What happened when I tried to have a Plastic free Friday.

Last Friday I had the day off work so I decided to try taking part in Friends of the Earth's new initiative, Plastic free Friday.   You're meant to go without single use plastics one day a week - Fridays - to help the environment.  I'm going one step further, because I've already cut out a lot of single use plastics, I wanted to have a completely plastic free day, but as you can see it was more difficult than I thought...

Breakfast.

Despite trying really hard to have a plastic free breakfast, it didn't happen.  My organic mushrooms from Abel and Cole came in a plastic tray, my vegan margarine is in a plastic tub and although I store my seeds in glass jars they come packaged in plastic bags.  I made my own bread to save using pre packaged bread, but I used oil in a plastic bottle and even the bicarb was in plastic!  Urgh!

Getting up.

I'm not wearing deodorant because it's in a plastic tube, it's about 20 degrees today so we'll see how that goes!  I have washed my armpits with soap (came in a paper wrapper) and a cotton flannel, so that was plastic free at least.  Sorry to say I've brushed my teeth with a plastic electric toothbrush and paste from a plastic tube, and put on moisturiser and sun cream from a plastic bottle too.

Chores.

I washed up with some fairy liquid from a plastic bottle left by the previous owners of our house.  I use a loofah and wooden brush to wash up, and some really old cloths that get washed and reused to wipe the kitchen worktops.  I use Method eco friendly cleaning sprays for the kitchen and bathroom, and Ecover loo cleaner, all three have had a use today and all are in plastic bottles.  I put the dishwasher on, the tablets come in a cardboard box, but each tab is wrapped individually in plastic.  I usually use Ecover laundry liquid, but I have soapnuts so I used them, and white vinegar as fabric conditioner, to do a couple of loads of washing, which I dried in the sunshine.

Shopping.

I went to Wilkos, Holland and Barretts and Boots on the hunt for some plastic free sanitary towels, I found some in Boots and they were suuuuuper expensive, but I bought them and had a nice chat with the lady at the till about being plastic free (she buys her apples loose in the supermarket!).  I bought some antihistimines in Wilko, which come in plastic blister packs. I Really wanted some crisps but resisted, and instead bought some loose nardicotts, a cauliflower and a lettuce from the market.  The lettuce was all wrapped in plastic, but so is the organic lettuce that comes in our veg box, and I'm still waiting for my homegrown lettuce to get going.  FYI I am regretting not wearing deodorant. 

Lunch.

I had a huuge green salad with the aforementioned plastic wrapped lettuce, another homemade flatbread, vegan cheese, nuts and pretzels.  The cheese, nuts and pretzels were all in plastic.  Sigh.  I am beginning to feel disheartened. 

Gardening.

This was a fairly plastic free afternoon, but I did use some compost that comes in a plastic sack.

Dinner.

Joe came home super late from work, and I fell over in the garden like a wally and twisted my ankle, so we had a takeaway.  And some snacks before the takeaway came. Ahem.  

Bedtime.

Back to my plastic-y tooth bush and paste, and my medicine - at least the eczema cream only has a plastic lid, the tube is metal.

I tweeted companies throughout the day asking them to reduce their plastic packaging, but only got replies from a few (Abel and Cole, Oral B, Aldi, B&Q, Wilko), I suppose as long as we keep giving our money to companies that use plastic packaging they won't change their business practices - it's hard though because who doesn't use some pre-packaged foods, household and personal care stuffs!

So, as you can see, Plastic free Friday is not easy and I have to go away and think about how I can cut more plastic out of my life.  Have you ever tried Plastic free Friday?

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Make one small change, mend the thing.

Making one small change at a time can make becoming eco friendly loads easier.  Lots of small changes add up to a big difference.

I very nearly bought a new steamer pan the other day.  The metal handle on the lid had sheared off and I was opening it in a slightly dangerous manner by sticking a knife under it.  I didn't have another lid that would fit either.  

But I decided, no.  No, I won't put an otherwise perfectly usable pan into landfill and buy a new one (not that I'd have put it in landfill, it would have ended up as plant pots no doubt!  But that still would have been a waste).   

I'm not actually sure how much of a bother mending this was, because husband bought the wooden handle and attached it to the screw that was already in the lid.  I was totally willing to do it even though I have no DIY skills, he just beat me to it.  

Mending your stuff saves resources and money (a new steamer pan costs £25, a wooden knob cost less than £1) and makes you feel very smug indeed.  Now I've just got to get round to mending that hole in my skirt, wobbly table leg, garden gate latch..... have you got anything you can mend and then feel smug about?

Don't forget to check out my other small changes to help you live a greener life!

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Make one small change, get a reusable water bottle.

Making one small change at a time can make becoming eco friendly loads easier.  Lots of small changes add up to a big difference.

This is one of those eco friendly changes that always come up in articles like '10 easy ways to go green!', it's so simple and easy but I haven't been doing it properly.  I've been reusing old plastic water bottles and I had a cheapo flask, but I recently invested in a good quality reusable bottle and it feels so good!

Mine is made by Klean Kanteen and it cost about £20 for a 500ml stainless steel bottle.  It's expensive, but I'm treating it as a long term investment - Klean Kanteens have a lifetime guarantee!  I've been using it for a couple of weeks now, and I've found it keeps my water nice and cool and doesn't give it a metallic taste (like my old Poundland water bottle used to do!) - I'm a convert!  And because I'm proud of my shiny new water bottle I'm more likely to remember to take it with me!

In Britain we go through 30 billion litres of bottled water a year, and as we all know plastic hangs around forever and ever and ends up being eaten by sea turtles and is nasty.  It can also leach harmful chemicals into your drink or food, so it's well worth avoiding. 

Do you use a reusable water bottle?

Don't forget to check out my other small changes to help you live a greener life!

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