‘Living Hopefully’ involves living consciously and carefully in relation to the everyday choices we all have to make. Here’s the story of the first tiny steps I took in my Living Hopefully journey.
Where to start making changes?
The first area of my life I addressed was my use of plastic- that wonderful/terrible substance that our world now uses as if we have no choice!
Why plastic?
Plastic pollution is one of the growing problems our world is facing. It’s a good place to start making changes in your lifestyle because everyone uses plastic, so this is a place where we can all begin to make pro-planet changes.
The first useful step is to make yourself deeply aware of just how dangerous plastic really is.
Here’s a link to the documentary film ‘A Plastic Ocean’ which looks at some of the awful consequences our unbridled use of plastic has caused for the planet so far. Watch A Plastic Ocean | Netflix
And here’s an article that gives facts and figures that are useful to know:
Plastic pollution facts and information
So what can I do about plastic?
Understanding a threat is one thing: tackling it in your own life is another. I’ve been working on this for a while and here’s what I’ve realised it’s important to know if you want this change to become ingrained in your future life.
Prepare mentally to make the change.
The first thing to recognise when you decide to tackle ‘the plastic problem’ is that it became a problem for very good reasons! Plastic as a material is extraordinarily useful: it’s strong, lightweight, cheap (in terms of money costs), flexible, mouldable, durable- the ‘plus’ list goes on ….and on! It’s adaptable to a huge range of needs and functions, and it’s just so utterly convenient that it has become the go-to product for almost every purpose humanity can devise. It’s because of all these positive qualities that plastic has become ubiquitous. And it’s because it’s so ubiquitous that plastic has become the threat it is.
It’s also useful to remind yourself just how accustomed modern people are to the presence of plastic in our lives. Most people alive today were born when plastic was already well on its way to world domination as the principle packaging material on the planet, as well as being an integral component of almost every product we use in daily life: our phones, computers, clothing, footwear, cars…. The challenge today is to think of any consumable product that doesn’t have plastic in it or on it!!
Because of this closeness to us, this familiarity and this acceptance that we all have for plastic, the risks it presents are easily ‘discounted’- even by people who do know all the facts and who absolutely and genuinely want to cut it out of their lives. Emotionally, ‘good old plastic’ just doesn’t feel like the threat that we know, intellectually, it really is!
For all these reasons it’s important at the start of this process to internalise the reality of why plastic has become so lethal. It will be practically useful for you to internalise the evidence of the real-time environmental damage all those harmless-looking little plastic wrappers are causing all around the globe. Time and time again, having easy mental access to the facts, and being able to instantly visualise some of the damage, death and misery plastic is causing ‘as we speak’, has helped me to ‘stick to the plan’ when I was tempted to pick up ‘just this one’ little plastic-wrapped treat.
So please- do spend the time needed to really grasp the facts. Let yourself see and feel the waste of life, health and wellbeing that plastic is causing right now. Understand the facts and appreciate in advance how those facts won’t change that familiar, benign, unthreatening look that plastic has today and will still have tomorrow. In short, it will still look like ‘good old plastic’ – even when you know all about the killing consequences it has as it breaks down into the microplastics that contaminate our children’s air and the water they drink.
So to give yourself the best chance of success, don’t underestimate the usefulness of plastic and the entrenched, unthinking, automatic nature of our reliance on it. You’re setting out to break ‘the habit of a lifetime’ – so do expect that to be uncomfortable sometimes and do be ready to persist!
Beware of the greenwash.
The world and it’s cat now understand how plastic is wrecking our environment. The information is out there in countless reports: here’s just another that’s been published recently: Plastic crisis needs binding treaty, report says – BBC News
Governments understand how destructive plastic is; big business knows all about this, and many ordinary people have also ‘got the message’.
