The month of July is over and I made it through with purchasing hardly any plastic! Yay! I kept any plastic waste that I did create and laid it out the other night to examine where I need to improve. Most of the packaging in the photo was purchased before I ‘quit’ plastic but regardless, it was the waste I created this month, minus some stickers from fruits I discarded at work when I ate them.
I told a story about the night I ‘cracked’ (see old blog post here), and bought chips to make nachos? Well its fair to say that those Sesame Blues chips will never again be in my shopping cart! Avoiding the plastic wrapper from a block of cheese will be a struggle though, I haven’t been able to find any hard cheeses without packaging, although if I bring my own container on days they cut cheese I can get some fancy cheeses from Puhoi Cheese Factory.
I’m not giving up wearing contact lenses or taking birth control so those will be included in my waste for the foreseeable future, but all the other plastic, I can find ways around!
The bottom line is that I think I’ve got some good momentum on plastic free living and this month was great for making some good habits! I think the #plasticfreejuly challenge really helped me solidify why I quit plastic and stick to it. They say it takes three weeks to change a habit, so the way I look at it, for me the month of July was a month of change and I’m keen to keep that going!
I want to be transparent as possible to show that I’m not perfect and you don’t have to be to make a difference! So next I’ll share with you the things I still need to invest in to eliminate more waste:
1. A zero waste razor; one of those stainless steel ‘safety razors’ that have replaceable blades with no plastic cartridges!
2. New kitchen dish brush; I have a ‘Switch’ dish brush with replaceable heads but its still plastic so will use it until its spent then replace it with a bamboo one with natural bristles.
3. Toothpaste alternative; the ‘eco-easy toothpaste tablets I got are my least favourite plastic free swap so I will be trying to make my own toothpaste in the near future!
“Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.”
-Anonymous
