Two days to go... Our Plastic Legacy... and... In Praise of Bakeries

Didn't think I'd say this at the beginning of the month, but Wasted is starting to feel normal! I am now quite used to walking into shops and straight past mountains of plastic wrapped convenience foods, towards the one or two things that I know I can buy.

Today, for example, I went to the Co-op and came out with some apples (no packaging), a box of eggs (cardboard packaging) and some dog food (cardboard box). We also went to a bakery to buy pasties and donuts (in paper bags), and it felt completely normal ignoring all the other the plastic wrapped treats and drinks.

 

                         


Our bin, though, is still alarmingly full. How can that be?

I had imagined at the beginning of the month that I would feel an amazing sense of pride at my empty bin. I even took a photo of it on Day One! However, it turned out not to be so simple...

It emerged that the PLASTIC LEGACY in our house was huge. The truth is that only now are we really starting to feel the full impact of our month without buying anything that will go to landfill. We have been using up stuff in our cupboards - and so much of it is wrapped in PLASTIC. So, our bin has got lots of plastic in it as we have gradually eaten through our supplies. At the moment the cupboards and fridge and freezer are all becoming quite bare.

Here's a list of some of the packaging that we have thrown away in the last few days (from stuff we already had):

rice (plastic bag)
lentils (plastic bag)
spaghetti (plastic bag)
birthday chocolates (plastic box)
yeast (plastic sachet)
tortillas (plastic bag)
frozen chips (plastic bag)
pasta sauce (plastic pot)
breadsticks (plastic bag)
frozen peas (plastic bag)

Part of me is, of course, looking forward to November - I want to buy cheese, and sour cream and some new tights!

Chayo, on the other hand says we should just carry on "It's not been that difficult mum," he says.

Katherine and Phil

Hooray! Two more people have decided to take on the WASTED challenge for its final days. Thank you Katherine and Phil.

One of the best things about other people joining in is that they realise how difficult it is. Perhaps we could make it a regular challenge? An annual event? October is Wasted month each year? Perhaps more and more people would join in...

I think that would be good - not only will we put less STUFF in landfill for a month, but the legacy of it in our minds will perhaps mean that over the whole year we 'naturally'  consume less non-recyclable plastic... (more thoughts on this later).

(Cartoon by Polyp)

Stuff that I would have bought

Every day there's at least one or two or more things that I think of buying - and then realise that I can't.

Mascara    (plastic tube)
Tangerines (in a plastic box)
DVD  (plastic wrapped, plus of course the DVD itself will be in a dump one day)
Kitchen towel (wrapped in plastic)
Indian takeaway  (after further investigation it turned out the seemingly paper lid was plastic coated)
Cheese (plastic wrapped)
Hand cream (plastic tube)

Bag Bans?

It is inspiring to see how many places around the world have banned plastic bags.
Rwanda.
China.
Mexico City.
Toronto.
Mumbai.

Bangladesh banned single use plastic bags in 2002 after it became clear that plastic bags greatly exacerbated the devastating flooding of 1988 and 1998.

And lots more.

England....?    NOT YET.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17027990

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/apr/28/plasticbags.frontpagenews

http://people.howstuffworks.com/how-many-cities-have-a-ban-on-plastic-bags.htm

http://www.salon.com/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/

Thank you 6TP

My class are incredible too. Thank you 6TP for your deep thinking, discussion, debate, inspiration and support these past weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 17

Well, I'm kind of getting used to thinking before I buy, and not buying plastic...
Lunch today out and about was a pasty from a bakery in a paper bag (couldn't get a sandwich - all in plastic wrapping).

We've been cooking some creative and lovely meals too.

Chayo happy with the Smarties in the cardboard tube.

The truth is that doing this month will, I think, change us forever... I can't imagine we'll easily buy all our plastic wrapped snacks and foods after this. Not saying we won't buy them at all, because it is virtually impossible we are finding out.

Some things have really kept us going though. Just through doing Wasted, so many people around us are talking about landfill and plastic. Every time a whiteboard pen runs out in the classroom the children commiserate about the fact that it's going to landfill (discussions about using chalk have followed). Today in the staffroom a colleague said she was thinking about us last night when her takeaway arrived on polystyrene trays and she realised they'd be going straight into landfill. A child in my class said he's seen about 10 plastic bags floating around on Clarendon Road yesterday evening. So, people are noticing things and talking about them, plus quite a few friends and colleagues are taking active steps to reduce waste.

Chayo is so committed and amazing too. He keeps me going. He was so devastated when he realised the dog food we'd bought in a cardboard box had a plastic bag lining: "Oh no, Mum, we've lost!" he said. Today we went out to eat and he decided not to take a free kids party bag - "The pen's got a plastic wrapper on it, and it'll end up in landfill".

 

 

Plastic lids kill

When I first started to think about Wasted I thought of it as giving up plastic completely. I imagined I wouldn't be able to buy anything in an plastic bottle. Then a friend asked me why not - lots of plastic bottles are recyclable.
However, most recycling specifically says 'no lids' (I need to find out exactly why...).
So, I thought, that to really do Wasted properly we would have to buy nothing with plastic lids.
I asked myself if I was being a bit OTT (over the top). Surely there's not that much harm in a few plastic lids going into landfill? They're pretty small aren't they?

But then I found out about the albatross chicks in the North Pacific that end up being fed them by their parents who mistake them for squid or fish eggs.

Look at this:
    
All of this plastic was found in the belly of an albatross. It had died from starvation. 
Notice how many lids there are.

