leafable

By now most people know that plastic is an issue, so I won’t write about why its an issue here (if you want to know why its an issue, read Turning the Tide on Plastic or go scuba diving – whichever is easier for you).

I was so excited to get my hands on Lucy Siegle’s Turning the Tide on Plastic. I’ve been a fan of Lucy Siegle for ages and she has quite successfully converted me into a plastic nerd. Her book on plastic is amazing. It goes into so many aspects of plastic: the history, the pros, the cons, and why it’s so difficult to get rid of it. The book also has a lot of concrete advice for what you can do to reduce the amount of plastic you use.

A highly recommended read!

I couldn’t wait to get to the part of the book where she gives advice on how to get rid of plastic in your life, since I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. I wanted concrete steps that I could take to minimise my plastic footprint. When I got to the tips though, I realised I pretty much do all of them already. But I don’t feel like I’m battling plastic enough. That’s when I realised that I’ve incorporated so many aspects of reducing plastic in my life that I don’t even notice that I do them anymore. They’re so natural to me that I don’t even have to think of them. So I decided to make a list (I seem to do that a lot) of things that I do that I don’t even have to think about that are letting me consume less plastic.

1. Some obvious ones

Always carry a reusable water bottle with you.

Use a reusable cup if you drink take-away coffee or tea. 

Use reusable bags. Pro tip: often people forget to take a canvas bag with them when they go shopping. I have solved this issue by keeping a canvas bag in all of my backpacks or hand bags, so I always have one with me no matter where I go. Even if I unexpectedly need to go to a shop or get something that needs to be carried around, I always have a bag with me. This may not be super sustainable if you need to buy 10 canvas bags to be able to do this (I just happened to have a whole bunch of canvas bags – they’ve accumulated over the years). But even if you only have one or two canvas bags, you can place them in the bags you use most when you go to work or school or wherever, so you’ll be more likely to have an extra bag with you at all times.

Also remember your reusable produce bags!

Choose non-plastic packaging. Most of my (and generally all people’s) plastic waste comes from food packaging. A lot of things do have a plastic free option though. Instead of buying rice in a plastic package, buy the one in a carton box or in paper. Instead of buying fish in a plastic package, go to the fish counter and get your fish wrapped in paper. Vegetables often come in plastic wrapping, but there are often plastic-free options too (in Finland these are often not in the big bins, but on the sides with the organic vegetables and fruits).

2. Alternatives to traditionally plastic products

A lot of things we’re used to having in plastic have non-plastic alternatives. I for instance have started buying bamboo toothbrushes and a wooden dish-washing brush (with a replaceable head). You can buy wooden combs and hairbrushes (mine are still plastic, because I got them years ago, and they’re still fine, so it’s more sustainable to use them as long as they can be used). There are cotton swabs that have sticks made of paper instead of plastic. You can use glass jars or cardboard boxes instead of plastic boxes. The list goes on and on. I recommend to think about the things that you buy in plastic, and think about if there could be a plastic free alternative. Most likely there is.

Storage tip: wash your used glass jars and use them for storage instead of plastic boxes.

3. The Guppyfriend

There has been a lot of talk about microplastics lately. Most of the talk has been about microplastics in cosmetics. But since microbeads in cosmetics have largely been banned now, its time to focus on laundry. A lot of clothes nowadays are made with synthetic fibres, which are mostly plastic. When you wash these clothes, fibres come off the clothes and end up in water streams –  and ultimately as microplastics in the ocean. One way to reduce this is to stop buying clothes with synthetic fibres. This can be difficult, and especially if you like working out, it may be especially difficult to find comfortable clothes to sweat in that aren’t made of synthetic materials. Almost all my clothes are second-hand, and almost all of them have been bought before I was aware of the issues with synthetic fibres. If I got rid of all of my synthetic clothes, I would have a pretty empty wardrobe, and would have to fill it up again with new clothes (okay, they’d still be second-hand). But I’d take my clothes to a second-hand store anyway and they would continue to be used, thus be washed and give off microfibres. Luckily, there’s the Guppyfriend. It’s a laundry bag for your synthetic clothes. It keeps in all the fibres that come off the clothes, so you can clean the bag and throw the fibres in the bin without letting them out into the water. The bag also reduces friction on the clothes, and thus less fibres are released. It’s easy to use and I need it in almost every wash. In Finland they’re becoming more common in shops. I bought mine from Partioaitta, but I’ve seen them in Citymarket and Stadium as well.

