Earth Conscious

Eco friendly business run by two mums, specialising in reusable over disposable products. We stock stainless steel straws to replace plastic throwaways. We also offer luxurious washable sanitary pads, aiming to reduce the huge 200,00 tonnes of landfill caused by sanitary products each year.

Our products are high quality and have a life span of many years, further reducing waste.

Links

Website: www.earthconscious.co.uk
Blog: www.earthconscious.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/earthconsciousuk

Please note

This post was written by the contributor. It is not a Plastic Is Rubbish review, does not represent my personal opinions and I have not used this product or service. Instead it is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

…a directory of UK-based groups, organisations businesses and individuals who are responding to the problems presented by the misuse of plastic. That does not mean anti-plastic necessarily but certainly plastic-problem aware.

In 2014 I hope to feature 12 UK-based initiatives featuring refuseniks, trash slashers, businesses and the rest.

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

2014 Plastic free July, in a van

14 August 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.5 Plastic Free People, Projects & Campaigns Tagged 4 plastivan, 4.3 Plastic Free July

Last month (July) we took part in plastic free July (pretty much as it sounds) . We are did it in a van.

This is what went into our landfill bin to date. We have nothing in our recycle bin. All other rubbish has been compostable.

Camping weekend with mates Beers in glass bottles with metal caps that are plastic lined. I don’t know how many we drank but it was lots.

hay fever tablets packet.

2 bits of Sellotape added while we wernt looking

disposable 30ml taster glass A mistake in the supermarket

Expensive wine with a cork and foil – STILL contains plastic. Who knew?

WE CUT

tins, tetrapaks and glass jars with plastic/ plastic-lined lids.

tea bags!

plastic packed personal care and hygiene products. This is rather disingenuous as I made up big batches of moisturizer, lip balm, sun tan lotion and toothpaste before we left for our trip. The ingredients came plastic wrapped but of course that wrapping has long since gone to the recyclers. You can find my pretty plastic free resources here .

We we did it in our van travelling round the UK

Review

So was it hard doing it in a van? In the countryside? Actually no! Travelling meant we had a lot more shops to go at. And there are still loads of local shops out there.

I thought it would be a milk free month but for the first 3 weeks we found loads of milk in glass bottles! The last week was dry but we had sourced some milk powder by then.

We found plastic free pasta (rare) and rice but noodles were out.

We avoided supermarkets and shopped locally which meant our diet tended towards traditional english. Mostly meat and 2 veg, soups, omlettes, bread and potatoes but it was good wholesome and seasonal.

For cooking and spreading We used olive oil bought in our own reusable glass bottles and paper wrapped butter.

No glass jars (with metal/ plastic lined lids meant no condiments, preserves or honey. Instead we made some van jam from PYO fruit and salad dressing was oil, lemon juice and garlic. Easy peasy and tasty too.

We even got some plastic free wine and hand rolling tobacco! Even so plastic free tends to be mostly vice free!

Plastic reused

On the plus side I have harvested 4 lighters from the beach shore still with fluid so I am using them up before discarding, a hair bungee #2old4bunches #dontcare! and strip of velcro from a sandal I think which now secures the table in the back of the van

Week 4

we spent it coming up from heart of Wales and back into the real world. No more cheese making farmers, no local shops selling milk in glass bottles and no more PYO farms!

On the plus side loose powdered milk from Barmouth meant not having to drink black tea everyday.

Week 3

So far there has been no tins, no jars and no plastic packaging. In fact you can see all the plastic waste we have created to date here.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday No plastic

All made so much easier by being in Aberystwyth. Cheese. fish and chips, fags yes hand rolling tobacco – all plastic free! I tell you about the tobacco just so you know. My addiction is coffee and for a while there I was having trouble finding loose coffee beans! Thankfully I found the Mecca Coffee merchants on our last day. Big plastic fail averted! Or may be I would have turned to tobacco. No milk for a couple of days but I can handle it!

Friday 17th Plastic Fail

VB finished his hay fever tabs. I suppose he can’t help it…

Thursday 17th No Plastic

Bumped into yet another milkman …. honestly hardly suffering at all

Wednesday 16th No plastic

No milk today but loads of fresh fruit from a PYO strawberry farm. Yum.

Tuesday 15th No plastic

Got another unpackaged lettuce loads of fresh veg in the shops and some great chorizo sausages in the butchers. All bought loose, with our own packaging, and so, plastic free. And the campsite where we were staying – his son-in-law is a milkman so we got more milk in glass bottles.

I have used no plastic packed personal care and hygiene products. This is rather disingenuous as I made up big batches of moisturizer, lip balm, sun tan lotion and toothpaste before we left for our trip. The ingredients came plastic wrapped but of course that wrapping has long since gone to the recyclers. You can find my pretty plastic free resources here

Week Two

Summary

It has been a lot more traditional English cooking meat and two veg easy enough to buy loose and local though remember to take your own bags.
Really not missing pasta and noodles (yet!) but very glad to have got hold of some brown rice. It adds a bit of variety to the carbs!
There was another sneaky plastic to add to the list – the plastic IN toothpaste – yuck!

14th Monday No plastic

Back on the milk as the campsite owner is the father of the milkman. Finished our plastic free drinking chocolate.

