The return of bad plastic habits

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Each month we record our plastic waste to check how well, (or not), the boycott is going. We count everything but the alcohol.

Any one checking our bin recently will have been impressed to see nothing posted since January . They may have thought that meant no plastic trash. Sadly the reverse is true.

In February  we went to Japan. Japan is  extremely expensive so most of the time we cooked for ourselves in the hostel. This meant  shopping for food and whoa are they keen on packaging! They wrap everything in plastic – even individual carrots.  I can more easily tell you what plastic we didn’t use – we didn’t use carrier bags or produce bags, we managed to buy bread unwrapped and dark chocolate that came in foil and paper packaging. Not enough to live on as I am sure you will agree. It was so depressing creating bins full of  plastic rubbish, I didn’t want to monitor it.

Then we have been hostel managing and cooking for guests in Laos. Yes, we could buy most of our veges loose in the market and we took  a reusable plastic tub for the meat . Bread too was unwrapped. But everything else was plastic packed (sugar, flour, noodles, beverages etc) and of course we had to buy what the guests required and not  what we would have chosen. So again I didn’t count it.

But…  one of the reasons I have avoided monitoring … looks at floor and scuffs feet….is  that I am ashamed.

I have to admit I have started buying cigarettes again.

I had to! I had smoked so many of eveyone elses while claiming not to smoke it really was my time to buy some.

Yes, I know, I deserve everything you choose to say to me. Filthy habit, dirty plastic wrapper, butts that last for ever, abusing my body and just plain bloody stupid.

You are so right and it has to stop.

So, in August, when I start monitoring our rubbish again, there will be no fag packets or dirty butts in there.  Clean, serene and plastic free, and no sneaky tokes on the tabs of others either!

Find the plastic free products we use listed in the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index.

Related articles

• 10 quick ways to cut plastic trash (plasticisrubbish.wordpress.com)

In our bin

 

Each month we record our plastic waste to check how well, or not, the boycott is going. We count everything but the alcohol.

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When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and spirits, plastic wine corks, plastic lined cans of beer and tins of tonic water.
We don’t count these because it is too difficult to count.

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Its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought and for whom. I once tried to keep track in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks. And when we buy drinks for other people,  do we count that as our plastic trash or theirs?

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Entertaining at home, people bring booze we drink it, whose fault the plastic wine cork? Going out, people offer us a drink, we don’t refuse because it is in a  plastic lined can.

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But also it’s not something we really want to share – it seems too personal. Yes we are alchoholics!

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So go on have a look in our bin

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Check out the  plastic free products we have sourced with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index.

January Bin

Each month we record our plastic waste.

This is the plastic rubbish created by 2 people. Please note we count everything but the alcohol**

6 cans of soda – in plastic lined cans

5 glass bottle of soda with plastic lined metal caps

12 straws – We say no to the straws we, don’t use the straws, we give the straws back- but they still keep coming. Next time we are going to bring our own reusable straws

2 sim card in plastic wrapping and one memory card.

1 sachet of hot chocolate

1 plastic screw top of essential oil (glass) bottle

1 tube Pringles

1 jar olive – glass jar – plastic lined metal screw top lid

Gherkins – glass jar – plastic lined metal screw top lid

1 plastic bottle

1 toothbrush – we tried the biodegradable, wooden, all natural, toothbrushes but they don’t last very long, and to be honest I don’t feel they really get my teeth clean. Any one else have an input on these?

1 tub of butter – I know but last time it came in a pot and this time it didn’t and I really can’t eat dry bread.

To see our previous bins, look here

**When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and other bottles of hooch and the occasional plastic lined can of beer (which we don’t really like but occasionally buy). We don’t count these because
• its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought. I once tried to keep note in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks.
• We buy rounds for other people which we are obviously we are not stop doing but can’t really count as our plastic.
• We keep stumbling on that first step. Still can’t admit that yes we are alcoholics.

