Wrapping up Plastic Free July 2015

Although July seems like a distant memory already I wanted to look back and wrap up Plastic Free July properly. We got a lot out of it in our home this year. I'm sure we are going to keep doing a lot of the changes we started too, which is a bonus!

Plastic Waste Collected

As I committed to do at the start of our plastic free journey this year, I kept the plastic wrappers we used in July to help work out where we could make improvements. I didn't keep all of the multiples of products - for example pasta packets - since I figured once we had a couple the message was there to try and find an alternative option.

Here is what we collected:

Packaging	Number of items	Found a way to avoid?
Pasta packet	2 (more thrown out but not collected)	No – possibly at bulk store
Wholemeal flour	1	Yes – bulk store
Pepitas	1	Yes – bulk store
Green lentils	2	Yes - bulk store
Almond meal	1	Yes – bulk store or make own when buy a food processer
Ginger snap biscuits	1	Yes – could make our own, time permitting
Sultanas 1kg	1 (possibly more thrown out but not collected)	Yes – bulk store
Goji berries	1	Yes – bulk store
Rolled oats	2 (possibly more thrown out but not collected)	Yes – bulk store
Raw sugar	1	Yes – bulk store
Seaweed rice crackers	1 (more thrown out but not collected)	No
Desiccated coconut	1	Yes – bulk store
Bread bag	1	Yes – bring our own for the bakery to use
Arborio rice	1	No – possibly at bulk store
Frozen peas	1	No
Green split peas	1	No – possibly at bulk store
Puffed corn cereal	1	No – possibly at bulk store
Disposable nappy bag (the bag the actual nappies are packaged in)	1 (possibly more thrown out but not collected)	No
Dog poo bags	? None kept (thankfully!) but it would average 2 each day	Yes – use newspaper instead (have not done this yet)

Celebrating Success

The successes we have had as a result of Plastic Free July are:

• Starting to use cloth nappies at childcare;
• Buying reusable takeaway coffee cups to enjoy guilt free tea and coffee on the run;
• Reusing bread bags when we buy bread;
• Purchasing a moon or menstrual cup, which I've wanted to try for awhile;
• I finally watched the Bag It the movie; &
• Sharing this experience with my peers, and learning what they are doing, at Living Smarties and through Lizzing Lightly.

Lamenting Failures

I am so happy with our achievements during Plastic Free July this year but I thought it would be good to note down things we didn't get around to doing. We can make small steps to start doing some things now or leave them until next year:

• Shopping at the bulk store - we made it there on the 31 July at least but I need to keep looking for quite a few products (as you can see from the table) and get into a routine of shopping at these stores regularly;
• Dog poo bags - these are a real disgrace but it is difficult to manage without them. I'm keen to try using newspaper instead to see if that works. I expect it will need to happen close to a bin.
• Bin liners - I know we can go without and clean out the bin but we're not ready for that one as yet. I know the poor animals eating plastic are suffering from our inaction but we have to take small steps that we are comfortable with. This might be one to consider again next year.

Lessons Learnt

Plastic is used to line cans! I found this out through the Bag It movie and my Living Smart group. I'm still in a bit of shock about this one. I knew cans weren't healthy but we are pretty reliant on canned beans, particularly baked beans and chick peas, for quick meals. This information is a good motivator to try and reduce our canned food intake.

We use a lot of plastic! Even though we are conscious of the problem and try to reduce it as much as possible.

By making a reasonably small effort and doing a few different things when heading to the shops we can cut back on our plastic use quite a bit - it really is worth trying to do.

The environment is really suffering from the mass production and use of plastic products. I always knew this was a problem but I really thought about it and processed it through participating in Plastic Free July this year.

So there it is - all wrapped up for 2015. Thank you to those of you who have followed my journey and provided some thoughts or advice. I hope you have picked up an idea or two yourselves.

Linking up with EssentiallyJess for #IBOT

Asking Daycare to Use Cloth Nappies

The first two childcares I looked at weren't the best. The first one gave me an uncomfortable vibe, mainly because of the manager who showed me around. I feel terrible to admit it since I'm sure she is a lovely person but she gave me the creeps. I noticed that the educators seemed to be nervous around her too, which I didn't think would create a positive environment for Turtle. They said they were unable to use cloth nappies when I asked. They also required a $50 deposit just to put Turtle's name on a waiting list.