13th Sunday No plastic

No food either! Back off the milk as we have moved off the farm. Couldnt be bothered searching out a supermarket so ate what we had in the van. Omlette and a very simple stew of veg and lentils – twice. But who cares! We got wine!!!!!

12th Saturday No plastic

Got some loose unpacked smoked salmon from a Polish Deli yum!

Friday 11th PLASTIC FAIL

VB used a disposable taster glass but we did get PLASTIC FREE WINE which is a huge success. Picked up a whole load of loose foods including sultanas, lentils and brown rice from the bulk bins at Wholefood Market.

Thursday 10th No plastic

Another great fruit picking day – raspberries and strawberries. Pork pie from the butcher for lunch and the last of the lettuce.

Wednesday 9th PLASTIC FAIL

Bought some mustard seeds today sold loose, weighed out into a paper bag. Get home to find 2 sneaky bits of Sellotape were added while I was looking in the fridge.

More cream cheese lovliness for lunch and bangers and mash for tea.

Tuesday 8th – No plastic

Farmer made cream cheese and bread for breakfast, purple soup for lunch (red cabbage in a soup looks most peculiar) and fantastic stir fry for tea with Lidles rice, loose ginger, garlic and chilies.

Week One

7 days done and I have used no tins, no glass jars with metal lids and no other kind of plastic packed food. No plastic beauty products. In fact no plastic at all apart from the plastic coated foil from the wine bottle.

We have eaten well but meals have tended to traditional English with a focus on potatos, meat, fresh veg and quite a lot of bread. All of which we have managed to buy locally. All bought loose, with our own packaging,. We have only visited Lidles to buy some rice. We thought we would be living diary free but after one milk free day there has been an embarrassment of milk. We have even had soft cheese which I rarely got in Huddersfield.
>I thought it would be hard being in the van travelling round places we didn’t know and being away from the town. Instead being out in the countryside has meant lots of Pick Your Own farms and even people selling produce outside their front doors. What’s that all about then? We have had strawberries cherries a lettuce, potatos free range eggs and even a couple of naked cucumbers.

Day by Day

Day 7 Plastic free

More of the same.

Day 6 OMG!!!! PLASTIC FREE with knobs on!!!!

Can’t begin to tell you how exciting today has been. Remember I was saying how if you want to be really plastic free you would have to grow your own and rear sheep. Well I am practically doing that. OK I am picking my own fruit and veg. You know where you go to the farm and pick the fruit yourself? Well this one also did vegetable – dig up your own beetroots, pick your own lettuce and gather your own cherries to name a few. And we are staying on a farm where they have goats, We can buy fresh squeezed milk and home-made soft cheese! SOFT CHEESE and a lettuce. It don’t get much better than that.

Day 5 PLASTIC FAIL

Fruity muesli for breakfast. Loads of home-made cakes at the village fete for lunch ( feel a bit sick). Quiche from the bakers for tea with new potatoes and green beans from the market. Expensive wine with a cork and foil – STILL contains plastic. GRRRRRR! feel even more sick!

Day 4 Plastic free

Leominster has a market butchers and bakers managed to gets lots of plastic free food and some loose tea. No teabags for us as the bags contain plastic. Yes the bags!

Milky porridge for breakfast, missed lunch, salmon new potatos and veg for tea.

Day 3 Plastic free

The local shop in Eardisland sells milk in glass bottles and some unpacked veg but nothing else.

Decided to walk to Pembridge to get some more food. No shops other than the one general store which sold tourist food. You know the kind local honey, mustard made by monks, organic raspberry cordial and so on. All extremely expensive and all plastic packed. Managed to get an unwrapped loaf of bread.

Food today
Veg omelette, cheese sandwiches, mashed potatoess with all manner of steamed veg and left over cheese sauce from last night.

Day 2 Plastic free

Oh! We got some plastic free milk …rather too much infact!

Beguildy – tiny stop on the road – one pub, one shop come post office that sold milk in glass bottle. VB so excited he bought 2 pints which we will not be able to keep fresh in the van. Hot milk at bed time.

Veg omelette for breakfast Veg soup for lunch Cauliflower cheese for tea. White sauce made with the special oil cheese bought loose in Bridgnorth and milk

Day 1 Plastic free

Wondering if we can live without milk….

Watery Porridge for breakfast

Cheese sandwiches bread from the baker, butter in paper, loose cheese from shop ,Bangers and mash – bangers from the butcher in our own compostable packaging, loose spuds and veg

If we have to have supermarkets …… Whole foods – a case study

21 July 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.2.3 Supermarkets & Chains, 3.7 Other Solutions 9 Comments

On our way back up the country, we decided to revisit Whole Foods Market, Cheltenham. This American company have recently opened some flagship stores in the UK of which Cheltenham is one. It is funky, good looking and challenging.We stumbled across this supermarket a few weeks ago quite by chance but didn’t have time for a proper look round. I wanted to know more and this time I emailed ahead asking if it would be OK for me to take photos. Not only did they say yes, but Renata Rees, Marketing Team Leader, offered to meet me. An offer I eagerly accepted.

Loose Unpacked Food

Do I sound excited? By a supermarket? Well yes I am. And the reason? This supermarket sells food loose and unpacked. I don’t just mean meat or vegetables (though that too) but nuts, spices and other dried commodities. The kind of stuff that usually comes swathed in plastic! They do a good range of rice, dried beans and pulses and more unusual stuff like blue popcorn, dried cherries and unroasted peanuts. You measure out what you need into the paper bags provided, weigh it, label it and job is done. Better still you can use your own reusable cotton bags,container or glass bottle (they do oil refills too! and even peanut butter!)

