If you weren’t already aware it’s #PlasticFreeJuly
This is great. Finally it’s a thing and some of the big players are starting to take note that something must be done about plastics at source rather than just expecting us customers to recycle the plastics that pour into our homes. I might mention Amazon and their card packaging (even if there is still far far too much of it). We even finally found naked cucumbers in Morrisons, not wrapped in the ubiquitous plastic sleeves that are such a feature of supermarkets everywhere, but bare to the world as nature intended them. Well done Morrisons.
My husband, who is somewhat older than I am, claims to have been around when the inner bags of breakfast cereal was made of waxed paper, sweets and chocolate bars were wrapped in foil or shiny paper, oil cans were cans, milk came in glass bottles, veg always got put in paper bags, and drinking straws, lolly pop sticks and cotton buds were all made of rolled paper. On top of all that water came from a tap not a bottle.
Joking aside, my husband is not all that ancient. Think about it, in the space of half a lifetime we have gone from virtually no plastic to a society addicted to the stuff. It’s difficult to buy anything in the shops that isn’t swaddled in layer upon layer. Lead paint and carcinogenic cleaning products aside we have gone from a society whose trash was relatively green to one in which each of us, directly or indirectly is responsible for introducing tons and tons of plastic waste into the environment. In that half lifetime our oceans have become micro-plastic soups with fishing net noodles and water bottle croutons.
If you fancy gaining a few white hairs please take a look at the video of A Plastic Ocean (+Netflix) or Blue Planet II (+BBC).
This is not sustainable; it has to stop.
I have a family. We aren’t rich enough to go to independent shops for everything. What can I do? The simple answer is try. Do what you can, it’s surprising what alternatives there are and what you can do to help the groundswell against plastics being foisted upon us. Don’t worry, it’s almost impossible for any normal mortals to get through the week without some plastic in their lives, but lots of people making small changes pushes the whole thing in the right direction.
Here are a few things that have helped us.
1.Awareness
Blindly picking up the same things week after week without question is what has allowed plastics to become so insidious. But, it’s a simple matter of awareness to check what we put in our shopping basket and ask the question: how much plastic does this use? Then checking the shelf to see if there is an alternative that uses less. You’ll be surprised.
2. Ask
This seems a much more hardcore thing for most of us reserved Brits, but it’s amazing how much can be achieved with a simple question: “Do you have an alternative to plastic packaging?”
Our local bakery has now started offering to wrap your loaf in thin paper rather than plastic, simply because enough people asked. Try it with your local takeaway. Many can offer a foil or card alternative container. Most of our local takeways now allow you to bring your own containers. How brilliant is that!
Here’s the thing, even if you get a polite “I’m sorry we only have plastic”, your request will have been noted. If only one person asks it may have little effect, but if five or ten ask then the shopkeepers will begin to think about changing.
3. Bags, bags, bags
Oh how we love them. To be fair, there has been change and awareness of the problem of single use plastic bags, in that shops must now charge for them. Also you don’t get funny looks when you turn up with your own. And it is great that many people re-use their bags (when they remember to pack them before shopping). However, the bags that the stores supply are stronger and thicker with the idea that they are re-used, but that just means they use more plastic and eventually those bags must be disposed of. The problem has not really gone away. Why not try a canvas bag or cotton tote bag. A team of local volunteers where we live have begun making reusable bags from upcycled fabric which are available in local shops. It started as the Boomerang Bag Project in Australia, and is now worldwide. Maybe your community has something similar? Maybe it needs someone to kickstart it?
4. Veg and more bags
Even noticed fruit and veg comes wrapped in increasing layers of plastic. Plastic trays, cellophane wrapping. or if you choose to pick up your veg loose, what’s on offer to put it in: free plastic bags! Okay, yes some supermarkets have started offering paper bags for this. You should use them if you can, paper bags can even be re-used if they don’t get too shredded first time around. Paper bags have a high carbon footprint though, so whilst they aren’t going to hang around and poison the oceans, they have an environmental cost of their own.If you are bringing your own shopping bags, it is no great stretch to bring bags within your bags for the fruit and veg. Those lovely net curtains that your nan had make great lightweight bags if you can sew a straight line (or know someone who can), or look out for ready-made reusable ones too.
5. Toys and gifts
The two often go hand-in-hand if you have kids. Society puts enormous pressure on its members to give adults and children alike increasingly pointless stuff at various times of year. Many of these gifts are just to appease our sense of guilt. But step back, this sense of guilt has been engineered by companies and shops to make us buy more throw away items almost exclusively made of plastic. Just bear that in mind.
Children in our society have way more toys than they can play with. If you must get the little darlings anything, get them something meaningful and avoid getting them something made of a material that will contribute to ruining the world they are going to inherit. Often a book is a far greater gift to a child’s development (even if it’s a superhero graphic novel).
Same goes for your adult friends and relatives. Make or buy them something they will consume. I make a Christmas cake for my parents and in-laws each year, they look forward to it. But most people will appreciate a bottle of booze or choccies, or again, a good book (just make sure it all doesn’t come wrapped in plastic.
