Plastic Free - how to be
See below for tips on how to reduce plastic / change habits / save money /
(If you have any recipes or recommendations, please share them with us.)
(If you have any recipes or recommendations, please share them with us.)
Tea bags
We British love tea! So much so that we consume billions of cups a year, and most of us choose tea bags rather than loose leaf. But, did you know that most tea bags contain plastic? About 96 per cent of them are made with polypropylene, a synthetic resin, which is added during the sealing process, to help stop the tea bag falling apart. But even if you put your used tea bags on your compost heap, it can still lead to plastic pollution as not all of it will be broken down.
Change a Habit?
Next time you shop try Teapigs, Truffles Delicaessen sell them, these tea bags are made from plastic free, 100% biodegradable, mesh bags. Field Fayre also sell Taka unbleached teabags at around 2.99 a box, Wyedean Health Foods also sell a good variety.
Purchase Differently?
Invest in a teapot or a single cup loose tea infuser. Then try loose leaf tea, you can buy this from many of the local shops in Ross such as James Gourment, Field Fayre & Wyedean Health Foods or at any local supermarket. Even if you can't face ditching teabags, using a teapot could allow you to use 50% less teabags - cutting your teabill in half.
While you're at it. - consider giving up milk in tea and coffee. This will save hundreds of plastic milk bottles being produced - and cut down on their transport costs to your door - and reduce the number of cows farting and burping their methane gasses into the air! (Giving up milk in Coffee is easier so do this first.)
Coffee
Coffee seems to be one of those drinks that many of us cannot seem to live without and one of the most popular types of home brew coffee makers are the single serve coffee machines. Many of these machines use disposable pods. The concern is that these pods are not biodegradable and are filling up our landfill sites. Some pods are made from aluminium and some are a mixture of paper, plastic and aluminium. They are also hard to recycle but some companies do offer recycling bags you can order to recycle spent coffee pods.
Change a Habit?
Buy re-fillable, re-usable coffee pods for your coffee machine instead of single use ones. Not all machines use these but some do, unfortunately you cannot currently purchase these in Ross buy you can pick these up on Ebay on the internet. Better still - bite the obvious bullit and ditch the machine! Even if those 'clever' little pods are re-usable they still have to be manufactured
Purchase Differently?
Why not buy a ground coffee machine (or a Cafetiere) instead and a coffee grinder if you wish, this uses no plastic pods and the coffee can be put on your garden after, this does wonders to improve the soil. We have our very own James Gourmet Coffee Company residing in Ross and their coffee is amazing! (although it is more expensive). You can buy their coffee direct from them on the Alton Industrial Estate or they sell locally to a few shops in town including Truffles Deli and Eleganza. You can even take your own container in to fill up (just give them a ring first to let them know your coming), this works best with buying coffee beans direct from them rather than ground coffee as a container may taint the coffee (an airtight container would be good). Some of their customers already do this, what a great way to reduce your single use plastic!
While you're at it. - consider giving up milk in tea and coffee. This will save hundreds of plastic milk bottles being produced - and cut down on their transport costs to your door - and reduce the number of cows farting and burping their methane gasses into the air! (Giving up milk in Coffee is easier so do this first.)
Coffee seems to be one of those drinks that many of us cannot seem to live without and one of the most popular types of home brew coffee makers are the single serve coffee machines. Many of these machines use disposable pods. The concern is that these pods are not biodegradable and are filling up our landfill sites. Some pods are made from aluminium and some are a mixture of paper, plastic and aluminium. They are also hard to recycle but some companies do offer recycling bags you can order to recycle spent coffee pods.
Change a Habit?
Buy re-fillable, re-usable coffee pods for your coffee machine instead of single use ones. Not all machines use these but some do, unfortunately you cannot currently purchase these in Ross buy you can pick these up on Ebay on the internet. Better still - bite the obvious bullit and ditch the machine! Even if those 'clever' little pods are re-usable they still have to be manufactured
Purchase Differently?
Why not buy a ground coffee machine (or a Cafetiere) instead and a coffee grinder if you wish, this uses no plastic pods and the coffee can be put on your garden after, this does wonders to improve the soil. We have our very own James Gourmet Coffee Company residing in Ross and their coffee is amazing! (although it is more expensive). You can buy their coffee direct from them on the Alton Industrial Estate or they sell locally to a few shops in town including Truffles Deli and Eleganza. You can even take your own container in to fill up (just give them a ring first to let them know your coming), this works best with buying coffee beans direct from them rather than ground coffee as a container may taint the coffee (an airtight container would be good). Some of their customers already do this, what a great way to reduce your single use plastic!
