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Spain- loose and unpackaged
There is a lot of loose food available in Spain. Search out small and independent shops and use the fantastic markets.
They sell frozen food including fish fingers. Most town will have a store that does this. Some supermarkets also do it.
There are wine bottle refill shops where you can use your own bottle.
Cheese is sold in rounds, is tasty and suprisingly cheap.
You will have to take your own plastic free packaging.
Seville
There are several loose tea and coffee shops in Seville so keep your eyes open.Just near the Parasol is Asuka. They sell loose herb tea and coffee beans, reusable one cup filters and loose chocolates. Has paper bags and cool staff. Best take your own bags to be on the safe side. Here’s the website.Read about
Crisps
Do you know how long it is since I had crisps – gorging out on them here because they sell them loose in paper cones. OMG!!!!!
Barcelona
There is a great company based in Barcelona making stylish cloth produce bags for your loose food. Otherwise you will have to import your own.
Crisps sold loose served in a paper cone.
More
See our other Seville posts here and our plastic free travel notes here.
Check out the other plastic free places we have been – outside the U.K. I mean….
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Plastic packed food & storage times
This post does not deal with using plastic to protect food in transit rather than the plastic used to pre-package food for sale in stores.
Plastic is used to pack food for a number of reasons. The most simple are
- to contain it – to stop it falling about
- protect it from bruising
- wrapping products in plastic reduces moisture loss which helps to keep certain veg fresh for much longer and so prolongs shelf life. This type of packaging is used for root vegetables and cucumbers.
However plastic packaging can be far more sophisticated then that.
Modified Atmosphere Packaging
Wikipedia defines this as the “Re-balancing of gases inside the packaging can be achieved using active techniques such as gas flushing and compensated vacuum or passively by designing “breathable” films known as equilibrium modified atmosphere packaging (EMAP).”
Heres a bit more on these processes
Gas flushing and compensated vacuum techniques
This massively extends the shelf life of fresh food products. Here products are enclosed in a plastic container (the packaging), then the air inside the pack is changed (the modified atmosphere). Basically they actively suck out the oxygen and shove in a gas (you may need to look up those technical terms).
The modification process varies depending on the product. Different amounts of oxygen will be needed and the gas composition will change depending on the food being packed. Red meat needs high oxygen to maintain the red color, bread requires low oxygen to avoid mould and vegetables often need a three-gas mixture. Yum!
A wide variety of products are gas flushed including- Fresh meat /
Processed meat /
Cheese /
Milk powder
Fresh pasta / Fruit & Vegetables / Ready Meals
Case ready meat / Fresh poultry / Fish & Seafood
Is it Safe? You might want to consider this
The Committee therefore concluded that there is no health concern associated with the use of 0.3%-0.5% CO in a gas mixture with CO2 and N2 as a modified atmosphere packaging gas for fresh meat provided the temperature during storage and transport does not exceed 4°C. However the Committee wishes to point out that, should products be stored under inappropriate conditions, the presence of CO may mask visual evidence of spoilage.
Specially Designed Films
Specially designed plastic films and bags can be used to modify the atmosphere round the product are used. One example is;
“PrimePro® is a packaging technology designed to extend the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables. It extends shelf life by removing ethylene gas, a powerful plant hormone that triggers the process of ripening and decay.
PrimePro® is a polyethylene plastic film contains a proprietary additive that is specially designed to remove ethylene from the air around fresh produce.”Breathable plastics
Unlike most food products, fresh fruits and vegetables continue to respire after they have been harvested. They need some oxygen and will continue to produce carbon dioxide and water vapor. Packaging here has to allow for this. It has to be breathable. There are plastic films that can accommodate that process.
Vacuum packing
This process removes all the oxygen before sealing the plastic container. Here the non breathable impermeable plastic is shrink fitted to the product thereby allowing no contact with the oxygen in the air around it.
Reduction In Food Waste
Plastic packed food means that food can be stored for longer which should reduce food waste. This is often used to justify plastic packaging.
Plastic wrapped food certainly benefits the retailer as it lasts considerably longer on the supermarket shelves giving them a longer sales time. The producers and importers of pre packaged food also benefit from this increased timescale to sell their food.
And yet somehow it hasn’t cut food waste. In fact as a food waste preventive measure it seems remarkably ineffective. For example
“UK retailers and wholesalers are still wasting around 200,000 tonnes of food each year, and when their supply chains are factored in this figure rises to over 4,000,000 tonnes annually.”
or
“Supermarket giant Tesco has revealed it generated almost 30,000 tonnes of food waste in the first six months of 2013. Using its own data and industry-wide figures, it also estimated that across the UK food industry as a whole, 68% of salad to be sold in bags was wasted – 35% of it thrown out by customers.”
Plastic Waste
Of course it rather depends on what you do with food waste and how you define it. If you compost it you return those nutrients to the soil and they are then used to sustain more plants. If you feed it to animals it can be used to make bacon. In fact calling it waste is really rather misleading. It is a resource and is often used as such.
Food waste is biodegradable, plastic waste is not. Food waste can be dealt with locally and if dealt with properly is a resource rather than a waste product. At worst if littered round the environment it will rot away. Plastic waste has to be specially disposed of at proper facilities. If not it will end up as permanent litter.
And thanks to food packaging there is an awful lot of it.
11% of household waste is plastic, 40% of which is plastic bottles, during 2002 plastic bottles worth around £27 million were disposed of at a cost of £45 million
In the UK Waste on line, another government agency, are keen to tell us that we generate 3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually 56% of which is used packaging, three-quarters of which is from households. They estimated that only 7% of total plastic waste is currently being recycled. How Big Is Your Pile
Just A Different Kind Of Waste
Creating a huge pile of plastic waste to prevent food waste does not resolve the waste problem.. It merely shifts it to a different sector.
Packaging & Pre-Portioning
One response to the salad fiasco was to suggest making smaller bags of salad. This is of course another issue with prepackaged food. You can only buy what is there not what you want. Over purchasing obviously leads to increased food waste but is sometimes almost unavoidable. If you only want one pepper buying a three pack is unnecessary and despite good intentions often leads to food waste
Waste & The Consumer
Waste in the home is the responsibility of the purchaser. For sure a wrapped sealed product will last longer but one assumes fresh food was bought to be eaten within a fairly short time scale so the benefits of packaging, in that sense at least, are not so great.
A WRAP report into the subject claims that consumers do not understand how to use packaging specially designed to reduce waste any way. However more education on the subject could help. They also have some interesting observations on consumer attitudes to packaging. See their report Consumer attitudes to food waste and packaging
And we are still throwing away huge amounts and food plus huge amounts of plastic packaging.
Food Safety
Packed food is safer food. Yes, but food can still be stored and kept safely without plastic packaging. Plus There is a considerable body of evidence that chemicals leach from the plastic packaging into the food. Some claim the chemicals in plastic can have adverse effects on health.