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of U.K based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

December Bin

This is the plastic rubbish created by 2 people backpacking overland. Please note we count everything but the alcohol**

Plastic wrapper from  reusable water bottle

Plastic cap and wrapper from glass bottle of vinegar

Dropper from essential oil bottle

1 plastic bag wrapper from shower cap

5 straws

Plastic packaging off yet another plug converter

1 cosmetic jar broken

For more rubbish check out our bin

**When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and other bottles of hooch and the occasional plastic lined can of beer (which we don’t really like but occasionally buy). We don’t count these because
• its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought. I once tried to keep note in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks.
• We buy rounds for other people which we are obviously we are not stop doing but can’t really count as our plastic.
• We keep stumbling on that first step. Still can’t admit that yes we are alcoholics.

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

In Our Bin – November

This is the plastic rubbish created by 2 people backpacking overland. Please note we count everything but the alcohol**

Thailand

We have had to up our plastic free activities in Thailand as they love plastic. Everything that can be served in plastic is but they don’t stop there. If they then double or triple wrap they will. Lucky we had our tiffin tins.

Cutlery wrapped in plastic!? The one time we went out with our chop sticks or folding cutlery and this tuned up with our meal. What to do?

Cling film off soap.  This one really annoyed me. I went and bought some special, paper- wrapped, organic and very expensive soap. Unwrapped it only to find the soap itself had been swathed in clingfilm.  Grrrrr. 

One plastic bottle of juice – see our plastic trains post for more

Packaging for battery recharger.

One plastic razor head.

9 straws – sometimes they just don’t understand no

One bottle of mosquito repellent

I sachet of hot chocolate

1 bottle juice

One plastic bag of ice – we had our own pot but they were too quick for us

Hair dye – the cellophane wrapper off  the box, 1 foil sachet of hair colour

1 plastic lid off metal tube

1 cellophane wrapper off a packet of ciggareetes – yes I know I gave up but this was a relapse.

1 Tag of new dress

1 bottle water

2 plastic wrappings off the new water bottles

2 pens – village boy has not gone electronic. Well what can you expect.

For more rubbish check out our bin

**When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and other bottles of hooch and the occasional plastic lined can of beer (which we don’t really like but occasionally buy). We don’t count these because
• its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought. I once tried to keep note in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks.
• We buy rounds for other people which we are obviously we are not stop doing but can’t really count as our plastic.
• We keep stumbling on that first step. Still can’t admit that yes we are alcoholics.

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

Related articles

• Denise Richards Says Give Up Plastic Bottles in 2012 (ecorazzi.com)

In Our Bin – October

This is the plastic rubbish created by 2 people backpacking overland. Please note we count everything but the alcohol**

Vietnam to Loas

Back in the land of bottled sodas hooray. The caps are plastic lined but are  recycled for their metal content.

About 30 bottles of soda

New tooth brush – bought a two pack to try and save on plastic packaging. Last time I went backpacking I tried these natural toothbrushes – but sadly they didn’t work for me.

For more rubbish check out our bin

**When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and other bottles of hooch and the occasional plastic lined can of beer (which we don’t really like but occasionally buy). We don’t count these because
• its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought. I once tried to keep note in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks.
• We buy rounds for other people which we are obviously we are not stop doing but can’t really count as our plastic.
• We keep stumbling on that first step. Still can’t admit that yes we are alcoholics.

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

Related articles

• Building Bridges From Plastic Shampoo Bottles (npr.org)
• Sunlight-powered ‘bulbs’ made from plastic bottles light up homes (bfreenews.com)
• The brilliant design of a plastic bottles house (thezigzagger.com)

In Our Bin –August to September

This is the plastic rubbish created by 2 people backpacking overland. Please note we count everything but the alcohol**

China

In China we were stayed in hostels but these were not self-catering. Who cares the street food was fantastic and cheap. Fruit however was scarce, expensive or wrapped in plastic. For this reason we started drinking fruit juice. Where ever possible we bought it in plastic bottles rather than cartons as plastic bottles have a real value in China. Almost as soon as you have finished drinking they are snatched by bottle collectors who then sell them to the plastic recyclers. You can be sure that this plastic is not going to end up in landfill or the landscape.
As the same applies to cans we drank quite a few tins of fizzy pop.

