May 30, 2025 • 30 mins
🌿✨ Get ready for Plastic Free July with our latest podcast episode! 🌍💪 Join Hazel and Alison as they share practical tips to reduce single-use plastic in your home. Tune in and take a step towards a more sustainable lifestyle! 🎧
Watch on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/JuQjyAWp1U0?si=wA_K6yfGLS05TVfp
Listen to the zero waste episodes here:
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https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-m66dz-16c47aa
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-mp8ng-15ed399
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:15):
So hello and welcome to TheChallenge to Change podcast.
So this is part of series two,and as you can see, I'm not
alone for this podcast episode.
I'm here with my colleague Alison Jenkins.
Hello, Alison.
How are you today?
Good, thanks.
Hi, Hazel.
Hello.
Hello.
So Alison do you wanna just talka little bit about your role
(00:38):
for Cheshire East Council beforewe we launch into the episode?
Yes, sure.
I look after a group of volunteers.
Uh, there's approximately 25 activevolunteers who cover the whole of the
Cheshire Borough, and they are calledWaste Reduction Volunteers because they
are passionate about reducing the wastethat we create in our environment.
(01:02):
Amazing.
They do an incredible job.
They really do.
It's fantastic.
So today we are gonna talk about,Plastic Free July, which is coming
around really, really quickly.
We're already at the end of May.
Um, so yeah, Plastic FreeJuly runs, as you can imagine,
throughout the whole of July.
Um, obviously it's
plastic free.
(01:23):
But of course we can just, if we wantto use the opportunity just to reduce
our plastic waste, especially if we'rethinking about single use plastic items.
So
I think probably the, the first thingthat's worth talking about actually
is the Love Food Hate Waste campaign,which sounds a little bit odd to begin
(01:43):
with 'cause well what's that gotta dowith plastic waste or packaging waste?
But actually it's got quitea lot to do with that.
Um, so do you wanna, do you wannastart us off by talking a bit
about that, that awesome campaign?
Yeah.
Uh, basically, uh, they headed it up underthe banner of 'Buy Loose, Waste Less'.
Uh, and this is essentially bygiving consumers the power to
(02:07):
choose how much food they buy.
Yeah.
Um, it enables them to.
Clearly waste less food.
So it was a food waste campaign.
Yeah.
But ultimately, if you buy loose,you are going to reduce the amount
of plastic that you use as well.
So it, it's a double win reallyfrom a reducing waste, uh,
(02:30):
that we create in general.
Um, and, uh, it, it is just gonnamake a big difference the more
that consumers choose to buy loose
fruit and vegetables, the more, um,affordable an option it's going to be.
Because if you, um, imagine supplyand demand, if most, uh, people choose
(02:52):
to buy loose, then the demand forpre-packaged fruit and veg is going to
decline, and therefore the economiesof scale, if you like, um, for packaged
goods is, is going to diminish.
Yeah.
Uh, and it's going to be more economicalfor, um, supermarkets to buy loose
(03:13):
fruit and veg to meet that higherdemand of loose, in which case they
can buy more and make greater savings.
So we've just got to shift the weightof balance on the scales, um, by
voting with our purses and saying,this is what we want to choose.
And if we all do that, then thosesavings should start to filter through.
(03:39):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
And I think when you think about thepast, um, certainly when I was a child,
I would go to the Green Grocers withmy mum and she would, I. Sort of, you
know, rock up there with her, I thinkit was like a, a reusable kind of
string bag of some description thatshe'd, you know, she'd put all the fruit
and vegetables in there that, that weneeded, I guess for the week or whatever.
(04:01):
Um, you know, long time ago now,but I. It, you know, it is kind
of, it's almost kind of movingback towards that really, isn't it?
Where yeah, we're buying what weneed, we're buying them loose.
We're we're, we're bringing ourpackaging with, with us, and,
you know, we're, we're, we'refilling that up inside the store.
You know, it, it willmake such a difference.
Definitely.
(04:21):
And I feel like it is an easy-ishwin, I think, for people.
Yes.
You know, you can sometimes, youknow, in, in supermarkets, you, you
do sometimes get those options of.
Buying your bananas loose or,you know, buying your clementines
or oranges loose or avocados.
So there are sometimesthose options there.
Um, and then if there's other types ofshops that you're go into, like farmer's
(04:44):
markets and other, other kind of localstores, there's often even a greater
possibility to buy loose as well.
