Smart swaps for single use plastic

Plastic really has crept into every area of our life.

It can be quite overwhelming and hard to know to where to even start. My advice is to make small swaps and just do what you can. It’s not about being perfect – it’s about making an effort.

Take a look at what single-use plastic in your life you are consuming in big quantities and aim to find an alternative.

Trust me, once you get into the habit, it’s actually easy and pretty fun to take on the challenge.

I have listed here six of the most common single-use plastics and what you can use instead.

It just takes a little planning! Are you up for the challenge?

Plastic Food Wrap

This stuff is doubly worrying as the ‘anti-bacterial’ wrap may contain harmful toxins! Replace with

♥ upcycled glass jars (the bonus is you can see what’s in them)

♥ glass or stainless steel storage containers

♥ food covers, pockets and wraps (I love the original 4 My Earth brand)

♥ a ceramic bowl with a plate on top or two plates (too easy, right!)

♥ toxic free paper products

Find out more details about how I gave up plastic wrap! I haven’t bought a roll in well over five years! Woohoo!

Plastic Fruit and Vegetable Bags

This is a tricky one because I know it’s quite a habit to use those plastic bags at the supermarket!

♥ do you need a bag? Come on, bananas don’t need a bag!

♥ use reusable, lightweight produce bags (I’ve been doing this for years and it’s easy to remember them if they are in with your reusable grocery bags!

♥ shop at the farmers’ markets with an old-fashioned basket (I am in love with these jute baskets – so chic!)

Plastic Straws

♥ do you really need that straw? Start asking for drinks without straws when you buy a drink.

♥ use a glass, bamboo or stainless straw

TIP: If you do get stuck with a few plastic bags, take them back to the supermarket! Most larger stores will have a bin where you can recycle them.

Plastic Cutlery and Plates

I know how convenient these are when you have a party, but just a little bit of thought into alternatives can mean a huge difference!

♥ get some crockery and cutlery from your op shop – it’s so cheap and it will look funky (bribe the kids into washing up)

♥ get some biodegradable catering products (they actually look much more stylish plastic too)

♥ stash a bamboo spork or cutlery in your handbag for those lunches out and about

Plastic Grocery Bags

After all the publicity and education about these, I am still gob-smacked that I am usually the only person I see at the supermarket using my own bags. Please tell me this doesn’t happen in your local area!

There are several alternatives you can use. Personally, I don’t like the ‘green bags‘ as they are usually polypropylene (a fossil-fuel based plastic) and are imported from China. I have been using homemade or natural fibre bags.

Here are some great options:

♥ make your own bag! If you can operate a sewing machine, it’s not that hard to whip a few bags up out of an old pillowcase or t-shirt

♥ cotton reusable grocery bags

♥ jute reusable shopping bags

♥ canvas shopping bags

TIP: How do you freeze food without plastic? I wrap food in a toxin free baking paper and then pop into either a glass storage container or a 4 My Earth food bag.

Plastic Water Bottles

As well as being bad for the environment, drinking out of plastic bottles can also be questionable for your health. Get everyone in your family their own drink bottle (plus a few spares) and fill up before you leave the house. It quickly becomes routine!

♥ stainless steel drink bottles

♥ glass drink bottles

♥ upcycle a glass bottle or jar

♥ invest in a nice glass jug and glass for work

♥ for hot drinks, I love my Contigo insulated stainless mug

The amazing plastic spoon

You may have seen this quote floating around on social media. It’s incredibly powerful and I love sharing it. I made my own design for it (I couldn’t find the original source of the quote, but please get in touch if you know it). Please pin it and share it on social media if it resonates with you – you have full permission to use my image, unaltered, wherever you like!

Where to shop:

Biome Eco Store

Flora and Fauna

The Clean Collective

More inspiration:

Plastic Free July

My Plastic Free Life

Treading My Own Path

Plastic: A toxic love story

Slow Death by Rubber Duck

Zero Waste Home

Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Habit

Have you got any more tips for us? What have you managed to ditch?

Environmentally-friendly living is one area that we are still trying to find our way with. We are far from perfect, but we do try. I want to be an eco-warrior but sometimes life just gets in the way! The recent Plastic Free July campaign made us look at our plastic useage and try to cut it down even more. One thing I just couldn’t work out a solution for was plastic bin bags. I tried the newspaper thing but oh my gosh, what a mess! Not very user-friendly for families.

