Don’t be fooled, not many households can achieve absolute zero waste, but taking this journey will and can be your contribution to the mess that big businesses have got us into. The tide is slowly turning, but perhaps not quickly enough to stem the flow of the mountains of plastic, which is always travelling around the world.  Crazy. Yes, this situation is not solely the problem of the UK, yet again, we need to lead the way, in showing that freeing our lives from single use plastic is possible. Without restricting our quality of life.

We have a multitude of choices in everything that we do, perhaps there is just too much choice which can be very stressful for a lot of people.

No need to change all in one go, you are sure to fail. I started with toiletries. Most of the shampoos, conditioners, and shower gels etc. use the same basic ingredients but the business of consumerism is not to just have one product but lots of different products even though they do the same job.

Find and visit your local refill shop. Purchase a couple of reusable pump action plastic bottles (yes, I know they are plastic, but glass is not safe in bathrooms) I use a 1000ml size. If you prefer start using blocks of soap but buy them without the plastic wrapping. 

Cleaning products could just be a spray bottle of vinegar and water which can deal with a multitude of cleaning jobs.  Lemon juice can clean taps and steel sinks. A tin of beeswax furniture polish to use a few times a year the rest of the time just take a slightly damp cloth and dust. Toilet cleaner can be a refillable bottle, so can a multipurpose kitchen and bathroom cleaner.

Try to get into the habit of thinking plastic free whenever you need to purchase something. For example, a few months ago I needed a new dustpan and brush but instead of replacing it with another plastic one, I purchased a metal dustpan with a wooden handled brush, yes, it was more expensive but the metal one will last a lot longer than the plastic one.

I would suggest that you start with what you use the most of. In the bathroom start using refills or soap. It only takes a change of habits although I know that habits are hard to break but try to change one habit per month when you need to replace any item in your home. Don’t forget I have a free downloadable plastic reducing plan available on the home page of this website. Print it out and stick it on the fridge, get the whole family involved.