So yeah, it's fantastic.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So even if you just decided,okay, for July I'm going to trial
buying my fruit and veg loose.
(05:06):
Yeah.
And you may find that because youare not having to buy in bulk or buy
a certain amount, even if it mightbe slightly more expensive per unit.
You might buy five bananas andeat four and one goes in the bin.
So if you, if you take intoaccount the food waste, um.
(05:30):
You may find that it balances itselfout anyway, so maybe just give it a try
for July and see, see how you get on.
Yeah, that's a really good idea andI think it's a good point as well
when we're thinking about that foodwaste, perhaps not always thinking
about it in terms of the cost.
You know, we, when we're in the shop,it's easy to think about the cost then,
well this, this is cheaper than that.
(05:51):
So you are potentially gonna gofor something that's cheaper.
But if you're throwing the food away.
You're also throwing themoney away as well, you know?
Exactly.
So it's gotta gotta be amotivation, motivational factor
for most people I'd have thought.
Exactly.
It's not quite as, uh, clearcut as we perhaps may think.
And like I say, the more people that, um,buy loose, the cheaper it's gonna get.
(06:16):
Yeah, definitely.
Definitely.
So also kind of what, you know, moving onfrom, from that campaign, another thing
that people can do is to choose to refill.
Um, could be plastic packaging, couldbe packaging of any kind, so you can,
if you have a zero waste or refill shopclose to you, that that can be an option.
(06:39):
Um, as if, if people have listened tothe Challenge to Change podcast before,
this is something that I've talked about.
Quite a few times, and it issomething that I do as a consumer.
I'm lucky that I do live close to arefill shop, and it, it does, it, it
saves a huge amount of waste in general.
But plastic packaging in particularbecause, you know, we buy refillable,
(07:01):
shampoo, conditioner, um, cleaningproducts, all, all kinds of things.
That, and it, it does make sucha difference to the waste you
create and the amount of recyclingthat you put in your recycle bin.
So, you know, it, it's,it's really good, you know?
Yeah.
And I, I think, again, even if you justwanted to try this for July, and I know
(07:23):
it's, it's very easy to say, well, ifyou make your own lunch, you, you're
gonna use less packaging, but not.
Everybody, you know, with the bestwill in the world has got the time
to make their their own lunch.
And we'll, we can talk about, um, savingsthat you can make there with, with waste.
Yeah.
But the biggest creation of wasteis going out and buying your lunch.
Yeah, but there are still choices there.
(07:47):
Um, they are now offering, insome cases loose fruit instead of.
Chopped fruit in plastic packaging,I've noticed they're offering bakery
items, um, again, which is, uh, youknow, a paper bag rather than plastic.
'cause at the end of the day,every PLAs plastic that's ever
been created is still in existence.
(08:09):
In the environment.
Yeah.
Um, so alternatives, uh, they're,they're now offering, not just
drinks in plastic bottles, you cannot,for a drink in an aluminum can.
Um, and again, just, justdecide to do that for July.
Aluminum is fully recyclable.
(08:31):
Plastic can only be recycleda certain number of times, and
then it just cannot be recycled.
It's, it's, yeah, aluminumis, is definitely a more
environmentally friendly choice.
Yeah.
Um.
So there's little things thatyou can do just in your daily
lunch, uh, that can make savingsand that can make a difference.
(08:53):
And remember, absolutely.
It, it's only one plastic bottle said 8billion people or something like that.
And, and I love that phrasebecause it, it's so true.
Well, it's just one, one plastic bottle.
Why will that make a difference?
But if we all do something about thatone plastic bottle every lunchtime.
(09:14):
Yeah, then it reallywill make a difference.
Well, absolutely.
So I think, you know, thinking aboutthat, um, Hubbub campaign where, you
know, it's a reminder for people tobring their reusable water bottle with
them and also, as you said, rememberingto you make your lunch, remembering
to take it with you because I knowI'm someone that where I've, I've,
(09:35):
you know, I've, I've been diligent.
I've made my lunch and thenI've left it in the fridge.
You know, it's something that can happen.
So they've got this great campaign.
It's quite a kind of comedic campaignwhere you're putting your, your house keys
in the fridge on top of your lunch, oryou're putting your reusable water bottle
inside your shoe so you don't forget totake it with you because the intentions
(09:57):
are wonderful, but you've actuallygotta put it into practice as well.
Uh, I think that's a great idea.
It really is.
Yeah.