There is a consensus of opinion, (though sadly not so much in the way of hard facts), that fruit and vegetables start to loose nutrients once harvested. Plastic packaging certainly slows down the aging process wether it slows down nutrient loss is less clear. But all advice seems to be eat your fruit and veg as fresh as possible. Plastic packaging means you don’t know how old that cucumber is. Wether that is relevant or not I cannot say but s the Committee points out when discussing gas flushing for meat, that unless the meat is stored properly, the presence of CO may mask visual evidence of spoilage.
Conclusions
The issues of food waste, the convenience of pre-packaged, longer-lasting food have to be weighed against environmental costs of plastic; the savings made by being able to store food for longer against the clean up costs for plastic. Bearing in mind that much of the latter is not paid for by the producers but by the end consumer. The supermarket/producer does not pay for the disposal of the plastic wrapper, street cleaning or for the environmental damage it causes when it flies into the canal.
- It uses a lot of resources to plastic wrap food.
- While it might reduce food waste (debateable), it means a huge increase in plastic waste.
- Food waste is biodegradable. Plastic waste is not.
- Plastic rubbish goes on to pollute the environment in many ways.
- It costs a lot of money to treat plastic waste and a lot of plastic waste is food packaging.
- Pre-portioning can actually increase food waste
- There are many hundreds of different plastic used to package food. Many of them are difficult to recycle.
- There is a considerable body of evidence that chemicals leach from the plastic packaging into the food. Some claim the chemicals in plastic can have adverse effects on health.
- You don’t know how old that fruit is. Gas flushing might disguise food rot.
I feel that plastic packing benefits the producers and retailers more than the consumer and the environment. Personally I prefer buying seasonally grown, unpacked food from local suppliers, only buying what you need and eating it as quickly as possible.
- You can read more about the problems with plastic here.
- This useful packaging guide produced by the big retailors
- Wasting Away – how much rubbish we create
Why package produce http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/postharv/ag-414-8/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modified_atmosphere
http://www.modifiedatmospherepackaging.com
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Burning plastic in the home
Some feel my worrying about plastic in the home is taking it too far? Disposables? Yes, they can see I might have a point. But nylon carpet, foam-filled pillows and polyester drapes…. what could possibly go wrong?
Well good taste aside…. you know how we were talking about hydrocarbons containing a lot of energy? Well all that energy means they burn hot. And that plastic is made from hydrocarbons. You got it. Plastic is a fuel too. So much so that it actually has a higher BTU than coal. Great for waste to energy incinerators not so good for house fires.
For generations, firefighters’ had, “on average, 17 minutes to get anyone inside out of the building before they succumbed to smoke inhalation.” Because of modern fast burning synthetic furnishings that time is down to 4 minutes. Natural fibres and fillings do not burn as fast.
You can find lots more scary stats here plus a spooky burning chair that shows just how quickly you can be overcome.
Please people make sure your smoke alarm is working and maybe pay a bit more for cotton curtains and a wool rug.
Found this very interesting table on fumes released by burning. Hers an example…
Upholstery • Nylon Polybrominated diphenyl ethers Hydrogen chloride Hydrochloric acid Hydrogen cyanide Dioxins Possible carcinogen; poison by ingestion. Highly corrosive irritant to eyes, skin and mucous membranes; mildly toxic by inhalation. Corrosive; mildly toxic by inhalation; when heated to decomposition emits toxic fumes of chlorides. Asphyxiant; deadly human and experimental poison by all routes. Carcinogen; a deadly experimental poison by ingestion, skin contact and intraperitoneal routes. Immobile in contaminated soil and may be retained for years. No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Click to access OpenBurningChemicalList.pdf
And this
Burning a small sample of a synthetic fibre yarn is a handy way of identifying the material. Hold the specimen in a clean flame. While the specimen is in the flame, observe its reaction and the nature of the smoke. Remove the specimen from the flame and observe its reaction and smoke. Then extinguish the flame by blowing. After the specimen has cooled, observe the residue.
https://www.tensiontech.com/tools-guides/burning-characteristics
And this on toxic fibres and fabrics
https://fashionbi.com/newspaper/the-health-risks-of-toxic-fibers-and-fabrics
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Plastic Costs A Lot
According to some “the environmental cost, including carbon pollution released during production [of plastic], is staggering. At $40 billion a year, …. it’s more than the annual profits of the plastics industry.”
Acoording to the UNEP Report 2014
It finds that the overall natural capital cost of plastic use in the consumer goods sector each year is US$75 billion – financial impacts resulting from issues such as pollution of the marine environment or air pollution caused by incinerating plastic.
The report says that over 30 per cent of the natural capital costs of plastic are due to greenhouse gas emissions from raw material extraction and processing. However, it notes that marine pollution is the largest downstream cost, and that the figure of US$13 billion is likely a significant underestimate.
Concern is growing over the threat that widespread plastic waste poses to marine life, with conservative estimates of the overall financial damage of plastics to marine ecosystems standing at US$13 billion each year, according to two reports released on the opening day of the first United Nations Environment Assembly.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation claims, in their report on plastic, that
“Assessing global plastic packaging flows comprehensively for the first time, the report finds that most plastic packaging is used only once; 95% of the value of plastic packaging material, worth $80-120 billion annually, is lost to the economy. Additionally, plastic packaging generates negative externalities, valued conservatively by UNEP at $40 billion.[1] Given projected growth in consumption, in a business-as-usual scenario, by 2050 oceans are expected to contain more plastics than fish (by weight), and the entire plastics industry will consume 20% of total oil production, and 15% of the annual carbon budget.[2]
New economic study shows marine debris costs California residents millions of dollars
Thanks to Fabiano of www.globalgarbage.org for keeping us well informed ….
AUGUST 12, 2014 — Marine debris has many impacts on the ocean, wildlife, and coastal communities. A NOAA Marine Debris Program economic study released today shows that it can also have considerable economic costs to residents who use their local beaches.
The study found that Orange County, California residents lose millions of dollars each year avoiding littered, local beaches in favor of choosing cleaner beaches that are farther away and may cost more to reach. Reducing marine debris even by 25 percent at beaches in and near Orange County could save residents roughly $32 million during three months in the summer.
In order to better understand the economic cost of marine debris on coastal communities, the NOAA Marine Debris Program and Industrial Economics, Inc. (IEc) designed a study that examines how marine debris influences people’s decisions to go to the beach and what it may cost them. We selected Orange County as a study location because beach recreation is an important part of the local culture and residents have a wide variety of beaches from which to choose, some of which are likely to have high levels of marine debris.
