I am going to share something I allegedly said before plastic free living, before zero waste, before grabbing a sustainable lifestyle with both hands. A friend reminded me of something I said over the Christmas break of 2008…
Ha! Did I really say that six years ago?
So not only has my hair colour gone back to a more natural state (I forgot I went brunette!) but so has my thinking, which is now more naturally attuned.
If you are a little afraid to make a change like taking something familiar as single use plastic out of your life, don’t be. Taking a challenge like Plastic Free July does not mean you have to go plastic free forever or in all areas of your life. It is about giving it a go and challenging yourself, like a marathon or committing to giving up wine for a month.
If my declaration from six years ago is anything to go by it shows that even someone who was once not a full time recycler could get excited by it and even enjoy not only recycling on holidays but going plastic free.
Right now I have a friend who is going to take on the 2014 Plastic Free July challenge and I am super proud of her. And I would be just as proud if she only did the challenge for two weeks or one day. Just to give it a go is worth applauding. She is asking me all types of questions and I am glad that I can be of some help having gone through the challenge myself and now living the plastic free life full time.
“I love being on holidays because you don’t have to recycle.”
Ha! Did I really say that six years ago?
So not only has my hair colour gone back to a more natural state (I forgot I went brunette!) but so has my thinking, which is now more naturally attuned.
If you are a little afraid to make a change like taking something familiar as single use plastic out of your life, don’t be. Taking a challenge like Plastic Free July does not mean you have to go plastic free forever or in all areas of your life. It is about giving it a go and challenging yourself, like a marathon or committing to giving up wine for a month.
If my declaration from six years ago is anything to go by it shows that even someone who was once not a full time recycler could get excited by it and even enjoy not only recycling on holidays but going plastic free.
Right now I have a friend who is going to take on the 2014 Plastic Free July challenge and I am super proud of her. And I would be just as proud if she only did the challenge for two weeks or one day. Just to give it a go is worth applauding. She is asking me all types of questions and I am glad that I can be of some help having gone through the challenge myself and now living the plastic free life full time.
Hi Ginger,
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for plastic-free July! I love a challenge, and I love being able to tell the kids they can't have something because it comes wrapped in plastic. We don't have bulk options for things like pasta where I live, and that's going to hurt a bit, especially as it's sooooo cold lately (top of 7 degrees today).
I went to the post office this afternoon and asked for 35 stamps without the plastic backing. I think the sales assistant was a bit surprised. She offered me a stamp collector pack which comes with a cardboard backing and wrapped in plastic and seemed genuinely confused when I declined. I then had to explain how I'm trying to go zero waste, and wanted the old-fashioned type of stamps. No one had any in their drawers, so she had to go out the back and look for some. This took a while and I'm sure everyone behind me in the queue thought I was nuts!! However, mission accomplished, I came home with no waste stamps :)
Your cotton shopping bags look great. I tend to use net ones for fruit and veg as they weigh less. I use cotton ones like yours for bulk flour and woodfired sourdough.
Madeleine.x
Hi Madeleine, I understand your pain regarding asking for items with no plastic. People generally do become perplexed when you refuse it. After a while one can't help but laugh about it.
DeleteDon't worry about pasta. Even though I live in a city the closest bulk store does not have any pasta. I LOVE my pasta and found this hard also. But decided to think of it as a treat for when i happen to go out for dinner. Same with sushi and any noodle dish really.
I am going to teach myself to make pasta. Have you checked out The Greening of Gavin? He has some recipes for making pasta. Here is one I want to try http://www.greeningofgavin.com/2014/02/make-homemade-pasta-dough.html
Erin xx
Hi Erin,
DeleteI actually found your blog through the greening of gavin. What a great idea to make some pasta. I have a pasta machine that used to be used regularly, but when the kids came along it moved to the back of the cupboard - that was 14 years ago!! So time to dust it off and check out Gavin's recipes. Thanks for the tip!
Madeleine.x