4. Bar soap

Liquid soap needs much more packaging than solid soap. And if you buy from a place like Lush, your bar soap won’t have any packaging. Lush actually has solid everything – I use their solid shampoo, conditioner, massage oil, exfoliator etc. Especially their shampoo lasts forever, so you’re saving a couple of plastic bottles by buying one solid shampoo bar instead of three bottles of liquid shampoo. Also, Lush products are just amazing anyway, so I recommend them for about a million reasons.

5. Bees wraps

I’ve mentioned these before, but now I’m even more in love. Bees wraps are a reusable alternative for cling film, and they work really well. I used to only have one bees wrap, so I’d need cling wrap from time to time, but after I bought their pack of three wraps that come in different sizes, I haven’t touched our cling film since.

My collection of bees wraps, obviously in a tin bought from a flea market.

6. Loose-leaf tea

Did you know that a lot of tea bags aren’t bio-degradable? That they have plastic in them too? Yeah, that was pretty new information to me. Luckily I’ve become a bit of a tea snob and have drank pretty much only loose-leaf tea for the past couple of years. One reason may be that there are two amazing tea shops in Jyväskylä: Teeleidi and TakeT, which I simply can’t resist and my tea cupboard is so full I can’t buy tea anymore. I have saved quite a few tea bags by buying loose-leaf tea and by using reusable infusers or a French press.

7. Reusable menstrual items

Sorry if this is too much information for someone, but I will be talking about periods now. If you don’t want to hear about periods in general and my flow specifically, skip this bit. I’ve been using the Lunette menstrual cup for over four years now and I would never go back to regular tampons or pads. The menstrual cup is more comfortable, more hygienic and more convenient than single-use pads and tampons. I recommend it to every single menstruating person – it will make your period so much easier. Recently I bought a couple of reusable pads, because (TMI) I have a heavy flow and sometimes I want extra protection with my cup, for instance at night. The reusable pads have worked well for me as extra protection, but I don’t think I would use them as my only menstrual product.

8. Less eating out and take away

One think that amazes me in the plastic issue is the problem with straws. I’m confused – how are straws such a big issue? If I think about a regular week for me, I don’t use a single straw. But clearly these straws are coming from somewhere! And that’s when I realised the root of the issue – hurry. When do you mostly use straws? With take away drinks. I rarely ever eat out, we always make food at home. When we do eat out, it’s a treat and we go to a restaurant that does not use single-use tableware and thus rarely uses straws either. By making our own food, we decide what we buy and what sort of packaging it has. We don’t need single-use cups or cutlery, because we don’t need to eat out or take away food. One of the other most common pieces of trash that is found outside is take away coffee cups – also caused by people’s need to get things on the go and in a hurry. This is something that I just don’t need. I work from home, so I drink my tea at home from a cup, or then I sit down in a café for a relaxing cup of tea. I’ve never had the need to take away coffee, because to me, drinking tea (I don’t drink coffee) is something I want to do to relax and take my time with. Keep cups are an easy solution, getting rid of caffeine addiction would be a more sustainable one.

Oh, and just as an extra remark – some other biggest litterers are cigarette butts and candy wrappers – both of these are from bad habits that should just not be done. And if you do, at least dispose of the litter properly.

9. Shop less (especially online)

In my home, almost all plastic waste is from food packaging. Because that’s pretty much all we buy. If I do buy actual things, I buy them second-hand, and thus without packaging. Most new items come with some sort of packaging, and often ridiculously excess packaging if you shop online. I haven’t even thought about the fact that I’m reducing my plastic foot print by not shopping, because it’s just something I haven’t done in years. Obviously, the less you consume, the less you pollute anyway. So shopping less is just a win-win-win for everyone.

These are some of the things I do to use less plastic. The plastic I do use is mostly recycled, thanks to the plastic recycling system in Finland (more on that in my previous post). I’d still love to reduce my plastic use even more, so if you have any tips, please write a comment and let me know!