Click to access MarineDebrisEconomicStudy.pdf
http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/MarineDebrisEconomicStudy.pdf
The World Bank
estimates the yearly global cost of dealing with waste is more than $200 billion and predicts annual waste will exceed 11 million tons per day by 2100 if current trends continue. From the true cost of our waste
Local authorities, industry and coastal communities spend approximately £14 million a year to clean up beach litter in England and Wales alone (Environment Agency, 2004).
Annually the UK and maritime leisure industry is worth up to £11 billion.Harbour authorities also have to pay to keep navigation channels free of litter – a survey of 42 harbour authorities reported that £26,100 is spent per year in some ports to clear fouled propellers and remove debris from the water
Some estimates put the cost of marine litter to the fishing industry at over £23 million a year (Environment Agency, 2002).
How much energy?
“Our previous work had suggested that bottled water production was an energy-intensive process, but we were surprised to see that the energy equivalent of nearly 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce the PET bottles alone,” Cooley told PhysOrg.com.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news156506896.html#jCp
Act Now
Let’s stop using plastic to make everlasting litter. And rather then wait for governments to act or the clean up bill get even bigger I invite you to join me in a plastic boycott. You can find loads of plastic free alternatives listed here on my blog.
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Menstrual Pants
Menstrual pants are knickers you wear during your period. They come with inbuilt protection. Some can be worn instead of a pad or tampon. All provide additional security against leaks.
Already popular in Asian countries they can now be bought in the US. You can read some reviews here.
“Every-year, in the UK 200,000 tonnes of pads and tampons ends up in landfill and 2 Billion sanitary items are flushed down the toilet leading to polluted rivers and seas. This is also major reason of death of millions of birds and sea creature.
A person can use up to 16,000 tampons or pads in a lifetime. We are reusable, one set of 3 underwear replaces two years worth of disposables. We are the only reusable period underwear which completely replaces disposable tampons and pads, helping us to be kinder to the planet for us and future generations. We are made up of eco-fabric called Tencel made from sustainable Eucalyptus tree.
We are reusable and allow free-flowing, the benefits of which are huge and eliminates any potential health risks.We are designed and manufactured in Nepal so our product is made to the highest standards and supports small communities through sustainable employment.
WUKA wear is being created so anyone menstruating can have an ultra-luxurious, hygienic, comfortable and an eco-friendly period – because we care about our bodies and the planet.
More
Find out about plasticfree and reusable menstrual products here
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2017 01 Roundup
Welcome to our monthly round-up of news and products. You can subscribe to get our monthly updates delivered to your virtual door. There’s a subscription form at the bottom of the page.
You can see our all our round ups here HERE.
2017
Sign Up
There are now so many plastic free petitions I am now listing them on a separate page. So get your pens out and head on over to the petitions page.
Don’t be silly. I know nobody uses pens, or paper petitions come to that – but if you ever do want to write something try these refillable fountain pens…
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
December
This month we are
Making sweet mince for pies
Singing landfill carols
Last minute preps for a plastic-free ChristmasSo the big day is nearly upon us.
Plastic Free Christmas
As for the rest of December….sigh! But lets not give way! Gird those loins and get busy. By now I am usually making mincemeat. You can see our sweet mincemeat recipe here.
It”s scrummy,yummy and features our brand new recipe Small Wrinkled Balls Of Christmas Fire! Whats not to love.Songs
Going out carolling? Here’s a song you might like to learn!
Presents
I am busy buying my passive-aggressive, pointed, eco gifts. These cotton produce bags are for you, you crazy, double-bagging freak! No – not really! These are lovely gifts for lovely people …. who doesn’t want to sponsor a hippo? But should you go really hardcore here are some perfectly good reasons from Unistash to cutdown on presents….
MoreAnd as for the other festive stuff – as we all know by now, plastic isn’t just for Christmas. Sadly. So here are a few tips on how to ensure your festive rubbish can be composted to feed next years plants. See them HERE.
Fair Share FabricThe end of the year and it time to start counting, weighing and documenting my plastic-free, compostable wardrobe.
And Finally
Green Elvis has led the building. Happy Christmas one and all xxxxxxxx
The Plastic Free Year
November
While travelling I’ve been buying locally made fabrics for next years outfits. I have been through India, Japan and Thailand so the choice has been huge. And I have had to learn a lot something about the different kinds of fabrics. If you too are thinking about making your own clothes you might find the following introduction to fibres and fabrics useful.
I am starting from a position of ignorance so it’s very much a dummies guide.
I of course have been only buying natural fibres that have been locally made. I tell you next years wardrobe is going to be stunning!
Fair Share Fabric Rationing
Wahey. talking of clothes, this year Ami is joining in in the fair share fabric rationing project. You can read more about it here
Packer Tracker
You can rummage in our plastic free backpack, find out where we are and link to other travel related posts here
One of the most poignant events of the year happens in November. Every year on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month all of Britain observes a full silence for two minutes. Because 11 November is Armistice Day and the anniversary of the end of the first world war. Remembrance Sunday is always held on the weekend so that everyone can participate. On this day we take time to remember all those who have fallen on the many wars.
Through November the most visible sign of remembrance is the wearing of a red poppy badge.
November is also When the Royal British Legion, a U.K. Charity organise a massive fundraising campaign. Whatever your opinions on the politics of war, whatever you feel about the senseless loss, many soldiers have died leaving families behind. Many soldiers have survived but so badly hurt that they now need help. The Royal British Legion supports the Armed Forces community both past and present. It provides support for the serving men and women, veterans and for their families.
Every year (2017 starting on 26 October), they ask for contributions in return for which you receive a poppy to pin on your lapel.Sadly the poppies made from paper and plastic are disposable. Many people buy a new poppy each year. Some careless ones like me get through two or three a year. Hundreds and hundreds of little green plastic stalks and black centres are left over once the paper petals have have rotted away.
So this year why not do it differently. The Royal British Legion have many new and interesting ways to contribute. And of course if you want to show your support by wearing a poppy you can buy a reusable poppy. You still make a donation each year but wear your own reusable poppy.
You can buy reusable poppy pins from the Royal British Legion,(visit the Website), Or these from Marks & Spencer’s. If you don’t like any on display, or find the offerings to be too plastic packaged, try making your own. Loads of ideas HERE.
Getting ready for Christmas
Too early for the C word? I know Halloween is hardly over but you need to plan ahead in the plastic free world. For example if you want to make a reusable advent calendar you need to start collecting loo rolls or get sewing. Or at the very least order online. You will also need to get some biodegradable sticky tape, think about making fantastic home made candied peel even some sweet mincemeat. See how to plan a plastic free Christmas here
Then there is the office party (groans!). Given the choice between washing up in the tea room sink, and disposable cups, the answer may seem obvious. However at the end of the night when the black bin bags come out that decision may seem rather environmentally unfriendly. So we put together some plastic free party tips here.
