Life without plastic, it’s fantastic

It’s Plastic Free July®, the global initiative that has been providing ideas and encouraging us all to stop using single-use plastics since 2011. This year, Soho House is celebrating with an outdoor art exhibition, Let’s Live With Less Plastic, and online auction from Le Good Society at White City House on Tuesday 12 July. Plus, there are beach cleans at Soho House Barcelona (Friday 23 July), Brighton Beach House and Little Beach House Malibu (Saturday 24 July) that give all participants 50% off their lunch as a thank you for their hard work.

But how difficult is it to actually go entirely plastic free? Sustainable fashion writer, Hannah Rochell, finds out.


7.30am: failed at the first hurdle and didn’t do any exercise
I often start the day with a swim or some stretching, and although the majority of my leggings and swimwear is made from recycled nylon, that still counts as plastic and releases microplastics with every wash (unless you catch them in a Guppyfriend bag). So, I skipped my workout and had a cup of tea instead (using plastic-free tea bags from Clipper).


8am: had a sustainable shower
I already earn plastic-free points every day in the bathroom, with ‘naked’ unbleached toilet paper on subscription from Bazoo and bamboo toothbrushes from Truthbrush. But something I have always struggled with is toothpaste (I don’t get on with it in powder form), so today I tried toothpaste tablets in a glass jar from Georganics. I must say, they worked much better than I expected.

Into the shower, and ordinarily I’d wash my hair with shampoo and conditioner refills that I get on subscription and pour into trendy aluminium bottles. But since it arrives in (returnable and recyclable) plastic pouches, and the pump on the bottles is also plastic, in the spirit of honesty I switched to a shampoo bar and ditched the conditioner. I used my husband’s from Beauty Kitchen, which is the best one I’ve ever tried, but I did miss the conditioner post-wash (if I had planned better, I could have also bought in bar form). My post-shower routine continued with some cardboard-cased deodorant from Earth Conscious, and glass-encased serum and moisturiser from UpCircle.


8.30am: got dressed (natural fibres only, please)
Getting dressed meant avoiding anything made from polyester or nylon (both plastic fibres) but thankfully, unlike my gymwear, I have a good selection of organic cotton, linen and lyocell clothes – all of which are natural and biodegradable. Footwear can be much trickier – as a sneaker lover, most of my shoes have eyelets, laces and/ or soles that are made from plastic – so I played it safe with some high tops from WAES which are, astonishingly, fully compostable. When they finally wear out I just need to remove the metal eyelets, cut the shoes up, and throw them on the compost heap.

9.15am: plastic-free period time
As timing would have it, I got my period on my plastic-free day, so out came the reusable period pants. I’ve been using Modibodi and Thinx for the past three years, but you can now pick them up on the high street at M&S. I do confess to cheating and taking some painkillers, though; I’m yet to find any that don’t come in some kind of plastic, and my wearable heat bag – although plastic-free – wasn’t quite enough to see me through.


11am: ran out of dishwasher tablets
I usually get mine from my Smol subscription (where I also get laundry detergent; it’s all plastic free and fits through the letterbox), but I’ve never quite mastered the timing and found myself with a full dishwasher I couldn’t turn on. Rather than head to the corner shop for some emergency tablets packaged in plastic (it wouldn’t be the first time), I remembered I’d been meaning to try the toilet fizzies at my local zero-waste shop for ages, but as it’s a car journey away I always wait until I need multiple items before I go there. Since I also needed to refill my favourite fig-flavoured liquid hand soap, off I went; the dishwasher tablets and toilet fizzies come in paper bags, which I will re-use. It wasn’t until later that I realised my hybrid car is probably about one-third plastic polymers… not to mention my debit card…


11.30am: shopped for groceries
In a bid to make the most of the car journey, I picked up a few groceries. My husband had already done the weekly ‘big shop’ and although he’s great at avoiding plastic too, there are some things it’s virtually impossible to find without a wrapper at the supermarket. For example, it’s annoying that you still have to print a plastic label in Tesco for your loose fruit and veg if you use scan and shop, and nearly everything in the freezer section is off limits for me today. However, a new nearby farm shop has a ‘help yourself’ freezer section where you can bring your own container to fill up with everything from frozen vegetables to calamari. Genius. I mostly use it for frozen berries, which I pop into a freezer bag. Plastic, you say? Think again. I’ve found these compostable ones from Dunelm.


1pm: walked the dog
As a conscientious dog walker, I always pick up the poop created by my miniature schnauzer, Grenson. It might seem counterintuitive to collect something natural (the poo) in something non-biodegradable (a plastic bag), but I’ve discovered compostable poo bags, which will rot away along with his business. I buy mine from my local zero-waste shop, but you can also get them on subscription from a company called Adios. Grenson had a plastic-free post-walk snack in the form of a homemade cheesy flapjack.

4pm: really wanted some crisps; didn’t have any crisps
Crisps are a sticking point when it comes to me reducing my plastic waste. I love crisps. I once met the bass player of my favourite band and nerves made me resort to asking him what his top five crisps of all time were (reader, his number one was Frazzles, and I wholeheartedly approved). There was a multipack of beef Hula Hoops in the cupboard tempting me to enjoy a plastic-wrapped afternoon snack, but I resisted.


7.15pm cleaned the kitchen
You’ll know me well enough by now to figure out that I get my washing up liquid from the zero-waste shop (predictable), but I’ve also recently started using natural sponges and bamboo brushes instead of those awful yellow and green plastic sponge scourers. I find they do the job just as well and don’t tend to get smelly. When you do need to wash the natural sponges though, you can just pop them in the washing machine (I have two on rotation).


8pm: had a G&T
An easy win with tonic in an aluminium can (which is, unlike plastic, infinitely recyclable), but worth pointing out that even my beautiful Mermaid gin bottle is low impact, with a plastic-free lid and a bottle that I can return to be recycled at the distillery, which is a 15-minute walk from my house. Garnished with some of those frozen berries I picked up earlier…


Verdict
I don’t think I could go completely plastic-free every day, but that’s not for want of trying. The system is still set up for you to fail at many points, but the good news is that it’s much easier to avoid single-use plastic than when I first started trying about five years ago. My advice is to plan ahead, shop local and if you don’t have a zero-waste shop near you, get your plastic-free essentials on subscription. I’m still waiting on the crisp revolution…

To visit the Let’s Live With Less Plastic art exhibition and online auction, click here