Coffee – Instant

1 October 2019 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks

When I first started my boycott, the only way to get plasticfree coffee was to buy the beans loose and grind them. Now theres all kinds of options from instant in your own bag to compostable pods

For other coffee posts check out our index. You will also find tea, cocoa, milk in glass bottles and something stronger.

But back to the coffee….

Finally managed to score some plastic free instant coffee! Its back to the wonderful Leeds Market. I love it. Its a fantastic place to buy local, #plasticfree almost everything. Read a review here

The JarTree is where I got my coffee. Its a great stall where you can take your own packaging and buy just about everything you might ever need, plastic free.
Address: Leeds Kirkgate Market, Unit BS1, Leeds LS2 7HY Phone: 07470 033404 https://www.facebook.com/thejartree/
You can see a picture diary here of all the products stocked including NOODLES!!!!
Or visit the website for more. They are continually updating the product list here:
http://www.thejartree.co.uk/store-product-list.html

Don’t Live In Leeds? More Plastic Free Food Shops Here.

I have been updating my list of towns with refill shops and adding new shops. Have a look and see if there is one near you.. Plus how to get your shop added to the list.

Online

This is an interesting option that allows you to buy basic foods on line plastic free.
You can even use your own produce bags. Read more
HERE

Want more???? YES!

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

Join our Facebook group here

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

Price of a cup of tea – micro fund me here

Coffee single-cup brewing system

1 September 2019 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.2 disposables, 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.2 Kitchen

When I first started my boycott, the only way to get plasticfree coffee was to buy the beans loose and grind them. Now theres all kinds of options from instant in your own bag to compostable pods

For other coffee posts check out our index. You will also find tea, cocoa, milk in glass bottles and something stronger.

But back to the coffee….

“Peter Sylvan and John Dragone in the early 1990s started building prototypes of a coffee maker that would brew one cup at a time, using a throwaway package that would hold the grounds and the filter. The result was the Keurig single-cup brewing system, which uses disposable plastic K-Cups that look like supersize creamer containers.”

“When the company began selling its single-serve coffee systems to offices, the price was too high to envision a similar product living on kitchen countertops: $795. But by 2004, the company had created a consumer version that sold for $149. (Keurig’s least expensive machine, the B30 Mini, currently sells for $89.)” Read more

By 2017….

coffee pods made up a nearly 5 billion dollar industry.
at least 16 million U.S. households currently have a single-serve brewer on their countertop.
coffee pods, or K-cups, that go in them… and make up a third of all coffee sold.
if you took the coffee pods that the coffee giant Nespresso produced over the years (nearly 30 billion of them), you could circle the globe over two dozen times!
That’s a lot of pods, a lot of plastic, and a lot of aluminium.
Sources for the above facts and a very good article can be found here.

So what to do if you have one of these machines?

Compostable Pods

You could try compostable pods. Such as these from Novelle Coffee

“Our dedication to provide premium coffee is matched only by our commitment to the environment, which is why our coffee is now available in compostable Nespresso compatible capsules.
Available in Intenso and Decaffeinato, it’s the same great ethically-sourced Novell coffee with added peace of mind.
Our capsules are made from 100% compostable materials that decompose over 12 weeks, meaning you can look after the planet as well as your conscience.” Read more

Reportedly the North American brands Purpods and G-Pak have also been certified 100% compostable.

Halo do something similar.

I dont have a coffee making machine so cannot compare taste… but Which have done a survey that you can access here.

Compostable Plastics

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

One such is the European Norm EN13432. You can find out more here.

Composting Plastic At Home

While most agree that some plastics are indeed compostable, many say that it can only composted in large scale municipal schemes. As we don’t have many large scale municipal schemes this they say is a pointless advantage. I say the days of large scale municipal schemes is fast approaching as governments aim to divert biodegradable rubbish from landfill sites.

But more to the point, I have been composting my compostable plastic at home for years now, including Biobags, deli pots and disposable cutlery. Read more about that HERE.
It does take longer than other products and sometimes I have found shreds of it in my compost but I dig it into the soil where it quickly disappears.

Read more about compostable plastics here

Greenwashing
And never forget that bio-degradable plastic bags do not biodegrade where as compostable plastic bags do compost. Not all bio-plastics (plant derived plastics) are compostable. Read more here.

