Let’s Love Plastic

No really!  Let’s love the plastic we already own.   

Whether you love it or hate it, one of the most wonderful things about plastic is it is durable and it lasts forever.  Take plastic’s amazing properties (and let’s be honest as an invention it was pretty fantastic: over 100 years ago plastic replaced: ivory, tortoise shell, fur, and whale oil as an oil-based product).  Make your plastic last forever, reuse it and reuse it until it can no longer be used and when it can’t recycle it or re purpose it.  Remember Reduce – Reuse – Recycle this has been doing the rounds since the late 1970's.  There is a new extension of this which could not be more relevant today the 5Rs: 

Refuse - Reduce - Reuse - Recycle - Rot

This new green / plastic free / waster free movement that is happening around us is fantastic, so exciting, and is generating so much awareness but it is also generating a huge industry of ‘green’ consumer products.  Admittedly they are plastic free but they still take a huge amount of resources and energy to make.  Do we need any of them?    Let’s be truly materialist about plastic and really value it.  I see the question “How can I save money when going plastic free/zero waste?"  I think the answer is, look around your house and see if you can use items you already have before rushing out and buying beautiful bamboo cutlery, metal straws, metal lunch boxes.  If you are anything like me then chances are you have a cupboard full of Tupperware and take-away boxes that will do just fine and last you a life time.   

Bamboo cutlery in lovely fabric pouch – use your own metal cutlery from home.  If you have a lovely set and you are worried about losing some, pop along to your local charity shop - I am always seeing boxes of cutlery there. 

Kilner Jars all identical in your cupboard – Keep your old jam jars, large olive jars, any food jars and use them before they make it to the recycling.  I now go around looking for food in nice and big jars so I can reuse them.

Glass or metal water bottles with sustainable sourced bamboo lid – Use the 5 year old plastic water bottle you already have for another 5 years before rushing out to buy a beautiful Instagram-worthy one!

Metal tins for soap – again reuse one of the boxes you have or even a jar.

Glass and metal Coffee cups with cork insulators – carry on using the plastic one you have, it did the trick before, it will carry on working just fine.

Turtle net reusable shopping bag -  Even reusing the plastic bag for-life you had over and over again is perfect.  Just don't buy any more of them and make your next bag plastic free. 

All these items are great for virtue signalling but are they really great for the planet?

Think twice before you buy, and love the plastic you have.   Going plastic free doesn’t need to cost money it just costs time as I have outlined previously in A Month Living without Plastic.  But slowing down and taking time to think about where and what you are buying can’t be a bad thing in this ever increasingly fast world we live in.