A Plastic Diet

DdraigGoch

I'm intending to go on a "Plastic Diet" through March, which means that I avoid wherever possible purchasing anything made with or wrapped in, etc plastic - oilbased, that is.

I did this a couple of years ago and found it saved me a lot of money as well as salved my conscience - I can put in the link to the original and current threads [on another forum] if that's ok.

My intention is to reduce the amount of plastic I and my family are responsible for using and by sticking to it for the month it'll mean that I get into the swing of it - hopefully :rotfl:. I have found that since that experiment in 2006 [on the "other" forum!] I've been a lot more careful, and also that more alternatives are available. Funny how fast things can change.

Anyone up for joining me on my diet?

StressedSteph

Ooooh can I join in too. I recycle EVERYTHING, but I still find that my waste bin of un-recycleable stuff fills up pretty quickly. I make all my own dinners from scratch so I don't know where it comes from??

I recently changed my milkman to a guy that delivers glass bottles instead of plastic ones. I recycle these anyway but we get through ALOT of milk and I had to make trips to the recycle bins quite often.

My butcher sells free range nice meat but they still automatically wrap each item in plastic. I must remember to ask them to just wrap things in paper and not the bag next time. In my local grocers they offer paperbags & little plastic bags for your veg. If I really need a bag, I always use the paper ones.

I hope this challenge will make me watch out for other areas that use those stupid plastic packages as well.

thanks for this
Steph xx

VeganClaire

Think Ill give it a go. What about washing up liquid?

greenbee

VeganClaire wrote: »

Think Ill give it a go. What about washing up liquid?

Refills... I know you won't do ecover, but you may find somewhere that does refills for BioD or similar.

Or you can make your own using soapnuts

but I think the OP is looking to 'avoid where possible', so it's not supposed to make your life too difficult!

I'll have a think about this. I think I've probably got too many changes to make in the next couple of weeks to add something else into the mix, but I think it's a great idea. I've already done this to a significant extent, including replacing plastics in the house where possible.

Good luck, and I look forward to reading about how you do and what the difficulties/novel ideas for resolving them are!

andrina_nightshade

I remember reading a blog on the BBC back in August. A woman called Chris Jeavens did something fairly similar. Her blog is full of tips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/monthwithoutplastic/

Best of luck! :j

Tabatha_Kitten

I'll join in.
I would be interested to hear other peoples tips for avoiding using plastic bags at the supermarket.
I've done my best re-using the bags, but find that the quality these days is so poor that I cant re-use them for more than a couple of weeks.
Was talking the girl at the checkout and she said that hardly anyone bothers to bring their own anymore.
I have a few of the "bags for life" but dont seem to get quite as much in them.
There has to be a better way....

Patchwork_Quilt

I think Lakeland do a set of string bags for weigh and choose loose produce

Tabatha_Kitten

I bought some new bed linen just after christmas.
(after 15 years we were due a change !!)
Dorma Organic, from Debenhams. Was silly price, but reduced to half price in the sale.
Every item came in an individual, drawstring, organic cotton bag.
Beats buying the expensive Lakeland veg, potato, mushroom, bread storage bags !

greenbee

There's a lot of information that might be relevant to this on the green and ethical board.

There's stuff about reducing waste, packaging, plastic bags etc, so it may well be worth a look!

Penelope_Penguin

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

StressedSteph

VeganClaire wrote: »

Think Ill give it a go. What about washing up liquid?

I bet there is a homemade version we could do....I will have a search online.

I make my own laundry liquid, household cleaner, soap, bath bombs, so there must be a way of making washing up liquid...

I will report back if I find anything xxx