#AD – This post is in collaboration with Midcounties Co-operative
When it comes to tackling single-use plastic and plastic free living – are you doing enough?
Last March, I took part in the Make 1Change campaign with The Midcounties Co-operative – an initiative launched to encourage their co-operators, customers and employees to join the fight in reducing the use of single-use plastics and provide shoppers with information to help them make informed decisions. I was challenged to collect all the single-use plastic we generated over the course of week to see if I could be making better choices and help tackle climate change.
When we first embarked on the challenge, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we gradually gathered up all the bottles, yogurt pots, food trays and wipe packets we emptied during the week. When sharing the outcomes on the blog, I will be honest and admit that I was pretty embarrassed – the amount of single-use plastic we created as a relatively small family of four was insane, and the quantity really shocked me.
I really had my eyes opened to some of the concerns around single-use plastic (including the 300 million tonnes of plastic we generate EACH YEAR as a nation) and at the end of the campaign I visited The Midcounties Co-operative website to learn about the changes it was making and make my pledge on how to tackle and reduce our single-use plastic consumption as a family. Since that day, I am proud to have gone on to make lots of positive changes to our lifestyle and purchase decisions and am confident that if we were to repeat the challenge today, the amount we generated would be significantly reduced.
Could you be doing more to reduce your single-use plastic and attempt plastic free living?
When I shared my findings with my friends, family and followers, a lot of you agreed that you were equally concerned about the impact of single-use plastic on our environment. However, with busy lifestyles, family commitments and hectic work schedules, many of you said that you’d love to do more but didn’t know where to start or struggled to find the time to invest into tackling climate change.
This November, The Midcounties Co-operative have launched the next steps of is 1Change campaign, aiming to change the perception that TIME is a barrier to making a change. Appropriately titled 1Change in 1Minute, the aim is to prove that saving our planet does not need a significant time investment, and that you can actually make some very quick and easy changes that can have a huge impact.
Actions can often speak louder than words, so check out my Saving the World in 60 Seconds video below to see some of the steps I have taken to manage our family’s plastic consumption and take a step closer to plastic free living.
The Single-Use Plastic “Quick Wins”
My video highlights just a small selection of sustainable “quick wins” – the steps you can take to reduce your single-use plastic consumption with very little effort or time investment.
Some of the quick ways we’ve reduced our single-use plastic include:
- Buying loose fruit and vegetables – Many fruits, vegetables and fresh produce items come in small plastic trays and wrapping which inevitably get discarded into the recycling the instant you consume them. By making the switch to loose fruit and veg, you can instantly prevent another piece of plastic entering our waste disposals.
- Buy in Bulk – Not only is it often a more cost effective way to shop, but buying regular use items in bulk quantities can also help reduce the amount of plastic wrappers, bottles and bags that enter our recycling. We now look out for bigger boxes, larger packs and refillable bottles and opt for washing detergent that comes in boxes rather than plastic containers.
- Buy a bag for life – and make sure to reuse it – Since the introduction of the carrier bag charge, we should all now be taking along our own carrier bags / re-useable bag options when carrying out our weekly food shop. Either invest in a canvas or fold away carrier (an ideal space saving option) or buy a bag for life, putting it straight back into your bag once you’ve unpacked so it’s ready for the next time you shop. And if like many families, you have a massive quantity in your cupboard under the sink – go and pop some in the boot of your car now! GO!
- Re-use or Re-purpose – Our kids love craft, painting and creative projects, so when we do have plastic in our home, I make a real effort to reuse or re-purpose it before it is eventually sent to be recycled. With so many awesome plastic bottle hacks on Pinterest, there are lots of fun ways to reuse these items around the home, and we have a lot of fun in the process too!
- Check before you throw – An obvious one perhaps, but do you really pay attention to everything you throw away? Before you discard something, take a moment to check if it can go in the recycling instead. If you’re unsure, most councils provide a handy print off guide you can display next to the bin!
- It’s a wrap – We’ve previously been guilty of using a lot of foil and cling film to house our sandwiches for lunch, but options such as brown paper or bees wax sandwich wraps are a far more sustainable alternative, with the added bonus of being able to write a little message if you’re feeling sentimental too.
- Bring your own cup – Whether it’s that morning coffee during your work commute or a hydrating H2O to get you through the day in the office, don’t forget to bring your own reusable cup. There are loads of great BPA free, silicone, husk or stainless steel anti-spill travel cups on the market now, with many coffee outlets giving discounts if you bring your own.
- Be straw savvy – Ask yourself if a straw is really necessary (we have got mouths after all), but if your gin just isn’t the same without being sipped through a straw, or you need that super cold drink from the fridge, the stainless steel straws are a great option too. The girls love having these with their drinks at home and are just as fun but without the guilt.
- Donate to charity – With two young children at home, I’d be lying if I said we don’t have a large number of plastic toys in our home (although we’ve been investing more in wooden toy options recently too). When having a clear out, I pack up and donate toys to our local charity shops, meaning that instead of being thrown away, they go to a new home for another lease of life instead.
What are The Midcounties Co-operative doing to help?
The Midcounties Co-operative is actively taking steps to protect our environment, with a target to reduce waste in its operations by 20% by 2022, whilst maintaining its current 99% recycling rate – something which alone would divert 3,000 tonnes of operational waste from landfill.
By 2020, as part of the 1Change initiative, The Midcounties Co-operative is also aiming to eliminate all single-use cups from in store coffee areas, eliminate single-use plastic straws and cutlery and are also enabling customers to bring their own containers for products from its meat and delicatessen counters.
A huge step last month saw The Midcounties Cooperative launch compostable bags in 115 of its food stores, a step which helps remove roughly 3.1million bags per year from circulation nationwide. These new bags are fully compostable within twelve months, which is a SIGNIFICANT change from their predecessor.
By working with its customers, partners and the local community, including working with schools on its ‘Plastic is Not Fantastic’ programme, The Midcounties Co-operative is aiming to help us all make more sustainable choices and protect our environment for future generations.
So what will YOU do to take a step towards plastic free living?
So, what will you do with your 1Changein1Minute? Time really doesnt need to be a blocker to plastic free living and there is so much you can do in just 60 seconds to help reduce your single-use plastic. Head over to The Midcounties Co-operative website to make your 1Change pledge! I hope the above has given you some inspiration on the quick wins you can take.
Imagine the impact on our planet if we all made just 1Change!!
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