Um, and it, I've now got a caddy, um, inmy car, uh, bit like a bottle carrier,
if you like, with six basic, and it'sgot my different refillable cups.
(10:18):
Yeah.
So because I was one of those peoplethat had the best of intentions
and then kept going out and,oh, I've not remembered my cup.
I, I never forget myrefillable water bottle.
That, that's kind of attached to me.
Yeah.
You've got that locked in.
Yeah.
Coffee cups are, uh I keep inmy boot and I find that way
(10:38):
I don't get, uh, caught out.
Yeah, I think it is a tricky thing andI think it does depend on the person.
I mean, I'm, I am someone who, you know,I don't wanna say I operate by the,
kind of off the cuff, but, you know,I'll, I'll suddenly go, oh, I might
just pop into this coffee shop and Ihave no intentions of going in there.
(10:59):
Um, so then I won't havea reusable cup with me.
But then you can choose to stay inif you've got the time to do that.
Yes.
You know, so there, sothere is that option there.
Um, also if you do, um, depending on whereyou go, but you, you most likely will end
up with a paper cup and a plastic lid.
So you can, you can rinse it out, you canmaybe reuse it in some way in the garden.
(11:21):
Or you can perhaps rinseit out and recycle it.
That's it.
If it it, if it's clean enough to do so.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
And as one of our greatvolunteers, Kevin has said.
Single use plastic is only singleuse if you only use it once.
And if you take that plastic cup home andthen put compost in it and grow seedlings
(11:42):
again, you're extending its useful life.
True.
Um, so it's thinking outsidethe box a little bit.
I always have a foldable carry a bag.
Which is, um, you know, fabric reusable.
Um, that's another great movement.
Morsbags.com if you're interested, um,in prolonging the life of textiles, but
(12:06):
also keeping, um, down, you know, theusage of and reliance that we have on, oh,
I'll just pay 50p or whatever people pay.
I have no idea.
Um, for a plastic bag.
Um, so yes, I don't go, that's in myhandbag and I don't go anywhere without,
(12:27):
um, you know, a foldable shopping bag.
Yeah, same.
I ha that is something, despite mystruggle to remember things, uh,
which I've mentioned on the podcastbefore, without reminders, lists.
Uh, that kind of thing.
I should remember things.
That is something thatI have got locked in.
I've got my own reusable cloth bag, whichkind of doubles as a handbag, and I do
(12:49):
have additional bags in there so thatI'm not caught out in the supermarket.
But I think as well, if you are.
If you are in the supermarket and youdo, you do end up with a plastic bag,
remember that that plastic bag canbe reused, as you've already said.
You know, as as wonderful volunteerKevin's talked about, you can, you can
reuse that plastic bag and, and if youget one of those sort of super strong,
(13:11):
durable ones that's made out of plasticand other materials, remember as well
that that can't go into your recycle bin.
So if you've got a pure plastic bagthat's still, um, called a bag for life
that can go into your recycle bin, butmore importantly, you can reuse it.
So rather than putting it in therecycle bin, if you've got it.
(13:34):
Keep using it, don't putit in the recycle bin.
But if you, if it reaches a point whereyou don't have a choice, then it can go in
so long as it's not that mixed material.
Yeah.
And, and again, uh, those bags forlife, bags for life, if it's got, got
a bit, uh, if it's disintegrated a bit.
It's got a bit holy.
Mm-hmm.
You can still use it, um, in ahanging basket as a, as a liner.
(13:59):
That's a good point.
Yeah.
And put your compost in.
You've got drainage holes.
Um, so again, it's thinking outside thebox and prolonging the life of everything
that you use and reducing that waste.
Yeah, plastic or otherwise, reallyit's just thinking of ways to reuse,
reduce, and I think that that thekey one, which obviously we've
(14:20):
already touched on is, is refusing.
So obviously tracking back to thatLove Food Hate Waste campaign.
If you are refusing to buy something inpackaging, you are making that choice, so
therefore straight away, that's, that'smuch, much better for the environment.
But if you have ended up with something.
Re reuse it, repurpose it, um, upcycle it.
(14:43):
Maybe there's, there'sother things that we can do.
Yeah.
Before that kind of endpoint,if you like, of recycling it.
And again, uh, big point on whatyou've just highlighted about refuse,
is if you refuse to buy plastic bagsat the shops they won't make them,
(15:05):
they'll, they'll stop making them.
That's true.
Yeah.
You know, I dunno whether, what's worse,a single, single use plastic bag or these
bags for life that people are still buyingas if they're single use plastic bags.