The second centre (which is across the street from the first one) gave a much better impression. The administrator showed me around and was lovely. The staff all seemed nice. The problem was, unfortunately, that the site had no natural light. The baby area particularly was dark and gloomy. I knew I wouldn't like being confined in such a dark space so how could I let my daughter go there? They said they were happy to use cloth nappies if that's what I would like. No deposit was required to go on a waiting list.

The third centre I visited (a couple of months after recovering from the first two) was so much better. The owners were professional and the educators were really lovely and confident when interacting with them. The space was well set up, with lots of natural light and great outdoor spaces overlooking a park. I didn't even ask if they did cloth nappies, I was so relieved to find a place that I really liked. There was no fee to go on their waiting list either.

Turtle has been going to centre number 3 one day a week since mid-March. There were quite a few times when I thought about broaching the topic of cloth nappies but I found it difficult to remember in the chaos of drop off or pick up time. Frankly, just settling her in was pretty intense even though she was pretty happy from the start. It took awhile to get used to someone other than Mr Fix It or I taking care of Turtle. Since the family are all in South Australia she was always with one of us.

MCN packed and ready to use, complete with instruction sheet

I found Plastic Free July to be the perfect reason to finally broach the topic of cloth. I asked the senior educator if she would be happy to trial them for a day. She was completely happy to give them a go even though she had never used them before. I explained that they were modern cloth nappies, not the old terry towel kind, so much easier to use.

The next week Turtle had Hand, Foot and Mouth so our trial day got pushed back by a week. I spent the day before making sure I had enough nappies and boosters clean and dry. It's trickier when you can't use things straight from the line, which we sometimes need to do in winter.

The Cloth Nappy Kit for Childcare

I felt so organised when I went into childcare. I really wanted to make it easy for them so that the trial would be a success. I folded the nappies with the booster inserted and disposable liner in place. The I stacked 5 into a cloth bag (enough for the day) so that the educators could use them straight from the bag. I also packed a couple of additional pairs of pants in case of any problems (it's not unusual to have leaks at home). I took in one of our buckets with a lid for dirty nappies to go into. Then I wrote out a quick page of care instructions to help the educators use the nappies.

The instructions included information such as not to use nappy cream, what buttons to do the nappies up on (since they are one size or multi-fit) and how regularly to change Turtle (every 2-3hrs). The instructions were stuck up in the changing area when I dropped Turtle off. I also demonstrated how to change her nappy before I left.

When I picked up Turtle at the end of the day all had gone well. There had been one leak but otherwise no problems at all.

They are happy to keep using cloth now! I was really pleased that they were so open to trying it out.

Although it's a bit of extra work for me each week I am glad things are more consistent for Turtle at daycare and home now. She will be starting an extra day at the end of the month so it's great to have this worked out already.

I coincidentally came across a promotion by the Australian Cloth Nappy Association trying to encourage childcare centres to use cloth with Childcare Ambassador Packs. Unfortunately I found out about these just after I had done our trial day. If you are considering bringing it up at your daycare it could be a useful way to broach the topic.

Plastic Free July: Takeaway Coffee Cup

Hot drinks and babies tend not to mix well. Babies are unpredictable and you often need to make a quick getaway. It is, therefore, hard to order coffee and actually sit and enjoy it.

Since throwing away takeaway cups is wasteful I choose not to buy takeaway coffee either. I always plan to make one for myself when I get home but often that doesn't happen in the rush to eat lunch and get nap time happening.

Enter my new Keep Cup, which I bought as part of our efforts during Plastic Free July. I bought it sure of the realm of possibilities that would lay before me. I could see myself shopping whilst sipping on a warm (but not too hot) flat white. Turtle would be sitting calmly in the trolley, probably snacking on some crackers, as I stocked up on food for the house.

My first coffee experience didn't go exactly like that. Turtle had come down with a cold a couple of days earlier. I had dropped my elderly neighbours at a nearby medical appointment to save them having to walk to the train. We had half an hour to wait before seeing the doctor about Turtle's cold and an outbreak of blisters that had appeared on her bum and face the night before. My bets were on Hand, Foot and Mouth since it had been going around childcare recently.

I decided to use the window of time that we had to indulge in my first takeaway coffee experience. I carried Turtle into the shops. The coffee shop happily accepted my cup to use instead of theirs. I thought that was going to be the most difficult part of the experience.