While you're at it. - consider giving up milk in tea and coffee. This will save hundreds of plastic milk bottles being produced - and cut down on their transport costs to your door - and reduce the number of cows farting and burping their methane gasses into the air! (Giving up milk in Coffee is easier so do this first.)
Washing Up Liquid
Before the introduction of washing up liquid, dishes were washed with a combination of whatever soap was to hand, and a great deal of elbow grease. However, the discovery that surfactants could be used in foaming and cleansing liquids lead to the development of dish washing liquids in plastic bottles. The first examples were created in the 1940s. Did you know that wood ash (the ash after burning a log) is used as a washing up agent in India? this was probably used by us before days of manufactured soap.
Change a Habit?
Water down your washing up liquid, this will make it last longer and save you having to send another bottle to landfill quite so quickly. If you do need to buy a bottle, Bio D washing up liquid can be bought from Wyedean Health Foods and Field Fayre, prices start from 1.99 a bottle, their packaging is BPA free and made from PET or HDPE which mean all containers are 100% recyclable.
Purchase Differently?
Avoid buying washing up liquid in single use dispensers if you can, but if you do, did you know that you can re-fill your old bottle in Field Fayre in Ross? Cost is about 1.25 per 100mls or if you take your old bottle to Wyedean Health Foods they will take it to their Cinderford branch and fill it up for you and return it the next day. It takes about 15-20mins to fill up in Field Fayre, so drop it off first whilst you do the rest of your shopping in town.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Cloths/Sponges/Scouring Pads
Kitchen sponges and scouring pads are made from petroleum and are NOT biodegradable. They shed microplastics into the water and only really last a few weeks. Semi disposable all purpose cloths, tend to be made from viscose and polyester and can be discarded after use also, we all use them but they are not great for the environment.
Change a Habit?
Instead of buying single use dishcloths, maybe try ntural fibre-based machine washable cloths, they can be put in with your daily washing, which is great for the environment. These are available from local supermarkets and shops.
Purchase Differently?
Hereford Eco Products sell crocheted pan scrubbies. They are made using 100% organic hemp twine, are approx 10cm in diameter and can be machine washed at 60 degrees and are super tough and long lasting at 7.50 each. Wyedean Health Foods also sell sponge scourers made from recycled foam at 3.99. Loofah for dishes are great too, from Loof Co, they are also 100% compostable, non-toxic, hygenic, effective & long lasting.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Kitchen sponges and scouring pads are made from petroleum and are NOT biodegradable. They shed microplastics into the water and only really last a few weeks. Semi disposable all purpose cloths, tend to be made from viscose and polyester and can be discarded after use also, we all use them but they are not great for the environment.
Change a Habit?
Instead of buying single use dishcloths, maybe try ntural fibre-based machine washable cloths, they can be put in with your daily washing, which is great for the environment. These are available from local supermarkets and shops.
Purchase Differently?
Hereford Eco Products sell crocheted pan scrubbies. They are made using 100% organic hemp twine, are approx 10cm in diameter and can be machine washed at 60 degrees and are super tough and long lasting at 7.50 each. Wyedean Health Foods also sell sponge scourers made from recycled foam at 3.99. Loofah for dishes are great too, from Loof Co, they are also 100% compostable, non-toxic, hygenic, effective & long lasting.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Cling Film
Did you know that around 1.2 billion meters of cling film is used by households across Britain every year, that is enough to go around the world 30 times over! The problem is that cling film can be difficult to recycle, therefore, the majority of it ends up in landfill where is takes hundreds of years to degrade.
Change a Habit?
Use an upturned plate to cover any leftover food in the fridge or use a glass/tupperware container.
Purchase Differently?
Swap your cling film for unbleached parchment paper instead. You can buy the “If You Care” range from Field Fayre and Wyedean Health Foods in Ross. This can be re-used a few times but is also compostable, about 3.69 a roll.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Hair Conditioner
There is a huge range of hair conditioners available on the market for every hair type, make combing easier or correct a problem.
But does it? In one word: NO. Your hair can be naturally conditioned by eating plenty of good amino acids and nutrients in your diet. Although, your hair is affected by external factors such as the quality of your shampoo, how often you are washing it or your method of styling. Poor quality shampoos strip the good oils from your hair and create a need to use conditioner. A win-win for the manufacturers!
Dry hair can also be the result of taking prescription drugs, working in polluted or dusty environments, using harsh chemicals (to change your hair colour) or swimming in chlorinated pools. Some hairstylists also believe that continual use of poor quality conditioners can irritate and inflame the scalp. Thereby, cause dandruff.
Change a habit?
Refill your current conditioner bottle at Field Fayre for £1.25 per 100mls
Purchase Differently?