Leaf Mold
Another C word and one of our favorites. Yes it’s composting. Hooray! You can use all those Autumn leaves to make seed compost. Instructions here
October
Because plastic is too scary – even for Halloween
Whhhooo oooo
Yes its time for spooks, ghouls and zombies to take to the streets and beg sweets. We have put together a few tips to cut the plastic horror that results. Included are…
- Get,(or make), some fabric trick or treat bags to take out with you – not to my house obvs.
- Buy plastic-free sweets for when the ghouls come calling.
- Use compostable, disposable partyware
- Make a reusable, burlap witches hat .
- make your own costumes
Check out the How To Halloween Plastic Free page for details. And please do add your own grisly finds and ghastly zero waste ideas ….. love Hollies mushed beetroot brains!
Updates
Compostable Coffe Cups
Look out for the lovely green van. Maybe you can hire it for your events. Not sure. You will have to contact them. As well as a great vehicle they are using compostable disposables. Mmmmmm.
London based
We’re a new mobile catering company coming soon! We’ll be serving excellent artisan coffee and bites out of our gorgeous vintage wagon!
Thanks to @BiopacLtd for our compostable coffee cups & other packaging! #TheWackaWagonCo http://www.TheWackaWagonCo.com
Straw Wars
All Bar One
Are cutting plastic straws…..
It’s simple really, over the next year we’re going to reduce our straw usage by a third.
Don’t worry you can still sip away merrily on our delicious cocktails and soft drinks, and for those crushed ice cocktails we’ll be offering replacement eco-friendly options.
So why does this matter to us? Our own research show just how many straws are in use and in turn, creating an environmental problem. To give you a snapshot of just how many straws we use at All Bar One:
Straws are served in 25% of our drinks
An average of 1,600 straws a week in each bar (about 13,000 a day as a brand)
We purchase 4.7 million straws a year
We need your help, we can’t make this happen without you, the change starts with how you enjoy your drinks and we ask that when you do, you don’t ask for a straw. Let’s all work towards making a difference and get rid of plastic straws for good.
We’re also calling on other bars to join the pledge and get involved in the #StrawsSuck movement.Check out the website HERE
Weatherspoons
Are also giving up straws for new year.
From January 2018, Wetherspoon chains will no longer automatically put plastic straws in their drinks, instead using only biodegradable paper straws. The pub chain claims this will stop 70 million plastic straws from heading to landfills or finding their way into the ocean, where they can cause damage to all kinds of sealife. The plan is part of a massive campaign called Refuse the Straw, which urges pub chains and restaurants to stop handing out plastic straws willy-nilly.Read more
HERE
If you really need a straw, there are some options here – reusable or compostable. Read more.
Apples
October is the time for apple harvesting. If you don’t have your own tree you could try a PYO farm. There are hundreds of orchards offering this in the southern counties, rather fewer up here in the north.Check out this great farm finder website
Urban Harvest
Otherwise you coud get involved in some of the urgan harvest programs. They pick and distibute unwanted fruit. Abundance in Manchester is one such. From the website…
“A mature garden fruit tree produces more than the average family can eat. And at the same time there are lots of people in our city not able to access fresh food.
Abundance Manchester is a voluntary project which picks surplus or unwanted fruit from gardens and public trees around South Manchester and distributes it to local groups and communities who can use it. We also collect and distribute surplus vegetables from allotments.”
I have listed a couple more here.
September
We are always happy to work with others promoting plasticfree products. Every so often we run a give away for fabulous #plasticfree prizes.
This month you are super lucky. WE have two!
Snact Fruit Jerky in compostable packaging and WUKA period underwear cutting the need for disposables.
Zerowaste Week
Zerowaste week starts on the 4th of this month.
For a number of years now I have been a zero waste ambassador. Here are some quick zero waste week facts!
Zero waste week is organized by Rae Strauss:
It has been going since 2008:
The aim is to cut the trash going to landfill.
This year each day will focus on a different topic.
They are:
#MakeItMendItMonday – Make Do and Mend – get fixing. See how to make stuff plastic free HERE#TrashlessTuesday – try and have a complete ZERO WASTE day with bonus points for carrying their waste around in a clear plastic bag all day!
#WasteLessWednesday – Upcycling don’t bin it transform it into something extremely lovely.
#TopTipsThursday – Time saving and Top Tips. What’s your favourite.
#FoodWasteFriday – Food waste and how to minimise it.Visit the website here.
Of course its not just me doing it- there are loads of bloggers doing all kinds of stuff. You can find them herded together in one easy to access place on the Zero Waste website and listen to them wittering – sorry twittering – on on the twitter hashtag #zerowasteweek
If you want to join in you can make a pledge here on the zero waste website. If you decide to blog about it you can decorate your blog or post with various buttons, if you don’t you can print off posters for your living walls (easy tiger!) with these links posters and pdfs
Read more about My zero waste weeks here
Summer Holidays
Do you need DEET check out these Malarial regions here
Read about DEET and the plasticfree alternatives hereWhich times of the day are worst for The UV index here.
UV-Control Merino (Knitwear)
A UV absorbing finish is applied to the Merino wool product during dyeing or bleaching at either yarn stage, fabric stage or during knitted garment finishing. The finish can also be applied after dyeing either by exhaustion or by padding. Read more
Read more about Plastic free fun in the sun here.
Lush making an Exhibition
lush are one of the more forward thinking British companies. And they do stuff like this:
One of four Pop Ups being staged to support the Lush 2017 Creative Showcase event in London next month, Naked House is part gallery exhibition and part immersive experience curated by the brand team at Lush to show just how easy it is to make the switch to Naked (as in living with less packaging).
Read more here.
August
Summer and it’s time for high tea with
Strawberry jam and scones
First pick your strawberries. Unless you have been super organised and grown some, you will need to visit a pick your own farm. Find a PYO farm here ….
Now you can make some jam. I know you can get it in glass jars but the lids are plastic lined. Jam recipe hereAnd Cucumber Sandwiches
Cakes can be tricky but Asian stores and Polish delis often stock the smaller kind.And then of course you need a nice cup of tea…
What’s in your tea bag? Paper and tea? you wish! Most teabags contain one or more
Plastic
Thermoplastics
Epichlorohydrin
And have been chlorine bleached.
There are plastic free teabags but they often come plastic packed.
And yet in a strange twist of fate you can get conventional tea bags that contain plastic in compostable packaging.Read up about it here.
After which you will no longer want to use a conventional tea bag ever again. And you will have to be super rich to afford the cleaner greener alternatives even if you can find them in plastic free packaging. And please let me if you do.
So what to do when you want a nice cup of tea?
Loose leaves are the way forward. But how to steep them? If you are brewing up for the WI, a teapot is fine but what when you want a quick cuppa for one?
You can get cotton bags that you can use to make your own teabags but really who can be bothered with that kind of faff.