There’s widespread acceptance that single use plastic (‘sup’) causes the most environmental damage. These are things like take-away food boxes, coffee cups, plastic cutlery and drinking straws. Governments and EU bodies have recognised this and have even ‘begun taking steps towards’ banning a few sups. Here’s a sample of the types of actions being taken at EU and Government levels. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-unveiled-to-ban-single-use-plastics
https://www.agendani.com/ending-the-use-of-single-use-plastics-in-government-offices/
The EU issued a directive on single use plastics in 2019 Directive (EU) 2019/904, and the Irish Government is ‘taking steps’ towards implementing that directive. In Ireland the steps will come into force incrementally between now and 2030!! https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/ef24a-single-use-plastics/
Given that we’re already two years into the ‘decisive decade for climate change’, all this official clap-trap is plainly meaningless. Seeing just how paltry, minimalist, ineffective and slow these ‘actions’ are makes it clear that they are simply not intended to be effective. They are a recipe for ‘business as usual’, dressed up to look like ‘climate action’. In fact they are prime examples of ‘climate delay’ and greenwashing by both individual countries and by the EU.
Recognising the gap between what is being done at State and international levels and what we need to see happening on the ground should remind us how vital it is for every citizen to take urgent, effective action for ourselves. The fact is – if we don’t address this killer problem – no one will. That’s a very good reason to persist with your lifestyle change.
The practicalities.
Give yourself a guiding principle.
Lots of people have spent time working out the ‘3Rs’ as the guiding principle for tackling all kinds of waste, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel to deal with plastic specifically. The 3Rs stand for ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, and this week’s article focuses on the first limb: ‘reducing.’
Reducing means ‘cutting down the amount of waste we create in the first place’.
Make it personal.
Where does your waste come from? Have a look in your landfill bin to see what types of plastic waste you need to address most urgently. When I looked in mine most of the contents came from the supermarket and they were the single use wrappings that come with almost every product I buy. My bin had bags that once had bananas inside them, plastic film that once coated my cucumbers and plastic wrappings from around almost everything I buy: rice, pasta, grated cheese, ground coffee…. Wrappers from multi-packs of everyday items like baked beans, chopped tomatoes and toilet rolls were big offenders, as were those lethal little plastic nets they put on onions, clementines and garlic bulbs- the ones so many sea animals choke on. So many things that never needed to be there in the first place! So many things that could easily be replaced by paper or cardboard alternatives- if only product makers and supermarkets cared enough.
In June 2020 I began applying the ‘reduce’ principle to my grocery shop- the place where most of my own plastic waste comes from. I adopted the rule: ‘‘cut out, at source, all the single-use plastic you habitually buy’. I call this the ‘no sup rule’ and this is how it’s working out so far.
Step 1 – ‘know your plastics’.
The first thing I needed to do when I went shopping was to develop the practice of seeing the sups. We’re all so habituated to just picking up the product from the display that we don’t notice: ‘I’m buying bananas here and I’m buying a useless plastic bag that’s going straight to landfill.’ When I apply my ‘no sup’ rule to that situation it tells me: ‘you can’t buy those bananas.’ So I don’t.
As you walk around the supermarket you realise- almost every product you want comes in a wrapper that says something like ‘not currently recyclable’ on the back- like this one.
The ‘not currently recyclable’ message on this spaghetti wrapper means it can only be thrown into your landfill bin. So the moment that wrapper comes off, the material content of it- the oil, gas and chemicals used to make the plastic film, the dyes used to create the design, all that ‘bad stuff’ gets thrown into your environment where it will pollute your children’s air and water supplies for years to come. I don’t want that consequence so I don’t buy that product.
Some manufacturers don’t say anything about their wrappers. These guys leave it to you to work out where and how to dispose of the wrapper they’re imposing on you! I apply a strict rule to the ‘silent’ brigade: ‘always assume a silent wrapper is single-use and destined for landfill. If it was anything else, they would have said so.’
So I don’t buy the ‘silent’ wrappers either.
Finally there’s the ‘confusing cohort’- manufacturers who don’t declare whether their wrapper is recyclable or not but instruct you to ‘check locally’. So you end up standing in the supermarket aisle with their product in your hand having to make a decision about it without the information you were looking for. That creates the possibility that you’ll buy their product in ignorance. Well- don’t do that! I have ‘checked locally’ in several cases and what I’ve found every time is that the wrapper is a sup. So now I assume that every ‘check locally’ wrapper is also a sup. That may be wrong in a few cases: if so, I haven’t come across them yet.