So that, that's anotherwhole conversation.
Yeah.
But again, you know, if thereisn't the demand for these.
Bags, these plastic bags, then theywon't churn them out the way they do.
(15:30):
And unfortunately, they make themlook all pretty and, and, oh, well,
I like this pattern and I like thatcharacter and I love that film.
And so they make them so attractivethat you end up buying more.
Um, so it's a, it's a, yeah, it'sa dangerous area to get into.
But one of the interesting things thatwe were discussing, uh, recently was
(15:51):
uh reducing plastic waste in the bathroom.
And that key thing about, uh, some of thefigures that were coming out about how
people, um, tend to recycle less in thebathroom because they don't tend to have
a dedicated recycle bin in the bathroom.
So this is something that, againduring July, you could give some
(16:14):
thought to and think, well, Iwon't put that in the bathroom bin.
I'll actually take it down to the kitchenor wherever you have your recycle bin.
Yeah.
Um, and try and make that extraeffort not to just lift your, your
waste out of your bathroom bin anddump it straight in the general bin.
Um, and you know that, that, thatagain is putting more of your plastic
(16:39):
waste into recycling rather than itgetting lost in, in the general waste.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I think, yeah, I mean somepeople, I guess it depends
on the size of your bathroom.
You might, you might have a recyclebin in there, and if you do, that's
fantastic because then you've got a muchgreater chance of actually recycling.
(16:59):
Whatever it is.
It might not be plastic, it couldbe cardboard, um, it could be,
um, aerosols, you know, hairspray,dry shampoo, that kind of thing.
All of those things findthemselves in the bathroom.
Uh, but yeah, absolutely.
If you haven't got a recycle binin your bathroom, it's just making
sure that you do make that effort torecycle it elsewhere in the house.
(17:22):
And I know something that, that we findin our house, whereas I, as you can
imagine, am pretty much the, the queen ofrecycling, reusing, doing all the things.
You know, it's, it's something thatI really do care about as a person.
However, not all the members of myhousehold, you know, kind of follow that.
You know, that sort of,um, thought process really.
(17:43):
So they do put things in the bathroom binthat don't belong in the bathroom bin.
So sometimes if it's possible I'll findmyself having to kind of rummage through
the bathroom bin to take stuff out.
And sometimes it isn't possible 'causeit might be contaminated in some way.
So, yeah, you know, we, we have thosedomestic challenges if, if you will.
(18:03):
You're not alone.
Yes.
Yeah, it's, uh, and I know you Hazel, soI know that you will do things as well
to prolong that product and get the mostout of it before you need to reach, you
know, into the store cupboard for another
packaged item.
Um, and that, again, reduces thewaste, like cutting the top off the,
(18:27):
uh, tube of toothpaste or exactly,you know, a, a bottle of hand cream
and, uh, scooping out with a spoon.
All the extra product thatwe tend to throw away.
And of course, the benefitof that is it saves money.
It saves money.
The product lasts for longer.
Um, and of course, you know, you, ifyou've got, um, a plastic container
(18:47):
full of body lotion, if it's stillgot the body lotion in there, you, you
can't put it into your recycle bin.
It does need to be rinsed clean.
So if the only way you can dothat is by removing, you know,
cutting into it in some way safely
of course.
Then that needs to happen because you,you've extended the life of the product.
You've saved yourself some money andyou've ensured by rinsing it clean that
(19:10):
it can actually be recycled, assumingit's squashable plastic, of course.
Um, but yeah, and I think also justtracking back again to the refillables.
That is something thatmakes such a difference, and
that's something that I do.
So you do cut down on yourbathroom waste, you know?
Yes.
A lot of the, the bathroom items thatwe have are plastic and effectively
(19:32):
single use plastic, but we are reusingthem for as long as we possibly can by
refilling them up with shampoo, refillingthem up with conditioner and so on.
Yeah, and those, you know, those cleaning,um, containers as well, the spray
bottles, you can refill those up with.
Refillable cleaning spray becauseof course the, the, the nozzle, the
(19:53):
spray part can't be recycled becauseit's a mixed material and I think
it's a harder like rigid plastic.
So it's only the basethat could be recycled.
So you are, again, with refillables, youare, you know, you are kind of at least
temporarily removing the need for that.
I mean, eventually, you know, it may startto be unusable, so eventually you would
(20:14):
have to do something else with it, butit's gonna last a lot longer that way.