I have found that a steel mesh single cup infuser works perfectly. It sits on your mug, you fill it with loose tea, let the brew, brew then remove. Really no effort at all and very easy to empty into the compost bin after. Mine was given as a gift but I have found something similar on Amazon
Fun In The Sun
Don’t forget if you are going out berry picking to slap on some sun block.
Sun protection even on cloudy days is vital. But dont listen to me, have a look at www.skincancer.org website an invaluable source that 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.More
There is lots more information about sun protection here. Do read up before you decide to make your own.
Oily Sun Tan Lotion
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 as sunburn is not only painful and aging but dangerous.
I have been mixing up sun tan lotion using zinc from home with rice bran oil bought in a Thai supermarket.
It chose an oil in a plastic bottle but there is a reason for that. On the island we are staying I have seen several points where plastic bottles are collected for recycling and none for glass. I have seen a lot of glass bottles piled up round the bins. Judging by the dust and weeds they have been there a long time. So I while I could have got coconut oil in a glass jar, I chose rice bran in a PET plastic bottle. principals are fine but not if they add to everlasting waste trashing up this island. And glass also lasts forever, is heavy and costs a lot to transport. PET plastic bottles are easy to recycle. They are the plastic most often collected by litter pickers because they have a value.
So I chose to buy one big plastic bottle of oil because it is most likely to be disposed of “properly”.I added the zinc to oil to make lotion which so far seems to be working. You can see my recipe here. making your own sunblock
Rest Of The Oil
It was a very big bottle so I used some more oil to make
suntan lotion you can see my recipe here.
It can also be used to makeAfter sun lotion
I don’t believe all the hype about essential oils. That said it seems that lavender essential really might help with burns. And it is grown locally in Yorkshire. So I use lavender oil added to a carrier oil to make a soothing after sun lotion.
Mosquito repellent
I also use citronella essential oil mixed in a carrier oil as a mosquito repellent. I don’t know if it really works by which I don’t know if it repels Mosquitos. I feel it does and it certainly seems to soothe bites and reduce irritation. Obviously mosquitos present a real risk of malaria and you should consider your options very carefully before you proceed with this option.Essential oils
Essential oils are resource hungry, have a large environmental footprint and should only be used on special occasions.
You can read more here
July
Hello and welcome to July. This month sees us back from Japan and hanging out on a beach in Thailand.
We are backpacking #plasticfree. You can find more details as to how and where in the packer tracker section.
But first”Plastivists united will never have to secumb to icecream in tubs”. Yes as a slogan it needs some work but here’s how we are going to bring plasticfree to the masses..
Stronger Together
I always wanted the blog to be a resource where numerous people could Collaborate on producing the bestest ever data base of plastic free resources for UK plastivists.
So if you want to contribute and I hope you do, please do this.
It’s not perfect but here’s how it works: find a plastic free product i.e. Pasta, search the database or A to Z index to see if there is already an entry for that product. If so, add the details in the comments for that post. You should be able to do this quite easily via any of your social media accounts.
If you have a post on the subject on your own blog please leave a link to your own post again in the comments section.Plastic Free Products
The easiest way to find a #plasticfree alternative in our huge database of products is to use the search function (#grandmothersuckeggs!) However we have also organised them by other criteria.
By Category Everything from food to Gardening to personal care
By Task Want to know how to wash the pots, #plasticfree? Check out these posts organised by task!
A to Z organised… erm…alphabetically
By Place
Towns organised alphabetically that have #plasticfree/ packaging free/ zerowaste shops. Find them here.By Shops
Local shops Places selling refills and packaging free food (of a type normally sold prepacked)Heres a list of towns with shops selling loose food.
Supermarkets & Chainstores can surprise you – check out the plastic-free and reduced packaging products here.By Blogger & Projects
Plastic Free People
Plastic Free Bloggers U.K. based bloggers can be found here
Campaigns Arts, Media and Education Can be found hereWHAT! NO POST? if you cannot find a post about pasta for example, tell me and I will set one up.
Sharing Is caring And with your contributions, posts can stay up to date and we can all benefit from each other’s expertise.What do you think? Inputs, feedback and thoughts greatly welcomed. Anyone fancy out trying out and commenting on the system?
Big gold star to Yolanda for adding information on the ice cream post. Yum!
Competitions for designers
Any clever designers out there? Want to help design out plastic pollution and win a share of 1 million? Read more here.
And now you can reward yourself by entering our Giveaway. It’s from a company called Greencane
They make #plasticfree tissue products including loo roll. Wahey.They will be giving away a cardboard box containing
32 Rolls of Toilet Paper (8 packs of 4 rolls)
6 Rolls of Paper Towels (3 packs of 2 rolls)
3 Boxes Facial TissuesHow Plastic Free
The products come in individually wrapped packs.
All the packaging is paper, card and or cellophone.
The cellophane is certified as commercially compostable.
Delivered to your door in a cardboard box from their Brighton warehouse.
There may be some plastic tape on the box but they are working on that!
I have reviewed these produce – you can read my review here.Enter Here
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Enter by clicking the link and following the instructions to either
Visit the Greencane Facebook page and leave a like
Comment here on the blog on why you want to wipe #plasticfree
Tweet our cheeky tweet
OR, for a better chance of winning, all three.SORRY but this is only for people living in the UK
Buy
Can’t wait? For lots more info and to order products visit the website
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
Of course every month is plastic free for me but plastic free July is a time to make a bit of extra effort.
What is Plastic Free July
The aim is to cut your consumption of one use plastic, for one month; how much you choose to cut is up to you – read my take.
A bit of history
Plastic Free July started in 2011 in Australia in 2013 it went global. They have a great website and are all round good eggs.
My Plastic Free July
I try to cut all disposable plastics including the lesser known sneaky plasticsU.K. Participants
2017 This year progress and uk bloggers can be found here
More Info
And you might like these other health & hygiene posts.
June
Packer Tracker
Back in Malaysia and not drinking bottled water. Is the tap water safe to drink in Malaysia. I can find out using this super cool website ” can I drink the water.” I pick the country you want and read the result. And No it’s not safe to drink. But it does have a few water refill machines that are cheap and easy to use.
You can read about them here
Otherwise it’s back to tap water made safe by a steripen. You can find that and other plastic free travel aids here.
How Much Plastic
Last month others from the PLastic Is Rubbish Facebook group agreed to track our plastic consumption for a show and tell at the end of the month. This is not a competition or one upmanship but an out of interest kind of project.
I don’t know how they did but I made more plastic trash last month than I have done in the whole of my 10 years boycotting plastic. I was camping in Japan where it is almost impossible to buy food plastic free. When travelling a I take my plastic free shopping kit of reusable bags, tiffin tins and compostable PLA bags. But this only works if you can find loose produce. In Japan they love packaging. We did what we could but noodles, rice and even potatoes came in plastic bags. While we sometimes found a loose lettuce most veg was bagged. Most protein wether meat fish or soya was again well wrapped. The usual ploy of buying food in markets and local shops didn’t work here because even then they plastic wrapped it. They really are obsessed with packaging. To console ourselves we drank a lot of beer in tins. Plastic lined of course.