Little did I know. Turtle got jealous the second she saw my coffee and demanded her own. She immediately went into full scale tantrum (which is unlike her!) and threw herself onto the ground in the middle of the shops. Since I had my coffee in hand I couldn't pick her up while she was writhing on the ground.

I had to rest the coffee on a nearby shop wall (with everyone in the coffee shop staring) and attend to her before carrying her and the coffee from the shops. Oh dear. Reality check... She did have Hand, Foot and Mouth and we had a few days of her being ratty while she got over it, poor love.

Last weekend Mr Fix It and I took our matching Keep Cups and Turtle to the beach. We stopped for coffee on the way and spent a lovely morning playing in the sand with Turtle, soaking up the beautiful Perth winter sunshine. It was much more in line with my idea of a relaxing takeaway experience.

I've also started using my Keep Cup on mornings when I think I might not get to finish my cuppa before I leave the house. If I haven't finished I can just pop the top on and head out. I'm really happy with my new purchase.

Are you a coffee fiend? Have you discovered the delights of having your own reusable cup yet?

Joining With Some Grace today for #FYBF. I hope you've fitted in a nice cuppa while reading this (hopefully not on the run!).

Plastic Free Bread

Since Plastic Free July started I have found myself being much more mindful each time I head to the shops for groceries. This has been particularly true when buying bread.

A friend is in the habit of baking her own (delicious!) sour dough bread. While this is a goal I have set for myself I am not quite ready to take it on just yet.

The next best thing, which is a lot less time consuming, is to simply buy bread without plastic. I have done this on four separate occasions in the last couple of weeks. Each time has been from a local chain bakery - three different ones so far.

The first time I was on my way home from toy library duty and had not prepared myself at all for the task. I grabbed a reusable shopping bag from the back of the car, took a quick look in it to make sure it wasn't too grubby, and used that.

I'm not sure if I was feeling conspicuous the first time, or if the girl serving me was just a total cow. I asked for a loaf of bread (unsliced) to be placed into my reusable bag. She immediately grabbed a plastic bag that they would normally put the bread in. I quickly repeated that I didn't want plastic and she curtly replied, "I need to use it to pick up the bread". After that she would not meet my eye. I even smiled and tried to catch it. She did not make eye contact. She clearly thought I was a crazy hippy freak.

Each time since then has been completely fine with the person serving me being lovely and helpful. On one of the occasions I was organised enough to bring my own soft plastic bag (see picture above). The lady sliced the bread and tied it for me. I have kept the tie to reuse.

I reused the bag and tie when I bought six rolls to have lentil burgers last week. Since I didn't have the foresight to bring two bags I bought unsliced bread again at the same time (for $6.20 - bargain!).

I am pleased to have overcome whatever it was that was stopping me from previously buying my bread plastic-free. I am confident that I can continue doing this in future.

Thank you Plastic Free July!

Have you ever thought about buying your bread plastic-free?

Once again linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Homemade Beetroot and Chickpea Dip

I have been meaning to make beetroot dip for ages. Whenever we get beetroot in our organic fruit and veggie box it is always my first thought. But then I look up recipes and get turned off. I always seem to be missing the dairy ingredient. I'm not sure if I would like the flavour with yoghurt or feta for some reason anyway.

I love dips. Really love them. I'm a grazer by habit and love snacking every 2 to 3 hours. I haven't been buying dips lately, however, because I'm conscious of the packaging. Since Plastic Free July is occurring I am even more averse to buying them. So this week when we had 3 beetroots delivered in our box I decided the time had come to create a beetroot dip.

I decided I couldn't go too wrong with yummy fresh beets and chickpeas. Since chickpeas are a staple for us it makes it a convenient recipe too, which is always a winner. I am pleased with the results and thought you might like to try it too. The beetroot is the star flavour of the dip, with the chick peas providing a lovely texture.

Lizzing Lightly's Beetroot and Chickpea Dip Recipe

Time to prepare: 1hr 15 mins (1hr for roasting beetroot and garlic; 15 mins to prepare)

Ingredients

2 to 3 Beetroots
1 can chick peas (400g) drained and rinsed
1 to 2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

Method

1. Roast beetroots in moderate oven for 1 hour or until soft.
2. Roast garlic for 1/2 hour (add to pan with beetroots).
3. Take out beetroot and garlic and leave to cool.
4. Peel and cut off beetroot skin. Cut into wedges and then in half again.
5. Squeeze roasted garlic out of its skin.
6. Add olive oil, beetroot, garlic, lemon juice, chick peas and mustard seeds to food processor or blender. Mix until smooth.

