Ecothings- Looking at the A Swap a Day May challenge- 5-6 Reusable cup/bottle and Clingfilm

Here's my next installment of A Swap A Day- trying to swap waste and packaging heavy items for more eco-friendly, less wasteful alternatives. As always, these are here to inspire you, give you ideas and just allow me to waffle. If you budget means things are prohibitive, things are harder to swap and you may not be able to  It was lovely to receive your responses on the previous post of this regarding Swaps 1&2.

The next Eco-swap is a great one though one that has not been without pitfalls:

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I'm already behind but I will be joining this #swapaday insta thing. Although we did a swap a month to really get habits changed we have now done nearly all of these so can share! Now to catch up... #sustainableliving #sustainablelivingonabudget #zerowastejourney #goingzerowaste #plasticfree #plasticfreejourney

A post shared by Sustainable living (@sustainablelivingonabudget) on May 2, 2019 at 11:29am PDT

6.  Reusable cups/Bottled water:
The reusable cup and water bottle change is one of the easiest swaps that one can do.  I have reused a water bottle for many, many years now but I made a conscious decision not to buy bottled water at all a few years ago (which is why I found it maddening in Italy where a bottle was brought to your table and opened and put onto the table in a restaurant or where they told you they COULDN'T/DON'T/WOULDN'T serve tap water even when you were ordering a 3 course meal for 8 and were ordering other drinks anyway). 
I've had my glass water bottle for at least 4-5 years (bought in TK Maxx) and various other water bottles before that. My pretty metal bottle has been with me at least 3 years, if not more (Also TK Maxx) and I brought back WOMOTM's reusable water bottles from his flat when we cleared out his flat so we had spares to use for a long trip or to offer other people.  Buying bottled water in a country with clean, fresh water on tap is, to me, capitalist consumerism gone bad.  Why pay for something you have anyway at such a mark up? 
Every morning, I fill up my stainless steel bottle and put it in my bag and drink it on the train.  I posted about the refill station at Shenfield station so even if you are waiting at this main train station, you can refill your bottle- you just need to get into the habit of carrying it.  It is completely habit now, I am used to carrying it so there is no issue.

Reusable cups:   I've been using reusable cups for at least 4-5 years now and used Thermoses (Thermi???) for the car journeys to Northumberland before that.  Consciously, I made a decision back in around December 2017 that I would NOT get a throw-away cup for drink EVEN if I was desperate and I would have to make sure I ALWAYS carried a cup with me.  This has worked out pretty well- even with a train journey to Italy this Summer.  An insulated cup lives in my handbag now. I carry a fairly large bag (well, rucksack) but you can get fold-up ones so it is possible to have one in a smaller bag. I really like those Infographics that show you 365 paper cups compared to one Reusable cup to show a year's usage if you need to drink on the go.  Or wait until you get to house/building with a real ceramic mug?
I've had slightly cunning conversations with builders in the queue at Greggs about reusable cups- I've noticed those in the building trade carrying several paper cups with plastic lids and I always make sure I have a conversation about being glad I remembered my reusable mug. It may not plant a seed but I hope it might....at some point!

7.  Clingfilm:
I'll be honest with you. I LOATHE clingfilm and always have- I have NEVER grasped how to pull a piece of the stuff and CBC banned me from using it as I kept wrecking them (I'll be honest, I only ever used it if someone asked me to use it for something, not voluntarily.)
Instead, I will use a box with a lid, some of my lovely beeswax wraps made by the lovely Ang and my Bassoon friend Mary, a bowl with a lid, a plate but never cling-film.  It's horrid, awkward stuff!

There are countless other ways to store things such as elasticated lids, even foil I'd prefer but I'd prefer not to use single-use materials.
I've got several glass Pyrex dishes with lids- these seem a good idea and now, I even bought a cute fabric sandwich bag with velcro to store in my rucksack at a recent Eco-fair. I've kept snacks in here too!