#myplastictrash.
But this month should be better because we are back in Malaysia.
June
Hello there. We are now in Japan where it is suprisingly green. Lots more trees than I expected. We are travelling round in a carvan. That is a car big enough to have a fixed bed in the back but no more. It came with a little camp stove and some bowls. We are staying in rest stops. These are car parks with toilets where you can sleep the night for free. It’s fanatastic but its not a campsite and cooking has to be quick and discrete. And there are no pot washing facilities.Or showers come to that. It’s an interesting experience. More of which later.
In the meantime…..
New Kid On The Blog
Sarah from Devon blogs about living plastic free in this lovely part of the world. Read about it here.
How Much Plastic
Myself and others form the PLastic Is Rubbish Facebook group will be tracking our plastic consumption for a show and tell at the end of the month. This is not a competition or one upmanship but an out of interest kind of project. Feel free to join in. Don’t need to do it for a month, a week or a day will do.
Post at the end of the month, each week or whenever works for you. A list, photos, total weight however you want to record it. Post them in the plastic Is Rubbish group with the hashtag #myplastictrash.Any other ideas on how to organise such a project greatly welcomed as I am talking off the top of my head here.
I can tell you now mine is going to be dreadful. I am in Japan and everything comes plastic packed!
Plastic Free June
Want to really cut your plastics? Then this is a great campaign organised by the Marine Conservation Society (MCSUK).The MSCUK is a UK charity “that cares for our seas, shores and wildlife”.
The Plastic Challenge takes place every year in the U.K. in June.It is organized by the
The MSCUK “have a vision of a world where plastics don’t end up in our seas and on our beaches, where they persist and impact our marine life.”
So they challenge you to give up single use plastics for a month (June), and get sponsored whilst doing it. The money goes to support MSCUK projects which are many and very worthwhile.You can read more about it here
Giving Away
Getting ready for our next giveaway. Plastic free loo roll, and tissues and kitchen wipes. In a big cardboard box. Wahey!
Is from a company called Greencane
They make tissue products and will be giving away a
Mixed Box
a cardboard box, containing
BuyCan’t wait? For lots more info and to order products visit the website
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 productsBiodegradable, 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
More Info
And you might like these other health & hygiene posts.
Packer Tracker
In Japan where thanks this super cool website I know can I drink the water. It’s the only thing I can get plastic free!
Plastic Pollution
Saw and photographed some dreadful instances of #plasticpollution in India. You can see all our dirty pictures here on our Planet Trash FB page. Its why we travel plasticfree. You can see our plastic free backpack, find out where we are and link to other travel related posts here
May
Here we go gathering nuts in May talking of which did you know they did loose nuts in Lidles? Of course they offer you a plastic bag to put them in but if you take your own cotton produce bags you can get your nuts plastic free. Which brings us to this months fantastic give away.Giving Away
U.K. Made cotton produce bags – win a set for free….
Or Buy Your Own
But if you can’t wait that long or don’t feel lucky, you can still enjoy the frisson of plastic free shopping by buying bags right now from the Do Your Bit shop
Read more about Do Your Bit in the Plastic Free U.K. Directory
Read about produce bags and how to use them here And the plastic free shopping kit here You can find a a list of refill/loose food shops here.
Plastic Pollution
Saw and photographed some dreadful instances of #plasticpollution in India. You can see all our dirty pictures here on our Planet Trash FB page. Its why we travel plasticfree. You can see our plastic free backpack, find out where we are and link to other travel related posts here
Packer Tracker
Off to Malaysia on our way to Japan. Is the tap water safe to drink in Malaysia. Or Japan come to that? I can find out using this super cool website ” can I drink the water.” I pick the country you want and read the result. Japan? All I need to take is my refillable bottle. Malaysia? No. But it does have a few water refill machines that are cheap and easy to use. You can read about them here Otherwise it’s back to tap water made safe by a steripen. You can find that and other plastic free travel aids here.
Sign Up There is a Canadian petite to ban non compostable Produce Sticker Labels WHEREAS composting is available and encouraged in most communities and many backyards in Canada; AND WHEREAS the use of plastic non-compostable identification stickers contaminates the finished compost in commercial and private compost facilities; The petition is to change both domestic and import regulations related to food labeling to require compostable stickers or vegetable based ink/food safe stamps on all fruits and vegetables sold in Canada. Interesting. You can sign it here. Do it quick it is being delivered in mMay https://www.change.org/p/lmlga-may-2017-attendees-stop-non-compostable-labels-on-food?
AprilBack on the road
off to India so busy packing up my plastic free back pack. I will be taking a mini iPad with me so be prepared for rather less lovely looking posts as I struggle with tiny keys. And of course the dodgy links and poor images.
We are currently in India where the tap water can be challenging. So really glad to see water refill machines offering triple filtered sterilised water appearing at train and bus stations. More information on these and other refill points in India can be found here
Otherwise it’s back to tap water made safe by a steripen. You can find that and other plastic free travel aids here.
And you can see our plastic free backpack, find out where we are and link to other travel related posts
here
Campaign For A Plastic Free Aisle
But first…. Let me take a selfie… Organised by www.aplasticplanet.com.A Plastic Planet campaign are collecting thousands of films of ordinary people demanding a Plastic Free Aisle in supermarkets. Why? They want to meet with the CEO of a top supermarket and need to prove consumer demand.
Sounds like a good idea? Wouldn’t it be great to buy plastic free food using your own cotton produce bags? Then here’s what you do. Go to the events page and follow the instructions.
They and the planet will thank you.
Easter
Easter Sunday will fall on April 16th – and you might like to know that Montezuma’s do an eco egg. The “packaging is plastic free and eco friendly.”Find lots more good stuff like these refillable, reusable eggs in our guide to a #plasticfree Easter.
Latest Campaigns
And I’ll just mention this latest campaign.
Against Microfibres
The people behind the story of stuff are now tackling this insidious form of pollution.A story, a problem and a solution: The Story of Microfibers. This new 2-minute movie explores the impact of synthetic clothing (and the rapid growth of “fast fashion”) on our waterways oceans…and include a strong call for solutions.
It’s why we wear natural fibres. You can see our #plasticfree wardrobe here.
Bloggers
Talking of Plastic Free Lent we have a new blogger in Wales who has been doing just that. You can read about her experiences here.
A set of U.K. Made Produce Bags
Many shops and supermarkets still sell some produce loose. I am talking unpackaged onions, bread rolls and even dried fruit, rice and nuts if you know where to look. (Try here).
