Zero waste, plastic-free, MoneySaving Christmas

MSE_Andrea wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't use beauty products so the home-made recipes aren't my thing.

Saying that, though, I've switched from shower gel to handsoap. When the soap i already have runs out I'll only buy new ones that come in cardboard packaging. I tried to have a sneak peak at the Homesense section of soaps a couple of months ago to see which ones have plastic packaging inside the boxes and which are just box. Am I possibly taking this a bit far? :rotfl:

I've tried to convince the rest of the family to use soap recently but they're refusing. As I had several old ikea soaps hanging around I mushed them up in warm water, turned them into a liquid and poured them into a hand gel dispenser. The family's been using it no problem :rotfl:

I know what you mean about the soap packaging.....why put it in the box, wrapped in plastic? It’s annoying and so wasteful.

I’ve just read on the Old Style forum about biodegradable cling film, had a quick search and Sains and WRose sell one so that might solve my sandwich wrapping issues, plus if I can buy it with a normal shop I won’t be having to order it for delivery which saves too.

Emmala wrote: »

what if I want products in glass (as I’m more confident that these will be recycled than plastic)? There aren’t many glass options out there, even among more ‘green’ beauty companies.

Glass is massively more resource intensive to make and move around than plastic.

Here's some calculations:
https://www.triplepundit.com/2007/03/askpablo-glass-vs-pet-bottles/

Swapping from plastic to glass is about as good for the environment as swapping a mini for a hummer.

Not to say plastics don't have any environmental downsides - mostly when badly disposed of however - but they have come to dominate modern life in part because they're cheap - and they're cheap because they use far less resources to perform the same tasks as glass, metal or paper/card. I mean, think about it, how much does a plastic bottle weigh compared to the same volume glass bottle. Hundreds of grams of glass vs a plastic bottle that is so light it barely registers on kitchen scales, and so thin you can crush it with your hand easily. Then compare the temperature glass/sand or steel/aluminium melt as vs the melting temperature of plastics. You can melt plastics just by holding a cigarette lighter near them - flame doesn't even need to touch it, glass and metals need serious equipment to melt. Forming plastic takes much less energy.

Of the options we have, I think plastics are the preferable material for packaging. I buy almost all items items either unpacked, or in plastic, and the end result is very little rubbish at the end of the week. When it comes to disposal, I bag them up properly and tie the bag tightly before they go in the rubbish. Don't want them to escape. My rubbish goes to a waste to energy power station where my one supermarket bag a week of mostly mixed plastic films, some paper and a few glass jars and plastic bottles is burnt to make electricity. I'm not too focused on rubbish though, it's not as big a deal as it can be presented as. Mostly I'm focused in minimising the amount of products I use. In every case I know of, products are vastly more resource intensive than their packaging. I buy concentrated products, use many reusable items, and try to make things last by using the effective amount rather than lots. A bottle of shampoo or shower gel lasts me months.

I suppose what I'm getting at is packaging gets too much focus. Using more efficient products and not over-using them matters more than the packaging. And if like me your rubbish goes to a waste to energy power plant, anything flammable is fine - and plastics burn well. For landfill, plastics are inert, crush well compared to other materials, and contain far less bulk of material as well. I wouldn't over focus on purging plastic from my life, but do dispose of it responsibly as it is bad when it gets free in to the environment.