Yeah.
So.
And, and there's, you know, otherenvironmental swaps, you know, from
aerosol to non aerosol, you know, from,from spray deodorants to roll-ons,
um, those sorts of little wins thatreduces our impact on the environment.
(20:35):
Um, absolutely.
Uh, I know several of my volunteersthat use, um, bar of soap shampoo, um,
which drastically reduces the packagingand completely gets rid of the plastic.
Absolutely.
Um, it does take a while totransition over, I believe, uh,
until your hair comes out the otherside and it's absolutely beautiful.
(20:56):
So if any, if anybody is inspired to tryit from this video, do stick with it for
a few weeks, um, because you'll get there.
Yeah, there is know, I've, I've used thembefore and there is a transitional period.
Um, we don't currently use bars,uh, shampoo bars in our household,
but we do use bars of soap towash our hands with like bars.
(21:19):
Yeah.
Which is, which is, which is fantastic.
But it does fantastic rather, but it does.
Bring its own issues, especially if youhave children in the house at which I do.
Um, my child will actually stick herthumb in the soap, so then it will
break up into two bars of soap, whichis fine for a little while, but as they
get smaller, so you end up with lots oflittle baby bars of soap, which aren't
(21:44):
really very useful for washing your hands.
So if you've got young children,it, it can be challenging as
to how you work around that.
So sometimes we have liquid soap.
Which is refillable and bars of soap.
So we can kind of work around it that way.
Um, because, you know, it doesn'ttend to matter how many times,
one might say, don't stick yourthumb in the bar of soap, please.
(22:07):
It still, it still happens.
Um, she will absolutely hate thatI've said that on air, but, you know,
such, such as life such and suchas, uh, oh, such as parenting life.
Yeah, absolutely.
And this is reality, isn't it?
Um, yeah.
And a, a another win going back toPlastic Free July uh, another win is
(22:29):
there are so many clubs and societiesand I think they are all going a long
way to, uh, reduce plastic waste.
But please, if you are in a clubor society that is currently using
plastic cups for the tea breaks, um,please encourage everybody involved
in your club to bring their own mug.
(22:50):
Um, you know, take it away.
And, um, that's a big, big saving.
Um, and I'm sure everybody's gottheir own ways of achieving this, but
there's not always kitchen facilities.
Um, but it's getting everybody on boardwith, uh, certainly um, the choir that
(23:10):
I was a member of, they all broughttheir own mug and took it away again.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, like you say, there'sall, all of these things
collectively make a difference.
And actually if you just do one ofthem and you just, as you've said,
trial it for Plastic Free July mm-hmm.
Then you've already made adifference just by trying it.
But actually if you try it exactly andthen you carry on with it beyond Yeah.
(23:33):
You know, beyond PlasticFree July maybe forever then.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Even better.
Even better.
Yeah.
And sometimes it's about startingsmall and just, um, making that
commitment for, for one month.
And then if you can, um, move beyondthat for a more permanent habit.
Again, it's the same with in July I'mgoing to take my own shopping bag and
(23:58):
then by the end of, I think there's, isn'tit something like it, it takes, I don't
know, a number of weeks to form a habit.
Um, yeah, I, I dunno how many weeksthat is without, I'd be guessing.
But, um, you've now got that habit builtin and you remember that um, reusable bag.
So again, it's it just, right.
(24:21):
I'm gonna take my own shopping bag, andif you can make that a lifelong habit
after July, then that's brilliant.
And I always say there's no excuse forsingle use when it comes to shopping bags.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
I think it's maybe 28days, something like that.
To yeah.
To either create or break a habit,uh, from, from what I've sort of read.
(24:45):
So yeah, it's absolutely, andyou, you're completely right.
There's, there's no excuse forsingle use, particularly when
it comes to, to plastic bags.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, again, inour household, whilst I am someone
that kind of sticks to that, notall members of our household do.
Yeah.
Um, so, you know, you, you, you can't,you know, in, in life we can't, you
(25:06):
know, we can't sort of control otherpeople's, um, how they no choose to
do things we can try and influence,but at the end of the day, yes.
Yeah.
You know, everyone's living theirown lives, so, you know, so.
Moving on finally to kitchen reducingplastic waste in the kitchen.
Let's talk about packaging, you know,for of leftovers and if you're making
(25:30):
your own lunch, because there's loadsof things you can do to reduce the waste
you create when it comes to storing food.
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's a really, really good one.
