sisal for string. As well as these traditional uses there are many new applications.
Read more HERE
Fibres used for finer fabrics and yarn include cotton, flax wool and silk. They are used to male threads and yarns and can ultimately be knitted or woven into fabrics

Synthetic fibres
These are man-made from chemicals many of which are petroleum derived.
They include acrylic , nylon and polyester
They are derived from oil and coal.
Most do not biodegrade.

Regenerated Fibres
The base material is cellulose that can be obtained from a range of sources including wood, paper, cotton fiber, or  bamboo. It is then converted through a chemical process into a fiber.
Some it is claimed are biodegradable. Some are not.
Regenerated fibres include Rayon, Bamboo Rayon, Viscose,Modal and tencel (lyocell)

Fabrics
Fibres can be spun into yarn or threads.
In turn this can be can be twisted into string or rope
woven or knitted into fabric.

More
Read more  about fabrics and fibres HERE

Know Your Bristles & Brushes

Plant Derived Bristles
Basin,
Natural Coco Fibre (COIR) can also be used as a rough yarn
Black Coco Fibre (DYED COCO),
Bahia Piassava (BASS) Arenga (GUMATI ) Tampico Fibre
Union mixture is a mixture of white fibre and bassine.

Animal Derived Bristles
The most commonly known are
Boars hair is used for hairbrushes.
Feathers for dusters
A variety of animal hair for decorating and artists paint brushes

Synthetic Bristles

Polypropylen (PPN) PPN
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Flagged PVC/PPN

Easy enough to spot when they are used alone but sometimes they are mixed with natural fibres. Do check carefully when buying natural fibres. Ask if any of the above have been used or look carefully at the bristles.

Read more HERE

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Christmas Crackers Reusable

by Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , , 1 Comment

As they sound – a cracker that can be used over and over again. Probably not completely plastic free, (those ribbons look synthetic), but a great way of reducing your trash.

These are made by a UK company Keep This Cracker. The following was taken from their website.
What makes our Gift Box Crackers so unique?
Slide open the box and it goes Bang! just like a cracker. Fill with your own gifts and personalise them for any occasion. Easy to reuse just feed a new snap into the slots at each end.
Sadly it looks as though the crackers come in plastic packaging. Check with the supplier…

I haven’t actually used these but you read about Westywrites experiences with  reusable christmas crackers here.

Fill
You could fill them with plastic free sweets  if you can’t find suitable gifts.
There are loads of printable joke sheets up on Pinterest. They are truly corny. But they come with snowmen. Here’s and example.

Make
And if you are crafty you can make your own crackers. I have never done this but there are instructions up on Pinterest.  Looks fiddly to me! You can buy cracker snaps from craft shops and on line.

Buy

You can buy crackersnaps and more reusable crackers from Amazon.  You can read about our Amazon links here.

 

Refillable Crackers - Bundle of 6 snaps Refillable Crackers 4 Packs (Folk Green) Refillable Crackers 4 Packs (Ornate Jade)
Refillable Crackers – Bundle of 6 snaps
£2.50		 Refillable Crackers 4 Packs (Folk Green)
£12.75		 Refillable Crackers 4 Packs (Ornate Jade)
£12.75

More

You can find lots more plastic free Christmas tips here…
And you can read up more about special days and general partying here.

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Shea Butter Leeds

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , , ,

This is a quick introduction to Shea Butter

Semi soft buttery oil. Read more about butter oils and waxes here.
Imported usually from Africa.
Has a soft velvety texture.
Can be used neat as a very rich moisturiser.
Mix with coconut oil to make a lighter body butter. Recipe here.
I love it added to home made creams and lotions.

Which Shea Butter?

Unrefined shea butter is going beige or ivory or ‘off white’
Bright white refined shea butter
Pale yellow may be shea from Nilotica (Viterallia Nilotica) and it’s natural
Deep yellow Shea Butter has been dyed originally with a natural dye from the Borututu tree or more likely now a synthetic dye.