Click here to see more information
(Warning: I found it very upsetting and decided not to put the other images on here).
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/oceanissues/plastics_albatross/

Of course, not all our plastic bottle lids end up in the sea. Most plastic lids binned in the UK will be buried in the ground somewhere (and stay there for thousands of years).
I suppose it is better that we bury  our non-recyclable plastic in landfill, instead of chucking it in the sea.
But it still isn't a long term solution.
What's it going to take to make us start using sustainable materials?

What to cook?

So... I was planning on making a special meal on Friday night, so began thinking of some of my favourite recipes. That's where the problems began - I soon realised it wasn't going to be so easy.
No, couldn't buy feta or filo pastry - all wrapped in non-recyclable plastic.
No, couldn't buy yoghurt or sour cream - all in non-recyclable plastic pots.
No, couldn't buy tortillas or tortilla chips - all in non-recyclable plastic bags.

In the end we went out to my local South Indian cafe where everything you buy comes on a plate.
Yummy.

(But not something I can do every day...)

Plastic lives forever...

Brilliant mockumentary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLgh9h2ePYw

Rubbish makes us crazy!

Comment from Chayo

"I'm glad I''m doing the WASTED challenge because if I didn't I'd be no better than people who always take plastic bags from shops. It is hard though, because there's not as much food in the house as usual (tho there is enough!!). The hardest moment was when we were shopping. It was really annoying 'cos everything was in plastic."

Somalia

Thought I'd post a link to something Chayo did last year:
http://blogs.savethechildren.org.uk/2012/06/eight-year-old-chayo-cycles-for-somalia/

Support

Thanks to everyone who is supporting us.
Here are some of the comments we have received via email and facebook.

Dear Topsy,
Brilliant!!  I should learn to blog. 
It is inspirational that someone cares enough to try such a project.  I'm
surprised how much thin plastic is still unrecycleable. I don't seem able
to predict whether it is or not by just looking at it.  I liked Chayo's
piece.
Good luck.   Sheila

¡¡¡Excelente Chayo y Topsy, es un gran aporte!!!
Les animo a que continúen este trabajo.
Me gustaría mucho que tuviera traducción al español; claro es mucho pedir, verdad?
Me alegra que estén realizando juntos esta actividad, así que adelante!!!
Con amor,
Vilma (Chayo's grandma from El Salvador)

Love the blog Topsy & Chayo. Can't quite work out how to comment. Good luck!!!
Also very very inspired.
Pauline

Cool, good luck Topsy & Chayo! 
Sam

Keep up the good work Chayo and Topsy, yes I'm up for joining in ♥
Teresa

Excelente iniciativa!
Yasser

Ban Single Use Plastic Bags

Click here to watch a cool and inspiring music video..

Please leave a comment to tell us what you think.
Has it made you think?

For more inspiration, look what this 13 year old girl is doing:
http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-quinn-don-t-let-big-plastic-bully-me

Samosas

I am at my local Indian takeaway waiting for my samosas. They thought it was strange that I requested them to only be in a paper bag. "We usually put them on a chip tray", they said, pointing to the polystyrene tray (the item of rubbish I currently most hate). 

"Just the paper bag will be fine", I said, explaining that I don't want anything non-recyclable. 

Once again I get the feeling someone thinks I'm crazy. 

As I sit waiting, enjoying the smell of the spices frying, I wonder: 

Is it really so crazy to choose NOT  to use something for approximately 5 minutes that will end up in landfill and not decompose for approximately 1000 years?

We are now on Day 8

So, it's been quite an interesting few days. In some ways I can't quite believe we've survived a week of Wasted. IT'S SO DIFFICULT!

There's so much to say, but for now here is one of the challenges we have faced:

Walking home from a friend's last Friday Chayo was hungry so we popped into the Co-op to buy a snack and also something for dinner. I felt sadness and a growing sense of panic as we walked around the shop... EVERYTHING WAS WRAPPED IN PLASTIC! The truth is it wasn't until that moment that I had really realised quite how serious this issue is.

"You can have an apple," I said to my ravenous, slightly grumpy and tired son. "I don't want an apple," he snapped back, looking longingly at the meaty snacks section. I put a couple of apples into our empty shopping basket anyway.

We continued our walk through the aisles and were soon at the sweets and biscuits section. It was torture - a sea of plastic packaging. Fortunately though our spirits were lifted by discovering some Smarties in a 100% CARDBOARD TUBE! It turns out that there's no longer even a plastic lid! Now I am going to say something I thought I would never say: Well done Nestle!

So, after spotting a couple of tins of soup, we continued our walk home munching Smarties and eating apples. Our shopping bag was light and I had hardly spent any money. Perhaps one of the bonuses of Wasted is that we will save money... There seriously is very little we can buy.

Space Junk?

A suspected meteor shower spotted in the skies above the United Kingdom was probably space junk, experts say.

http://www.channel4.com/news/meteor-shower-probably-space-junk

Day Three

Today I went shopping. It was very interesting and has made me realise how hard this month is going to be. We are just so-so used to casually buying things which are packaged in all sorts of non-recyclable materials.

I asked at Unicorn if it was possible to buy some oats in a paper bag instead of plastic. They said it wasn't, but the bag the oats were in was 100% bio-degradable! So, this got me thinking:

• how long will that bag take to biodegrade?
• where should it biodegrade?
• does it need to have certain conditions so it will biodegrade quickly?
• if I put it in my compost will it biodegrade?

Hopefully I can find the answers to some of these questions. (Haven't bought the oats yet...)

Day Two



We were sad about all the plastic rubbish
on our short walk home from school.

 

But we cheered ourselves up by making
 some homemade crisps : )

The only thing was I had to get some tablets from the doctors,

and guess what.... Yes, they are in landfill plastic.

Thanks to my wonderful class for their suggestions of how to

re-use the packaging.

I really liked the "use it as a mould to make some

 chocolates" idea.



Day One

We made bread!

Chayo's message