And I think one significant onethere is avoiding plastic wrap.
Um, I think often the brand nameis, is cling film, although of
course all the brands are available.
(25:51):
But plastic wrap, um, it is,it's, it, it is single use.
Once you've wrapped something in it,you're not gonna be able to reuse it
'cause it's gonna be food contaminated.
You can't recycle it.
So it, it is.
A very clear example of single useplastic that we absolutely, ideally
could do with avoiding completely.
(26:12):
Um, we don't actually useit in our household at all.
No, me neither, but, but many peoplemay do and, and it's, you know, if
it's something you've already alwaysused, that kind of makes sense.
But there are other ways ofdoing things that are much
more environmentally friendly.
So, uh, silicon lids is one.
(26:33):
Um, if you've, if you've got leftoversand you wanna pop them in the fridge
to, to keep them fresh, of courseyou can pop them in a bowl and put
maybe a saucer or a small plateover the top is another option.
If you are gonna choose plastic,you could use a reusable plastic
container of some kind, and then justkeep, keep washing it, keep using it.
(26:54):
Um, can we think of any other, uh,examples of kitchen, uh, storage solutions
that aren't plastic or not single use?
Whenever we need a, a quick andeasy cover, we, we do use, um.
Uh, tin foil, but very oftenwe will antibac wipe that
(27:16):
and reuse it where we can.
Yeah.
Um, if we need to sort ofput it over a chicken that's
cooking, that sort of thing.
Yeah.
Um, so we try and get as many usesout of it as we hygienically can.
Yeah.
Um, but.
We wouldn't use it to wrap our rolls atlunchtime, we have wax beeswax wraps.
(27:39):
Yeah.
Um, and we've had those years nowand they're still going strong and
they're, they're brilliant becausethey also act as a bit of a plate
as well if you are having a picnic.
And that, for me, that's a reallybig saving 'cause we very often
have a roll and take it out with us.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
I think you can get like a, a vegan, um,equivalent to that as well, can't you?
(28:02):
If you, if you are vegan or you, you,for whatever reason you wanna avoid
beeswax, uh, maybe allergies or somethinglike that, there are alternatives to
that, to that, that work just as well.
Um, we've certainly used them before.
I think for us it didn't quite work out.
Again, think maybe because.
You know, bringingchildren into the equation.
So I think maybe she lost someand, you know, left them in
(28:24):
school, that kind of thing.
But, you know, it depends on, on thehousehold, you know, so we, we do
use fabric, um, sandwich wrappers.
So we, we've, we've got one, youknow, we've got those and they've
lasted for a really, really long time.
So they're.
Kind of waterproof on one sideand then it's fabric on the other.
And then you use Velcro to secure it.
Yeah, so that they're really good.
(28:44):
And obviously you just washthem in the, the washing machine
along with, with other items.
Oh, probably a point, point to note there,if you've got velcro and you're putting it
in your washing machine, you might wanna.
Protect it from other items because,um, if you pop it in there and
you've got tights in there as well,it's probably not gonna end well.
I suspect from experience, Isuspect learned that along the way.
(29:06):
Um, I may have learned that the hard way.
Yeah.
So, and also the, the Velcro starts to,um, degrade over time, so it becomes,
you know, unsticky, shall we say?
Yeah, but you can still use it.
Actually, our sandwich wrapper, themain one that we have is the Velcro
has gone, but you can still use it.
You can just, yeah.
Fold it, fold it under,basically it's not, yeah.
(29:28):
Might be have a button and a stringand you twist it round the button.
Um, so, and then it's, it's wipeable.
Um, 'cause you, you can'twash, um, the, the wax ones.
Um, not to my knowledge anyway.
You've gotta wipe.
So yeah, we just, yeah, wejust wipe, wipe them down.
Um, yeah, so gosh, we, we'vecovered a lot in, in that we've
(29:52):
covered a lot of ground there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there's, you know, and I feelthat, you know, there must be something
for everyone in there, you know,and, and it can just be one small
change for Plastic Free July, andhopefully, you know, kind of beyond
that, you know, a, a change for life.
But even, even if it wasn't, and youjust did it for Plastic Free July,
you are still making a differencejust, just by testing it out.
(30:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
Well, thank you so much fortalking to me today, Alison.
My pleasure.
It's been really interesting.
I hope everybody listening has found ituseful and I hope people will make, uh,
positive changes for Plastic Free July.
So hello and welcome to TheChallenge to Change podcast.