Enjoy with crackers, bread or crunchy vegetables sticks.

Have you got any recipes at the back of your mind that just never seem to happen?

I'm joining Essentially Jess today for #IBOT

Why Plastic Free July is Important

Our Living Smarties group watched Bag It last week. It was a great way to kick off Plastic Free July. It reminded me that there are very important environmental, health and social reasons to reduce our family's use of single-use plastic.

The environmental reason that struck a cord for me is that plastic is made from fossil fuels (oil and natural gas), which take hundreds of thousands of years to form in the earth. They are non-renewable and, after a fossil fuel is burned, can never be used again.

Many single-use plastic products are used for less than a couple of hours before they are discarded. It doesn't make any sense to buy a single-use plastic bottle of water, for example, when we live in a country where we can get clean drinking water straight from the tap! It is such a waste of precious fossil fuels. My re-usable bottle is so much nicer to drink out of too.

The health reason that struck a cord for me is that since the late 70's we have been surrounded by plastic. It touches our food, our drinks, our medicines and everything else. Let's be honest. We are offered plastic shopping bags to carry food that is often packed in at least one layer of packaging or plastic. Although the use of some plastic elements (think BPAs) are being phased out of products that touch food we don't really understand the potential impacts of the other components yet.

Since plastic doesn't break down in the environment for millions of years it fragments and is eaten by wildlife, particularly in the ocean. Apart from being terrible pollution the plastic is then passed up the food chain to humans. How can we begin to understand the flow on health effects of that for not just humans, but all of the animals impacted within the food chain? Hormone mimicking effects (again, such as BPAs) are also realised through the food chain, particularly in the ocean.

Image Source

The social impacts motivating me arose directly from Bag It. The movie talked about plastic recycling and how numbers 1 & 2 (in the recycling triangle) are the most readily recycled products (as opposed to numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7). I know this is true because when I was working to increase plastic recycling at my work the only plastics that were collected (because they have a market) were numbers 1 & 2. Bag It explained that numbers 1 & 2 (which include PET plastic drink bottles) can easily be recycled into the lower grade of plastics (3-7). The lower grade of plastics, however, can't be recycled into a plastic of high enough quality to be economical. This means that plastic is generally only recycled once and then it becomes unusable waste.

When the higher quality plastics are collected and recycled they can be shipped to third world countries and processed in abominable working conditions. Workers sift through plastic waste and melt it down with no safety equipment. That is a pretty considerable social price for my plastic use.

On a more positive note I should mention what an amazing product plastic is. It can do so many things and it is so cheap to manufacture! In countries where there is no clean drinking water I'm sure many would suffer incredibly without it. It's like everything - let's try to use a great product responsibly so that we can continue to use it in a much nicer world for a much longer time.

Do you share my concerns about plastic? 

Plastic Free July in Our House

I'm a bit late with this post... We are already a week into July. I can barely believe it! Since Plastic Free July is such a great initiative, however, I want to share what our family is up to this month.

I have previously posted about how to use less cling wrap. That is a very simple and easy thing to stop using around the home. Our family already takes our own re-usable shopping bags into the shops (well, most of the time!), doesn't use straws, and uses re-usable water bottles. These items are good ones to start out with when you are beginning to cut back the plastic in your life.

My glass re-usable water bottle. Sure it cost more upfront but I love drinking out of it.

This month I am challenging our family to reduce single-use plastic even further by:

• Buying more bulk products, such as oats, beans, lentils, sultanas, & cleaning products, by bringing my own containers to be refilled.

• I have bought myself a reusable takeaway coffee cup (at last!). I rarely buy take away coffee since I feel too guilty about the waste. This is a very exciting purchase since I am now able to indulge on the run.

• I am saving all of the single-use plastic packets that we finish throughout the month in a (re-usable!) shopping bag.  I will review these products each week to see if I can find ways to reduce or eliminate more plastic from our lives.

• I have spoken to my child care centre about trialling using cloth nappies for Turtle on the day that she goes there each week. They have agreed to trial them this week. If it goes well then we will continue to use cloth at child care in future.

Have you already heard of Plastic Free July? Are you inspired to try and reduce your single-use plastic this month? Please share any tips and ideas below.