Raw Shea Butter
In it’s natural form.
Unrefined Shea Butter
Some filtering allowed so remove larger particles.
Refined Shea Butter
Some form of processing which also removes its smell.

Read more about shea butter in Wikipedia

Buy

It can of course be bought online but here in Yorkshire we have a local supplier. Maya’s stall in Leeds Market. They specialise in black hair and beauty so if you don’t live near Leeds check to see if there is a similar store or even hairdressers near you.It does come in a plastic tub though.

PLASTIC SPOILER
Wether bought on line or locally there will be some plastic packaging either a bag or a tub. As I get huge amounts of product from one tub or bag I consider it a worthwhile compromise as it still represents a huge decrease in plastic consumption.

We Made

Body butter

More

See a full range of homemade #plasticfree personal care products here 

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Sticky Tape

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , , , 17 Comments
The moral of this story – change is slow but it does happen. Keep on pushing. Back in the day I had to boycott Sellotape. Now some of you may be thinking chill, Sellotape is cellophane and therefore biodegradable. To which I waspishly replied “NO! I checked it out.” I wrote to Sellotape and they said they now only used plastic to make their tapes. But times change and it seems that they have seen where  the cool kids are at. So Sellotape once again makes biodegradable tape….
Sticky and strong 0% plastic tape Made from cellulose film and naturally based glue Contains plant based, renewable ingredients Packaging and core made from recycled cardboard Cellulose film derived from wood pulp and sourced from PEFC certified sustainable forests Anti-tangle and easy to tear Fits all large core tape dispensers I have seen them loose in Wilco or you can buy a pack of 3 online here Here’s more gumph from their website… Sellotape Zero Plastic performs just as well as Original Golden Sellotape but is 100% plant based and plastic free. Supplied in a triple pack of compostable and biodegradable rolls, this sustainable sticky tape is made from cellulose film and naturally based glue which contains 0% plastic. The tape is anti-tangle and easy to tear so there is no need to use scissors, or your teeth. The box and core can be put into the recycling bin and the tape itself can be disposed of in industrial composting bins. The packaging, tape and inner core then disintegrate into natural elements. Ideal for improving your workplace sustainability, these rolls fit all large core tape dispensers. You might think masking tape being made of paper could be used instead but the adhesives often contain synthetic chemicals. Here are some compostable, biodegradable and recyclable paper tapes with better glues.

Brown Kraft Tape labels

I have used this self adhesive packaging tape. It is paper based and has a silicone free backing and is 100% recyclable and it is claimed biodegradable. It is  used by professional graphic and art houses for the mounting of pictures and photographs during framing.It comes on cardboard rolls and you can get it in all different widths. It works really well and sticks to just about everything. You can use it with gift wrap for presents, (read more here), but I have also sent it through the post on parcels and it has remained secure. Plus it is great for labelling stuff. Sticks to glass for a surprisingly long time – even in damp conditions.

Buy

I can only buy this on line and it sometimes come packed in plastic. Check with the supplier. Tapes Direct sell it and  I got some from Ebay. Green Stationary This online company also sell a biodegradable tape. Here is the blurb “Eco paper packing tape, 50 metre long rolls of 50mm wide parcel packing tape made from brown 100% recycled paper, with a latex-based adhesive – a totally biodegradable tape to seal your parcels.  Hi tac gives strong adhesion to boxes and cartons. Sold individually, this product has a matt finish.” I have to bought from them so I don’t know what the onward packaging is like……. And of course…

Amazon

Being committed to local shopping, I prefer to buy that way whenever possible. I would encourage you to do the same. One of the joys of living plastic free is mooching round the local shops seeing what you can source. If you can’t buy local please do check the links above to the suppliers and buy direct from them and support their online businesses. If you can’t do that then I have put together and Amazon catalogue. Yes I know…
50mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Backing Tape 50m Roll 60 gsm Eco 15 75mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Backing Tape 50m Roll 60 gsm Eco 15 25mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Backing Tape 50m Roll 60 gsm Eco 15
50mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Back… £3.60 75mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Back… £5.05 25mm Brown Self Adhesive Picture Frame Back… £1.99
Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them.  Heres why I went ahead….. No we are not entirely happy with Amazons recent history. However, we have always found their service to be good and their packaging usually compostable.
If you buy a product via this link we do get an affiliation fee for this. This is not why we do it.