So this is part of series two,and as you can see, I'm not
alone for this podcast episode.
I'm here with my colleague Alison Jenkins.
Hello, Alison.
How are you today?
Good, thanks.
Hi, Hazel.
Hello.
Hello.
So Alison do you wanna just talka little bit about your role
(00:38):
for Cheshire East Council beforewe we launch into the episode?
Yes, sure.
I look after a group of volunteers.
Uh, there's approximately 25 activevolunteers who cover the whole of the
Cheshire Borough, and they are calledWaste Reduction Volunteers because they
are passionate about reducing the wastethat we create in our environment.
(01:02):
Amazing.
They do an incredible job.
They really do.
It's fantastic.
So today we are gonna talk about,Plastic Free July, which is coming
around really, really quickly.
We're already at the end of May.
Um, so yeah, Plastic FreeJuly runs, as you can imagine,
throughout the whole of July.
Um, obviously it's
plastic free.
(01:23):
But of course we can just, if we wantto use the opportunity just to reduce
our plastic waste, especially if we'rethinking about single use plastic items.
So
I think probably the, the first thingthat's worth talking about actually
is the Love Food Hate Waste campaign,which sounds a little bit odd to begin
(01:43):
with 'cause well what's that gotta dowith plastic waste or packaging waste?
But actually it's got quitea lot to do with that.
Um, so do you wanna, do you wannastart us off by talking a bit
about that, that awesome campaign?
Yeah.
Uh, basically, uh, they headed it up underthe banner of 'Buy Loose, Waste Less'.
Uh, and this is essentially bygiving consumers the power to
(02:07):
choose how much food they buy.
Yeah.
Um, it enables them to.
Clearly waste less food.
So it was a food waste campaign.
Yeah.
But ultimately, if you buy loose,you are going to reduce the amount
of plastic that you use as well.
So it, it's a double win reallyfrom a reducing waste, uh,
(02:30):
that we create in general.
Um, and, uh, it, it is just gonnamake a big difference the more
that consumers choose to buy loose
fruit and vegetables, the more, um,affordable an option it's going to be.
Because if you, um, imagine supplyand demand, if most, uh, people choose
(02:52):
to buy loose, then the demand forpre-packaged fruit and veg is going to
decline, and therefore the economiesof scale, if you like, um, for packaged
goods is, is going to diminish.
Yeah.
Uh, and it's going to be more economicalfor, um, supermarkets to buy loose
(03:13):
fruit and veg to meet that higherdemand of loose, in which case they
can buy more and make greater savings.
So we've just got to shift the weightof balance on the scales, um, by
voting with our purses and saying,this is what we want to choose.
And if we all do that, then thosesavings should start to filter through.
(03:39):
Yeah, that's true.
That's true.
And I think when you think about thepast, um, certainly when I was a child,
I would go to the Green Grocers withmy mum and she would, I. Sort of, you
know, rock up there with her, I thinkit was like a, a reusable kind of
string bag of some description thatshe'd, you know, she'd put all the fruit
and vegetables in there that, that weneeded, I guess for the week or whatever.
(04:01):
Um, you know, long time ago now,but I. It, you know, it is kind
of, it's almost kind of movingback towards that really, isn't it?
Where yeah, we're buying what weneed, we're buying them loose.
We're we're, we're bringing ourpackaging with, with us, and,
you know, we're, we're, we'refilling that up inside the store.
You know, it, it willmake such a difference.
Definitely.
(04:21):
And I feel like it is an easy-ishwin, I think, for people.
Yes.
You know, you can sometimes, youknow, in, in supermarkets, you, you
do sometimes get those options of.
Buying your bananas loose or,you know, buying your clementines
or oranges loose or avocados.
So there are sometimesthose options there.
Um, and then if there's other types ofshops that you're go into, like farmer's
(04:44):
markets and other, other kind of localstores, there's often even a greater
possibility to buy loose as well.
So yeah, it's fantastic.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So even if you just decided,okay, for July I'm going to trial
buying my fruit and veg loose.
(05:06):
Yeah.
And you may find that because youare not having to buy in bulk or buy
a certain amount, even if it mightbe slightly more expensive per unit.
You might buy five bananas andeat four and one goes in the bin.
So if you, if you take intoaccount the food waste, um.
(05:30):
You may find that it balances itselfout anyway, so maybe just give it a try
for July and see, see how you get on.
Yeah, that's a really good idea andI think it's a good point as well
when we're thinking about that foodwaste, perhaps not always thinking
about it in terms of the cost.
