Plastic Free July

I got all inspired about sustainability and further reducing our plastic waste after chatting with Philippa Cameron from What's for Smoko, and decided to try and up my game for the remainder of Plastic Free July…

I got a huge response when I asked people what their easy swaps were, so thought I’d share them here.

I’ve had already made a number of swaps to reduce plastic use in our household over the last few years, including:

- Swap to reusable water drink bottles.

- Taking my own keep cup to town for takeaway coffees (love my caffeine fix and a proper coffee is always a treat on town days), I recently upgraded to a beautiful handmade ceramic cup made by the talented Rebecca Young at POTTERBEE.

- As plastic pegs break I have replaced them with the stainless steel Forever pegs.

- When my shampoo and conditioner ran out I replaced them with solid bars from Ethique, which I love. As my face products run out I’m planning to try their solid face cleansers and other beauty products.

- I bought lovely brown glass pump bottles and refill them with liquid hand soap in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry.

- I try to reduce packaging waste by growing food and doing all of our baking (though my baking ingredients often come in plastic packaging so that’s a work in progress).

- We have a subscription to Toothcrush, every two to three months beautiful bamboo eco-friendly toothbrushes simply arrive in the post – voila! They have free shipping NZ wide too.

- I take my own reusable bags to the supermarket for loose fruit and veges, so no packaging.

- Reusable straws, which we were given as a gift one Christmas.

- I use the Lilybee beeswax wraps to cover leftovers and wrap things in the fridge – goodbye Gladwrap.

WHAT NEXT?

I’ve tried natural deodorants, but have to admit I’m yet to find one I think is effective – I’m active and outside a lot, so I need something that can get the job done!! I’d love to hear suggestions from anyone who has found a kick-arse natural deodorant that works.

This month I ditched my plastic razor in favour of a reusable copper safety razor one from Caliwoods (waiting for this to arrive in the post!). I signed up for their newsletter and they sent a super handy checklist of easy swaps, which I have printed off for easy reference.

A friend suggested I check out Smartass tree-free bamboo toilet paper – again you can subscribe and it will simply turn up in the post, so I’m definitely going to do this (plus you get a discount for subscribing).

I’d really like to reduce my use of plastic packaging when it comes to food, so I want to make an effort to try buying from a bulk store and refilling reusable containers for dry goods, and I’ve started shopping at a fabulous deli/butcher in Masterton called Homegrown Butcher Deli & Pantry – they wrap all their products in old fashioned butcher’s paper. Plus, Phoebe loves the breakfast sausages and Farmer D’s pork belly is the best I’ve found!

I also want to find an alternative for our plastic bin liners…

Aside from the fact I know I’m helping to reduce plastic waste, I also think the non-plastic alternatives often happen to be far more beautiful and, often, it means I am supporting small Kiwi businesses, which is another huge win in my books!

What other ways have you reduced plastic waste in your home? I’d love to hear them. *I have no affiliation or relationship with any of these businesses, I'm simply sharing them because I love their products.