Then the gorgeous Natasha from Aussie company, Compost-A-Pak contacted me to let me know about their bags. I confess I did get a little excited about waste management! She sent me some bags to try out and I learnt more about the other ways you can use them – it was even cooler than I first thought.

Okay, so let me tell you few facts about waste disposal and how it impacts on the environment.

* Composting. Almost 50% of Australian household waste is organic and can be composted so the nutrients are returned to the soil. Unfortunately, much of this waste ends up in landfills, not back in our gardens. In landfills, it creates harmful carbon gases and liquid, which continue to escape and impact of environment and local animals for up to thirty years. We really should all be making an effort to compost and use it on our gardens.

* Plastic Bags. Each year an estimated 36,700 tons of plastic bags alone end up in landfills, not including those that are littered. It’s known that they take up to 100 years to breakdown. Eeeeep!!

* Green Shopping Bags. The ‘environmental’ green bags are an improvement on plastic bags as they are reusable. But did you know that these bags are made of polypropylene, a fossil fuel-based plastic, the same indestructible material used to make car bumpers and wheelie bins? These bags are preserved in landfill for hundreds of years. Not so ‘green’ after all? I think we were ‘greenwashed’ on that one!

Compost-A-Pak bin liners

Okay, so given these problems, the guys at Compost-A-Pak decided we needed bags that are truly compostable. They created a range of bin liners in various sizes and shopping bags that are Australian certified as 100% compostable – there is no harmful residue left in the soil once the bags break down. They take about the same time as a dry leaf to breakdown.

Reusuable Shopping Bags

Cool, right?

Okay, so what are they made of? The bags and liners are made of corn starch, a seasonal crop. Third grade corn which is not suitable for human consumption, is sourced from international regions with high rainfall to ensure there is no need for irrigation. The bags are printed with a soy based ink. They are quite durable and you wouldn’t notice a difference using them compared to plastic bags.

How do you use them?

1. Swap over.

Make a direct swap to the compostable bin liners and shopping bags. That way, you know that you are not contributing more plastic to landfill. That eases my eco-guilt and makes me happy.

kitchen caddys lined with the compostable bin liners

2. Start composting.

*Kitchen Starter Pack. Use the compostable bin liners inside the bench top kitchen caddy. Put your organic waste in the bin, tie it up and go and put the whole thing in your compost bin. Loving it. No more smelly compost bins to wash out!

*Composting Pack. The composting pack is the kitchen starter pack plus this cool Earth Machine composter. Perfect if you need the whole shebang!

Yes, I may be overly excited about waste-management and composting! I think these products are pretty awesome. They make being an eco-warrior pretty easy and manageable for every day families. We all know that if change is easy, we are going to keep it up. If it’s too complicated, it will fall by the wayside and we won’t keep it up long-term.

I like to think I can help change the world, one bin bag at a time!

Want to try them out for yourself? You can purchase them online at the website, at selected retail outlets or you can win some, right here on the blog!

Giveaway:

**This giveaway has now closed! The winners were Melissa, Stacey, Cathy, Caz and Krista! Well done girls **

Natasha is kindly giving away 5 Compost-A-Pak packs. Included in each is a kitchen caddy, a 6 months supply of 8 litre liners, and 5 Reusable Shopping Bags.

To enter:

* SUBSCRIBE to the blog. Add your email to the top right hand side.

* LIKE the Compost-A-Pak Facebook page. Go here.

* COMMENT on this blog post, telling us one thing that can go in compost bins.

Terms and conditions:

This giveaway is only available to Australian residents. It is open from now until Friday the 17th of August at midnite. Five winners will be chosen using random.org from those meeting the entry requirements. The winners will be announced on the blog post and emailed (make sure you make a note to check!) Good Luck.

Offers:

* Join the Compost-A-Pak Facebook page and take advantage of the special offer – get 50% off the purchase of a single pack of liners to trial.

* Exclusive to Natural New Age Mum blog subscribers! Purchase the Kitchen Starter Pack at only $19.95 (plus delivery) and receive 5 reusable shopping bags for free. That’s $10 worth of additional value! Just use the code FREEBAGS at the checkout!

Offers expire Friday the 17th of August at midnite.

This is a sponsored post.