They call this the cook section because, as Renata explained, they want for people to be able to try out new stuff without making a huge cash commitment or ending up with a pile of food they just don’t like.You can purchase just enough for one meal and see if it works out. No more half full packets of cous cous sitting unused at the back of the cupboard.

It also means you can buy fresh, when you need it, for meals you don’t do that often. It can’t be just me that has an array of dusty spices gently going off in the deepest recesses of the rack. Spices I use – but only occasionally.

Being able to buy in small amounts and only what you need is great for people like us with limited space. It allows us to have a wider selection of food stuffs in our very tiny cupboards. We can have variety while still being able to move. We can also buy luxury ingredients like red rice in amounts we can afford, great for our reduced van life budget.

But surely it costs more to buy this way? After all they are a supermarket not a charity. As any plastic free person knows, the financial choices of being plastic free are at times bewildering and unfair. Why is it cheaper to buy 3 plastic packed peppers than one loose unpacked pepper? It is as though the supermarkets are forcing us to buy pre packaged, portion-controlled, more-than-we-want produce! What a ridiculous thought!

But not here, Renata pointed out that here buying loose costs the same as buying pre-packed – even if you buy a just a few grams. Great news for the small amount purchaser – another unfairly abused and penalised customer. Also good for helping fight food waste. Because it is so much cheaper to buy the big packet, shoppers are often persuaded into buying more than they really want or need.

Well then surely it costs more generally. No, the prices for loose produce are extremely competitive.

And if you don’t know your bulgar from your cous cous, the store has healthy eating info and cooking demos aimed at stripping the mystery from these strange grains and seeds.

Would like to see….

My only quibble was that though the range was eclectic, it suffered from some strange omissions. I would have loved to have seen some wholemeal pasta up there. What am I talking about I would have loved to have seen any sort of pasta up there.

Other loose foods include

A lot of unwrapped veg including naked cucumbers and lettuces.
Meat butchered in store by proper butchers
Cheese – real cheese
Eggs – yes eggs – you can buy them loose
A bakery to die at least go up a dress size for. And everything is baked in store by proper bakers not brought in and finished in store.

Loose olives
Tea and coffee – I can recommend the Breakfast Tea.
Bath salts

And they serve cooked food in the cafe and for take out that is also made in store by chefs

They also offer a wine refill service. You buy a glass litre bottles from them that you then refill, yourself from the large and lovely barrel of wine. At least that was how it used to be but the wine kept going off. Now a member of staff fills your bottle from a huge 15 litre wine box. Not quite plastic free abut still a refill is a refill and the plastic wasn’t in my bin. And there is still some green kudos to be gained it – was organic and cost considerably less to transport it this way.

Would like to see….

I do think that a couple of opportunities have been missed. An Ecover (or similar) refill stand for cleaning products would be nice. But what I would really love to see is a refill milk machine! One of these. They say no customer has ever asked for one! If you are in the area….

Packaging

They provide paper bags for the dry products and the cutlery used in the deli is compostable. However the packaging for the meat and fish is plastic so you will have to take your own compostable and reusable bags.

Would like to see….

How fantastic if they were to offer compostable packaging for meat and fish.

And wouldn’t it be great if they were to sell reusable cotton bags in the loose food section.

For the rest of the store there was an awful lot of stuff packed in disposable plastic ….but lets not be too picky.

Waste disposal

Talking of rubbish, there comes a time in every plastic boycotter life when they look beyond their own bin and start to worry about packaging in the supply chain. This store is trying to manage all its trash in a sustainable way. Only 20 to 30 percent of their waste goes to landfill the rest is recycled and to a lesser extent but when ever possible reused. For example the cardboard boxes the eggs come in are returned to be refilled!

They run waste days to raise awareness days in store for the benefit of both the staff and customers.

Because they have in store chefs, produce that is getting near its sell by date can be used in the kitchens. Surplus food is given to charity. 6 mornings a week Trinity church use it to help feed the vulnerable.

They will also give you the coffee grounds from the cafe to use as compost.

Policies

Now of course your average plastic-refusing hipster, in a store with whole foods in the title, tends to care about a whole range of issues so you will be pleased to know that there are shop policies on everything including

Organic Food

To name a few. Check out the website for the full list.

BPA

Again, from a plastic perspective, they acknowledge the potential risk of BPA (considered by many to be a hormone disruptor) found in certain types of plastic. They are developing a fairly stringent response which is well documented on their website to quote To date, we have done more than any other U.S. retailer to inform our customers and take action on the issue. We continue to closely examine the packaging materials used in our stores, and we will continue to search for the safest and most functional packaging materials for our stores. You can find out more from their website.

Local Produce

They are also committed to local producers and recently had a food festival featuring 30 different farmers. They not only label their produce by country of origin but whether it was actually grown locally. Nice touch.

Conclusion

I could write a lot more on this subject and I really am not doing justice to Renatas wonderfully informative tour but I don’t want to go too far off subject or make you think I am in receipt of payment. But I am genuinely impressed with this store and their attempts to tackle some of the issues surrounding food production, packaging and marketing. Because whatever you think of supermarkets, they have a hugely important role to play in our society so it is important that they play it well.