What have you managed to do on these swap front?  If you haven't, would you consider swapping?

Kxx

The 8 R's for the Environment

I saw something wonderful on Instagram that I wanted to share on here.  An Artist called @Tozersigns (Her website is here.) made a mural for @ZeroGreenBristol's refit. Their website is here. 
We've always been told the 3 R's-  Reuse, Reduce, Recycle but even-better- there are 8 R's!!!!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tozer Signwriter (@tozersigns) on Mar 9, 2019 at 3:50am PST

That's beautiful, isn't it!

Recycle- Close the Loop and remake:

Yep- done.  I recycle everything I can, even to the extent of carrying round rubbish with me from other people.
Refuse- Don't consume what you don't need to.

Yep- done.  I refuse boxes and straws and cups and bags.

Reduce- reduce consumption of energy and materials

Done partly.  Although the majority of my wardrobe etc is second-hand, I still own a lot of new things I don't need and jewellery etc.
That said, I do try to walk where possible, turn off lights for me and other people (I am the light and Smartboard Police at work) and try not to take new things.

Reuse- Share with others and find new uses for old objects.

Yep- done.
I have tried to send items of clothing to friends, sell them.  I've tried to reuse items such as the plastic fruit boxes and takeaway boxes etc, paper bags, cereal bag.

Repair- Fix or upgrade your objects rather than throwing them away.

Done only partly.
I got my sunglasses fixed by a friend.  I have repaired a holdall with a rip in it with an old umbrella cover (which I now need to do with another bag).

Re-gift-  Share and be a part of the gift economy.

Definitely done this on various occasions where a gift hasn't quite worked for me.

Recover - Energy and materials recovery and upcycle.

Hmmm, not so sure about this though I frequently save items from binning at school (e.g. scrap paper, gift bags etc).

And finally
Re-think- Be mindful of your consumption, your relationship with things and with the Earth.

Definitely trying to do this.  We 'rethought' a trip to Italy by travelling by train.  I rethink how I pack and how I consume.

Two others you could include:

Research:  Not happy with something to do with waste?  Research a way to solve it!

Reach out/React:  Tell companies when you are not happy about the way they are doing something.

Respect:  Assess what you are doing.  Are you showing respect for the Earth and your local, national, global environment.


What do you think? Can you think of any R's to add to this dialogue?

xx

Eco thing this week #6

Here's a round up of Eco-things I've seen, done or thought about in the last week be it successes or failures.

• My Mum was telling me about a Sainsburys product which really annoyed her. Their Tomato and Mascapone pasta sauce used to come in a glass jar with a lid.  It now comes in a really irritating plastic pouch. She wrote to complain about it. I had the same sauce with her and decided to do the same.  Here's my email if you would like to copy and paste it and use it for any 'please change your plastic packaging' emails you want to send.  

Dear Sainsburys,I am delighted to hear that you are finally starting to address the vast iceberg that is your excessive plastic use.  Well done! It was a relief to hear it! However, I would like to address one particular product which you have changed over the last few years.  Your Tomato and Mascapone Pasta saucu used to come in a glass jar with a metal lid. It was extremely easy to use and clean and recycle.  However, for some inexplicable reason, you have changed this so it now comes in an extremely irritating, not easy to clean and recycle plastic pouch. Not only is it extremely difficult to get the pasta sauce out in the first place (I loathe cutting into these pouches), it is really hard to get ALL the dregs of the sauce out and then clean it- I get sauce EVERYWHERE when I try to get all of it out- sauce goes all the way up the spoon.  When it was in a glass jar, I just had to swill a bit of hot water in the jar with the lid on and it was easy to add to the saucepan and then wash out. In addition, it is not recyclable where I live (and then it will eventually end up as microplastics).  Can I suggest that you revert to the original, very satisfactory packaging please?  In the meantime, I am buying jars of it from Aldi when I can get there as theirs still comes in glass jars.
While I am writing, can I please make another suggestion regarding plastic reduction.  Your adundant multipacks of crisps all come in massive plastic bags.  Why not make a start with your own brands by making the OUTSIDE part of your multipacks out of recycled paper. This would make a huge reduction in plastic.  This could also be applied to any chocolate biscuit multipacks too.
With all good wishes,Kerenza

