Why should we care about reducing our plastic waste?
If, like me, you’re a parent with children under 10 – by the time your kids are in their 30’s the oceans will contain more plastic by weight than fish. Shocking eh?
I like whales and turtles, and I want to make sure that my kids, and theirs too, get to appreciate beautiful sea-life but more than that – I’m pretty scared about the mess that my generation will be leaving behind. We’re using up, and throwing away valuable resources like crude oil, with total disregard for the fact that they are finite. We’re buying one million single use plastic bottles every minute of every day and they’re not all being recycled. Less than 10% will be recycled and that’s a fact!
We’re also consuming plastic – they’ve found traces of it in our poo 💩 and that can’t be good can it?!
So, what can we do to reduce the amount of plastic we’re using (and throwing away)? We all carry our own shopping bags now – right?! Here are a few more easy swaps: some wonderful things that I honestly wouldn’t be without.
Washable wipes: We’ve used them for almost six years now for faces, little bottoms, hands and countless other emergency wiping situations. There are loads of great options out there for different budgets. Cheeky Wipes and Alva are both great. Not only are the disposable wipes wrapped in plastic, but I’m yet to come across a brand which is truly biodegradable. Once you’ve used cloth wipes you won’t look back!
Reusable water bottle: Forget spending your hard-earned money on single use plastic water bottles. Instead, spend around £15 on a reusable. I love One Green Bottle or Kleen Kanteen and there are great options for kids too. Stainless steel keeps your water tasting fresh and, if you’re partial to a cold drink then there are options for you too.
Snack pouches: My eldest rates her day based on the quality of the after school snack I bring her – I daren’t disappoint! I use her Fluf snack bag every day to carry snacks to school. Sometimes it’s a peeled and segmented orange which she can easily gobble as we walk home, a handful of nuts and raisins, popcorn or a cold sausage – whatever I manage to throw in as I leave the house. These bags save me from using plastic bags. They wipe clean easily and take up no space at all when snack time is over. ( these pouches are even made locally)
Finally, try to choose wooden toys, buy pre-loved and avoid plastic tat. Hard plastics used to make toys are among the most difficult to recycle. Many local councils don’t actually recycle them at all so they go to landfill or for incineration. If you must buy new, try going for (sustainable) wooden toys – like Tender Leaf, Bigjigs or Lanka Kade. Many of the toys we use are pre-loved and we actually buy very little for the kids on birthdays and Christmas.
If you’re a Harbs local and want to learn more about how to reduce waste, pop along to see me for a chat. Refill Revolution is in the Indoor Market on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
Motherhood after IVF 