In my book it’s the responsibility of a person who makes a product to tell the prospective customer what’s in it. If a manufacturer can’t or won’t tell me that their wrapper is not a sup, then I will assume that it is, and leave it on the shelf with the rest of them!
When you walk around a supermarket applying the no-sup rule you quickly realise you’re going to need some other source for most of the products you use. Step 2 lets you prepare for that.
Step 2: know your shopping options.
When you decide to cut sups out of your life there’s really not a lot you can buy from a supermarket, so it’s important to make yourself familiar with all the places where you can buy plastic free versions of the products you use. Here’s a list of the many options we have.
The High Street near you.
For fresh goods like fruit, vegetables, bread and meat, the High Street is a great option. Most towns still have their own independent butchers, bakers and greengrocers and they will all supply their fresh goods with less packaging than any supermarket. Local bakeries supply their own unwrapped loaves and will put their pastries into a cardboard box that you can compost. Most High Street greengrocers carry some unpackaged seasonal fruit and veg they get from local farmers. All you need is a reusable shopping bag to drop them into.
Local butchers will give you whatever number of steaks, chops or sausages you want, all without plastic trays. They usually put each item onto greaseproof paper and then pack it into a small sup bag, but you can avoid the sup by providing them with a ziploc bag instead.
Using plastic to avoid plastic? Is that really OK?
Certain types of ‘wet’ goods, like bacon rashers or sausages, need to be transported in a wrapper that keeps them clean and hygienic like….. plastic! The problem with supermarket products is that there’s so much plastic around each product and most of it is purely for presentation and marketing purposes – so it’s not necessary for keeping your product safe. And most of their plastics are single use – so that’s a big bundle of microplastic toxins waiting to happen!
I chose to use ziploc bags for these products because when the product is used you can wash and dry the ziplocs and reuse them each week. I wash the ziplocs in hot soapy water, dry them with a tea towel and let them air inside out for a while before putting them back into my shopping bag for next time. I’ve been using the same pack of ziplocs since 2021 so, while they’re made of plastic, they definitely aren’t sups! They perform the useful parts of the supermarket sups’ role with the smallest possible material cost, and they help me to keep sups out of my landfill bin. In this way they reduce my contribution to the world’s microplastic toxin burden to the absolute minimum.
So I find them acceptable- for now. But if anyone has a zero-plastic solution for wet goods I’d really love to hear about it!
Markets.
The Oxford dictionary defines a market as ‘a regular gathering of people for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other commodities.’
It’s interesting that the definition focuses on the ‘gathering of people’ rather than on the commercial exchanges that also happen in the marketplace. That reflects the key difference I feel too when I shop in a market instead of a supermarket. The sellers at markets are often producers too: their products have a backstory and the sellers often have interesting life stories they’re happy to share if you have time to listen. I’ve asked a few of the stall holders I’ve met to send their stories into the blog to remind us of all the colour we lose from our lives when we limit our shopping to supermarkets!
We have wonderful markets in both Northern Ireland and in Ireland. I’ve put links to the ones I’ve used in the new ‘resources’ section that appears above.
If you organise a market, run a stall at one, or have a favourite market where you like to shop, please submit a suggestion for it and a link to its website so we can add it to our resource list. I’d like to create a ‘markets network’ spanning every county on this island so that anyone trying to cut down their plastic use can find a good place to start- so please help if you can.
Refill shops.
These are especially good for the store-cupboard groceries like rice, flour, pasta, tea, coffee and similar goods. You can either bring your own containers to fill at the shop or order what you need online. The ones I know deliver your goods in paper bags that you can empty into your own containers before composting or recycling the bags.
Again, I’ve listed the refill shops I know in the resource section and please do send details of any stores you know that offer refill facilities in your area.
Farm Shops, box schemes and CSAs
These are all excellent resources where you can buy local produce directly from the growers often with the convenience of having it delivered to your door.