• I got this next bit from SOMEWHERE, can't remember where! Please let me know if  was you!  "SWAPPING a single-use item for another single-use item is not the answer.   We need to make a decision to try and find alternative ways of avoiding those single use items.  Every time we say yes to another plastic item, we are part of the problem. Can we be sure that the item will get to a recycling plant?  Where is it? Here in England or half-way across the planet. We need to slow down our consumption of single-use plastic. Use our voices and go to the companies. Ask them to use their wealth to change their packaging.  Sticking everything in the recycling is not going to do anything else."

• My big fail last week was an Marks and Spencer shop.  I ordered a jumper for my Dad for his birthday from M and S.  Rather than get my free postage, I thought if I got it sent to store, then it wouldn't come in a plastic package.  Alas, when I got there to pick it up, it was in 2 plastic packets!! AHEGHGHGH!! (Cue next week's email to M&S about this).  I was, unfortunately, extremely hungry when I went into the store and I really strongly got the urge to eat antipasti like olives, sundried tomatoes and sweet peppers stuffed with cream cheese (I know, I know- first world problems).  I stupidly gave into this urge and ended up buying them- all 3 came in plastic tubs with plastic lids. I also ended up buying 2 bags of crisps (and also some chicken which came in a foil tray with cardboard lid- the only one I could find with minimal plastic.  I felt really guilty as soon as I came out of there.
• I performed at the Cadogan Hall on Monday night for the Indonesian Embassy to celebrate 70 years of Diplomatic relations between the UK and Indonesia.  The Embassy provided us all with a delicious Indonesian meal...but everyone of the 100+ performers' meals came in a large (and I mean a 12" by 12") plastic box.  Plastic cutlery was provided in a pouch and plastic bottles of water. I was dismayed. Worse still, there were no recycling facilities in the changing rooms and I saw a bin full of them when other people were eating.  Someone picked mine up to put it in the bin but I ran over and said that I couldn't bear it going in the bin and I was going to take it home to recycle (I said this in a loud voice hoping others might do likewise...to no avail).  I put it in my bike pannier.   At the end of the evening, I went round the changing room and gathered ALL the plastic bottles which had been discarded - there were 16...mostly still full of water and I put them in my bike pannier to carry them across London and home on the train to Essex. They are still in my front room- I will be emptying them onto the garden and then recycling.  Big events are ALWAYS a problem in terms of waste. This is why I strongly dislike festivals, concerts and big sporting events because of the sight and knowledge of overflowing bins full of resources that could have been recycled if only everyone made an effort to take home their waste.  It makes me feel physically sick.  If I, a non-driver who is always carrying a million things around, can do it, so can anyone.  It makes me glad to hear that hopefully Glastonbury festival is making a huge effort with plastic waste this year.
• Shared tips for eco-loo roll with a work colleague who is trying to make more changes.  She made me happy to hear that last Summer, they rigged up a hosepipe to a paddling pool from their bathroom to use all shower water to water their garden when we had that super hot Summer!
• Picked up a few discarded bottles and newspapers from train seats to recycle.  Used the newspaper in my new compost bin to stop it getting so skanky!
• Picked up a full  1 litre soda bottle which was half full of soda which was just standing in the middle of the traffic island. Managed to carry it whilst cycling.  Carried it and emptied the soda over a bush and then carried the bottle to the recycling at the station.  I now see rubbish as my problem.  Not something to tut over and expect it to be cleared up but, where I can, pick up what I can and ensure it gets to the recycling facilities.
• Forgot my Stainless steel bottle for the Indonesian gig on Monday so found a half-drunk glass bottle of Schloer at work and took that with me to put water in.
• Went to the Chinese again last night and took 3 plastic containers and an old carrier bag to put the food in.
• Lidl today- put rolls from the bakery counter in an old paper bread bag from last week.  Also selected the only cheese in non-plastic- a French Brie plus limes.
• Been using my glass bottles from the Milk and More apple juice I get each week to keep mint cuttings in to grow roots. Sharing these plants with my friends so they don't have to buy mint plants in plastic. 
• I've signed up for #Slowfashionseason.  No new clothes for 3 months- only second hand, mended, swapped... See https://www.collaction.org/projects/slow-fashion-summer-2019/129/details