Locations

They have stores in London, Cheltenham and Glasgow

I have visited and reviewed these stores

Would like to see…. one in Huddersfield.

Other supermarkets take some of these ideas on board.

Large Scale Composting Case Studies

18 July 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 00 working

Composting accelerates the natural process of biodegrading or rotting down organic waste material into a rich soil or compost. Its a great and sustainable way to deal with our waste.

As I’m sure you know biodegradable waste does not do well in the unnatural conditions of landfill. It bubbles away producing methane which adds to the greenhouse effect. Composting biodegradable waste on the other hand produces a nutrient rich material that can be used to grow more food.

How It Works

All natural (as oppose to synthetic) materials do eventually biodegrade or rot. Composting speeds up that process

Useful composting information

Biodegradable –Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism, such as fungi or bacteria over a period of time. More about biodegrading HERE
Compostable – To be classed compostable, items must biodegrade within a certain amount of time, the resulting biomass must be free of toxins, able to sustain plant life and be used as an organic fertilizer or soil additive.

Home Or Industrial Composting?
Industrial composting are large scale schemes.
Home composting is a bin in your back yard.
The difference is is that industrial composting is a lot hotter and can work more quickly.
Therefore, while a product might be classed as both biodegradable and compostable, it might not break down in a backyard compost bin.

Case Study – A Cafe
Cute Boscastle National Trust Cafe uses compostable disposables and “. we collect the cups, cup holders, plates and the untreated wooden cutlery that we use, and they are taken to a local farmer who shreds them. He then mixes them with his green waste and composts them into a peat free mulch substitute. This mulch is hen taken to the National Trust plant nurseries at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, who grow, amongst all the other plant, the plants that are sold in the National Trust shop that adjoins the cafe in Boscastle. By doing it this way, we not only successfully recycle the disposables from the national Trust Cafe in Boscastle, but we contribute to saving the limited resources of peat bogs.”
Read more HERE

Community Composting

Community composting is where local community groups share the use and management of a common composting facility.
Key points
Community composting is where residents jointly share and manage a central composting facility.
Community composting allows people to compost food and garden waste who may otherwise struggle to do so.
Community composting has an added benefit of bringing the community together.
Guidance is available for overcoming practical difficulties which may arise.
Grant funding may be available to cover costs.
SourceWRAP

More help can be found at the UK community compost Organisation HERE

Municipal

The UK composting industry has experienced a period of strong growth, according to figures released today. The amount of waste composted in 2007/8 rose by nine per cent from the previous year and further growth is predicted in the annual WRAP and AFOR survey.
As demand for composted products continued to increase, the industry turned over more than £165m in the year to April 2008. In total, 4.5 million tonnes of separately collected waste was composted in the UK in 2007/2008.
Read more here.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to increase composting of food scraps generated by the city’s eight million inhabitants. In a few years, separation of food waste from other refuse could be required of residents, the mayor said.
The administration says it will soon be looking to pay a local composting plant to process 100,000 tons of food scraps a year, or about 10 percent of the city’s residential food waste.Read more here.

How Councils Compost

How to compost on a large scale – read more HERE

Keeping Your Waste Sweet
Bokashi Bins are not strictly composting but pickling. This allows you to store compostable food waste for long periods of time. Read more HERE

The New Litter

Companies using compostable plastic.

Snact

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. Read more here.

Vegware
A while ago I got sent some Vegware stuff to review. Vegware make disposable, compostable packaging for the fast-food industry. Hooray for them …. but I am not in fast food. So what would I be using them for? For starters…

Eco For Life
If you must drink bottled water this might interest you; water packaged in PLA compostable plastic bottles

Check out all our composting posts HERE
Want to know more about plastic? Read up here
See our big list of plastic types here

Why This Post Is ….

A little bit rubbish. You are reading a work in progress. Here’s why…

More Stuff

The case against incinerating rubbish and a proposed zerowaste alternative involving composting on an industrial scale – damn good stuff. Copied from eplanning.derby.gov.uk

STATEMENT FROM DR PAUL CONNETT:
Nanoparticles from incinerators or gasifiers or gasifying incinerators use household waste as a fuel which due to its make up has the potential to contain every toxic element used in commerce – which means that it has the potential to emit nanoparticles containing those toxic elements. Diesel fuel contains far less of an array of toxic elements therefore comparisions of nanoparticle emissions from traffic with high temperature incineration or gasification is like comparing chalk and cheese.
Incineration and gasification does not destroy toxic elements- toxic elements in – toxic elements out. Gasification companies make inflated claims about what they are going to do with their products, but the char, or glassified melt, and the fly ash by-products, all contain toxic materials which are permanent in the case of metals and highly persistent in the case of dioxins and furans.
About 4 X more energy is saved reusing, recycling and composting the waste stream than burning them to create electricity so this proposal should not be considered a sustainable waste treatment process.
These proposals will directly impact on recycling and remove the drive to zero waste.
The key to sustainability (see my essay Zero Waste a key Stepping Stone to Sustainability) is Zero Waste. Everybody makes waste and as long as we do we are part of a non-sustainable way of living on this planet. But given good leadership everyone could be involved with the critical first step towards sustai
nability: source separation.

