First week of Plastic Free July #pfjuk

Filed in Blog by on July 7, 2014 1 Comment
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buying fruit and vegetables without plasticHow are you getting on with Plastic Free July?

You might remember I made a tentative pledge:

To reduce the plastic packaging that’s been creeping back in my life on fresh fruit and vegetables.

I know exactly why that is…

An increasing work load has meant the quick and simple option for me is to book a supermarket delivery.

I don’t have to leave my desk and the food gets delivered exactly when I want it.

Convenient!

But heavily packaged.

Even if I select loose produce, the picker automatically bags it up.

AND they tie a big knot in the top, so the bag is unusable again.

I have to admit, I felt like a bit of a newbie this week. I was concerned about how I would get on.

Would I be able to get everything I needed?

And WHERE would I find it all?

But thankfully the first week was relatively problem free.

Of course it probably would be, because I still had a lot of reserves to use up.

So here’s my fresh produce for week one:

Cauliflower

I found the cauliflower in a local corner shop, who just happens to stock great quality fresh fruits and veggies. This was the SMALLEST one I could find – enough to feed us for a week!

cauliflower bought without plastic packaging

Bananas

The bananas came from a different local store. And, as you may have noticed are for illustrative purposes only, as we scoffed them all.

bananas without plastic packaging

Veg box

The box of food, containing avocados, potatoes, carrots, onions and broccoli came from a local organic farm shop. The apples came from my local co-op, but I reused a couple of paper bags from a farm shop to get them onto the scales.

vegetable box

Salad leaves

The ONLY plastic was from a bag of salad. Sadly our local farm has bought themselves a funky heat sealing machine and now, instead of an open topped polythene bag which could be reused ad infinitum; you have to rip this open to get to the goodies:

bag of salad leaves

All in all I’m thrilled and feeling very smug.

I’ve no doubt saved money because I’ve only bought what I need, I’ve supported my local economy and I’ve got that warm fuzzy feeling from doing my bit.

How about you? How are you getting on with plastic free July?

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

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  1. Philippa says:

    Mmm Love the look of that cauliflower. I love the leaves and would be happy to have even more although I know that they like to display the “flower”.

    It is interesting that beetroot leaves are apparently very good for you but they are usually cut off before sale.

    Do you remember the cauliflower in a globe? It was that and the CEO of a supermarket saying that the customers wanted packaging that was the tipping balance for me. I think I’d spent the previous day trying to stuff all the different shaped plastic boxes into a bag to take them to the recycling centre – if only they stacked or flattened but because they are all so different they don’t. Here’s a reminder of that globe. It seems amazing that it was nearly eight years ago!

    http://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/nov/14/supermarkets.ethicalliving

    I have bought a fruit tart in a plastic box for Grandad recently but because they can’t recycle there I put it into a reuseable box and then took the not-expected-to-be-reuseable one home and washed and reused it. So not plastic-free but at least reused rather than simply recycled.

    I insist on any plastic used in the fridge is see-through. It saves so much food waste.

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