And on the web...

• Protect our bees!

https://actions.sumofus.org/a/save-the-bees-ban-toxic-pesticide-sulfoxaflor-from-europe-s-fields/

Love this idea from @aldiuk for freezing your Basil plant...

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Waste not, want not. Reduce your food waste and keep your meals full of flavour by freezing your fresh basil into ice cubes with olive oil. Tag someone who needs to know this tip for the chance to WIN a £50 voucher. T&Cs apply. #AldiEverydayAmazing #FoodHacks #ZeroWaste #FreshProduce

A post shared by Aldi UK (@aldiuk) on Jun 18, 2019 at 9:23am PDT

Vix has long extolled the virtues of the Lush Shampoo bars which she did after I bemoaned how much I disliked the Refill shampoo I had bought from my Zerowaste shop. This article is extolling the virtues of them! 

The story of Stuff has issued a new video on Water! Worth a watch!

Great TED talk from @Kittiekipper

• Susie has shared a brilliant idea for your discarded chive flowers!  Apparently, if you put them in white wine vinegar it makes a lovely salad dressing!!
• Why are BP trying to dig for oil

 BP wants to ship an oil rig out to the North Sea to drill for up to 30 million barrels of oil and I am now occupying it - to shut down BP's business as usual.

At their AGM this year, BP agreed with its investors to show how the company is "aligned" with the Paris Climate Agreement - the treaty tackling climate change. So drilling for oil, when we already have more than we can afford to burn, is a pretty odd thing to do - but that's BP in a nutshell.

They say one thing and do another. Just take a look at their social media channels - it's all wind turbines and rolling hills (they even have a video of a dog running through a field with wind turbines in the background - it makes no sense). Where are the images of oil spills and carbon billowing into the earth's atmosphere?

Let's call them out publicly on their lies and green washing. Hit the button, comment on BP's social media posts and get them to tell the truth - they're tipping us over the edge into climate breakdown.

Stop BP's lies on Facebook

Stop BP's lies on Twitter

• Apparently, Sainsbury's are ditching plastic bags in their bakery and fruit and veg section for loose items - see here.   Instead, there will be paper bags for Bakery and you must bring your own for the veg and fruit or buy a reusable one. Ostensibly, they are committed to reducing plastic:   plastic lids from cream pots and plastic trays from carrots and tomatoes will be considered too.  This is great news and progress BUT, unless they back it up by removing the plastic packaging that the majority of the fruit and veg comes in, then there's STILL a long, long way to go.  And the cheese wrapping, AND the ready meals, AND the pouches of cat food, AND the trays and packets of sauces.   I might still write to them.  Will you too?

https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/1138663/sainsburys-news-recycle-plastic-vending-machines-lincoln

• I looked at the Recycle Now website to find out more about what the big supermarkets will recycle in terms of plastic packaging that I can't do in my home recycling, at the bigger Tescos, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Coop, Morrisons: Here's what I found:

WHICH TYPES OF PLASTIC FILM CAN BE RECYCLED?

The following different types of plastic films are accepted at carrier bag collection points.

