Plastic Free July

To celebrate Plastic Free July we are looking at areas/rooms in your house/life where you can swap plastics for environmental friendly alternatives.

Out & About

There are many environmentally-friendly reusable ones on the market made from bamboo, ceramic or stainless steel and you can also ditch plastic water bottles for a glass bottle. All of which are durable and will last years and years.

Other products to consider it’s a cutlery set and straw. We love a bamboo set, which are sustainable and have no BPA or plastic coating. Light weight they are easy to keep in your bag, great for travel, designed to last and biodegradable when disposed of. 

Kitchen

To replace those horrible sponges and dish cloths, that take up to 500 years to break down in landfill, why not try Eco Living sponge cloth that are made from 100% biodegradable and compostable material, their designs are printed with water-based inks and a tree is planted with every pack sold. What’s not to love! Other products to try are:

~ Cotton sponges made from upcycled coffee sacks or natural loofah plant.

~ Wooden dish brush with plant-based bristles, compostable & replacement head and a recyclable handle.

~ Scourers made from coconut husk, the outside of the coconut, which often goes to waste! We love EcoCoconut which are great at cleaning stove tops and grease in frying pans.

All these products listed are made from 100% plant-based materials and fully compostable and recyclable at the end of their life.

Bathroom

Getting plastic out the bathroom is easy and there are lots of options for quick zero waste swaps that are also good for the environment.

~ Bamboo toothbrush – although the bristles are still partly plastic, bamboo toothbrushes are an excellent and easy way to limit plastic in the bathroom. They are a far more sustainable alternative to a completely plastic toothbrush and we find we don’t have to change them as much.

~ Reusable Flannels, Wipes and Cloths – disposables such as wet wipes and makeup wipes are having a huge impact on the environment. Billions of wet wipes that are mostly made of plastic pollute the planet. By changing to reusable cotton, bamboo or hemp flannels, cotton cloths and wipes it can make a massive difference to reduce necessary waste that takes hundreds of years to break down. We stock our own Organic cotton muslin cloth, hemp mitt and make-up bamboo pads (sold as a pack of three). These products (like almost all of our products!) are plastic free and come with no additional packaging.

Shopping

Buying plastic-wrapped or packaged fruits and vegetables can be convenient, but unfortunately it creates single-use plastic waste. Instead, look out for loose fruit and vegetables in your local grocery store, or head to a farmers market or organic store where plastic packaging is less often used.

Choose lightweight, reusable produce bags instead of the plastic bags that are usually provided. Be sure to look for ones made from recycled plastic or repurposed netting fabric.

Another alternative is going to a Zero Waste shop that will save you money and food waste. Choosing to refill is cheaper as you are not paying for the packaging or the labour costs that come with is. Refilling your own containers from the food dispensers give you the options to buy as much or as little as you want, therefore minimising food waste.

Simply grab your empty containers and head down to you local zero waste food shop :)

There are so many ways you can reduce plastic (or cut it our completely!) in our lives. We hope you find these simple swaps useful :)