Make better choices, Yo!

I’m the last person to tell anyone how to live, she says about to give my opinion on how people should live. Well you know, some times you just have to.

More and more plastic is being produced. More and more plastic is finding its way into the food chain, your food chain. Recycling is failing, there is simply too much plastic being produced and not enough recycling taking place. We are facing a global crisis. Not that you’d know it walking into any supermarket, in most places in the world with shelf after shelf stocked with plastic wrapped everything. People need to start making better choices. We need to start making better choices. And it is easier than you might think. There are so many new and better alternatives you can choose. And more coming every day.

There are the super easy choices, like saying no to single use plastics of any kind. No one needs to drink through a straw and if you really, really want one there are paper, bamboo, steel and glass alternatives. Taking your own reusable shopping bags with you to the grocery store immediately negates the need for plastic shopping bags. Taking your own reusable water bottle with you, and if you do forget and need to buy a drink DON’T buy one in a plastic bottle, buy one in a can instead. Take a reusable cup to the coffee shop, and on and on. Each of these seemingly small actions makes a huge difference.

Then there are the choices that might require a little more thought but are still actually super easy, environmentally friendly alternatives to so many things, crisps, razors, loo roll, cotton buds, toothpaste, plastic food bags, cling film, shampoo, moisturizer, the list goes on!! So here’s a few of my favourite alternatives…

CRISPS: Having discovered that most crisp manufacturers have moved to a shiny foil like package that is not even recyclable let alone degradable I’ve been abstaining from crisps while searching for an eco friendly alternative. Thankfully JHubz came across Two Farmers https://twofarmers.co.uk/ who make delicious crisps in fully compostable packaging. And yet Walkers, Tesco, Sainsburys can’t manage this until 2025 when they’ve signed up to do it by. Because why would Walkers, Tesco, Sainsburys and all the other offenders want to do it sooner and prevent the creation of billions of unrecyclable crisp packets.

LOO ROLL: Going one important step further than simply using recycled loo roll ‘who gives a crap’ also package their loo roll in paper! YAY! And give a hefty chunk of their profits to good causes. Wiping your bum never felt so good!

RAZOR: We only made the switch from disposable plastic to a stainless steel safety razor about six months ago but I LOVE IT! I was very nervous as I have the scars to prove I cannot be trusted with a razor and had visions of slicing important arteries HOWEVER! I’ve not cut myself once yet and the shave is super smooth, seems they might just be called safety razors for a very good reason! Blades are recyclable making this an easy and cost effective switch!

TOOTHBRUSH: JHubz took some convincing to switch from the plastic Oral B power toothbrush to a bamboo one but when our electric one finally gave up the ghost he was willing to give it a go. Five months in and his dentist confirmed his teeth were as clean and healthy as when he had been using the electric one, yay! You can find bamboo toothbrushes practically everywhere now so they are a nice easy swap.

And why stop with just the toothbrush when you can stop the plastic use with your toothpaste and floss and interdental brushes too!

FLOSS: Yup! You can even get biodegradable floss. Because the plastic stuff is a death sentence to small animals. There are a number of different biodegradable ones to choose from, bamboo, silk. Georganics and the humble co do lovely bamboo INTERDENTAL BRUSHES.

JHubz and I have opposing views on plastic free toothpaste. He is a big fan of Truthpaste which comes in a small glass jar with a travel size option. I think it tastes pretty gross and opt for Georganics, the one I use and comes in a cardboard tube and its only down side is that it is hella foamy. I’ve just bought another one to try which is on a lollipop stick and smells great, I’ll let you know how it goes.

COTTON BUD: Anyone who saw that image of a baby seahorse clinging to a plastic cotton bud and kept using them is an utter douchecanoe. Especially as there are so many alternatives, paper ones, bamboo ones which are all widely available, even Johnsons now have paper bodied ones (shame about the plastic lid to the tub though).

PLASTIC BAGS: I think these D2W Plastic bags are a game changer. They completely degrade to H2O and CO2 and a small amount of bio matter within a period of 12 – 18 months, unlike the typical plastic bag that will be around for about 400 years! They come in a variety of sizes and although described as freezer bags we use them for a whole host of things, including at the deli counter for all of our meat and fish purchasing.  There is some controversy about degradable and even the compostable plastic bags and whether or not they produce micro plastics. I’m still learning about the subject but right now I think they’re a thousand times better than the non degradable/compostable around for millennia alternatives.

SHAMPOO: I am a complete convert to shampoo bars but only the Lush ones. I’ve tried loads of others and not got along with them at all. Lush have a variety to choose from for all hair types. I usually use conditioner and have not needed to with my two favourites Jason and the Argan Oil and Honey I washed my hair. Having gone through a bottle of shampoo and conditioner a month these are great container and plastic free alternatives.

MOISTURISER: There are a growing number of moisturising bars for face and body. Lush do some lovely ones but so do any number of other suppliers and even making your own is remarkably easy. (I’ve just had a weekend of making face balm and lip balm and will wax lyrical about how easy and fun that was another time).

COMPOSTABLE FACE WIPES:  If you are addicted to face wipes there are a lot of alternatives to unbreakdownable ones. Personally I’m not such a fan of the face wipes as I found they smelled a bit funny but I love Kinder Nature’s biodegradeable, compostable and chlorine free cloths which I use for all sorts. Sadly these, and most of the others come in plastic pouches so not plastic free BUT still way better than the alternatives.

I’m not being sponsored by any of these companies, I just like to share a good thing when I find it.

I’m not suggesting you use your car less or eat less red meat, not that either would hurt and yup, you should all have given up eating anything containing non sustainable palm oil by now, but we’re a lazy, selfish bunch us humans, and who needs orangutans anyway. (WE DO STOP USING PALM OIL DUDES!!)  But really if we don’t do something now to tackle the millions of mountains of plastic being produced it simply won’t matter. Most of you reading this chose to have children. So you’d think you’d give a crap about the planet you are leaving behind not only for your children but their children’s children too. So why not, for you, for your children, for everyone, start making better choices, just for the fun of it Xx