But if you want them plastic free you have to take your own packaging. Produce bags are reusable bags that are, (as the name suggests), for your loose produce.
There are two kinds of bags available – cotton and polyester mesh. I prefer the cotton but until now I have had to buy them from Spain and before that, America! Hardly local,
So I was delighted when I discovered DoYourBit, a U.K. Based company who make organic cotton reusable bags from fabric sourced from a fair traded local company.
Yay!To celebrate Plastic Is Rubbish has teamed up withDo Your Bit and in May will be offering you the opportunity to win a set of 3 drawstring produce bags 34x28cm (with olive green cord).
But if you can’t wait that long or don’t feel lucky, you can still enjoy the frisson of plastic free shopping by buying bags right now from the Do Your Bit shop
Read about produce bags and how to use them here
And the plastic free shopping kit here
You can find a a list of refill/loose food shops here
March
Well not exactly #plasticfree but good news all the same. Spring has sprung. The 2017 vernal or spring (or fall) equinox comes on March 20 at 10:29 UTC (March 20 at 5:29 a.m. CDT).
And it marks the beginning of spring – the is here in the Northern Hemisphere.The sun crosses the celestial equator going from south to north and from now on sunrise is earlier, nightfall comes later, the soil is warmer and plants start sprouting.Found a place that sells shea and coco butter in Leeds
And wrote a quick introduction to shea butter here
And a new #plasticfree blogger in Scotland. Read more here…
Talking of businesses we have a sourced #plasticfree toilet roll delivered to your door in a cardboard box. Result.
Plus another reason to visit . A new Refill store has been sourced in Bath.A Biodegradable Cornstarch Toothbrush?
The interchangeable head of Smiti is made of 100% biodegradable PLA. The aluminum alloy handle can be used for years, and at the end of its long life, be recycled.Learn more by checking out the Smiti campaign page: http://kck.st/2kbnkZN
Find pictures and more information in the Smiti Press Kit:U.K. Sourced Cotton Produce Bags At last a U.K made produce bag. Thanks to DoYourBit who make the bags right here in the U.k. using material sourced from a fair traded fabric company. Read more right here.
11th & 12th of March
Bea Johnson author of the book Zero Waste Home is coming to town – well 2 towns actually.
12th March Unpackaged is proud to present, for the first time in London, Bea Johnson – the founder of the Zero Waste Movement. We will be hosting her inspirational talk, Q&A and book signing in Bloomsbury, Central London. On the night we will also be highlighting innovative projects and brands in our exclusive Zero Waste showcase. Read more here…
Bristol
On the 11th March Bea will speaking in Bristol see the Eventbrite website (where you can buy tickets)
There will also be a talk from our very own Michelle. One of the first plasticvists campaigning.About Bea
Bea Johnson lives in the USA, She “and her family are dedicated to living a Zero Waste lifestyle; they generate a mere jar of waste per year. Through her blog and with her book, Zero Waste Home, Bea inspires a growing international community to live simply and take a stance against needless waste. Her passion and positive outlook have earned her appearances on TV and in publications around the world. Grand prize winner of “The Green Awards” in 2011, she regularly speaks at universities, corporate events and conferences. She has become the spokesperson for the Zero Waste lifestyle or, as The New York Times puts it: “The Priestess of Waste-Free Living”.
February
Sign Up
Surfers Against Sewage have just put out a petition which I think we all should sign….
Stop marine plastic pollution by introducing a small, refundable deposit on all plastic bottles, glass bottles and cans to recycle the 16 million plastic bottles thrown away every day.
Why is this important?
In the UK we use a staggering 38.5 million single-use plastic bottles and a further 58 million cans every day! Only half of these are recycled, so it’s no surprise that many of these end up on our beaches and in our oceans.Plastic bottles take 450 years to break down, killing marine life, harming the coastal ecosystem and ruining our beaches.
Placing a small deposit on plastic bottles and cans would dramatically increase recycling and reduce marine plastic pollution.
For full information on deposit return systems please visit Surfers Against Sewage’s Message In A Bottle campaign site.I know nobody uses pens, or paper petitions come to that – but if you ever do want to write something try these…
Plastic Free…This Month
Featuring plastic free fruit and veg – an update
January
Save Our Bottles
In 2015 I started a petition asking Diary Crest to reconsider their decision to phase out refillable glass bottle for doorstep deliveries. In December I received this message from Milk & More (Diary Crest)“glass milk bottles will continue to be delivered until at least April 2017. This date may be pushed back further. Many thanks.”
Good news for now but I will continue to promote the petition. If you haven’t signed yet please consider doing so.
If we cannot produce more (and we are rapidly running out of resources), we have to consume less. And consume more fairly. This is how the equation works for me
- We cannot exceed current levels of production
- We cannot expect others to want less than we have.
- Therefore we can only consume our global share
What’s a global share?
If all the fabric created annually was shared out equelly amongst the global population
11.74 kg per person of which 3.8 kg is natural fibres. You can check my figures here.
Last year I used 3.5 kg of natural fibres and 3.2kg of synthetics. You can see what that looks like here.
2016
This year I will be doing the same with hopefully a lot less synthetics.
Back HomeBeen on the road for much of last year. I am looking forward to getting back home, ordering some fabric from Offset Warehouse and getting sewing….
We can make a more meaningful world….
A take on modern life… a tad gloomy but worth bearing in mind and beautifully expressed.
youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMDu3JdQ8Ow&w=560&h=315]I
SaveSave
SaveSave
Save
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Sainsburys
About Sainsburys
While Sainsburys was a British company
“As of February 2018, the largest overall shareholder is the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, the Qatar Investment Authority, which holds 21.99% of the company.[6] It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
In April 2018, Sainsbury’s entered talks with Walmart about a proposed merger with Asda, which could form the largest UK supermarket company.[7]”
“The Qatar Investment Authority is Qatar’s state-owned holding company that can be characterized as a National Wealth Fund. It specializes in domestic and foreign investment. Wikipedia” and Walmart? No thanks. So while I might be able to get paper wrapped butter at Sainsbury’s (check out the cheese counter), Im not sure I like their politics.The Ethics Of Shopping
For more information on how to shop, why local and all about chainstores can be found here
However they do do
Butter, farmhouse, located near deli – Paper
Dishwash powder in a cardboard boxOther Products
From Louises database
Baking Powder, sachets – Paper and cardboard
Bicarbonate of Soda, sachets – Can anyone confirm packaging?
Berries, Frozen Basics – Plastic bag only – Return to store
Cake Mix, Wright’s – Paper
Cat Litter, Bio catolet – Litter and packaging have green credentials
Dishwasher Powder – Cardboard with small metal pourer – Works well in smaller quantities
Ecover Washing Powder – Large boxes – Cardboard
Fish Fingers, Birds Eye 30 MSC – Big pack to save on packaging – Cardboard
Lasagne Sheets, Basics – Windowless Cardboard
Naty Nature Care Nappies – Biodegradable
Oats, Quaker and Flahavan’s – Cardboard /
Pizza Bar – Larger Stores – Has anyone brought one unwrapped yet?