With source separation we can get out the organics clean enough to get them back to the soil, and recyclables which can be returned to industry – cutting out the huge energy demands of extraction and transport of raw materials, often half way around the planet. With the reuse of whole objects, we can create many jobs and small businesses, stimulate vital community development, and save even more energy by avoiding manufacture as well as extraction. But the single most important thing we can do is composting: composting sequesters carbon, if this material is burned it the Carbon is immediately converted into carbon
dioxide (global warming). Also by removing organics at source it makes it very much easier for cities to deal with the remainder of the materials – glass, metals, paper, cardboard, plastics, ceramic etc.
Burning ( or destroying) materials to recover energy is always second best. the number one priority is to recover materials and thereby conserve the embedded energy discussed above.
24 years ago promoters of incinerators tried to corral this issue between landfills and incinerators. you either burned it or you buried it. They scoffed at those like myself who argued that comparable reductions to incineration could be achieved by a combination of recycling and composting. But we have won that battle there are many small and large towns who are getting over 70% reduction with composting and recycling – incinerator only gets 75% reduction – you are still left with 25% as ash. You don’t get rid of landfills with incineration or gasifying incinerators. Note right mow San Francisco is getting 73% reduction without incineration, at a fraction of the cost of an incinerator and with many more jobs created.
Many of the proposals for gasification plants are coming from companies which have never operated such plants. There is a world of difference from small scale pilot plants and a fully-fledged commercial operation. here are very few
of these operations burning municipal solid waste. no one should entertain for a moment such a company coming to town unless they can establish some kind of solid track record – somewhere! A track record which can demonstrate what there emissions are and what they are doing with the byproducts. At the very least they should be required to a give a very careful written and documented response to Dr. Vyvyan Howard’s paper on nanoparticles, health and incineration. Right now they can promise anything because there are NO regulations for nanoparticles from incinerators or gasifying incinerators.
Highly exaggerated claims are being made with NO DATA to support them. When these
companies promise the earth it is probably because
they never expect these plants to run for more than a few years. The name of the game as far as I can see it is that they set themselves up as a “green & sustainable” entity promising to produce “green energy” and “fight global warming” a) to seduce local decision makers and b) to suck up any soft European money for green alternatives as well as PFI – once this is in the bank watch out for
them selling out the contract to some other company and/or go belly up with the principals walking away with a lot of the cash in their pockets.
Of course, they will argue that they agree with us that recycling and composting are important, but all they want are the residuals. But the residuals are the evidence of bad industrial design – so rather than destroy them we have to say if we can’t reuse, recycle or compost anything you shouldn’t be making it. This is how we can go from the current 70-80% diversion rates up to about 95% diversion over the next 10 years or so. this is the future.
Incineration simply burns the evidence that we are doing something wrong – and will delay by 25 years the crucial move towards sustainability. The Zero waste approach makes more sense on every front: economically, environmentally, and globally.
Paul Connett
pconnett@gmail.com
315-379-9200
Dec 9, 2009

About Dr Paul Connett

Dr Connett is a graduate of Cambridge University and holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Dartmouth College. From 1983 he taught chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where he specialised in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology before retiring in May 2006. Over the past 24 years his research on waste management has taken him to 49 states in the US and 52 other countries, where he has given over 2000 pro bono public presentations. Ralph Nader said of Paul Connett, “He is the only person I know who can make waste interesting.”

A recent essay on “Zero Waste for Sustainability” which was published as a chapter in a book in Italy in 2009 (Rifiuto: Riduco e Riciclo per vivere meglio, Monanari, S. (ed)), along with several videotapes Paul has made on Zero Waste, can be accessed at www.AmericanHealthStudies.org This site is hosted by the group AESHP (American Environmental Health Studies Project) which Paul directs.

Join IN blogging for a plastic free world…

9 June 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory 13 Comments

I love that people are becoming plastic problem aware and taking responsibility for their own huge pile of plastic waste. And then, even more super fabbytastic, they blog about it!

When you first decide to go plastic free it can be overwhelming. It seems that everything comes plastic packaged from soap to shampoo to moisturizer to toothpaste and you have only just got up. Breakfast cereals, bread, milk yogurt and marge, tea and coffee are all plastic packed. Can of coke? Nope – tins are plastic lined! Coffee to go? Those paper cups and paper sugar sachets are also plastic lined!

And so it goes throughout the day till you return home sweaty and malodorous because you didn’t apply your plastic packed deodorant clutching a cardboard box of eggs and the only unpackaged veg you could find in Lidles! Which isn’t even a vegetable but an unripe avocado.

How fantastic then to stumble across people who have already sourced a range of plastic free alternatives and listed them in their blogs! But we need more.

Why?

Well some solutions like solid shampoo from Lush can be accessed UK wide but many are local. There is only one place as a far as I know that does plastic free olive oil in West Yorkshire. Great news for people in Todmorden but it stills leaves the good folk of Folkstone in a quandary! More people have to list their local plastic free sources to create a network of plastic free shopping blogs.

And blogging isn’t just about sharing information but also indicates that there is a market for different products, natural products that can be composted and unpackaged products that don’t result in a bin full of everlasting trash. I don’t want my courgettes presented on a plastic tray swathed in clingfilm but unless I blog about it, only my long-suffering husband knows how displeased I am.

