I failed my first day of Plastic Free July!
I was full of enthusiasm and ready to go. Popped to the shops to get some fruit in my reusable produce bags. Ticking all the boxes and making the right choices.
The rain was falling hard so we hung out at home baking and chilling out. The kids had been fed and my partner Dixie said “lets just get takeaway for our dinner”. It is rare for us to buy takeaway and an Indian Curry was calling my name. I didn’t even think about how the meal was packaged. Dixie came home and unloaded some plastic takeaway containers on the table.
And just like that I failed!
It was time to dust myself off and start again. But once again I failed. I don’t like to think of it as failing rather a learning experience.
Looking around the supermarkets I discovered it is actually very hard to avoid plastic. I could not find a plastic free option for several items so I just bought what I needed. Any mother will know when you are shopping with small children you want to get in and out as soon as possible.
When I returned from shopping I looked at the items I bought in plastic and thought how I could avoid them next time. Could I make these items myself? I jumped online, found recipes, places that sell yoghurt in glass jars and shops that sell food in bulk bins.
So I am taking baby steps and avoiding as much plastic as possible. Researching and working out alternatives.
Thankfully my friends at Biome Eco Stores came to my rescue. They provided me with some reusable products to help me achieve my goals.
Klean Kanteen
Klean Kanteen is a stainless steel water bottle which is perfect for our life style. We are always enjoying the outdoors, camping and bush walking. I love that the Klean Kanteen bottle is durable and will not break unlike plastic water bottles. It is really handy to have a sports top so you can have a drink on the go. Plus it is easy to hang onto the bottle with a ring at the top.
Keep Cup
Like most Aussies I have an obsession with coffee! I usually get my coffee to go and I never realised that takeaway coffee cups could not be recycled. A Keep Cup is the perfect solution to get your coffee on the go and reduce disposable cup waste.
Baristas were happy to use the KeepCup as the are a standard size. The silicone band kept the heat away from my hand so it is easy to hold. My main concern was taking the cup home once I had finished. We were staying out for a while and I didn’t want to carry the cup around. I put the splash proof closure on the drinking hole and it didn’t leak in my bag!
LunchBots – Bento Cinco
Recently I took the children on a 4 hour road trip. Doing the trip on my own I was prepared and filled a LunchBots Bento Box with snacks. The children had their snacks so they could eat when they were hungry. There was no more bugging me for food, I could concentrate on driving.
The bento box is perfect for road trips and now it is being used as a school lunch box. With 5 different compartments you can easily separate items. I had to keep it away from my partner as he wanted to use it to store his nuts and bolts!
Bang Bag
It has taken me a little while to get in the habit of taking a bag to the shops with me. The Bang Bag is a great size and made from natural fibres. On numerous occasions I have had it filled to the brim with heavy products and it was very strong.
Have I really failed Plastic Free July? I don’t think so!
For me Plastic Free July has opened my eyes and created an awareness of how much plastic we use and discard on a daily basis. Slowly I am changing my habits and making better choices. We are changing our behaviours so we can protect our environment for my children and future generations.
Giveaway
Thanks to Biome Eco Stores you can win yourself a Klean Kanteen, Bang Bag, KeepCup and LunchBots – Bento Cinco.
The competition is available on Instagram, click here to enter. Goodluck!
**We received these products for the purpose of this review. All the opinions of the product in this review are my own**
If you want to keep up with what is happening on Let Me Be Free you can follow on Instagram here and Facebook here.
Let Me Be Free 
Hi Anne, taking your own bags to the supermarket just becomes natural after a while. I have supermarket bags everywhere, in the car, by the back door, in the caravan and even folding bags that roll up in my handbag. It’s a small step but everything counts. I agree though that too many products in our supermarkets are plastic wrapped, all the more reason to reject them and go to farmers markets 🙂
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I am ok taking my bags when I am doing a big shop it is when I just pop in for something that I forget them. I must keep some in my handbag too!
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I’ll check out the comp on Instagram. I think I mentioned before that I tend to re-use my plastic bags from the supermarket but do appreciate the biodegradable kind (that smaller supermarkets have) and would be happy to pay more for them!
PS On your ‘failure’… I think as long as we learn from our mistakes we’re in a better position than when we started off! #teamlovinlife
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I am learning from my mistakes and it has really made me away of our environment and the damage we are doing.
