Whilst we would all love to say "we will never use plastic ever again", it is not really feasible. We can however make some small changes in our daily lives, which will reduce our reliance on plastic.
Below are some of our hints and tips that can be made relatively easily to make your daily lives a little bit greener.
- Reusable coffee cups – most coffee shops will offer a discount for customers with a reusable cup.
- Reusable water bottles – fill them up before you go out and check on refill.org.uk or download their app to see where you can top up your bottles when out and about.
- Reusable shopping bags – either reuse all those old plastic bags that clog up the cupboard under the sink or use a cloth bag.
- Reusable straws and cutlery sets – say no to plastic straws or buy some metal or bamboo ones to take with you.
- Use cloth or Mama Bamboo eco-nappies and wipes – normal disposable nappies and wipes are made of polyester which is a plastic derivative, this means that every single nappy used is still in existence and will be for the next few hundred years. A startling thought when on average 8 million nappies a day are used in the UK.
- Period pants/menstrual cups/reusable sanitary pads – there are many versions of these now, which are environmentally friendly and also more cost effective in the long run. The wonderful team at WUKA have created a lovely range of period pants.
- Shampoo bars and natural deodorants – these cut down on plastic bottles and are great for travel as there is no chance of any leaks. We're big fans of the LUSH shampoo bars and The Little Soap Company, which keep hair super soft and we love their eco and ethical credentials.
- Drink loose leaf tea (believe it or not the majority of tea bags in the UK contain a thin layer of polypropylene plastic) or look for a tea bag that states they are plastic free. Pukka Herbs and Teapigs have plastic free bags and excellent ethical credentials.
- Use beeswax food wraps or vegan wax wraps to keep food fresh in the fridge rather than clingfilm.
- Soap Nuts or plastic free laundry brands like SMOL – these replace your usual washing powders and softeners which all come in plastic bottles.Go paperless for your household bills and get shops to email receipts to you.
- Buy local produce or should you feel green fingered, try growing vegetables and fruit at home.
- Take your own containers to the supermarket to buy fruit and vegetables.
- Try and find your local packaging free/refill business – these are springing up all over the UK. They sell dry good such as pasta, rice, pulses, flour, nuts, tea, coffee etc you take your own containers to fill and pay by weight.
The thought of all the plastic we use can be very overwhelming but if we implement just a few small changes, it can make a difference and be the start of bigger changes.
At Mama Bamboo we hope to be able to give parents more choice by providing award winning eco-friendly nappies and wipes that are super soft, absorbent, naturally antibacterial, breathable and sustainable.