Try using natural oils instead such as olive oil (available from all supermarkets), almond, jojoba or argan oils (available to buy from Holland & Barrett for 200mls @ £5.90. These natural oils have been used to condition the hair and scalp since Egyptian times. You will use less oil too. First, dry your hair with a towel. Carefully pour a teaspoon of oil into the palm of your hand, rub hands together and massage onto the ends of your hair.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Did you know that around 1.2 billion meters of cling film is used by households across Britain every year, that is enough to go around the world 30 times over! The problem is that cling film can be difficult to recycle, therefore, the majority of it ends up in landfill where is takes hundreds of years to degrade.
Change a Habit?
Use an upturned plate to cover any leftover food in the fridge or use a glass/tupperware container.
Purchase Differently?
Swap your cling film for unbleached parchment paper instead. You can buy the “If You Care” range from Field Fayre and Wyedean Health Foods in Ross. This can be re-used a few times but is also compostable, about 3.69 a roll.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Hair Conditioner
There is a huge range of hair conditioners available on the market for every hair type, make combing easier or correct a problem.
But does it? In one word: NO. Your hair can be naturally conditioned by eating plenty of good amino acids and nutrients in your diet. Although, your hair is affected by external factors such as the quality of your shampoo, how often you are washing it or your method of styling. Poor quality shampoos strip the good oils from your hair and create a need to use conditioner. A win-win for the manufacturers!
Dry hair can also be the result of taking prescription drugs, working in polluted or dusty environments, using harsh chemicals (to change your hair colour) or swimming in chlorinated pools. Some hairstylists also believe that continual use of poor quality conditioners can irritate and inflame the scalp. Thereby, cause dandruff.
Change a habit?
Refill your current conditioner bottle at Field Fayre for £1.25 per 100mls
Purchase Differently?
Try using natural oils instead such as olive oil (available from all supermarkets), almond, jojoba or argan oils (available to buy from Holland & Barrett for 200mls @ £5.90. These natural oils have been used to condition the hair and scalp since Egyptian times. You will use less oil too. First, dry your hair with a towel. Carefully pour a teaspoon of oil into the palm of your hand, rub hands together and massage onto the ends of your hair.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Shampoo
The word ‘shampoo’ is an Anglo-Hindi word (‘chāmpo’) that means to knead, press and soothe. It’s the process of massaging your head with an ‘agent’ that cleans the build-up of oils and dirt on the scalp and hair follicles. However, not everybody needs to use a manufactured product to clean their hair.
Yolande Watson, Chair of Wye Unnecessary Plastic, started making and using a homemade shampoo out of bicarbonate of soda five years ago because her hair became flat and lifeless after using silicone-based shampoo for many years. “Making my own soda shampoo has saved lots of empty plastic bottles going into landfill and quite a bit of money too! A few of my friends only use water to wash their hair but I’ve got oily hair so after a 3-month trail of only using water, I looked like hedgehog!” To reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic going into your rubbish bin, would you:
Change a habit?
Refill your shampoo bottle at Field Fayre for £1.25 per 100mls
Purchase Differently?
Buy a shampoo soap bar. Best buy: Friendly shampoo bar at Wye Dean Health Foods @ £2.62. Field Fayre also stocks shampoo bars @ £5.75
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
The word ‘shampoo’ is an Anglo-Hindi word (‘chāmpo’) that means to knead, press and soothe. It’s the process of massaging your head with an ‘agent’ that cleans the build-up of oils and dirt on the scalp and hair follicles. However, not everybody needs to use a manufactured product to clean their hair.
Yolande Watson, Chair of Wye Unnecessary Plastic, started making and using a homemade shampoo out of bicarbonate of soda five years ago because her hair became flat and lifeless after using silicone-based shampoo for many years. “Making my own soda shampoo has saved lots of empty plastic bottles going into landfill and quite a bit of money too! A few of my friends only use water to wash their hair but I’ve got oily hair so after a 3-month trail of only using water, I looked like hedgehog!” To reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic going into your rubbish bin, would you:
Change a habit?
Refill your shampoo bottle at Field Fayre for £1.25 per 100mls
Purchase Differently?
Buy a shampoo soap bar. Best buy: Friendly shampoo bar at Wye Dean Health Foods @ £2.62. Field Fayre also stocks shampoo bars @ £5.75
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Soap
Soap has been used as a cleaning agent since the Babylonian times: a solid bar, flakes or liquid. But not many people know that liquid soap was only sold and marketed as a ‘luxurious item’ to the public in the 1980s and more worryingly, it is a rapidly growing market. Over the past 7 years, the sales of liquid soap in the UK have increased by 68%!
Why should we be worried? The majority of liquid soap is sold in ‘single use plastic dispensers’. You can recycle the bottle but the rest has to go into landfill. If you love your liquid soap, would you:
Change a habit?