8 plastic bottles of fruit juice and 24 canned drinks.
½ KFC bucket of chicken (shared with friends)
1 paper cup of Pepsi with straw – part of above.

On the fast food front we sinned several times in Mac Donald’s. It was always in the early hours after getting off all night trains when we needed somewhere to sit till the buses started running. This way we racked up
2 paper cups of coffee
3 plastic cups of juice

Other plastic crimes include these supermarket crimes – they had CHEESE!!!

1 pack cheese
2 French sticks in bread in paper wraps with plastic windows
1 pack of smoked meat
2 sets of pickles in plastic bags
A packet of roughage biscuits which promised results. They came in a plastic tray individually wrapped in portions of two 9 packs in total and they didn’t deliver. Had to resort to prunes.
6 foil sachets of drinking chocolate
4 yoghurt drinks

For more rubbish check out our bin

**When I say alcohol I mean the plastic lined metal caps off beer and other bottles of hooch and the occasional plastic lined can of beer (which we don’t really like but occasionally buy). We don’t count these because
• its hard to remember all of the drinks we have bought. I once tried to keep note in my notebook but it felt way too anal and garnered some strange looks.
• We buy rounds for other people which we are obviously we are not stop doing but can’t really count as our plastic.
• We keep stumbling on that first step. Still can’t admit that yes we are alcoholics.

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

Related articles

• Building Bridges From Plastic Shampoo Bottles (npr.org)
• Sunlight-powered ‘bulbs’ made from plastic bottles light up homes (bfreenews.com)
• The brilliant design of a plastic bottles house (thezigzagger.com)

In Our Bin – July Part 2

Playing catch up here

Plastic rubbish created by 2 people (please note we count everything but the alcohol  – don’t want my mother winging).

July

In Russia we were mostly self catering and stayed in hostels

St Petersburg

Its hard to live plastic free in St Petersburg as everything we saw was wrapped in plastic.  Our first meal – spaghetti bolognaise – everything came in plastic

Packet of mince , onions in a plastic bag, 2 tins of tomatoes, spaghetti and garlic.

When  we ate out the food was so expensive and the menus so incomprehensible that a few times  we succumbed to Mac Donald’s which for the most part appear to come in plastic free wrapping… but on a couple of occasions  we bought the  drinks in paper (plastic lined) cups. I know! But we refused the plastic lid  and straws. Its  bloody hard to drink those drinks without them. All that ice floating about  means you have slobber and slurp in an undignified manner and the end result is sticky frozen lips.

Moscow was better with a posh supermarket selling loose food and having our own selection of reusable bags , we managed to stay mainly plastic free.

To see how we did up to here read our not the orient express 

European rubbish is listed in our post July Part 1 over  here

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index

In Our Bin July Part 1

Plastic rubbish created by 2 people (please note we count everything but the alcohol  – don’t want my mother winging).

17  June – 10^th July Travelling overland through

Europe, Holland, Germany, Estonia, Finland and Poland

We were self catering through out  and thanks to the lovely shops and markets stalls, the enlightened packaging options in Europe  and having our own selection of reusable bags , we managed to stay mainly plastic free.

We had to buy 2 yoghurts in Helsinki  

In Tallinn we bought

1 packet of sausages

2 tins of tomatoes

I tin of beans

Before we sourced these Tallinn based plastic free options

Want to find more travel related plastic free tips? Check out the travel category

Stay at home type? Check out my range of Uk based plastic free products with the >>>A-Z<<< plastic free index