We’re midway through Plastic Free July, the global challenge to refuse single-use plastics. Here, a few Folk Features’ favourites explain what going plastic free means to them
Jo Klassen of Nudge Boutique, Norfolk:
‘Going plastic free can feel overwhelming and difficult to do when so many of the products we use contain plastic.
I am a big believer in making small changes, otherwise we can quickly unravel and return to old habits.
Our efforts may not always feel like we are making much of an impact, so that’s when we need to take a step back and see that together our efforts can and will add up to big changes.
I am committed to helping customers nudge their way to eco-friendly skin and hair care products, such as shampoo bars, handcrafted soap and facial cleansing bars which they can purchase from my online store and other selected eco stores in Norfolk.
To mark Plastic Free July, customers can save 10 per cent discount on my plastic free range, which will automatically be awarded a check out.’
Kala Cole of Little Home Eco, Suffolk
‘Plastic free for me means finding alternatives to single use plastic and to find other uses for plastics you do end up with in your day-to-day life – use bread bags for storage of fresh food and reuse tubs.
Also try to by loose foods from farm shops and greengrocers and take those tubs to the butchers or your local refill shop.’
Rosie Cable of Beekind Plants, Laxfield, Suffolk:
‘This month I am working on getting my ‘shed-shop’ up. I need to have a rain free place to transfer my plants into biodegradable cardboard pots, so that eventually, no plastic leaves the Beekind site! In the meantime, I am making sure that any plastic I do use, both pots and labels, is 100 per cent recycled and 100 per cent recyclable.
Working towards being plastic and peat free is the essence of Beekind Plants, so that the only trace we leave is a positive one for our pollinators and our planet!’
Vicki Harris of From Suffolk With Love:
‘This year on a personal level I have given up buying sliced bread in bags for Plastic Free July and so far it’s going well. My local bakery is very thankful as we eat a lot of bread!
Being plastic free with FSWL is my most important objective. I want to make sure I’m not contributing to the worrying amount of plastic pollution out there! I have put together some videos over the month of some plastic free changes that you can make, from easy to advanced – so have a look out for those.’
Elaine Reilly of Sustainability Station, 16 Exchange Street, Norwich:
‘We are doing an offer every Wednesday throughout July where you can come and pick up a starter kit. The kit represents a 20 per cent saving on normal retail prices.
In terms of what being plastic free means I think I would say that I find it personally energising to make us much of my life plastic free as possible. It’s not only good for the planet but it really does make you feel good and anything that spreads positive vibes has to be a good thing.’
Tenille Bensley-Byham of Love Refills, Suffolk:
Being plastic-free means to me to be consciously reducing single-use plastic in all areas of life: home, work and play. Working towards being single-use plastic-free, start small, notice where it’s a problem and finding achievable, sustainable alternatives.
I’m not marking the event per se, it feels a little commercialised in doing so. It’s like the saying ‘a puppy is not just for Christmas’. My hope is that anyone making positive plastic-free changes in July maintains them and carries on for the rest of the year and years ahead!
Love Refills is all about being single-use plastic-free. It’s about offering the opportunity to refill bottles and containers already in your household, business or charity and having conversations with people wanting to start. We’ve just been recognised as a ‘Plastic Free Champion’ by Plastic Free Hadleigh for working to reduce our single-use plastic!’
Sally Mittuch of Natural Spa Supplies:
‘As the tree warden in Weybread, I have been removing plastic tree shelters – probably a hundred or so already, as they are killing the trees. It is hard work, crawling on my belly like a commando over brambles and nettles and it is almost over whelming in its scale. There are so many of them and I feel I have only scratched the surface.
As far as the business, I have been doing lots of posts on Facebook over the last few weeks, highlighting how many of the household consumer products people think they need – all packed in plastic, and full of some nasty chemicals are destroying our rivers and river wildlife. We have put our Organic Soapnuts on sale to help people move away from washing up liquid, laundry detergents and fabric conditioners, surface cleaners, window cleaners and even toilet cleaners. We just don’t need all of these products when a single, sustainable, tree grown product, which works out cheaper can do all those tasks.
Hand sanitisers too, come packed in plastic and they have proven to be far less effect than soap and water. With rising tide of Covid infections, we are trying to play our part in keeping people healthy, without adding to plastic pollution, by putting a sale on out Hand and Nail Hygiene Kit. The kit contains Hemp Oil Soap which is left as a concentrate and packed in glass, a stiff ‘cactus fibre’ wooden nail brush and a horn Manicure Tool, which very effectively cleans dirt from under the nails.
When I started Natural Spa Supplies nearly 15 years ago, we set out to be plastic-free and we have pretty much managed to achieve that. With our strong ethical stance, it comes as second nature to us – and it is always a joy when customers come on board and incorporate these principals in to their own lives.’
Visit Plastic Free July
Featured image: Jo Klassen of Nudge Boutique
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