There have been numerous video doing the rounds on Facebook recently regarding plastic waste. Those images of the plastic ocean and poor creatures stuck in plastic is heartbreaking. It is actually quite frightening and I really want need to start reducing my plastic footprint.
Recycling Plastic Waste
I love recycling! I fill up our weekly recycling boxes and almost always, it’s the plastic box that’s full. Our council takes most plastics (thankfully) so I cram that little box with any plastic I can find.
Now, seeing as I recycle my plastic I thought I was doing my good deed for the planet. That is until I saw this Sky News video. I had no idea that our plastic waste was being shipped off to Hong Kong! It is bloody disgusting! I genuinely thought that my plastic was being melted down to recreate. So now I’m wanting to stop buying so much plastic in the first place so to reduce the plastic that needs to go into that recycling box.
Reducing my Plastic Footprint
I saw another video on Facebook about a woman in Los Angeles who was going to keep track of her waste for the month. It was fascinating! She had less waste in a whole month that I have in a day! She stopped buying anything in plastic containers and instead took her own containers to the shops and filled her containers from the bulk buy section.
It’s a great idea but I don’t see how I can possibly do this in the UK. For example, we eat a lot of Cheerios. They don’t sell it loose in the supermarket so I have no option but to buy the cardboard box and plastic bag. Someone suggested that we find a shop that sells loose products. I’m not sure if there are any around here. I honestly think the supermarkets need to change. I’m so pleased to hear that Iceland are making a change – let’s hope other supermarkets will follow. In the meantime maybe I should just start shopping at Iceland.
My Current Plastic Footprint
Don’t get me started on tea! I genuinely thought that teabags were one of the most eco-friendlist things on earth – amazing drink and compostable! But I find out now, that the teabags which I thought was paper, is actually infused (see what I did there!) with plastic! Ugh!
Cling film is another bugbear of mine. My husband would tell you, me and cling film don’t mix. I’ve always hated it. But it is handy to cover things. If I ditch the cling film, what can I use instead?
Now being a parent, the kids obviously have (and still are) used nappies. I’m ashamed to say that we use the disposable ones. I had fully intended on using re-usable nappies as our local council had a scheme where they would you provide you with some, and had a cleaning scheme. But that scheme ended just before I had my first child. Unfortunately, disposable nappies are just too convenient. *hangs head in shame*
If you can reduce your plastic footprint is great, it’s something we all should aim to do. Switch from tea bags to loose tea, it’s a bit more expensive, but the taste is better, it’s easy to use and an Eco-friendlier version. I know I can do more too, for example, I could buy loose veggies and use my bags instead of an 1 kg bag.
Don’t worry too much about the nappy thing; cleaning reusable ones requires almost boiling water and having to clean them everyday is as bad, if not worse, for the planet. It’s a no win situation sadly! I do wish they’d open more food shops in the UK where you can pack your own containers! I’ve started to cut down my plastic use by investing in a reusable water bottle and travel coffee mug. It’s a simple start, but it’s something!
Rachel || https://wordofrachel.com
We have to reduce our plastic footprint, especially for our health! It is very important. It is good to use glass containers for long-term and they are safe for our health. Thanks for those tips and love the post.