Blogging tells business we want change.
I dream of an online army of plastic free blogs promoting better products and business practise. Refuseniks who vote with their cash for environmentally sustainable services and, by advertising that fact to a powerful online community, encourage others to do the same.

You can find other UK based bloggers here

If you are a plastic free blogger, get in touch. It doesn’t have to be a whole blog – a single post will do listing a loose food outlet or milkman with glass bottles will do. Send me a link to your post or blog and I will feature it.

Or write a post for the plastic free directory

You can find international bloggers and other plastic related projects here

Plastic free bloggers unite! We having nothing to loose but our chain stores! Cyber love to all and see you on the virtual barricades.

My take on Plastic Free July

4 June 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.5 Plastic Free People, Projects & Campaigns Tagged 1.2 BPA, 4.3 Plastic Free July 3 Comments

The (lightly edited) text has been taken from the Plastic Free July website... the comments in red are my observations

The challenge is quite simple…attempt to consume no single-use plastic during July.

Plastic Free July is a simple idea developed in 2011. It aims to raise awareness of the amount of plastic in our lived by encouraging people to eliminate the the use of single-use plastic during July each year.

It is an initiative of the Western Metropolitan Regional Council (WMRC) in Perth, Western Australia. It was developed by clever Earth Carers staff.
Plastic Free July started as a local community initiative in Perth’s western suburbs in 2011 to educate residents on the important notion of ‘reuse’.
In 2012 Plastic Free July expanded across Perth and even attracted interstate and international interest.
So in 2013 we’ve throw it open to the world!!!

So what do they mean by plastic free?

We have set some basic rules but have deliberately left the challenge simple so you can consider the issues and decide how it will work.

How can I go plastic free when everything around me is plastic?
Don’t worry, you can still use your computer, phone, car, etc during July. The challenge is about reducing single-use disposable plastic such as bags, straws, water bottles – you know, the packaging that you use for five minutes but lasts forever.

What do I do about milk?
Some brands are available in glass or cardboard cartons, just ask your local store or do an internet search for brands.

NB cardboard cartons will be plastic lined.

Check out our recipes to make your own soy and nut milk.
How do I get meat, chicken and fish that is not in plastic bags/wrap?
Ask for it to be wrapped in paper or bring your own container, most shops are happy to fill them.
It’s best to explain what the challenge is about – otherwise shop assistants tend to put their hand in a plastic bag to pick up your produce and then throw the bag away!

What about using biodegradable or other environmentally friendly bags?
Single use plastic is, well, single use plastic. The idea of the challenge is to avoid single use plastic, however its made. ‘Biodegradable’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ are both terms without a single definition and can have wide ranging meanings.

I use compostable plastic (PLA) because my challenge includes finding sustainable packaging. If I am going to use compostable disposable paper then I am going to use compostable disposable cornstarch plastic

Is foil okay? As in foil around chocolate or chip packets?
Again, it depends how serious you want to get about the challenge!
Apparently chip packets are often made out of metal coated plastic film.
Use the scrunch test to check whether it is aluminium foil. If it springs back when scrunched in the hand it is not aluminum foil and most likely contains plastic!

I do not use plastic coated foil. The scrunch test does not work on certain types of plastic coated foil – you can read more here.

Are cans okay to purchase? I hear they’re often lined with some kind of plastic.
It depends how serious you want to get about the challenge!
Apparently most tins and cans are lined with plastic – usually containing BPA. (All most all tins are plastic lined)
There is information on the net about health concerns with these types of cans. If you want to be completely authentic about the challenge you would keep those tins in the dilemma bag.

Just keep any plastic you buy for your dilemma bag.

They do not mention glass jars with those pesky plastic lined metal lids. All metal lids are plastic lined!

So their definition of plastic free July (and believe me I am in no way being critical here) can mean only giving up what is obviously plastic (and only plastic) one-use packaging. Composite items like plastic coated card and tins are not necessarily included. Now the purists amongst you may well argue that products containing plastics fall well within the remit of a single-use plastic and I (with reservations) agree. Here’s why….

If you want to raise awareness about how much plastic we really use then hidden and less obvious plastics have to be included. So many people for example are unaware that cardboard containers have a plastic coating.
If you are at all concerned about BPA leaching into your food then you really need to know that tins are plastic lined.
You can find out more about sneaky plastics here ( watch out for those cardboard boxes with plastic inners)

However giving up tins, plastic lined papers and glass jars with plastic lined lids does make the project much harder….and while I feel that these points are important and do need making, I think it is fine to tailor plastic free July to suit your own needs and circumstances. So it could mean anything from total hairshirt- no plastic- arghhhh to giving up one particular type of plastic, replacing a disposable with a reusable or going plastic free for a day.

According to Katheryn at Second Hand Tales “when you register there are different options ranging from living plastic free for a day, week or the whole month. You can also choose to avoid all single use plastic or just the top four which are:

1) straws

2) plastic bottles

3) plastic bags

4) coffee cup lids”

So go with what feels comfortable and do what you can. As it says on Plastic Free July website …

“Remember it is a challenge, not a competition. The challenge is intended to make you think about all the single-use plastic you consume every day. Whatever you can cut out is a job well done!”

