This year our family is participating in Plastic Free July. In the month of July we want to use absolutely no single-use plastic, and we’ve been working toward that for a while now.
With that in mind, we’ve been adjusting our consumption. For one week, we just wrote down everything we purchased or used that contained single use plastics. The list was prodigious. Laundry soap, shampoo, milk, cheese, grains, pastas, storage bags, plastic wrap, toothpaste, cleaning products, light bulb packaging… our list was dizzyingly long.
Next, we researched alternatives. One was Bees Wraps to replace plastic wrap and plastic lunch bags.
We also switched to a laundry powder. I tried making my own laundry soap, and it worked OK, but our water is very hard, and the soap seemed to either make clothes dingy over a few washings, or, if I increased the cleansers, make the darks more blotchy. Now I just get a commercial powder in a box. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Nearly every detergent in my small local store is liquid in a bottle, but I asked, and now they stock a couple of brands of powders in boxes too. I also could order big boxes from Amazon, but I do prefer to patronize my small, locally owned stores.
I’ve started carrying some large thin, square scarves to use as furoshiko, and have practiced the folding and knots until I can make three or four bags in seconds. I kept forgetting to bring other bags to the store, but these thin scarves are in the bottom of my purse, so I can pull them out if I forget. Because I want them to be very small inside my purse, I bought two large vintage square scarves from that diaphanous viscose/nylon material. They fold into nothing, but are large and strong.
We also made a worm composting bin from found objects. In the past we’ve had worm composting bins from plastic tubs, but there was a fish tank stand we found that was free, so it got converted into a flow-through bin. While the grandkids are here, they are in charge of making sure all the junk mail, paper and cardboard are fed to the worms, and then they will get to make a worm bin to take home at the end of the summer. Since we are using less single-use plastics, we have a lot more cardboard and paperboard, so I think the worm bin is timely.
I bought a cheese making kit, and have several successful batches of mozzarella and a passable cheddar. I already bake my own bread, and I’ve discovered a Kroger store that has a small bulk section not terribly far away, so there are a few things I won’t have to worry about the plastic packaging.
We are upping our game by making more of our own cleaning supplies from kombucha vinegar and baking soda, mostly.
Living more plastic-free means changing what we eat: less mixes and kits, and more single ingredients. Less dairy, more veggies. Positive changes for our health, but not easy changes.
But so far I haven’t come up with alternatives for every single use plastic we normally use. While I’ve ordered shampoo bars from Etsy, I’m not sure I’ll like rubbing my hair with bars of soap. And what about conditioner? I’ve got curls that need to be tamed.
Dairy products are another problem. The glass bottles of milk are only carried by one local store, and they are 5 times the price of other milks, not including the bottle deposit. While I’m going to go that route for July, I’m not sure my budget can handle that for long. And what about other dairy products, like cottage cheese? We are planning on doing without or making our own for July, but I’d like to find a permanent solution.
And, while I’m incredibly fortunate to be able to grow our own food, make bread, yogurt, cheeses and so on, this isn’t feasible for most of the US. So, are you doing a Plastic Free July? If so, can you share your tips? What do you find to be very difficult to do without, and what’s been an easy change? Please comment below.