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Christmas

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged , 1 Comment

I always feel a sense of wonderment when I make something that turns out as good a shop bought but it looks like shop bought but it taste like shop bought sometimes actually it’s way better than shop bought anyway in that letter in that category falls my home-made sweet mincemeat which is so easy to make answer and looks just like the real thing.

2022 updates

Wrapping Paper

Both Sainsbury’s and Primark are doing plastic free wrapping paper and gift tags. Yay.

Back in the day I had to boycott Sellotape as they only used plastic to make their tapes. But times change and they have seen where  the cool kids are at. Sellotape once again makes biodegradable cellophane tapes. Well done them.

The moral of this story – change is slow but it does happen. Keep on pushing.

Sticky and strong 0% plastic tape
Made from cellulose film and naturally based glue
Contains plant based, renewable ingredients
Packaging and core made from recycled cardboard
Cellulose film derived from wood pulp and sourced from PEFC certified sustainable forests
Anti-tangle and easy to tear
Fits all large core tape dispensers

I have seen them loose in Wilco or you can buy a pack of 3 online here

The moral of this story – change is slow but it does happen. Keep on pushing….

Want a paper tape? – try here

Advent Calendars

Let’s start planning Christmas….. The Works https://www.theworks.co.uk/  have a few interesting Christmas  related plastic free products.

And they still have high street stores so you don’t have to worry about that pesky, onward packaging!

They have a wooden advent calendar reusable with little drawers for plastic free treats  for each day. sadly the product itself comes in plastic but you will get years of use and … you can’t win them all!

They also have canals sacks and stockings for the end of the bed. These come in plastic free packing and being canvas areobviously made from natural fibers.

Reason why you want to use natural fibres can be found here. Because no one wants their Christmas socks to last for ever!

All The Rest

Here are some more fantastic waste free ideas for Christmas

Stuffing

You can't have a roast bird without stuffing. I have tried long and hard to find plastic free ready-made but it eludes me so now I ...
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Greetings cards

Cards  have been the bane of my life , (I mean greeting cards not gambling  - that's all in the past), as many come wrapped in icky plastic ...
Read More

More

You can see the rest of our year 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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Advent Calendars

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , , 1 Comment

Covered in plastic and  full of trashy sweets, they just add to the huge amounts of Christmas rubbish. So here are a few plastic free ideas.

The cheapest and easiest way is to make your own fabric calendar that can be rolled up and stored taking up minimum space.

fabric-advent-calendarThis has to be one of the simpler design on the internet but just in case you cant work out how it’s done, here are the instructions. 

home made advent calenderIf you don’t  have a sewing machine try a fray free fabric like felt, some big hand stitching and glue and make  one like this on pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com.

Kits & Ready Made

You can buy fabric kits that contain  with everything you need to sew your own, plus instructions. Cut out and assemble. Easy as.

You can also buy fabric calendars ready made.

These are available from Amazon. more details here

 

loo roll advent calenderIf you really don’t like sewing, try a toilet roll advent calendar. You can find out more from www.oh-write.blogspot.

advent calender

But this one has to be my absolute favourite. Little individual wrapped presents hung on a stick. So cute.

It is featured along with other wonderful if rather intimidating ideas here on Pinterest

wooden advent calender

If you don’t have the time or inclination,  you can get wooden calenders with little drawers that you can use year after year.

These too are available from Amazon. more details here

Treats

You will need to get some little plastic free treats – sweets are always good and easy to get hold of.

Or little gift vouchers for fun things to do…..

More

You can find lots more plastic free Christmas tips here…
And you can read up more about special days and general partying here.

