Going Plastic Free
The results of The Big Plastic Count 2022 are in and they make shocking reading.
The survey has revealed that UK households throw away 96 billion pieces of plastic every year and only 12% of it is actually recycled in the UK. The other 88% is burnt, buried, or dumped overseas.
On average each household taking part in the survey threw away 66 pieces of plastic packaging, which is 3,432 pieces over a year. Applied to the UK as a whole, UK households throw away an unbelievable 1.85 billion pieces of plastic a week.
We all need to put pressure on the Government to tackle the plastic waste problem and take urgent action. But how easy is it to cut out using plastic ourselves?
In this article, a local couple, Jenny and Dave, describe their experiences when they decided to go
40 Days Plastic Free
My partner Dave has a habit of not making definite decisions; his approach is ‘decide’ then ‘ponder’. So, after the two of us pondering for a while on whether or not to try a week without single use plastic, imagine my surprise when he suddenly announces, just before pancake day, “Let’s give up plastic for Lent!” He’s not even the religious one – that’s me! So, with absolutely no preparation, we plunged right in.
The rules were:
• No new single use plastic, associated with food or drink, to be brought into the house
• This included wax cartons, plasticised paper and plasticised foil (the hidden enemy).
From A Place of Privilege
I should explain where we were coming from first which, we fully acknowledge, was a place of privilege. We own our own house which is in a town full of dependent shops, a market and a Refill Shop. Dave is retired and has time to shop and look for ingredients.
We have enough money to always choose Fairtrade and organic options, as well as food from smaller shops. We had already cut our plastic use and consumption in general, for example buying clothes from charity shops.
We totally get that not everyone would afford to live as we do so we offer these thoughts with that caveat.
A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down
We like our tea – and coffee. With milk, dairy or oat. One of the first things we noticed was that the teabags we thought were plastic free were actually encased in plasticised foil. The only true plastic-free brand was not fairtrade and I was not therefore prepared to switch. So out came the teapots, tea strainers and contraptions referred to by my mum as “holy spoons”, and loose tea leaves from our Refill shop.
I can honestly say that within 24 - 48 hours this just became normal. The tea tasted better and I wondered why we ever thought there was no time to make tea properly.
Our coffee ran out in week 3; this meant coffee beans, loose, ground in our Refill shop, and brought home in a paper bag – what a lovely smell!
The White Stuff - Dairy Products
My first genuine panic came about a week in when we were about to run out of milk and it dawned on me that we still had a day until the milkman would come; I realised I couldn’t buy the usual emergency litre of milk in plastic from the corner shop, or the often-bought oat milk in a plasticised carton with a plastic lid from the Health shop. As time ticked away, I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be having my milky evening drink, a habit I have stuck to for more than 30 years.
The moment came and went, milkless, and I survived. All was Ok! I realised I could live without things that had seemed a necessity – they aren’t. I experienced a sudden feeling of liberation.
A similar panic ensued over cheese - all of it seemed to be in plastic and we knew we’d run out soon. We ate less and less as the weeks went on. We have since found “loose” cheese on a market stall but we’re happy we reduced our overconsumption first.
Butter was interesting. We used to consume A LOT – as a spread, in mashed potato, in sauces and in baking. We researched our usual organic brand and discovered, to our dismay, that what we thought was glossy paper or foil is actually plasticised paper. So that had to stop. Like the cheese, we eked it out, researching as we went – on one occasion buying an alternative brand that appeared to be in cardboard and greaseproof paper, only to later find that it was waxed paper made with refined paraffin oil (same ingredients as plastic). Our first failure, but we didn’t give in. One day before the end of Lent we discovered a vegan butter wrapped in 100% paper which actually tastes good and works for baking. We’re now having a dilemma as it contains “certified” palm oil.......?
Our final dairy dilemma was yoghurt. At the start of Lent we already had one large pot in the fridge. This was used as a starter culture and Dave made delicious yoghurt from it (the cause of our milk shortage in week 1). He continued to re-use it as a starter and we got three more batches, each more runny than the last. I’m told that powdered milk would have thickened it but we couldn’t buy any as it’s in plastic! So we gave up yoghurt and ate custard, evaporated milk or nothing, having given up cream, crème fraiche and vegan cream (all in plastic) although we occasionally come across a “treat” cream in glass.
A Little of What You Fancy
Everyone needs a treat – as the old saying goes. “Everything in moderation and a little of what you fancy does you good”. So, where would our biscuits, chocolate and crisps come from? Other than homemade biscuits we have found no solution to this one, a shame because the household brand we formerly subscribed to was satisfying, delicious and an easy snack, and, when we lived in NW London, we even argued that it was “local” since we could smell them cooking in the factory while at work.
Chocolate was no problem – a plethora of plastic free, fair-trade, chunky and delicious chocolate in our Refill shop, milk, dark or oatmilk.
As for crisps, Dave found one brand online that professed to be packaged in homecompostable, plant-based bags. The flavours were unusual, a learning curve for us, and we have yet to discover if the shredded bags on our compost heap will decompose as promised. Life has been to short to make the much lauded kale crisps, however, we have discovered the delights of the Refill shop’s fava bean snack.
The Great Escape
Days out and trips away are normally an escape from all the domestic chores and, of course, still are, but it takes some navigating to eat plastic-free when you’re out and about, at a work conference by the sea or when staying in a self-catering holiday flat.
But - walking across the marshes to the ethical village store in the next village was delightful; having to shove dry bread and cheese from a hotel breakfast buffet into an old takeaway box, not so much! The other guests soon got used to me though. Unable to consume tea or coffee in my hotel room due to plastic packaging, I actually enjoyed the ceremony of brewing up my own loose tea, the Japanese have things right in this respect.
Super – Markets
There is nothing super about a supermarket. These are the shops that dupe their customers into thinking they want (need) things that they don’t, and into thinking that there are no viable alternatives. With the caveat of privilege mentioned earlier, this is one of the big lessons.
Small shops bring discoveries, new experiences, conversation, a rediscovery of one’s stoneage hunter gatherer instinct and, of course, support of one’s local community. It’s possible to live without supermarkets (especially if you’re lucky enough to have a super market). For our survival as a species, it’s probably essential.
12 Weeks On
The plastic-free journey has continued long after Lent, genuinely because we enjoyed it so much and felt it freed us from the ultra-consumerism of today.
We have, however, upon reflection, made three changes:
• we are growing our own lettuces and rocket as we don’t want to never eat them again. Large-leafed spinach in salad is all very well but.....
• We are buying teabags to use when time is short, partly because our favourite fairtrade brand is now producing them with absolutely no plastic in the packaging
• We may yet decide to allow ourselves the odd treat....... at Christmas?