If you are giving it a go, in whatever capacity, please do link up with me @polytheenpam and others in the UK on twitter #pfjuk. And you can find lots of other bloggers here

Cup to Compost – National trust, Boscastle

30 May 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Composting, 3.5 Plastic Free People, Projects & Campaigns, 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 3.2.5 composting & compostables 4 Comments

Our tour in the plastivan took us through Boscastle, a lovely old harbour and coastline maintained by the fantastic National Trust. In addition to keeping footpaths open and other essential maritime maintenance, they operate a cafe shop and visitor center (with immaculate toilets), down by the harbour. So far so good!

Not so good was that the cafe was using disposable paper cups! Eeek! As you know, most paper cups are in fact plastic lined and so not very disposable. Bah! Was just about to turn round and leave when I noticed that these cups were from Vegware. Vegware dont line their cardboard cups with the usual conventional non biodegradable plastic but a certified compostable lining. You can read more here.

Now I wanted to take photos! And ask lots of questions! Which Jon kindly answered. As he says”… when the cafe first opened in 2009, there wasn’t a modern conventional sewage system in Boscastle, and all the waste that would normally go for treatment went straight into the sea. Because of this, we were reluctant to have a commercial dish washer in the cafe that would have just contributed to this waste, and so looked for viable alternatives. Finding a fully compostable solution in the cups, cup sleeves, plates and wooden cutlery was part of the solution to this problem, but without making sure that they were composted afterwards it wouldn’t have been such a positive environmental statement from what is, after all, a conservation charity…. we collect the cups, cup holders, plates and the untreated wooden cutlery that we use, and they are taken to a local farmer who shreds them. He then mixes them with his green waste and composts them into a peat free mulch substitute. This mulch is hen taken to the National Trust plant nurseries at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, who grow, amongst all the other plant, the plants that are sold in the National Trust shop that adjoins the cafe in Boscastle. By doing it this way, we not only successfully recycle the disposables from the national Trust Cafe in Boscastle, but we contribute to saving the limited resources of peat bogs.”

Well done you!

Vegware – compostable fast-food disposables

13 May 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises Tagged 00 compostable plastic, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory

Vegware is the UK’s first and only completely compostable packaging company. Vegware is forging and leading its own new sector – combining environmental products and sustainable waste management for a zero waste foodservice sector

What we do to combat the problems presented by plastic over use:
You can’t recycle food with plastic in it, and you can’t recycle plastic with food on it. Vegware’s comprehensive range of eco packaging is made from renewable or recycled plant based material and is completely compostable. So unlike most foodservice packaging, Vegware can be simply recycled after use.

All Vegware has independent compostability certification to prove it can break down in under 12 weeks. Once food waste and disposables share one bin, the little that’s left is cleaner and easier to recycle. That’s why in foodservice; compostable packaging is the key to recycling everything!

Vegware’s range of over 200 completely compostable products include many award-winning innovations resulting from Vegware’s active R&D programme, such as hot cup lids, double wall cups, high-heat cutlery, soup containers and the gourmet box.

Vegware’s in-house Recycling Consultant offers clients full recycling support and tailored Eco-Audits supporting CSR by quantifying carbon savings by the kilo for every order. In 2013, Vegware’s UK customers saved 925 tonnes of carbon – that’s like cancelling out the carbon from 578 flights from London to New York! And Vegware’s free service www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk helps any UK business find local food waste recycling. Let Vegware help you go zero waste!

Links:

www.vegware.com
https://www.facebook.com/vegware
https://twitter.com/vegware
http://www.pinterest.com/vegware/

www.foodwastenetwork.org.uk

Vegware were kind enough to let us sample some of their products. You can read our review of them here

Please note…

This post was written by the contributor. and is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

And the Pf U.K. Directory is…?

The DIRECTORY is to promote their fantastic work. Read more here…

Produce Bags Cotton From Spain

4 May 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises Tagged 3.1.2 reusables, 3.1.4 bags & packaging, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory

Co/Fo sell produce bags made from 100% organic cotton bags.

They are well made, in a range of handy sizes packed in beautifully design, printed carry cases, (printed with 100% water based, non toxic ink).

The smaller bags have a metal toggle closure, the larger have a draw string.

They all have tags with the weight of the bag clearly marked so you can ask for it to be subtracted from the total weight of your purchases.

Check out the range

CO/FO Fruit and Vegetable bags.
Set of 4 Fruit and Vegetable bags and 1 cotton carrier/storage case.

Drawstring bag
Individual bag size: 30 x 35cm
Tare weight: 30 grams

Grains, Rice & Bean Bags
Set of 4 bags stored in a cotton carrier case. Individual bag size: 20 x 30
Tare weight: 20 grams
Metal closure keeps bag sealed tight, not letting any items escape.
Label loop allows you to hold the bag easily.

Nuts & Dried Fruit bags / Set of 4
A Set of four 100% Organic Cotton bags for your dried fruits, nuts, candy and more…

Individual bag size: 17 x 20 cm
Tare weight: 15 grams

Extra Large CO/FO Bread bag with drawstring closure.

Set comes with two different bags – A large bag for bread loafs, potatoes or large vegetables, and one long baguette bag that easily fits 2 french baguettes.

Carrier Bag

And you can take all your shopping home in their great shopper that waxes lyrical about the joys of shopping fresh, the smell of crusty bread and other delights. I was carrying a weeks worth of baked beans in mine but still…..