Double Edge Razor Blades 10’s– Cardboard and small plastic cover
Soap Bars, various including organic – Cardboard
Spaghetti 3kg – Plastic – Can be brought back to store for recycling
Toilet Paper, 100% recycled, 6 space saving rolls – Plastic wrap can be recycled in store
Vinegar, Sarson’s distilled White 568ml – Glass bottle, plastic cap
Washing Powder, Own Brand – Cardboard – no plastic scoopPlastic bag recycling bins in store entrance – Sainsbury’s products with this type of packaging are clearly marked.Any brands can be deposited but check they are plastic and not film. As a rule film cleanly tears and is louder when crunched, plastic is softer and stretches when pulled.
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 hereN.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.
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Cleaning Products – Chemical – Buy or make
For cleaning products I use a combination of bought and what I have in the cupboard in conjunction with a bloody good scrub… i.e. both chemical and manual cleaning.
Chemical Cleaning uses the power of chemicals in a solution to remove soils. Soils in this case refers to stains. If you want to know, you can read how alkaline dissolve fat and why vinegar works here.
If not just be aware that
Organic soils are usually best moved using alkaline cleaners.
Inorganic soils prefer and acid cleaner.
Buy Or Make Chemical Cleaners
Buy plastic free
The easiest way to get plastic free cleaning product is to buy Ecover refill liquids. Yes the original bottle is plastic but you get to reuse it. Mine are still going strong years into the project.
If you can’t get to a refill station, this company sells concentrated liquids through the post. You refill your existing bottles and water down yourself. They come in plastic, but it represents a massive reduction.
Make your own
Or you could consider making your own cleaning products. It easy, can save you money and certainly cuts down on the amount of chemicals and colorings that you find in commercial products. With a small palette of ingredients you can clean just about anything.When I say make I actually mean use neat or add water. It really is that easy. There are loads of complicated recipes on the internet using a mixture of ingredients. I have tried them but could see no discernable difference. Either other people have very dirty houses or I have very low standards.
Are they as good? Well it depends what you are using already. If you use green cleaners then yes they are and half the price. If you are using Cilit Bang all bets are off. So while they might not work as well as Cilit Bang in extreme grime scenarios, for general cleaning they are fine.
And all of them smell better with none of that weird choking chemical smell or overwhelming perfumes you get with the cheaper commercial products.
I Use
After a lot of experimentation I find I can mange with
Ecover washing up liquid refill or
Bar Soap
used in conjunction with a good scrubber cuts through most dirt. Alkaline
Bicarbonate Of Soda for scouring and deoderizing. It can also be used to wash your hair and clean your teeth. Alkaline
Vinegar dilute and use as a wipe. Also use as a conditioner for hair and a mild disinfectant. AcidOther people reccomend Washing Soda and Borax. I have tried both of these but find them to make little or no difference. Read more HERE
Use What On What
For your cleaners to be properly effective you need to use them correctly. Though you might intuitively feel that vinegar should cut through grease it doesn’t.
Soils fall into 2 categories, organic and inorganic
Organic soils such as fat, grease, protein like blood, and carbohydrate. I dont know what carbohydrate soil is – any one else? Mold, yeast and bacteria, motor oil, axle grease, cutting oils and other petroleum soils.
Inorganic soils such rust, scale, hard water deposits and minerals such as sand, silt and clay.They require different cleaning solution.
- Organic soils are usually best moved using alkaline cleaners.
- Inorganic soils prefer an acid cleaner.
- Minerals are often cleaned with general purpose cleaners.
Read more HERE
Scrub
Honestly I find the best way to clean is to use a mildly abrasive range of cloths and scouring pads. You can find links to all our mechanical cleaning aids HERE
How to clean….
Hard plastic such as baths and toilet seats – Soap and a luffa or rough cloth
Tiles and porcelain – Bicarb on a cloth or luffa
Mildly Abrasive Paste – general cleaning
Add enough liquid soap to bicarbonate of soda make a pasteWipe for windows and greasy surfaces
1/4-1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent/ soap
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups waterShake & Vac
Bicarb sprinkled on, left for a while then hoovered up.Buy
Ecover washing up liquid refill
Bar Soap
Bicarbonate Of Soda
VinegarMore
For more Bicarbonatebased cleaning tips try this Website
See a huge range of plastic free cleaning products HERE -
Truffles made with plastic free cream
Yes I know you need cream to make truffles and being plastic-free we don’t have any. Cue squeaks of joy when I bring you this ….
How to Replace Cream in Truffles
Melt 1/4 cup of butter in a small saucepan. Add 3/4 of cup milk and bring to a boil to replace 1 cup of heavy cream in your favorite truffle recipe.
Add three cups of good-quality dark chocolate and you can have chocolate truffles.
Thank you Livestrong. You can find the full recipe here.And plastic free ingredients here…..
Find more recipes in the plastic free cookbook
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coffee press travel mug
I love coffee and I carry my own coffee making equipment with me when backpacking, (yes really I do), but this mug is also great for the office or even for take out.
I have
- the tiffin tin to boil water in
- the biggest element in the world
- the reusable coffee press / insulated cup
- cotton reusable bag for ground coffee
So I boil the water in the tiffin tin with the huge element. Pour the hot water onto the coffee. Wait for it to brew. Plunge. Sit on the balcony watching the sunrise sipping fresh coffee. I Yes I know its a plastic cup but I can’t give it up I tell you!
Plastic
I used to carry glass and metal cafetierres but they kept on breaking. I have to admit that this is one of those times when plastic is the best man for the job. I bought mine in Japan but I found something similar on Amazon.
Zyliss Cafetiere Hot Mug, Blue £8.99 Steel
But when I need a new one I will get one of these stainless steel beauties…..
From the Bodrum Website
TRAVEL PRESS SET Coffee maker with extra lid, vacuum, small, 0.35 l, 12 oz, s/s Black:
- vacuum and made from stainless steel for maximum heat retention.
- closable lid with a stopper for the opening.
- slip-proof silicone band around them comes in beautiful colors.
- Coffee maker furthermore comes with an extra lid
You can of course get them on Amazon
Bodum Travel Press Set Coffee Maker, Lime G…
£16.67Amazon
You can read our thoughts on Amazon here and why we sometimes suggest products sold through them.
Coffee Beans
I try to buy my coffee loose where I go. I have found bean shops that will grind and give me the coffee in my own reusable bags in Istanbul, Georgetown, Chang Mai and Huddersfield.
plasticisrubbish
Cutting plastic and living compostably