Compost Bins

How Do I Compost?
I have a Green Joanna compost bin and I compost up in the North of England.

More Drink

Hot Drinks Plastic Free

Tea, coffee, cocoa and drinking chocolate all bought #plasticfree and made with milk from a returnable glass bottle. Details here

N.B.

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

And before you go…

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

Coffee Fresh

29 November 2016 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.1.3 Loose Food 2 Comments

When I first started my boycott, the only way to get plasticfree coffee was to buy the beans loose and grind them. Now theres all kinds of options from instant in your own bag to compostable pods

For other coffee posts check out our index. You will also find tea, cocoa, milk in glass bottles and something stronger.

Buy Beans Loose

I love my morning coffee,
Can’t do with out my brew,
But Lavazzas wrapped in plastic!
So whats a girl to do?

Done got myself a bean grinder and I buy my coffee beans loose in my own plastic-free packaging

I am extremely lucky in that I can buy (fair trade), coffee beans from the superlative Coffeevolution, Huddersfield, an independent coffee shop, run by the owner. They import their own fair trade beans and roast them themselves. I give them my own bag they give me fresh, loose beans. Happy days.
There are many other good reasons to go to the café. It is not a chain the ambiance is great, and they have home made biscuits stored in glass jars. There are murals on the walls. and they have a great notice board. Smashing.

Elsewhere

If you cant get to Huddersfield there’s a list of

Supermarkets & Chains

Whittards

Whittards are. U.K. wide chain that will sell you tea loose.this from twitter
“Hi there, yes if you visit our store with your own container, we can fill it with either tea or coffee.”
They have over 50 shops. You can find one one here.
NB you will have to take your own plastic free or , better still, reusable packaging. See below for links.

“The company was founded in 1886 by Walter Whittard. It expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, and was bought by the Icelandic Baugur Group in 2005 for around £21 million.”

Ground Coffee In Compostable Packaging
Percol do ground coffee in home compostable plastic free packaging. I bought some in Waitrose. The coffee was acceptable. I composted the packaging in my home bin. Read more about this, below.

From their website
“You’ll start to notice the Plastic-Free logo on our new home compostable Ground, Beans and Coffee Bag packaging from November 2018. Like many, we want to do more to reduce the amount of packaging (particularly plastic) we’re using, and as a UK retail brand which sells more than 4 million products a year, we have an important role to play in reducing the impact we are making on our planet”
Read more here

Online

Just got a doorstep of delivery of ground coffee in a reusable/returnable tin. Not one bit of plastic. from the @ModernMilkman_

https://www.facebook.com/TheModernMilkman/

Roasting House

We’re a micro coffee roastery based in Nottingham. We roast all of our coffee in very small batches to order. Our environmental and ethical values guide us in how we run our business. We have a zero waste to landfill policy informs our purchasing decisions and use only 100% recycled and recyclable paper packaging and labels for our coffee. At events when serving hot coffee, we use both ceramic reusable cups and fully compostable takeaway cups.
Website: roastinghouse.co.uk

Onward Packaging
Would also like to add that when I contacted on twitter they confirmed that you can order online and they send out in a cardboard envelope.

MORE COFFEE!!!!

For other coffee posts check out our index. You will also find tea, cocoa, milk in glass bottles and something stronger.

There’s the old school stuff – paper, cardboard, leaves and other plant based materials. And then there is the new. The biodegradable plastics.

What is biodegradable?

Biodegradable products break down through a naturally occurring microorganism into 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 and the resulting biomass must be able to sustain plant life For a man-made product to be sold as compostable, it has to meet certain standards. You can find out more here.

Composting Plastic At Home

While most agree that some plastics are compostable, they also say it can only composted in large scale municipal schemes. I say the days of large scale municipal schemes is fast approaching as governments aim to divert biodegradable rubbish from landfill sites. But more to the point, I have been composting my compostable plastic at home for years now, including Biobags, deli pots and disposable cutlery. Read more about that HERE.

The Home Compostable verification logo clearly identifies and differentiates packaging materials as biodegradable and home compostable. This means that the biodegradable packaging will break down under specific home composting conditions back into water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and biomass.”

