I was only thinking today how far we have come with reducing plastic at home. Whilst cleaning my face this morning I suddenly thought how easy it has been to get used to washable face wipes. They are amazing – made from bamboo and much more substantial to use than cotton wool, which contains plastic. Once used you put then in a netting bag – this then goes in the washing machine. Once they are dried, you can start again!
We also have washable washing up cloths – it really is not so much effort if you have a few on the go, but environmentally it is seriously reducing plastic at home and the amount that ends up in our oceans and landfill.
The more that you get into this way of living the more you want to do, and it does become a lifestyle change. We are now using bamboo toothbrushes, washable kitchen roll and one of the latest additions is beeswax ‘cling film’ – it is so much more colourful than the plastic version and can be washed and used again and again. All the above can be purchased from Jodie at Two Rivers Refill in Christchurch.
We are also very proud to say that we do not have any plastic bottles in our bathroom; I have made solid shampoo and conditioner bars along with a solid body butter and scrub. Keeping these on a glass plate in our bathroom to allows them to dry out thoroughly after use. By using these solid products instead of buying the equivalent in plastic bottles, that is about 50 plastic bottles a year we have saved from landfill. This is just from one room in the house – imagine what could be saved if we went through the whole house eliminating the plastic bottles.
If you want to recycle something but are not sure that it can be put in the general recycling bin, have a look on the Terracycle website. It lists everything that is being collected locally and where you can drop your recycled goods. I have been collecting cat food sachets and there is a lady in Southbourne that they can be taken to. Again, it is a little more effort than just throwing them away, but very quickly, it has become a routine and then a way of life.
Unfortunately, Covid 19 has put our war on reducing plastic at home back a bit, especially now we need to use masks more often. Every time I go for a walk, I see one discarded on the pavement. These disposable masks contain a lot of plastic and are not very cost effective. Material masks may be more expensive initially, but as they can be washed after each use, end up being more cost effective and are so much better for our environment.
Of course, Pamper Moose is also trying to do our bit to reduce waste with all our products being in recyclable tins, recyclable boxes or sold naked. You can check out our range here of bath bombs, whipped and solid sugar scrubs, solid body butters and scrubs, lip balms and much more. I hope you can join us on the process of reducing our plastic waste!
