I thought it was time to write a post (probably my full stop should go there as I am SO lax with keeping up with this blog!) about the irony (notice I used the word ‘dichotomy’ in the title…I’ve been doing a lot of my thesis writing this week!) of trying to reduce but it actually costing more and how I have begun to settle in my ‘wiser’ years for doing my best imperfectly.
I think, when you are thinking about trying to do better with plastic waste or reducing ‘stuff‘, you tend to start with a book, or a magazine or an online influencer. It’s not necessarily the topic of conversation with friends. These books/mags/influencers, have it all cooked up and perfect and often the results are that you just don’t know where to start.
First off, get it clear in your head that you are NOT going to save the world alone. It is a collective effort and requires everyone to do something AND perhaps the most important thing is to aim to get people thinking about a circular economy, not one of continually rising GDP. GDP only helps one person, the guy at the top of the receiving chain. The same guy who is making it totally difficult for you to buy your essentials in anything buy plastic, or the guy who is spinning you a yarn that you are buying a ‘green, environmentally friendly’ product, but then your ££ goes into their other business that involves something somewhat far from what you thought you were buying into.
It truly is a HUGE minefield to get your head round. So here are my ‘tips’ you might find useful to start you off:
- It’s about education! Educate yourself as best as you can, without being a dinner party bore, but more importantly, if you have them, educate your kids. Show them how to compost (it’s free) or not take more than they can eat (reducing food waste). Show them how to make their own biscuits (not free, but bloody yummy and fun!) or which plants are good to put in the garden for bees and butterflies (again, not necessarily free, but you can then take cuttings or swap with friends.)
- Choose things wisely. So my biggest gripe is that to buy stuff in glass jars or stuff that is completely environmentally friendly it is EXPENSIVE. Yes, I am very aware that I am supporting small businesses and they only make things in small batches not in bulk and will continue to do that and use my refill shop (this is not an expensive way), but it makes me mad. Large companies can afford to make things so cheap because they are made in huge bulks so it’s cost efficient or, worse, made unethically and the maker is only seeing a few £ as their wage. It’s worth subscribing to ‘The Ethical Consumer’ to read more on companies that are particularly dodgy!
- Buy secondhand. Clothes, kitchenware, books, vinyl…It’s really cool for kids as they grow out of stuff so quickly! My neighbour and I book swap which is also pretty good. I enjoy getting his books (especially when they say 20p) on the cover, so I wonder how long the book has been going around in swaps!
- Choose your battles: So here are my top ten swap outs that I would NEVER go back to the ‘before’ with:
- Deodorant: This DID take some getting used to and I think it’s why many people give up. Your body doesn’t smell if you wash, we are just programmed into thinking it does. However, it will take around a week to ‘de-toxify’ from aluminium and shop bought roll ons or cans. In the early years I found that anything with bicarb of soda in it gave me a hideous rash and there is a lot of that in natural deodorants. I finally came across ‘Wild’. These are stick style, refillable ones without bicarb. I have bought into the subscription so it is one less thing to think about on my shopping list, but you can now get it in some supermarkets.
- Soap: I don’t think I need to say more. I tend to buy when I see at craft markets or little places and it lasts SO much longer than shower gel which I used to ‘over use’.
- Reusable make up wipes: Yes after time I do have to get rid as they get a lot of abuse and when you wash at 40, you’re not always going to get them pristine white again, but you can make your own and they will compost when done.
- Reusable kitchen towel: I love my reusable roll, I just wipe, wash, dry and popper them back on. I am going to be honest here, however, we have a relatively young puppy and I did revert to using paper towel for her little accidents…I’m not that sold in the whole wash and go…
- My refill shop for things like vinegar, soy sauce, washing up liquid, bicarb, washing powder, coffee, tea….the list is endless. Yes it does take some thought and yes I do need to take my jars and bags with me, but it is cheaper by far and, more importantly, especially with things like herbs, I only need to buy what I will use before it goes off.
- My Bulldog bamboo razor: this is a great find. I just replace the heads when necessary which is the only plastic bit. I’m not into the whole hairy look for me, so I do want to shave my legs and pits, but I’d rather do that with less waste going into landfill for my indulgence.
- Returnable charcoal heads for my Oral B toothbrush: I love this company, ‘Brushd’. I buy packs of four and they send me a little wallet to return the heads once I’m done along with my order for the next four!
- A waterbutt: You can collect rainwater (or bathwater) to reuse around your home. Let’s be honest, rain is something we are not short of in the UK and should be harvesting to our advantage. Whenever we have put anything up such as a shed or polytunnel, we have attached guttering and run it off into a barrel. It doesn’t even have to be a shop bought water butt. One of my water butts is a skip find barrel that we fitted a mesh ‘lid’ too to prevent things falling in, it has no gutter, it just collects from the sky and we scoop it out. My other half also then fitted me a drip feed watering system for our patio pots that came off it last summer.
- Kitchen top compost caddies. I have three. Yes, mock me, but hear me out. I have one for general food waste (we are fortunate that our council will take ALL food waste, cooked or otherwise, if they didn’t do that, this would only hold green waste), an ‘eggs‘ one (I then do a bulk bake of these and use for mulch or slug repellant) and a ‘coffee‘ one (this one goes straight onto my compost heap). If my teens were a little more ‘trained’ I’d possibly have a ‘green waste’ one so I could put that onto the compost, but they are not and that is something I just have to fight my battles over as it’s best that the food waste (as little as we can throw) goes in food waste rather than the bin over the fight to get them to decide which is green and which is cooked.
- A freezer! I think this is one of my best money and food saving appliances. Leftovers, if not eaten, go in there and I will also cook in bulk so we have a meal ready to go.
Of course there are many more things, but it takes time and it can cost. Some of the things I’ve listed aren’t cheap, but if you tally up how much of the throwaway version you’d buy as an alternative, it works out so much cheaper in the longer term. Oh, finally I think if I could add an eleventh item, I think I’d say investigate your bank. Take a read into where and with whom your bank invests your money and, if you can, contemplate changing it. We, sadly, are stuck with our main bank due to it also being attached to our mortgage, however, I have a small account from my personal work that I was able to switch over to a more ethical bank. It’s a small amount and a small step, but again, it’s about all of us trying our best and this sending a message.
If you have other ideas, please leave them in the comments section below.
Thornhill House 