PLASTIC FREE JULY: DAY 31

Day Thirty One:

Do you often grab take-out meals & coffee? Have you thought about the impact all that packaging can have on the environment?

The 31st and final blog on Plastic Free July. I hope you have all taken something from our efforts of sharing ways to lead a less plastic life. I'd like to thank everyone who shared; commented or liked the posts and hope that there have been a few "AHA" moments as I know there were for me along my journey of discovering a less plastic existence. It is never easy to change and it does take time but very small changes slowly turn into habits and before you know it you look back and see how far you have come. You are not always going to get it 100% but even if everyone made a 2% effort to reduce their use of plastic it would have a massive impact on our earth!

Next time you need to grab some breakfast or lunch and you are not in a pressurised rush to get to where you're going then why not just take a breather, slow down, and dine-in. This way you will save on the take-out packaging and your sanity. Slowing down is something our society does not do comfortably and it is adding to stress-related illnesses. Alternatively, of course, if taking out is a must then don't be caught without your re-usable coffee mug; re-usable water bottle; re-usable cutlery and depending on the kitchen, you could even try and take your own container with you to put your food in, leaving zero footprint ;-). Now that's making a difference!

Make a change...
Re-think your thinking...

PLASTIC FREE JULY: DAY 26

Have you ever stopped to think about what your clothes are made out of and the impact they could have on the environment and yourself?

I know I hadn't up until recently and to be honest, doing some research on it has left me feeling just a little depressed. So many fabrics these days are harmful for the environment, either by way of cultivation (using up large supplies of water, pesticides, forests); by manufacturing (a lot of fabrics are created using all sorts of chemicals and acids); by our daily usage (many synthetic microfibres that are released during a load of washing land up in the ocean and ingested by sealife).

To find out more about which fabrics to avoid and why, click here.

Because clothing materials go through such huge processes before they land up on the shelves, they can even be quite toxic to the human body in some cases. Here is an article that is worth reading regarding the lack of regulations in Australia of chemically harmful clothing.

It doesn't even seem like there are many 100% safe options to choose out there but it does seem that the best options are organic and listed below:

• Cotton
• Silk
• Linen
• Hemp
• Wool
• Cashmere

Make a change...
Re-think your thinking...

PLASTIC FREE JULY: DAY 18

Day Eighteen:

Do you find yourself constantly buying lunch at work? Have you thought about the impact all that packaging can cost on the environment?

I know we can't always be quite as prepared as we'd like to but we can certainly make a lot of effort to prepare as much as we can to avoid creating more waste as well as creating more of a hole in our pockets. It doesn't take long to cook up some food on a Sunday to store in glass jars in the fridge, ready for the week ahead. Depending what you cook for dinner you can sometimes just do double the amount and have leftovers for a few days. Time better spent than in front of the telly ;-).

I find glass jars so much better for keeping things fresh than plastic or cling film (both of which we want to try and reduce usage of). 

The accumulative cost of purchasing lunch every day as opposed to making it at home and bringing it in is quite substantial, both on your wallet and on the environment. Not to mention saving yourself from low quality, preservative-filled food options. Most lunches are also packaged in plastic or polystyrene and these are the two materials we need to make more effort to reduce.

Re-think your thinking...