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I have started to be more aware of plastic bags when I shop. I try to take my own hessian bags to the supermarket (when I remember) and when I’m clothing shopping I collate all of my purchases into one bag where I can. I remember when I was a kid my parents taking their own containers to get Chinese take-aways. I think there was a lot of merit in this. #TeamLovinLife
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That is great that your parents took their own containers. My grandparents/parents reuse everything and there was no waste.
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You haven’t failed! You’re changing your ways and learning along the way. Love those products – thanks for sharing them! 🙂 #TeamLovinLife
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You are right I am not failing just slowly cutting out plastic from our lives.
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I need to buy reusable shopping bags, we’ll be getting the ban on single use here next year anyway!
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They are banning plastic bags in WA as well from next year.
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Failure would only have been if you gave up at the first review point. Well done for perservering, it is hard when the supermarkets are so adept at wrapping everything in plastic and the manufacturers as well but every little change counts.
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Thanks, hopefully manufacturers will changes their ways too!
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I think your “fail” was more just a reminder of how easy it is to accept the packaging without noticing that we’re doing so. I reckon I would have gone straight through that hurdle without realising as well. #TeamLovinLife
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It is crazy how much plastic packaging there is. I never really gave it much thought until now.
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Canberra has been plastic bag free from a grocery shopping perspective for a while now. But your’e right, there is still so much around us. It goes beyond plastic grocery bags! #teamlovinlife
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That is great that you don’t have plastic bags in the shops, WA is behind the times! I was just reading that a whopping 79% of all the plastic ever produced have now been discarded.
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The big supermarkets in Brissie are planning to go plastic bag free next year so I am definitely going to have to change my ways!
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Supermarkets in WA is also doing the same thing, it is great news!
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What an awesome Giveaway! I have entered on Instagram 🙂
Di from Max The Unicorn
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Thank you, good luck!
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I am an enviro through and through! I love my Keep Cup and carry it everywhere with me.
For takeout, Decor now make glass containers the same size as takeaway containers and they’re about $10 each at Woolworths.
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Thanks for the tip, I will check it out next time I am at the shops.
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It’s hard to go plastic free in one go! I think gradually reducing the amount of plastic I use is a much more sustainable way to approach this, learning from my experiences as I go.
Ingrid
http://www.fabulousandfunlife.blogspot.com.au
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So true! I hope that I can change my habits for good.
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Any change in your plastics use is a good change! Being mindful of it is a good start. We are lucky in SA that we have a great recycling program in place and have reusable bags for the supermarket.
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That is great that your supermarkets have reusable bags. It appears that other states are starting to do the same thing from next year.
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yes it is very difficult to be completely plastic free today with all the stuff that is packaged in plastic – but we can do our bit. I’m thinking of making my own light weight bags to take to the produce market for when I buy fruit and vegies etc. Have a great week and thank you for stopping by my blog last week.
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That is a good idea to make your own bags. I might dust off the sewing machine and do the same thing!
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I like the ideal of no, plastic but I can tell you knowing me I would most likely fail in the first 5 minutes. So have a great day and I could see hubby taking the Coffee Cup to work and the lunch kit to put in change or small items he wants to keep. Instead of using it for lunch. Have a nice day.
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Slowly you can change your habits. Even if you only make a few small changes it all helps. Have a good one.
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I trying my best and last night I emptied the plastic bags after they started without my own bags. They did give me WHATEVER looks.
I love my Contiga mugs stainless steel and all July I haven’t had anyone refuse – though on egirl at McD’s still made it in a paper cup and poured it into my mug.
I’m entering now.
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That is strange that she would make it in a paper cup first! Thanks for entering the comp.
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Any time you learn something or can take from the experience, it is far from failing. Good on you for continuing. Thanks for linking to #MummyMondays
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Thank you so much for linking up for #lifethisweek 28/52. As it is my first week back since major surgery and I am very much in recuperative mode, I am leaving this general comment on your blog this week. Many thanks for your support of my blog and my recovery, Denyse x
Next Week’s Prompt: Winter.
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[…] got off to a rocky start but over time I start to change my habits. Taking baby steps and avoiding as much plastic as […]
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