Reduce, reuse or repurpose

I like to think I don't use much single use plastic but I do. If you look online what constitutes single use plastic, the same few things come up but there are oodles more we don't even think about. We don't drink bottled water and rarely buy single drinks in general.

Cereal boxes have plastic bags in them which most of us don't use. I decant my cereals into plastic containers but they are donkies years old and will not be thrown out until the time comes for someone to clear our house. Inside is usually a plastic sleeve. These can be reused, especially in the freezer to seperate slices of things but it isn't something I use because I don't make those type of things to freeze.

Almost all prepacked fruit and vegetables that have a plastic tray and wrapper, are single use. Biscuits and bought cakes, ready meals, frozen items, plastic cotton buds, nappies, panty liners and other sanitary products, sachets containing individual use items such as face masks, make up products, hair products, condiments such as sauces and vinegar etc. There are literally hundreds of these items.

The free from plastic movement is gaining momentum and many articles and challenges, appear in newspapers and magazine. Lets face it though, unless you live in a big city or have access to shops that sell products you can decant or pick up yourself, the rest of us will have a hard time.

When we did our grocery shop last week, I could only pick up a few loose items of fruits and vegetables without using plastic. We don't have access to farm shops, even things outside of houses locally to buy are often in plastic bags or plastic trays. Its bewildering and hard work but I will continue to try.

In that vein, yesterday I bought 5 litres of Ecover washing up liquid and 5 litres of Ecover hand soap online. Yes, it will come in a big plastic container but it is using less plastic than the equivalent in normal sized bottles. I can also repurpose/recycle those containers.

The hand wash came today, in a cardboard box with paper packing. Inside, the container was sealed in a plastic bag, but hey, it can be actually be recycled as it has a number 2 code on it, see link further down. 

I make our own washing machine liquid, reusing constantly, the same 2 x 4 pint plastic milk bottles, which have been on the go now for more than 2 years. It is unfortunate that the things I need to make it start off in plastic, see, you just can't get away from it.

Can we do anything to stop putting plastic that cannot be recycled into our rubbish dumps, we can as it happens, in the shape of Ecobricks, see here.

These seem a bit slow to catch on here and there are not many places where even if you fill one up over time, you can take them to, to be used. Maybe one day.

Herewith a quick guide to what can mostly be recycled:here.
There is also a nice chart at the end for a quick check reference.