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Cigarettes

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged ,

Far be it from me to promote smoking but the purpose of this blog is to find plastic free alternatives to all legal pastimes and last time I looked smoking still was.

So if you fancy a plastic-free fag, by which, our American friends, I mean a ciggarette, then what are your options? Well you can go to Aberystwith and buy plastic free loose rolling tobaccos

But if that is too far how about growing (and curing) your own. I haven’t tried this – if you do please let me know how you get on! Please note they say “yes totally minimal packaging possible , reuse and recycle all the way only at ” so contact them before you order and say you are plastic free!

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Halloween labels and flour paste!

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged ,

Print and stick  these creepy labels onto a wine bottles to make a suitably  themed halloween gift  – but don’t use avery labels as some suggest!  Print onto plain paper, cut out and attach to bottle of choice using homemade, boiled  flour & water paste.

I have included a boiled flour and water paste from this paper mache  making web page because it is easy and clear to follow but also because  I think the rest of the site looks fascinating. And inspiring. You could use some of the techniques to make ghoulish sculptures, masks or even reusable pumpkin lanterns. That would save you some work!

Obviously adapt the choice of beverage if it’s for a child’s party!

Flour and water paste attached labels wash off easily if you are using a reusable bottle… of course you are using a reusable bottle!

More ideas for Halloween can be found here….

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Halloween colouring pages for kids

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade, 3.1 Special days & Parties Tagged

The day of the dead skull and more nice stuff is over at cool moms.

halloween colouring
These are more kid focused. You print them out, colour them in.

And then use them to decorate your home made plastic free Trick or Treat bags?

There are more printables over on my Pinterest page.

And lots more plastic free Halloween ideas here.

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sugru – mending plastic

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged ,

sugru“What if you could fix, modify or make almost anything? That’s why we invented sugru.”

and I have long been a fan! It is high up there in my plastic2cutplastic category. That is a product with plasticky elements that helps to ultimately reduce your plastic use. Sugru is a  rubbery stuff that can be hand moulded and used in dry or wet, hot and cold situations to mend (or adapt) all manner of things especially plastic products that are getting a bit wobbly. I hardly need stress the advantages but here’s a copy of the press release any way….

“sugru was created by a young product designer on a mission to empower people who want to repair and enhance their products. It moulds like play dough, sticks to almost anything and turns into a strong flexible rubber overnight.Adopted by people in over 150 countries, there are simply thousands of uses for sugru, from modifying kit on expeditions to the North Pole through to homeowners making small improvements to gadgets, appliances and even toys.” You can read more here..

It really does work! I have used it to mend chargers saving them from landfill and me the cost of buying new.

Also to seal a gap in the wooden trim above the kitchen sink. Better looking than shiny silicone seal, easier to use and far less packaging.

As packaging goes, yes they do come in plastic lined foil sachets but they are packed in a cardboard envelope so the packaging is minimal and necessary to keep the product from drying out.

sugru is available at a wide range of retailers including B&Q and Wilko as well as online at sugru.com.

Because it is so darn handy it will come as no surprise that sugru are also supporting Waste Less Live More Week of which I am a proud partner.

Bit more press release…

“Inventor and CEO of sugru, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh is also looking forward to the challenge: ‘being resourceful brings a little bit of creative thinking into everyday life and I love that! We designed sugru to be easy to use in the hope that it might encourage people not only to reduce waste but to feel more confident and creative about fixing and improving things too. The Waste Less Live More challenge is a brilliantly easy way for people to make small changes… and if enough of us do those small things, it could make a big difference.”

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Citric Acid

by Posted in 3.1 General & Homemade Tagged , ,

Can be bought in a cardboard box without a plastic liner from Wilcos.

Find more plastic free stuff as stocked in Wilcos, and Wilcos the store,here.

Supermarkets & Chainstores

Sometimes supermarkets can surprise you – check out the plastic-free and reduced packaging products here.