Yes please	No thanks
All plastic bags, except biodegradable or compostable bags	Any non-Polyethylene film (e.g. PP, PVC, others)
Bread bags	Cling film
Breakfast cereal liners	Food and drink pouches
Shrink wrap & ring joiners from multipacks of water, cans etc	Wrappers from bakeries, e.g. bags with lots of small holes in them
Frozen food bags, e.g. bags for frozen vegetable, chips, etc	Film lids from trays and pots, e.g. yoghurt pots
Dry cleaning bags/bags covering new clothing	Any dirty bags or film, for example containing food
Magazine and newspaper wrappers	Crisp packets
Bags for fruit and vegetables	Compostable bags
Bubble wrap	Any film claiming to be biodegradable
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) - resin ID code 4	Pre-prepared salad bags

• Aldi has announced Its new compostable bags are made of a bio-degradable material & designed to be 100% domestically compostable within 1 year. Paper bags w Aldi has pledged to cut down on its plastic packaging by 25% by the end of 2023

@2minutebeachclean shared a sneak preview of this Anti-plastic book:

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Sneaky peek. Look what’s coming! 1st Aug. #2minutesuperhero 😃😃😃😃😃😃😃 @martindorey has been busy!

A post shared by Founded By @martindorey (@2minutebeachclean) on Jun 16, 2019 at 10:24am PDT

What has been going on with you eco-wise this week?

 xx

Holland and Barrett 12 days of Beauty Calendar

I have a confession to make here.   I have been feeling uncomfortable about the expansion of all those Advent Beauty calendars that have been taking over Advent for the last few years.  I like the idea of them in the sense it is quite innovative and you get 'a good deal' in terms of what you get with them but I just feel that we are all over-saturated with gifts at Christmas anyway so having a whole month, practically, of gifts to ourselves is just excessive; the amount of packaging and waste it produces (a box for the Advent Calendar, individual sections within, the packing of the actual products individually)  for me, yet again, detracts from the simplicity of Advent- the excitement and much makes it too much. I have had no intention of buying one of them.

Thus it seems rather hypocritical for me to be writing about what I am writing here.  Holland and Barretts did, as well as their 'Advent calendar'- a 12 days of Beauty calendar, which I can only surmise must perhaps have been something you might buy as a gift for someone at Christmas.
I was in Holland and Barrett in Felixstowe and I wanted to buy something because I like to support the High Street there when I visit- I was looking for a particular natural face cream that I usually use which seems to have been discontinued and thought I might find some rogue bottles in there. I prefer to use more natural beauty products and generally buy mine from Holland and Barrett.
Alas, I didn't find any, but they seemed to still have sale stock from Christmas on the shelf.  I was surprised to see one of these on the shelf and I commented on it to the shop assistant. She said that they were trying to get rid of them and they were reduced to £10.  I could see that that was a good deal and since I wanted to buy something from there and saw that the contents included face-cream, decided to give it a go.  I decided that I would buy it for my birthday at the end of February and open one window a day from my birthday onward.


What did it include:

You can see that the products it included, for £10 in the sale, were excellent. 

The Calendar Includes: 

Weleda Skin Food 30ml - 

Beauty Kitchen Karine Jackson Shampoo 75ml - 

Sukin Facial Cleanser 50ml - 

Miaflora Eucalyptus Oil 10ml - 

Pure Papaya Lip Balm 10g - 

Burts Bees Lip Balm 4.25g - 

Faith In Nature Orange Soap 100g - 

Dr Organic Aloe Vera Cream 50ml -

Naturtint Colour Fixing Conditioner 50ml - 

Elifexir Body Contour Cream 40ml - 

Andalou 1000 Roses Body Lotion 50ml - 

Salt Of The Earth Travel Deodorant 50ml

More natural products, those excluding certain synthetic nasties like Aluminium, Sodium Laureth Sulphate and containg more essential oils and organic products tend to be more expensive to buy so I certainly felt I got a lot for my money.  On the day I opened the window and pulled out the Eucalyptus oil, I had discovered that my Eucalyptus essential oil had run out (I wanted to put some in the oil burner to make my Mother in Law's room smell lovely and soothing) so I was delighted to find I had a whole new bottle of this!  Some of the products like the Aloe Vera Cream were full size products which I was pleased about.  

