My sustainability/ zero-waste journey (so far)
- Cliona Perkins
- Nov 1, 2020
- 4 min read
I wasn’t sure what to do for my next blog post so I thought I would take the opportunity to tell people about my recent life changes regarding zero waste and my aim to be as sustainable as possible, and hopefully give you some tips based on what I’ve learned. It was after a talk at church a few weeks ago about God’s creation that I decided to make a few changes. I realised that using money or effort as an excuse was really selfish of me. Why was I complaining about spending a few extra pence/pounds when I could be helping to save the planet by reducing the buying of single use plastics? Since then I have discovered so many small companies and schemes that I was completely unaware of before. Here are a few of them:
1. I have started going to a zero-waste shop to stock up on cupboard essentials such as rice, pasta, oats, couscous, soap and washing up liquid. There are some really great independent zero waste shops popping up all over the country, you just take your own reusable containers and get them filled! There are quite a few across Nottingham including ‘Shop zero’ in the city centre and there is also one in the Portland building at UON. For people reading from Chase Terrace I know there is one somewhere in Lichfield.
2. Working out my weekly meals and writing a shopping list. I have done this since I moved to university in an attempt to save money, but this is also great in ensuring I’m not buying food that will end up in the bin by the end of the week. I have also been trying to find ways of using up different foods that may otherwise be thrown away. I live with a broccoli enthusiast, so this week’s research included creative ways to use up a broccoli stalk! We have been chopping it up and putting it in stir fry’s, bolognaise etc. We also ended up with wayy to much bread a few weeks ago so we made our own bread pudding and croutons.
3. Finding ways of recycling items that can’t be put into home recycling. I always feel so guilty putting plastic-based items in general waste because they can’t be put in my recycling bin. Two great schemes are in place to tackle a few of these. Firstly, ‘Terracycle’ is a scheme which recycles crisp packets and it’s so easy to do! You just collect your empty crisp wrappers and then use the search tool on their website to find a drop off point. Secondly, a lot of big supermarkets have drop off points for plastic bags, including bread bags. Again, you can use the search tool to find out which supermarkets near you are involved. (I will post links at the bottom of this post)
4. I was so surprised when I found out that some tea bags contain plastic, which means they aren’t fully compostable. I know that PG Tips have started to make theirs biodegradable, but I am not sure about other tea brands, so I have found that it is just a case of googling it before buying!
5. Cleaning and washing products! I recently subscribed to ‘Smol’ which is a company who send you laundry capsules in the post which are plastic free and cruelty free among other amazing things. The company also sell fabric conditioner which comes in a refillable bottle and dishwasher tablets that are way less harmful to the environment than most alternatives. I also discovered ‘Ocean saver’ which is a company that sells cleaning products. You buy a starter pack which includes a reusable bottle and an ‘eco-drop’ which you put in the bottle and fill with water to create a cleaning solution. Then in the future you order the ‘eco-drops’ individually and re-use the bottle. Hannah and I have started with the anti-bac one whilst we use up other cleaning products we already have and it is great!
6. Finally, I have started to use reusable self-care items such as a reusable make-up remover pad, a soap pouch instead of buying plastic bottles of shower gel (these were given to me as a birthday present by the wonderful Anji) and nail varnish remover pads.
I am nowhere near being completely waste free and I am definitely not perfect when it comes to the products I choose to buy or the places I buy them from. I am so aware of the amount of plastic waste that comes with buying fruit and veg from a supermarket, and I aim to begin buying my fruit and veg loose (although anxiety around COVID at the moment is preventing that from happening any time soon). I hope this was useful for some people, for others you are probably way in front of me as I still have so much to learn! So, if anyone has any useful resources or tips on how I can become even more sustainable, please message me or comment on this blog as I’m really keen to learn.
Thanks for reading another fairly random blog post!
Cliona x
Here are various links that may be useful;
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