Join our Facebook group here

Water carbonated / fizzy drinks

26 July 2016 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.4 cook book 4 Comments

I have long wanted a Soda Stream to make my own fizzy water for soft drinks and, more importantly, mixers for gin -the best of all spirits. For now I am buying tonic in tins (but they of course come plastic lined), or bottle (plastic-lined, metal cap and very expensive!).

But it has to be a SodaStream Crystal Sparkling Water Machine ( see one here) because these take glass bottles rather than plastic.

Until now there have been 2 drawbacks to this scheme. Recently I have been traveling… a lot. No fixed abode means no large kitchen appliances. Extended travel also results in limited income and those things cost around £110.00 pounds. Yes I am sure I would make the money back in the long run but in the short term I simply don’t have the cash.

Recently however the planets have aligned. I now have a kitchen and I got a bargain on Ebay. A new Soda Stream machine in original packaging for less than half price. Given my gin drinking habits, I will soon make that back!

Yes the machine is plastic but I consider this to be plastic that ultimately cuts my plastic consumption. And of course it is cutting my consumption of disposable plastics while it is a reusable item.

Packaging

The Soda Stream itself was well packaged. The box is shiny cardboard (maybe plastic coated) with one little plastic carry handle. Inside it was all brown card protective units. Yay!

The Ebayer I bought it off sent it wrapped in bubble wrap, corrugated cardboard and plastic tape.

If I had got it from a shop it would have been almost plastic free… but when you are skint you often have to compromise. Sigh.

Bottles & Gas

It was so cheap because it came without a bottle. At least that is what I understood the blurb to say. So I bought some gas and a glass bottle from Amazon. I know it was wrong of me and I wont do it again but they too were bargains.

The Amazon packaging was cardboard with plastic tape and the original soda stream gas and bottle packaging were (plastic coated?), shiny cardboard.

The gas bottle itself had a plastic cap and a seal. And a plastic sleeve with information printed on. I see no reason why this could not be paper.

Not In My Bin….

The tape had to go on my monthly plastic tally but the boxes I free-cycled. There’s always Ebayers who need packaging.

Syrups

To make fizzy drinks you need to mix the carbonated water with concentrated cordial. You can buy a range of Soda Stream mixers to make all manner of beverages from cola to tonic. They come in plastic bottles and while this represent a massive cut in overall plastic consumption, I think it is avoidable.

You can buy cordial in glass bottles from most supermarkets but it is really easy to make your own and you get to control how much sugar and other nasty additives go into them. I find commercial soft drinks, even tonic, to be way too sweet.

To date I have made raspberry fizz and ginger and lemon sparkle. Both taste great with gin!

Raspberry Fizz

Go to Bently Grange PYO fruit farm and get some raspberries. Boil them up with some sugar. Strain. Add fizzy water. Yay!

Ginger & Lemon Sparkle

Boil ginger pieces, lemon juice and sugar. Strain. Add fizzy water. You can save the ginger to flavor other stuff with. Goes great with melon!

Grapefruit & Lavender Blush

Juice of the grapefruit, few heads of lavender the last dollop of jam. Add some sugar, boil.

Storage

If you put enough sugar in I guess these cordials would last a long time. I don’t use much sugar so I make small batches and keep them in the fridge for a few days. If I make a lot I freeze the cordial as cubes of icy flavour.

Find more recipes in the plastic free cookbook

U.K. water bottle refill schemes

21 January 2016 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Disposables & Reusables, 3.5 Plastic Free People, Projects & Campaigns, 3.7 Other Solutions Tagged 3.1.2 refill, 3.1.3 drinks, 3.6 #P-fU.K. Directory, 5 Content Veiw 2 Comments

Bristol Water Refill

"Refill Bristol is a practical campaign to make Bristol a city in which refilling your water bottle becomes a cultural ...
Read More

Selfridges Water Refill

Selfridges are setting out to tackle plastic pollution in the ocean by "removing all single-use plastic water bottles from our ...
Read More

Bath, Love Tap Water Refill Scheme

A new water refill scheme based in Bath. The following has been taken from their website... Two local women want to ...
Read More

Water Abroad

We sterilize our own water using a Steripen …. but when a bottle refill service is offered we will use that instead. Find refill places here…

Of course water in many countries the water is actually safe to drink – you can find out where here.