The total  value was apparently £59 (which I can well believe) so £10 was an excellent price.  A lot of these are brands I use anyway.

What about the waste factor?

Well, the box itself is substantial cardboard and the box CAN be used again- it is a decent box which could house a paper collection or worksheets or other items- and of course, could be composted.

BUT, inside, every item was held in position in a large clear plastic container. This CAN be recycled but is a lot of packing. In addition, most of these products were all in tiny individual plastic bottles and obviously, using tiny bottles is definitely not environmentally friendly in terms of plastic pollution.  This made me feel definitely uncomfortable about buying it especially since I am really trying hard to reduce my plastic waste.

It proved a very nice birthday present to myself from myself- I don't receive loads of presents, which I am glad about as I have so much anyway, but it was nice to have something to open for 12 days but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one,definitely not for Advent- too much waste and rather excessive for real Advent, but it was a nice little experiment as an effort to give my custom to Holland and Barrett, Felixstowe.

x

Photo an hour 19th January

It's rare that I remember to join in with the Photo an Hour challenge- either here OR on Instagram.  This morning, when I headed downstairs at 10.30am, I looked at Instagram and saw Hazel had posted her Photo an Hour so I decided to join in even though I didn't have any sort of day planned...

11am:  Ahrgh,woke up egregiously late!!! Headed downstairs to put some washing in, sat with a cup of tea in my Psycho mug watching 'Homes under the Hammer' whilst folding washing.

12pm:  Joining in with @64Million artists' #TheJanuaryChallenge by making up my own new meaning for a word. In retrospect, I could have done this better or chosen a better word but I was trying to think quickly to meet meet the hourly deadline.

 1pm:  Showered and ready in my Sailor-themed outfit.  My charity-shopped denim trousers have sailor style buttons at the top too!

2pm:  On our way out.  Making sure I have bags and containers. That's my Christmas present rucksack from CBC and the bag from my sister. Both feature woodland animals playing musical instruments! Rather appropriate wouldn't you say?

3pm:  We headed to a town a few miles from us to go to the new Zero waste/Bulk Buy shop called The Refill Room where you can take your own bottles, jars and containers to fill up on dried goods.  We had completely run out of all the standard green herbs so we desperately needed some. Also, we needed some red lentils and rice so I had come prepared. The herbs worked out nice and cheap around 59-89p to fill the jars, the rice seemed quite expensive £5.50 for that tub, lentils were ok- £2.59 for the Killner jar full..  Everything is organic in this place so perhaps that's why.

 I WAS going to go to another Health food shop round the corner with my Ecover Washing up liquid bottle because I had looked up online that they refilled it but filled up here instead- silly as it ended up being £3.50 instead of £1.20 with Ecover!  Again, probably the Organic thing. Still glad I went there though, I'll just remember to get my washing up liquid round the corner next time.

 4pm:

CBC wanted to get a haircut so I ended up mooching round the charity shops.  Got excited when I saw this jumper as it is similar to one that Clara wears in Doctor Who (same brand and everything) but didn't buy it.

5pm:

Waiting for CBC by the car which is by The Refill Room.  Thought this sign was a very good way of getting across the message about Waste which I try to say when people tell me not to worry when I fret when a drink has been bought to me with a plastic straw. I do not want that straw!

 6pm:

Arrived at our friend N's house in our old home town.  He made me a Hotel Chocolat Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate in the 'Velvetiser' a gadget he bought himself for Christmas.  The resulting Hot chocolate was DELICIOUS!

 7pm:

Still at N's, watching the new series of New Girl on TV.  I love Zoe Deschanel! 

 8pm:  In our FAVOURITE Thai restaurant for dinner.  Enjoying my wonderful Thai Green Prawn Curry.  No where else does such a good one!

 9pm-in the car...

10pm:  Home now!  Having a cup of mint tea.