Mission Statement

But they are not just pretty bags, Co/Fo have a mission.
In their own words……
Based in Barcelona, CO/FO is the brainchild of Tina Ziegler and was created in response to the urgent need to raise awareness about plastic pollution while drawing attention to our daily habits that collectively form part of the global environmental problem.
As part of this they run various projects including the great plastic of our lives, a collection of photos of people and their trash – a weeks worth of plastic that is.

If you want to get yourself some good-looking, reusable produce bags and do your bit in the battle, go to the Co/Fo store

You can read up about other kinds of produce bags here

And loads of other ways to wrap it up, plastic free right here

Do Your Bit Produce bags

2 May 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises Tagged 3.1.2 reusables, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory 14 Comments

DoYourBit is an organic cotton reusable bag company locally run in the UK that aims to put an end to the excessive amount of plastic packaging we find in shops and supermarkets like Tesco or Asda. The goal is to focus on package-free items which produce zero waste. From fruits and veg to bread or nuts, to be used for non-food items or also as gift wrap instead of using the disposable one time use stuff most people use nowadays – you can use these bags any way you wish!

Originally from Canada but now living in the UK, when I first moved here it came as a shock to me how much plastic there was and how few zero waste options there were. I began searching and it wasn’t even possible to buy produce bags locally. I had to order them online and have them shipped from elsewhere in Europe. Since then, I decided to start up DoYourBit with the hope of spreading the word of using less plastic disposables and creating change in a world where plastic is everywhere. My goal is to help everyone do THEIR bit to reduce the environmental impact they have on the planet.

Not only is DoYourBit a local company but the material is also locally sourced from a fair traded fabric company which helps us do our bit by buying locally as well! You can use these bags for everything; at the bakery, farmer’s markets, supermarkets etc. They are 100% handmade and machine washable.

Details:

Drawstring bag 34x28cm (with olive green cord)
Sets of 3 or 5 bags available

*Different bags sizes can be requested and custom-made for customers

For more information, you can visit DoYourBit at

FB @doyourbituk

Instagram @doyourbit.uk

Etsy doyourbit.etsy.com

Ebay ‘DoYourBit produce bags’

You can find more reusable produce bags here

And check out our guide to buying food plastic free here…

Loose Food A to Z

Find out if a shop near you sells bulk food loose. This is stuff that that normally comes plastic packaged ie rice, pasta and salt. And yes these shops do exist in the U.K. There’s just not many of them. Heres a list of towns with shops selling loose food, organised alphabetically.

Please note…

This post was written by the contributor and is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

And the Pf U.K. Directory is…?

The DIRECTORY is to promote their fantastic work. Read more here…

Eco Thrifty

11 April 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.5 Plastic Free People, Projects & Campaigns, 3.6 campaigner, 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory

I write a blog about slashing my spending but not my principles! In July 2011 whilst on maternity leave I decided that I didn’t want to return to work, but that I couldn’t afford not to. Among other things, I didn’t want to compromise my eco-friendly principles, so I started working out how to be genuinely eco-friendly on a budget. I found that the two go really well together and have been happily unemployed for over a year now!

I try to avoid disposable plastic items wherever possible and write about the alternatives on my blog.
Currently I am carrying out a Year of Eco Challenges (read more here ) and one of those challenges will be to go single use plastic free for July-14 (http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/).

I have been preparing for it for a while now and have a ‘going single use plastic free – to do list’ page on my blog, where I am keeping track of my progress.

Links –
@ecothrifty
https://www.facebook.com/EcoThriftyLiving
www.ecothriftyliving.com

This post was written by the contributor and is a PfU.K. Directory submission.

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

Got a project?
It is very easy to get a project featured. Each contributor submits a short synopsis of their project, focussing on the plastic aware element and I post it. You can read the submission guidelines here.

Natracare Menstrual and Personal Care Products

17 March 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.6 Businesses & social enterprises Tagged 3.1.2 disposables, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory

Are you aware that most sanitary pads are made from approximately 90% plastic? An average pack of sanitary pads contains the same amount of plastics as 4 carrier bags! Natracare offers a range of feminine hygiene products that are made from organic cotton and natural, sustainably sourced materials without compromising on the performance.

Conventional sanitary pads are made from over 90% plastic, they are bleached with chlorine, contain petroleum-derived superabsorbent gels and often contain dyes, perfumes and latex. With the average woman using 17,000 pads in a life-time the effects of this polluting industry are enormous, and yet most of us barely consider what we are using every month.
The founder of Natracare, Susie Hewson, set up the brand 25 years ago as a direct response to this polluting industry. She researched and created a viable alternative made from certified organic cotton, FSC wood pulp and biodegradable plant starches. The brand offers a full range of tampons, pads, panty liners and even wipes which are all totally chlorine free, plastic free and biodegradable making them lighter on the environment and also kinder on your skin.

Further to this Natracare actively campaigns against plastic. With the help of local girl guides groups the Natracare team organised a Coastal Clean Up on Rottingdean beach near Brighton and the company has supported various awareness raising projects about plastic in the ocean such as the ‘Making Waves’ art exhibition in Bristol and the Midway Film Project.

Find out more on www.natracare.com

Follow up on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natracare

Or Twitter: http://twitter.com/natracare

Please note

The Pf U.K. Directory is…?

The DIRECTORY is to promote their work not mine. Read more here…

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