Melissa Corkhill

By Melissa Corkhill

15th July 2016

This week we cover the top ways of reducing plastic waste. Take these easy steps towards plastic-free living. Everything we produce that is made from plastic will still be with us for our children's and our grandchildren's lifetimes. Even if you just adopt one of these ideas for the next two weeks it will make a difference.

Melissa Corkhill

By Melissa Corkhill

15th July 2016

Melissa Corkhill

By Melissa Corkhill

15th July 2016

STEP ONE
ALWAYS CARRY A REUSABLE BAG
Have a few stashed by the front door and ensure you take them with you when you go out. We opt for colourful string bags bought from our local food co-op and also have an Onya bag made from recycled parachute silk. Both of these styles expand to fit in much more than expected. There are some great tutorials for making your own tote bag online or you can carry a backpack with you wherever you go. Choose an option that works for you, and most importantly is easy to implement and remember. Hence the colourful bags – they are bright and a pleasure to use!

STEP TWO
CHOOSE A RESUABLE WATER BOTTLE
During the summer months when out and about it’s an easy option to purchase a bottle of water on the go. But these plastic bottles are a huge resource-sink and will be around for ever. 60% of plastic water bottles end up in landfill rather than recycling – around 38 billion so far. Choose a reusable bottle like the ones at Kleen Kanteen (check out the Growler range) – opt for stainless steel to ensure no leaching of chemicals.

STEP THREE
BUY LOCAL
When shopping for groceries you are going to have to get creative if you want to avoid plastic. For us, that means shopping at out local food co-op, weekly food market, farmer’s market and a cafe that sells fresh produce. We don’t have a bulk store near us but if you have one use it! Take reusable containers to store nuts, seeds, pulses and grains that you can buy from bulk bins. Use cloth bags or pillowcases to store bread, glass jars for pulses and beans and coffee etc. Check out Bigbarn for your nearest farm shop or organic store.

STEP FOUR
MAKE YOUR OWN SNACKS
Most snack foods like crisps and energy bars for example come wrapped in plastic. Make your own and you’ll save money and reduce a whole lot of plastic waste. Potato and veggie crisps are easy to make, but kale chips are tastier and contain more nutrients. We make tamari roasted seeds and curried nuts as well as energy balls to tide us through the 4pm energy drop.

STEP FIVE
CHOOSE SOAP NUTS
Soap nuts can be used for multiple cleaning purposes but are brilliant for laundry. Grab a small cotton bag of them and pop them in with your next wash and your clothes will come out soft and super clean. And will save you money too – 5p per wash as opposed to 25p per wash with ordinary non bio. Check out Inasoapnutshell.

STEP SIX
GO POO FREE
Many people swear by the no poo method of shunning shampoo in favour of just water or a apple cider vinegar and water solution. If this seems a bit extreme choose a squeaky clean shampoo bar from Lush (or make your own).

STEP SEVEN
BRUSH WITH BICARB
Make your own tooth cleaning powder using bicarbonate of soda to reduce plastic waste from discarded toothpaste tubes. You can get toothbrushes made from bamboo or use a stick of liquorice root (available loose from many health food stores) as a completely natural tooth cleaning method.

STEP EIGHT
REPAIR CAFE
Choose to repair items when they break rather than dumping them. Check out repair cafes in your area where you can learn how to make do and mend or look up the instructions online. There are plenty of DIY Youtube channels filled with tutorials on how to fix defunct items.

MORE INSPIRATION
READ Plastic Free Living: How I Kicked the Habit and how you can too by Beth Terry
TRY THIS Take on these 100 ways to plastic free living from myplasticfreelife.com

THANKS TO Lindsay Miles for the gorgeous image to accompany this article. Read more about her plastic-free adventures at treadingmyownpath.com

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