And here are a list of places you can refill your bottle abroad

Water Bottles

Check out which water bottle here

Water Bottle Bans

Links to interesting projects that are tackling the problems of bottled water

How To make Tea, Tea pots, & strainers

4 March 2015 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink, 3.2 How To...plastic-free Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.2 Kitchen, 3.2.3 Buy On Line, 5 Content Veiw 5 Comments

These days most of us automatically reach for the teabags but is that really the best choice? Certainly not from a plastic free zero waste point of veiw.

Nasty Bags

Whats in your tea bag? Paper and tea you wish but actually no. Most do in fact contain plastic and so are only between 70-80% biodegradable. And chlorine bleached. Read more HERE.
There are plastic / chlorine free bags out there but they are very expensive and often come packed in plastic read about them here.

How To Use Loose Tea

In short, loose tea is a better option. But it may seem daunting. It’s not. Here is a guide on how to make the perfect cuppa.

Buy

First you will need to source some loose tea. Not as hard ad you think thanks to PG Tips. Find out more HERE

Pots, Strainers & Balls to you Mrs!

Next you will need a teapot and, unless you fancy taking up fortune telling, something to stop the leaves getting in your cup. You can get great teapots from charity shops. I favor the stainless steel 70s version, good for traveling in the van with. You can get all metal tea strainers if you look. Try the market, Ebay or Amazon. I am not a big fan of tea strainers. They dribble and you need a saucer to put them on. And you have the icky job of removing the tea leaves from the pot afterwards, a soggy business at the best of times. No, I like these mesh balls. You put the tea in them then put them in the pot. At the end you empty them in the compost bin without worrying about nasty plastic mesh. Easy as! You can even get some teapots that have integrated diffusers built in.

Just One Cup?

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 fill to make your own reusable 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

Brewing Up

So now we are good to go. Put the leaves in the pot (or the mesh ball first) add boiling water and let it brew.

and again…

Don’t be so quick to empty the pot. You ca muse those leaves again to make a fresh pot. Even keep them in the fridge and reuse the next day.

When the tea gets a bit weak you can ad a pinch more.

Honestly. I learnt this from the Chinese tea shop where they sell 50 year old tea for a hundreds of dollars a gram. Yes apparently tea, like wine, does improve with age. Who knew?

Milk?

If you take milk, you will need to get yourself a milk man who delivers milk in glass bottles and possibly a milk jug!

Find other sneaky plastics here….

Buy Teapots & Strainers

Being committed to local shopping I prefer to buy that way whenever possible. I would encourage you to do the same. One of the joys of living plastic free is mooching round the local shops seeing what you can source.

If you can’t buy local, please do check the links in the posts. They link direct to the suppliers. Do consider buying from them and support their online businesses.

If you can’t do that then I have put together and Amazon catalogue. Yes I know…

Amazon is a very dirty word at the moment and I thought long and hard before suggesting them. Heres why I went ahead….. No we are not entirely happy with Amazons recent history. However these links are for 3rd party sellers, we have always found the Amazon service to be good and their packaging usually compostable. In the absence of anything else we feel we can recommend them.

Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel Double Handled Tea Strainer- boxed

Tea Ball Infuser 2" 18/8 Stainless Steel.

VonShef Satin Polish Stainless Steel Tea Pot with Infuser. Available in sizes Small, Medium & Large

Designer White Ceramic Tumbler Brewing System

.

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

SaveSaveSaveSave

Join our Facebook group here

Wine

14 July 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.2 refill, 3.1.3 drinks, 5 Content Veiw 7 Comments

I do have a social life. I occasionally get to go out to dinner and wine is the present of choice. My friends are are gluten-free, minimalist drunks – what else am I going to take? But bottled wine often contains plastic – either a plastic cork or the metal screw top lid is plastic lined.

So I thought I would try to find a wine that was corked with a cork. I climbed out of the bargain booze bins and took myself off to a proper wine merchants. I explained my problem to the proper wine merchant and he recommended the Spanish wines as being more likely to use corks (they want to keep their cork industry alive). Also the better quality wines tend to use corks. Not entirely sure gluten-free drunks deserve such a treat but went ahead and purchased a bottle of quality Spanish wine with a cork sealed in foil.