Farm shops are shops based on or near a farm where you can buy the farm produce directly. Many of the goods, especially the fruit and vegetables come plastic free. Some of the farms that run these shops are organic farms so your vegetables will be both plastic and chemicals free.
Bigger farm shops may offer their own produce plus extra goods sourced from other suppliers that they trust. With these bigger operations the products may look more like supermarket goods, they may come from further away than the immediate farm locality and they may also come with more plastic packaging- so just be selective about what you buy.
Box schemes let you pay a subscription for a regular delivery of fruit and vegetables grown by a local grower or a collection of such growers. What you receive in the box varies seasonally. It is often organic and it generally comes plastic free- but you should check your local scheme before ordering.
CSAs are similar to box schemes and usually provide regular boxes of goods in return for a subscription. They may also offer more involvement for supporters interested in the growing process: for example you may be able to volunteer some time and labour to the CSA in return for some produce. If this appeals to you, check the local CSAs near you for the details before signing up. (We will have a closer look at CSAs in future articles about upskilling ourselves and the benefits of growing some of what you eat for yourself.)
As you can see, there is no shortage of alternative sources of fresh food and groceries on this island. Adopting the habit of using these better alternatives is the process of change that you’re engaging with now. To make this process stick- to be successful in your transition to more planet-friendly living- you need to pay special attention to step 3 below.
Step 3: know yourself.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do when you decide to cut excess plastic out of your life is to reflect on what’s really important to you when it comes to ‘getting the shopping done’.
What kind of a shopper are you now? What is your lifestyle like right now? How much time have you got for shopping? Do you like to ‘get it over with’ in one go- or are you the person who regularly ‘pops down to the supermarket’ over the course of a week? Do you like the idea of mixing shopping with eating/socialising/people watching- as happens in a market- or is that your worst nightmare: a vision of inefficiency? If it is, then check out these people https://www.greenearthorganics.ie/ They are organic growers based near Galway but they deliver to every county on the island. Look especially at their plastic free range: they deliver store cupboard goods like pasta and rice wrapped in plant based compostable wrappers that look like plastic, function like plastic, but aren’t plastic. By using their plastic free range you can get all your store cupboard goods and all your fresh produce plastic free, chemical free and delivered to your door in one hyper-efficient sweep!
So there are better shopping options available here to fit into any lifestyle you may have: ‘better’ in the sense that they can help you reduce your plastic use. Making a change that you can stick with, one that better suits your preferences and your schedules, will make all the difference to how ingrained your new shopping habit will become.
So give yourself time to experiment with this. Research which ‘better options’ are genuinely accessible to the place where you live. Try them out for size. One day when you have the time, try your local market and see just how many of your needs you can and can’t fulfil there. Experience whether you enjoyed market shopping or not? Did you save money or did you pay more? Did you enjoy bumping into your neighbours there or did all those people just ‘hold you up’? Try out the options and rule out the ones that just aren’t ‘you’. Then choose your new shopping routine and promise yourself that you’ll stick to it for at least 6 months. By then, hopefully, the supermarket ordeal will be a distant nightmare!
And Finally…
Be ready to forgive yourself in advance for not always sticking to your new rules. This is a process of adaptation, not an overnight switch and, if my experience is typical, you will not cut out all sups on your first attempt – no matter how motivated you are.
It took me months to get rid of the vast majority of my personal pile of sups and even now the process isn’t entirely complete. They sneak back in, especially when you haven’t prepared in advance for the demands you know are coming your way! It’s when you’re hungry but the cupboards are bare that you tend to ‘nip up to the garage’ and buy a sup-bag of potatoes and a sup-wrapped pack of something-or-other so that you can put a meal on the table. It’s an irritation and a disappointment, but the important thing is not to let these small slips derail you.
Slips do happen and they will probably happen to you, so don’t be surprised and don’t get too cross with yourself. Just learn from it and get back to the plan! Eventually, you will find the combination of better options that really does work for you, so that your cupboards are never bare and living sup free will be as effortless as breathing.
And then you’ll have the satisfaction of looking into your landfill bin one day and finding- it’s nearly empty!
Viv,
Living Hopefully,
© livinghopefully.org
Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash
