Wastless, Reuse & Recycle
After visiting South Africa and being surrounded by so many eco friendly conscious people in Cape Town the realisation of the amount of waste we produce has preyed on my mind. After researching into the UK waste figures I was appalled to see how much we waste and what we are doing to the planet as the outcome. The UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of waste every year caluating to about one tonne per household (for scale my small peugeot 107 is about one tonne!) Taking it to a personal level, the average person throws away their own body weight in rubbish every two months!
The good news is that its so easy to change. The change is in the mind of the population not in the skill or abilities. We don’t need to learn any skills to change or save the world, we just need to realise the problem we have and the solutions involved!
Ever since I was young my wardrobe has been a mix of new clothes and preloved or as they are usually called second hand. Reusing items is easy and thrifting is my favourite thing to do! Recycling is also a great way to change unloved or wasteful items into something useful - plastic bottles become jumpers & even sleeping bags. That is some examples of reuse and recycle but reduce is a bigger factor which can solve more than anything else. If we can change our minds into reducing the amount of waste we produce and reuse them instead of just recycling items we can avoid the ugly processes that go into recycling.
There are many ways to produce less waste and it’s easy when you look around. These are just some easy tips to try:
Say no to single-use bags and take your own material bags shopping
Instead of using the plastic produce bags bring your own. I’ve reused cotton canvas bags; they are much more durable and an easy change
Find your local waste free shop! My closet one is The Jar Tree. We had amazing experience there and bought pasta and rice in bulk. Buying refills for washing detergents, hand wash etc is usually cheaper as well - just make sure you stock up on glass jars
Start saving leftovers using glass containers and bees wax wraps
As gym goers we tend to plan our meals but it is also a good way to decrease your waste. Planning meals and taking the time to create a list of what you need before you enter the shops helps speed up the shopping process and is easier on the bank balance!
Grab a metal/glass water bottle and keep hydrated on tap water! No need for bottled water here!
I’m a bit of a coffee nerd so I leave a ecoffee cup in my bag (all made from bamboo) and for the tea drinkers try swapping to loose tea; using a tea globe changes the experience of tea
Simple swaps such as a bamboo toothbrush and tooth tabs
Swap for solid shampoo - this is a bit of trial and error as trying to find the best for your hair can take a while
Start using natural products for your skin - I started with coconut oil and tea tree. Mixing these can solve so many problems from dry skin, burns, acne etc
It’s been Luiz birthday so wrapping his presents were a struggle but changing to environmentally friendly ways has created a much simpler and classy look to his gifts. Wrapping them in reusable fabrics, old paper bags and reusing textured paper has worked like a dream and using ribbon instead of sellotape has reduced plastic completely