HA! Peeled off the foil to a cork – sure enough…. BUT the foil, was plastic lined! Damn!

Seems the only way to get really plastic free wine is to use a refill service. Of course our civilised european cousins in Italy and Spain allow you to do just this. Most places will have a shop where you cant take your own bottle and get it filled with a choice of wines. Back in the U.K. your choices are rather more limited.

Borough Wines

When I went to Green Oscars, (did I mention I was in the same room as Colin Firth -hey it’s a start!), they were serving wine from Borough Wines . Borough Wines sell wine on tap and offer a refill service (you can read a Guardian review here). I don’t know if it was the tap wine we were drinking but my white was very nice. Sadly they only have shops in London – there’s a list here .

Whole food Supermarket

Wholefood supermarket also do a wine refill service (They have stores in Glasgow, London and Cheltenham – maybe more now – check the link)

Buying Refills In Cheltenham

Wholefood Market (Cheltenham) offers a wine refill service. You buy a glass liter bottles from them that you then refill, yourself from the large and lovely barrel of wine. But as we wanted rather more than a liter and have no room for glass bottles in the van , (our current home). So we brought our own emergency plastic water bottle. It’s big and it’s plastic. Classy!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Dreadful shock then when we got there. The refill wine barrel I saw last time I was there was no longer in place. Desperate enquiries revealed that this hadn’t worked out and the wine kept going off.

I visibly reeled “But what of my wine refill” I whimpered.

Thankfully they still did refills but now a member of staff fills your bottle from a huge 15 liter wine box. Not quite what I was expecting and stretching the not- in- my- bin rule to it’s limit – but 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. Besides which we desperate.

We proffered the canteen with trembling hands. Arghh!!! Now there was some doubt as to whether we could use a huge plastic water carrier. Once again we waited anxiously and sagged with relief when they agreed that we could.

Norfolk, Reno Wine

Not used those guys – the following is from their website…

“Our speciality is Refillable Bottles…

Buy one of our bottles and fill it with wine from our barrel taps in the Reno Wine shop in Wymondham, Norfolk.
Rinse out your bottle and bring it back to fill with more wine – and by reusing save yourself the cost of the glass bottle!
Speciality ‘Crafted Cask’ Whisky in Refillable Bottles also now available…

Go to 15 Market Street, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0AJ
Open 9.30-5.30, Tues-Sat

Contact

T: 01953 425995
M: 07913 672275
E: sales@renowine.co.uk

London

A review of Clapton Craft – refill beers and wines. can be found here. –

If anyone else knows of other wine refill options please leave a comment below… many thanks.

You can find other plastic free beverages here…

Tea Loose Leaves

7 July 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.1.3 Loose Food, 3.2.2 West Yorkshire 10 Comments

For other tea & coffee posts check out our index. Where you will also find tea, cocoa and something stronger.

Read Up

Plastic Free Tea Bags Yup. The actual bag that you thought was paper, does in fact contain plastic. Read more HERE.
There are plastic free teabags. You can find then here
How to make plastic-free tea – it’s all in the tea balls.

BUY

Independents

You will also find a list of tea and coffee merchants

Online

This is an interesting option that allows you to buy food on line, plastic free in compostable packaging. Read more HERE

They sell a wide range of teas including herbal.

Supermarkets

PG Tips are selling tea in a cardboard box. In supermarkets! Way to go PG.

PG Tips is “Unilever is a British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company co-headquartered in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Its products include food, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Wikipedia”

Whittards

“The company was founded in 1886 by Walter Whittard. It expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, and was bought by the Icelandic Baugur Group in 2005 for around £21 million.”

Brewing Up

How to make plastic-free tea – it’s all in the tea balls.

For other tea & coffee posts check out our index. Where you will also find tea, cocoa and something stronger.