11pm:  Writing this blogpost and realising I needed to get my new boots out of my bag  Wasn't intending to buy anything in the charity shops but found this pair of Clarks Originals Desert boots in my size.  This style of shoes are the ones I wear ALL the time for cycling in the Winter to school and are usually very expensive.  Dr Martens have stopped making the ones I love (first pair cost £90 and I have had them 4years but the sole is wearing very thin, second pair were £30 second hand on eBay getting very scuffed).  These ones were marked as £11.99 in the Children's Society shop which I was a bit dubious about as they had very dirty soles and black mark on one side but otherwise were in great condition. I was umming and ashing about them and asked the shopkeeper if she thought the black mark would come off.  She had a go with a baby wipe which made the mark worse and they kindly marked them down to £6.99 for me!  So I bought them!

I should be off to bed. I will be reading Ngaio Marsh's 'False Scent'  before I sleep so you can imagine what that looks like!

x

The evil of polystyrene

CBC had to go to school for a musical rehearsal during the holiday and I got a lift with him to his school and decided to walk to the seafront  and the pier from his school.  It was a mile or so to the pier and by the time I reached the pier, I was really hungry.  I really wanted some takeaway chips as I wanted to walk and eat on the go to get the full seaside experience.

As you may have realised, I have been really trying hard with the whole refusing plastic and reusing rather than taking anything, as you may have read in this post.  The top item on my "NO!" hitlist is polystyrene.  I will choose not to buy something from somewhere and go without rather than take it. It is notoriously difficult to recycle it and the majority of people, even if it WAS easy to recycle, use it when they are eating takeaways (chips, kebabs, burgers...) or hot drink cups and will NOT make the effort to keep it or recycle it- they just chuck it in the bin. It may be different in your area but unfortunately, the average person where I live absolutely doesn't give a stuff about recycling and just wants to chuck their polystyrene box away asap.

Well, as I was walking along the esplanade, I just seemed to see reams and reams of people eating takeaways from polystyrene trays, cones or cups which made me mutter in a rather Mad Lady way about polystyrene.  I went into about 5 fish and chip shops to ask what they served their takeaway chips and all said that they served it in polystyrene trays.  I shook my head sadly and walked away as they said that, noticed a family of 6 chucking their polystyrene trays into the bin.

Finally, in one place, she said that they serve it in polystyrene with a piece of paper round it and I asked if I could please craft my own cone out of the paper instead of taking a cone.  She said that that was fine.  I used to work in a chip shop as a teenager and we served our takeaway chips in cones that we made out of folded paper.  She gave me the paper and it transpired that I hadn't forgotten how to make the cone.  I handed it back and it functioned perfectly well as a cone.  I had a little plastic bag in my handbag that I had kept in there to be useful and I just put this as the bottom to soft it from leaking. It was fine.  Oh, and as a side-note, I shunned the plastic forks and instead used the wooden chipfork that lives in my handbag (and has been reused a few times) 

I honestly believe that polystyrene trays and takeaway containers should be banned. Let's be honest- they NEVER end up in the recycling. Paper/card alternatives should and CAN be found.  In Hexham last week, CBC and I were on the go and felt a little peckish and yet again, not expecting this, I didn't have my silicone collapsible container with me (which I ALWAYS carry if I know I am going to buy food on the go).   We went into the chip shop in the square in Beaumont street in Hexham I asked how they served their takeaway chips and they said the evil P word.  I asked if they had an eco-friendly alternative and typically, it being Hexham, they did- they had some Eco-containers (thick card) but we had to pay 30p for it.  We chose to do that because we didn't want the Polystyrene, but it proves there IS a solution!

Will you join me and REFUSE Polystyrene. I may start a petition at 38 Degrees to ban the use of Polystyrene in takeaway containers because I do think it is is awful!

On the same subject, there is a petition to try to get Walkers to use Recyclable crisp packets! I would love you to sign it also! I love crisps and feel awful that I am contributing to packaging so bad for the environment!

x