Posts

I Miss Cheese

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As someone who eats quite a lot of cheese, I really miss it. They sell cheese in non-plastic packaging at the store in Pennard (mentioned in blog post 1), but I haven't had time to drive up there (and it's probably pricier than my usual medium cheddar in tesco). I can't say I honestly appreciated how difficult going plastic free was going to be. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn't account for how time consuming it would be. By now, I've made bread, jam, yoghurt, produce bags, granola... not to mention the fact that my shopping is done in multiple locations to get everything I need. I managed to do a lot of my shopping in Swansea Market. Billy Upton, the butchers, was very helpful when I explained my plan, and happily filled up my tupperware boxes. The prices were great (see the picture below), and they were even happy to swap gammon steaks for some sausages in the deal because gammon steaks were pre-wrapped. I also managed to get a lot of fruit and

Preparation

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First confession... I started a day late. I've spent the weekend away in Didcot, and all of the preparation I'd done was in Swansea. I expected to be back in time to start but I extended my stay up here. However, from this arose a couple of opportunities. Firstly, I picked a load of Blackberries, found some old jars and made some Blackberry jam. This doesn't save massive amounts of plastic, just the bit that's usually wrapped around the lid, but it's a good start. Secondly, I managed to go to the Waitrose in Oxford which is trialling their 'Unpacked' concept. The concept is soon being extended to Waitrose in a couple of other places too, so I decided to go along and check it out.  We should definitely recognise Waitrose for the efforts they've gone to in order to remove plastic packaging from their foods. Walking around the fresh produce section, the changes are evident, with mushrooms in recycled card boxes and biodegradable starch

The Plastic Free Birthday Idea

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This post has been such a long time coming, I'm feeling quite a sense of relief to be finally sitting down and writing it. After all, the blog is called 'my plastic free birthday', and I turned 25 in April... Anyone who knows me well would be aware that I'm not a big fan of celebrating my birthday, and would even go as far as to say that I find the whole thing pretty stressful. These people who know me well would also be aware of how affected I was whilst watching David Attenborough's 'Blue Planet II', and the changes I've tried to make to my lifestyle in order to use less plastic. In light of both of these facts, and equipped with my new found awareness, I decided to celebrate my 25th birthday by going 25 days without any single use plastics. Having been moving around quite a lot recently, this is the first time I've had a good opportunity to do it, and I'm really looking forward to giving it a go. My purpose in blogging my experience is