Join our Facebook group here

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

Price of a cup of tea – micro fund me here

Beer

28 June 2014 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.2 refill, 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.2 West Yorkshire, 5 Content Veiw 2 Comments

Of course you can get beer in bottles but those metal caps have a plastic liner or small disc to prevent leakage. It’s a tiny amount but it is plastic.
Cans of beer are plastic lined!
The only way to get plastic free booze is to use a refill service. Take your own flagon to the alehouse and get them to fill it. These are the ones I know of

Huddersfield

The Sportsman Huddersfield will sell you your own reusable flagon. Yes its plastic but it will last you a good long time.
The Grove
The Head Of Steam ( also sells plastic flagons)
All sell great real ales and very reasonable priced.

Magic Rock sell metal reusable flagons. Very stylish! Also sells great real ales but they are more expensive.

If anyone else knows of other beer refill options please leave a comment below… many thanks.

London

Hi Kate, I have been out and about in Kentish Town again A review of Clapton Craft – refill beers and wines. https://arefugefordaffodils.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/green-shopping-in-london-clapton-craft-in-kentish-town/

You can find other plastic free beverages here…

Tonic

28 September 2013 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks, 3.2.2 West Yorkshire 4 Comments

I still drink tonic because I still drink gin. Of course I still drink gin! I could barely get through if it wasn’t for gin! But no matter how pressing the need I will not drink tonic from plastic bottles.

Tonic options are
Tonic in tins which are of course are plastic lined.
Glass bottles with metal plastic lids. (N.B. even metal lids have a plastic lining cap.)
Tonic syrups glass or plastic. Greener as the concentrated syrup means no water and so massively reduce transport costs of tonic. But you have to source some fizzy water.
I recently got myself a Soda Stream which means I can make my own carbonated water

So while there are some plastic elements, all of the above represent a massive reduction in plastic.

Tins

Yes I know tins are plastic lined…..but I need that gin. Only joking under 18s. Hardly touch a drop.
Another downside is that the cans are rather small and I have a lot of very thirsty lady friends. It can get pricey.The plus side is, that if like me you only have a very small snifter, very occasionally, your tonic is always fresh!

Other advantages include
Tins are light to carry
They have a high recycle value.

So I used to buy Schweppes tonic in cardboard packs of 6 tins. At least I did till that happened…. Yes that is plastic wrapping. So I moved onto Tescos own brand which is not too bad. Same deal – 6 tins in a cardboard box. You can get a similar tonic package from Sainsburys – bigger cans but not so much to my taste. And now Schweppes have reappeared unwrapped.
But I have other problems with Schweppes. They are owned by Cocoa-Cola I am trying to only buy British/Buy local So back to Tescos own. You can find other British owned supermarkets here.

Bottles

You can buy tonics in glass
But bottles are heavy.
And have a low recycle value.

Fevertree are good. You can find out more (including where to buy) from their website. But they are pricy – way too pricy for me.

Syrups
Add fizzy water to tonic syrups. Where do you get plastic free fizzy water. I got a Soda Stream that makes fizzy water, and I have been experimenting with tonic syrups.

Syrups are great because you are only transporting the concentrated syrup and not all the added water. this makes it a much greener option.

In Plastic

Sodastream do their own tonic mix but it comes in a plastic bottle.

Heres some blurb from the website
“One 500ml bottle of sodamix will make up to 12 litres of fresh soda, equal to 33 cans.Plus, it contains up to 50% less sugar and carbs than leading (store bought) drinks. Make it the way you want, more or less bubbles, more or less sugar, it’s your choice!”
At 2.50 its a bargain but you have to buy online which probably involves more plastic!
read more and buy here.

In Glass

You can get tonic syrup in bottles with metal caps. Metal caps of course have a plastic liner or small disc to prevent leakage. It’s a tiny amount but it is plastic.

These luxury tonics are extremely expensive but boast spectacular credentials.

Jack Rudy Tonic
“An intriguing cocktail ingredient for mixologists, the Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. Classic Tonic Syrup is made using a quinine distillate, along with a subtle selection of botanicals and a touch of cane sugar for sweetness”. £12.80 for 500ml.

buy online see below

BTW Tonic Syrup
A concentrated tonic syrup, created by Nick Crispini from London gin bar 214 Bermondsey and fellow gin lover Lawrence Mason. BTW Tonic Water is made to be mixed with carbonated water, allowing you to make a tonic water to your own tastes. It can also be used in cocktails to impart a daring kick of cinchona bark bitterness.
Made in the Uk but rather pricy at £18.31 for 500ml

Try before you buy
The gin experts at BTW run their own gin bar in Bermondsey (214 Bermondsey, on Bermondsey Street). They know the secret to making the best gin and tonic.
Relaxed, underground bar with reclaimed wood furniture, offering dozens of gins plus cocktails.
Address: 214 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3TQ
Hours: Open ⋅ Closes 11PM
Menu: 214-bermondsey.co.uk

Buy online see below

Jeffreys Tonic
We come from and live in Chester and currently make Jeffrey’s Tonic Syrups in the NoWFood Centre at The University of Chester. We hope you love it as much as we do!
The Original recipe is where we started – in the Far East, actually! It was our first foray, which was so well received we were encouraged to do more. Cassia, nutmeg, and allspice.. works great with a nice clean London dry gin, or even with whisky and ginger!
Original Recipe – 250ml
Price£8.75 Buy on line – see below

TONIC syrup in a bottle at Waitrose
“Bring something new to the party
For a different take on a G&T, try these handcrafted tonic syrups from Montreal. The Tonic Syrup is made from natural cinchona bark, the ingredient that gives tonic water its appetising bitterness, and makes a great G&T mixed with soda water and your favourite gin. Try shaking up a cocktail, or simply add a splash of syrup to sparkling water to enhance the flavour”Read more.
Canadian made, (I think). But not plastic packed – see below.

Buy

I bought on line from Masters Of Malt who have a great selection but dreadful packaging.
Next time I will go to Waitrose.

You can find other plastic-free boozes and related items here

N.B.

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

And before you go…

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

SaveSave

Cocoa & Drinking Chocolate

4 September 2013 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 3.1.3 drinks

Honestly you search for years to find some loose cocoa and then two come along at once!

Visited Weigh To Save and yes they did loose cocoa. This stall has just recently opened at

1 Metropollian Centre May Day Green, Barnsley S70 1SX
Closes 4:30PM
01226 772239

“Unique Market Stall selling a range of dried products, choose your amount & weigh to save.Products include, Nuts, Dried Fruit, Cereals, Rice, flours, sugars, other baking products, washing powder, herbs and spices all at reasonable prices.
Helping to save the planet with no unnecessary packaging, you can even bring your own reusable containers. see for yourself in Barnsley’s inside market, Unit 13 Market parade(old semi open market under multi storey car park).”

Photos diary of my visit here

More cocoa…
An old favourite in Leeds Market, the Nut Shop has expanded its range of loose foods and it now includes cocoa.

Barmouth Weigh & Save

Saves the day – loose cocoa in my own bag

This now means that all my hot drinks are plastic free. Check out my hot drinks index HERE

A History

Morrisons used to do freetrade, plastic-free, cardboard-packaged cocoa The cocoa came in a box lined with paper. Supergreen. Ok, the paper was possibly (probably) lined with plastic, but it was the best I could do.
For a while life was good then yesterday I took a special trip to Morrisons to buy some more and there was none to be had. They hadn’t just run out but there was no space for it on the shelves

So do Morrison’s still do Fairtrade cocoa? Well according to the Fairtrade website yes they do.Is it just the Huddersfield store that has decided not to stock it? Was I just unlucky in cocoa that day?

The Joker Box Of Shame

Then Mother got involved. She burst into the house flushed with pride.“I dont know what all the fuss is about”, she carrolled handing me a box of cocoa from Sainsburys. How many times have I told her “Squeeze and listen!” for the tell tale crackling of the plastic bag inside. Sure enough the cocoa was further packed in a plastic bag – and not even one we can recycle. You can find other other sneaky plastics here.

Find more refill stores here

Drinking Chocolate

I found this on Todmorden Market . The deli stall sells real drinking chocolate wrapped in paper and foil. You buy it in bars, bash it into bits and melt it in hot water or milk, (or my personal fave half / half mix), to make drinking chocolate. Or you can chuck a chunk in a shot of espresso in to make a funky, monkey mocha. It tastes good but there is a downside – it is not cheap and you can’t use it to make chocolate cake!

Another downside. the deli has stopped doing it. all I can tell you is that it does exist.

N.B.

