This month I gave up plastic toothpaste tubes for metal – the caps are still plastic though
learnt how to make bad water good with my steri pen
Sourced some plastic free trekking water
For those of you back in HUDDERSFIELD you can buy your plastic free pitta alternatives here
For those of you in ARAMBOL India you can fill up your water bottles here
Find other plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index
There are still some tooth pastes come in metal tubes BUT be aware that all metal tubed toothpastes I have come across have a plastic cap and as far as I know the tubes are lined with a plastic liner. That’s why I make my own tooth powder.
I have seen them for sale in health food shops and you can buy this from Twenga
Apparently “ What makes Marvis unique is the range of exotic flavours – enticing and addictive tastes that produce a whirlwind of sensations. Marvis search the world to bring you irresistible new and original flavours that turn the simple act of teeth brushing into a daily pleasure of discovery and taste.”
So there you go
Biscuit wrapper in a mountain stream – plastic of course!
Though the food at the home stays does the job it is sometimes basic and often repetitive. Though they will make you a packed lunch the less said about them the better. You may feel the need to take some additional provisions with you.
The purchase of plastic free, light weight snacks is difficult I know but here are a couple of options.
Dried fruit can be bought loose in the market on the main street of Leh or in paper bags from Dzosmos. (where you can also refill your water bottle with filtered water while you are in Leh)
If you or the trekking party you are with do buy plastic wrapped snacks please do ensure that they are disposed of properly even if that means taking your plastic wrappers back to Leh with you. There is no guarantee that they will be properly disposed of there but at least it will keep the hills cleaner for longer.
Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category
Organized by the Snow leopard Conservancy, these treks allow you access to some of the amazing scenery around Leh. You stay in villagers homes – I say village but sometimes it is a single farmstead and have to walk from place to place. There are no roads. Everything that goes into the mountains has to be carried there on the backs of donkeys. Needless to say there is no rubbish collection everything that goes into the mountains stays in the mountains.
For hundreds of years the ecological balance has been maintained. Rubbish is composted or burnt or eaten by other less fussy animals. Even now this landscape is wonderfully clean and rubbish free. But all that is changing with the advent of plastic. Plastic is of course difficult to burn, doesn’t biodegrade, and kills those animals who eat it. Once it is in the landscape it is there for decades looking horrible and causing trouble.
Thankfully there are people like the Snow leopard Conservancy who are trying to preserve snow leopards and the environment in which they and the farmers live. They have several amazing projects including the home stay treks. As well as board and bed, your host will provide you with boiled filtered water. All you have to do is take your own refillable water bottle for plastic free hydration.
What a great scheme.
NB Don’t rely on there being bottled water for sale – there isn’t any. Ha!
For more details go to
hymalayan homestays
markha-valley
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Stay at home type? Check out my range of U.K based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Last year I gave up plastic wrapped bread – which was pretty easy for English bread at least. However for middle eastern breads it’s a different story -pitta breads, lavoche and other types of flat bread are not to be bought in anything other than plastic wrappings. The husband hails from far off lands and often gets a yearning for the flat breads of his youth.
It felt a little unfair to deny him the pleasure of a properly wrapped kebab and so I supposed that a special dispensation would have to be made for foreign bread.
But no more thanks to the arrival of Maryam Bakery on Blacker Road Huddersfield. They do four nan breads for a pound. They call them nans but they are in fact more of a Kurdish style flat bread. They are freshly baked and better than any plastic wrapped pittas or dusty dry lavoche.
And they come wrapped in paper.
For more plastic free products go to the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index.
Those of you traveling to Arambol in India this year might be interested to know that you don’t have to buy endless plastic bottles of water. Go to Double Dutch Restaurant and get your water bottle refilled with safe, clean filtered water for a fraction of the cost - saving money and the environment.
I know I don’t have to tell you why this is good idea. Instead, here’s a picture of a cow eating plastic on on one of the (many) Arambol rubbish dumps.
Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category