Avoid buying liquid soap in single use dispensers. Refill your old one. Morrison’s stock Cusson's Carex refills @£1.50.
Purchase Differently?
Buy a bar of soap. You can buy soaps that don’t go mushy in the soap dish. For example: Pears Green soap bar (70p) in Morrison's; Suma and Faith in Nature soaps (£1.40/1.60) in Field Fayre or Wye Dean Health Foods.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Soap has been used as a cleaning agent since the Babylonian times: a solid bar, flakes or liquid. But not many people know that liquid soap was only sold and marketed as a ‘luxurious item’ to the public in the 1980s and more worryingly, it is a rapidly growing market. Over the past 7 years, the sales of liquid soap in the UK have increased by 68%!
Why should we be worried? The majority of liquid soap is sold in ‘single use plastic dispensers’. You can recycle the bottle but the rest has to go into landfill. If you love your liquid soap, would you:
Change a habit?
Avoid buying liquid soap in single use dispensers. Refill your old one. Morrison’s stock Cusson's Carex refills @£1.50.
Purchase Differently?
Buy a bar of soap. You can buy soaps that don’t go mushy in the soap dish. For example: Pears Green soap bar (70p) in Morrison's; Suma and Faith in Nature soaps (£1.40/1.60) in Field Fayre or Wye Dean Health Foods.
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Deodorant
Deodorants are used to mask the smell of body odour, which is caused by the bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet, and other areas of the body. Deodorant pastes were used in the late 19th century but they were not popular because they were messy to apply and took a long time to dry. When the roll-on was invented, (which was inspired by the ball point pen), they and spray deodorants became commercial successes in the late 1950s – 60s. Before then, people perfumed their bodies, hair and clothes; bathed in aromatic oils or applied homemade powders made from carob, incense and ground oats to ‘sweaty areas’.
Change a habit?
Avoid buying plastic packaged antiperspirants and deodorants. Instead, change to deodorants that are packaged in sustainable containers. Field Fayre stock ‘Ku.Tis’ natural deodrant @ £5.85.
Purchase Differently?
Or, buy a salt crystal stick instead, which you can buy from Field Fayre, Wye Dean Healthfoods and Holland & Barrett from £3.49
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Deodorants are used to mask the smell of body odour, which is caused by the bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet, and other areas of the body. Deodorant pastes were used in the late 19th century but they were not popular because they were messy to apply and took a long time to dry. When the roll-on was invented, (which was inspired by the ball point pen), they and spray deodorants became commercial successes in the late 1950s – 60s. Before then, people perfumed their bodies, hair and clothes; bathed in aromatic oils or applied homemade powders made from carob, incense and ground oats to ‘sweaty areas’.
Change a habit?
Avoid buying plastic packaged antiperspirants and deodorants. Instead, change to deodorants that are packaged in sustainable containers. Field Fayre stock ‘Ku.Tis’ natural deodrant @ £5.85.
Purchase Differently?
Or, buy a salt crystal stick instead, which you can buy from Field Fayre, Wye Dean Healthfoods and Holland & Barrett from £3.49
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
Toothpaste
A paste to clean teeth (toothpaste) has been around since Egyptian times. Up until the late 1880s, toothpaste recipes included using ground ox hooves, myrrh, pumice, cinnamon, crushed oyster shells, ground bones and alum! Nowadays, there are a wide range of toothpastes available to suit many different needs, i.e. to prevent plaque, coat sensitive teeth or make your teeth bright and white.
Change a habit?
Avoid buying toothpaste in a ‘stand alone’ dispenser – buy a tube of toothpaste instead. Or, better still, buy ‘sustainable’ toothpaste and save on landfill (see below).
Purchase Differently?
Buy natural tooth powder in sustainable containers. At the moment, no shops stock tooth powder in Ross. Online try www.theclaycure.co.uk/natural-tooth-powder @ £6.75
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE
A paste to clean teeth (toothpaste) has been around since Egyptian times. Up until the late 1880s, toothpaste recipes included using ground ox hooves, myrrh, pumice, cinnamon, crushed oyster shells, ground bones and alum! Nowadays, there are a wide range of toothpastes available to suit many different needs, i.e. to prevent plaque, coat sensitive teeth or make your teeth bright and white.
Change a habit?
Avoid buying toothpaste in a ‘stand alone’ dispenser – buy a tube of toothpaste instead. Or, better still, buy ‘sustainable’ toothpaste and save on landfill (see below).
Purchase Differently?
Buy natural tooth powder in sustainable containers. At the moment, no shops stock tooth powder in Ross. Online try www.theclaycure.co.uk/natural-tooth-powder @ £6.75
Want to make your own? - CLICK HERE