Reducing plastic

Every little step counts!
Saving not only the planet but my own skin too.

It is not a food post, although my face&body moisturiser is edible, still it deserves its place at the Nourish Me table, treating the body and all living kindly.

I have deep concerns about the amount of plastics we throw away each day choking our immediate environment and congesting distant lands, rivers, seas and oceans with it. We do not have the rights to mess with our children's future. I think single use plastics should be banned. Now!

My small contribution to reducing plastic waste is growing each day. I am always looking to improve it. Here is a snapshot of my current position.

I use soap bars. My favourite is Oliva - Pure olive oil soap 125 g from Abea.
The ingredients are Sodium Olivate (Saponified Olive Oil), Aqua (Water), Sodium Chloride (Salt). It costs £1.69.
The soap bar is supplied in a paper box, no plastic, so additional packaging.
There are many other soap bars with acceptable ingredients and without plastic packaging like Friendly Soap or Little Soap Company which I liked.

I love my soft eco friendly bamboo toothbrush from The Environmental Medium Toothbrush. It comes in a paper box, no plastic packaging, has natural cellulose fibre, and 100% biodegradable. It costs £3.25.
After 3-4 months of use I re-use it around the house for cleaning purposes, giving it another 5-6 month of life. It is a wonderful cleaning shoes, wellies or around the sink and tap area.

My toothpaste is in a glass jar with a metal lid from georganics the Coconut oil toothpaste with activated charcoal 120 ml. The ingredients are: Calcium Carbonate, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Caprylic & Capric Triglyceride, Kaolin, Diatomaceous Earth, Sodium Bicarbonate, Charcoal Powder, Mentha Spicata Herb Oil, Foeniculum Vulgare Dulce Fruit Oil, Citrus Reticulata Peel Oil, Tocopherol. It costs £8.90, made in England, I only need a pea-sized amount (it will last!!) and I can re-use the jar when I finish. What I love about it is my mouth is not foam, it gives a good clean.

I have switched to shampoo bars. In transition first I used the olive oil soap bar occasionally then I discovered the Friendly Soap shampoo bars made with castor oil and essential oils. I really like the Lavender & Geranium one. The 95 g soap bar costs £2.49, it comes in a box with no additional plastic packaging.

I have only one cream to moisturise face and body and that is Extra Virgin Raw Organic Coconut Oil. My favourite is Lucy Bee. I re-used a dark glass jar for this purpose. I gently melt a small amount of coconut oil and fill my 100 ml glass jar with it which I store in the bathroom for everyday use. The oil hardens and I use it to moisturise my face and body. I also use the coconut oil as a Deodorant, I rub a thin layer under my armpits. Also use it as SunCream and I did not burn one bit for the second hot summer. The cost of 100 ml is £1.50.

Simply Gentle Organic Cotton Buds uses bio-degradable paper stems. The 200 buds come in paper box with only a small plastic window. It costs £2.15.

I use Soap Nuts from Ecozone or Salveo in the washing machine. For hand washing stains I use the olive oil soap bar. Unfortunately the bag of soap nuts comes with a plastic bag inside the big cotton bag. The 1 kg bag costs £9.95 and it lasts for a long time.

I never leave the house without at least one cotton bag thus avoiding the single use or multi use plastic bags. They last for years and washable. I have close to 30 by now. If you are looking for a gift for me that I would surely like, it would be a cotton bag.

I have two reusable glass bottles to take water, veg juices or smoothies when I am out and about.

I use vinegar which comes in glass bottles for cleaning around the house. Nothing beats a 10% vinegar when it comes to limescale, OK, maybe a 20% vinegar.

I have glass and stainless steel straws. I have used paper ones in the past but they got soaked and who knows about the glue or paint in them.

These are my achievements so far. What are yours? I will update the list when I implement new ways to reduce my plastic waste further and further.