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

Water – Index

26 October 2012 by Plastic Is Rubbish Posted in 3.1 Food & Drink Tagged 00 working, 3 water, 3.1.3 drinks 1 Comment

You’re in the right place for information on

Tap Water U.K.
Refill Schemes – in the U.K.
Carbonated Water Make your own from tap
Office water
Bottled Water – some facts and greener optionsplastic-free, refillable options here
Water Abroad
Is it safe? Find out here.
How to sterilise
Some refill schemesOther watery stuff

U.K Tap Water

If you are lucky enough to live in a country where the water is safe to drink the easiest way to access plastic free water is from a tap. You can do this at home. In which case you will need a refillable water bottle to take out with you.
Read up about U.K. Tap water here

Refill Schemes

But what happens when you’re out and about and away from the kitchen or you’ve forgotten your Steripen

Refill Schemes in the U.K.
The U.K. is one country lucky enough to have safe drinking water BUT sometimes when you are out and about it can be hard to access tap. These worthy schemes aim make safe, free, tap water available.

Carbonated Water

But I like fizzy water? Make your own from tap

Office Water

Want plastic free water at work – try these water filters

Bottled Water

Tap is best but what if you need bottled? Some plastic-free, refillable options here

Unsafe Tap Water/ Water Abroad

Tap water in many countries the water is actually safe to drink. In others sadly it is not. You can find out here… Can I Drink The Water?
Visit this super cool website to find out if you drink the water. Just pick the country you want and read the result.
Yes? Hooray – all you need to take is your refillable bottle. Fill it with tap water and no need to ever buy bottled.

Sterilise Your Own Water
When the tap water is not safe we still don’t buy bottled water. Instead we sterilize tap water using a Steripen. Been doing this for years all over the world.

Refill Abroad

Many countries offer a refill service where you can buy filtered purified water
Find A Refill Service
S.E.Asia Thailand & Malaysia
Phillipines
India
China

Water Bottles

For both of the above you will need a refillable, reusable bottle. You can get these anywhere

Other Drinks

And if you can’t stand the filthy stuff, check out our our drinks index here

More Travel Tips

Why and how I backpack #plasticfree. Homemade suntan lotion and a steripen are 2 of my favourite on the road #plasticlessproducts. Rummage in my pack here

N.B.

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


Kitchen Craft Stainless Steel Double Handle… £5.50	Tea Ball Infuser 2″ 18/8 Stainless Steel. £0.71	Tea Ball/Strainer Mesh Tea Infuser Tea filt… £1.52 – £2.19

Kitchen Craft Le’Xpress Tea Strainer, Stai… £1.65	Stainless Steel Spoon Tea Leaves Herb Mesh … £1.60	2 Cup Glass Tea Pot with Infuser £21.63

Glass Stainless Steel Loose Tea Leaf Teapot…	VonShef Modern Stainless Steel 600ml Glass … £4.99	Sabichi 750 ml Glass Teapot with Infuser


VonShef Satin Polish Stainless Steel Tea Po… £6.99	Designer White Ceramic Tumbler Brewing System £15.00

Online

Want more???? YES!

And before you go…

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By 2017….

Compostable Plastics

Composting Plastic At Home

More Drink

N.B.

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Buy Beans Loose

Elsewhere

Supermarkets & Chains

Whittards

Online

Roasting House

MORE COFFEE!!!!

What is biodegradable?

What is compostable?

Composting Plastic At Home

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Packaging

Not In My Bin….

Syrups

Storage

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Water Abroad

Water Bottles

Water Bottle Bans

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Nasty Bags

How To Use Loose Tea

Buy

Pots, Strainers & Balls to you Mrs!

Just One Cup?

Brewing Up

Milk?

More

Buy Teapots & Strainers

.

And before you go…

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Borough Wines

Whole food Supermarket

Norfolk, Reno Wine

London

More

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Read Up

BUY

Independents

You will also find a list of tea and coffee merchants

Online

They sell a wide range of teas including herbal.

Supermarkets

Whittards

MORE

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Huddersfield

London

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Tins

Bottles

Buy

More

N.B.

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Barmouth Weigh & Save

The Joker Box Of Shame

More

Drinking Chocolate

N.B.

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U.K Tap Water

Refill Schemes

Carbonated Water