You know, we, when we're in the shop,it's easy to think about the cost then,
well this, this is cheaper than that.
(05:51):
So you are potentially gonna gofor something that's cheaper.
But if you're throwing the food away.
You're also throwing themoney away as well, you know?
Exactly.
So it's gotta gotta be amotivation, motivational factor
for most people I'd have thought.
Exactly.
It's not quite as, uh, clearcut as we perhaps may think.
And like I say, the more people that, um,buy loose, the cheaper it's gonna get.
(06:16):
Yeah, definitely.
Definitely.
So also kind of what, you know, moving onfrom, from that campaign, another thing
that people can do is to choose to refill.
Um, could be plastic packaging, couldbe packaging of any kind, so you can,
if you have a zero waste or refill shopclose to you, that that can be an option.
(06:39):
Um, as if, if people have listened tothe Challenge to Change podcast before,
this is something that I've talked about.
Quite a few times, and it issomething that I do as a consumer.
I'm lucky that I do live close to arefill shop, and it, it does, it, it
saves a huge amount of waste in general.
But plastic packaging in particularbecause, you know, we buy refillable,
(07:01):
shampoo, conditioner, um, cleaningproducts, all, all kinds of things.
That, and it, it does make sucha difference to the waste you
create and the amount of recyclingthat you put in your recycle bin.
So, you know, it, it's,it's really good, you know?
Yeah.
And I, I think, again, even if you justwanted to try this for July, and I know
(07:23):
it's, it's very easy to say, well, ifyou make your own lunch, you, you're
gonna use less packaging, but not.
Everybody, you know, with the bestwill in the world has got the time
to make their their own lunch.
And we'll, we can talk about, um, savingsthat you can make there with, with waste.
Yeah.
But the biggest creation of wasteis going out and buying your lunch.
Yeah, but there are still choices there.
(07:47):
Um, they are now offering, insome cases loose fruit instead of.
Chopped fruit in plastic packaging,I've noticed they're offering bakery
items, um, again, which is, uh, youknow, a paper bag rather than plastic.
'cause at the end of the day,every PLAs plastic that's ever
been created is still in existence.
(08:09):
In the environment.
Yeah.
Um, so alternatives, uh, they're,they're now offering, not just
drinks in plastic bottles, you cannot,for a drink in an aluminum can.
Um, and again, just, justdecide to do that for July.
Aluminum is fully recyclable.
(08:31):
Plastic can only be recycleda certain number of times, and
then it just cannot be recycled.
It's, it's, yeah, aluminumis, is definitely a more
environmentally friendly choice.
Yeah.
Um.
So there's little things thatyou can do just in your daily
lunch, uh, that can make savingsand that can make a difference.
(08:53):
And remember, absolutely.
It, it's only one plastic bottle said 8billion people or something like that.
And, and I love that phrasebecause it, it's so true.
Well, it's just one, one plastic bottle.
Why will that make a difference?
But if we all do something about thatone plastic bottle every lunchtime.
(09:14):
Yeah, then it reallywill make a difference.
Well, absolutely.
So I think, you know, thinking aboutthat, um, Hubbub campaign where, you
know, it's a reminder for people tobring their reusable water bottle with
them and also, as you said, rememberingto you make your lunch, remembering
to take it with you because I knowI'm someone that where I've, I've,
(09:35):
you know, I've, I've been diligent.
I've made my lunch and thenI've left it in the fridge.
You know, it's something that can happen.
So they've got this great campaign.
It's quite a kind of comedic campaignwhere you're putting your, your house keys
in the fridge on top of your lunch, oryou're putting your reusable water bottle
inside your shoe so you don't forget totake it with you because the intentions
(09:57):
are wonderful, but you've actuallygotta put it into practice as well.
Uh, I think that's a great idea.
It really is.
Yeah.
Um, and it, I've now got a caddy, um, inmy car, uh, bit like a bottle carrier,
if you like, with six basic, and it'sgot my different refillable cups.
(10:18):
Yeah.
So because I was one of those peoplethat had the best of intentions
and then kept going out and,oh, I've not remembered my cup.
I, I never forget myrefillable water bottle.
That, that's kind of attached to me.
Yeah.
You've got that locked in.
Yeah.
Coffee cups are, uh I keep inmy boot and I find that way
(10:38):
I don't get, uh, caught out.
Yeah, I think it is a tricky thing andI think it does depend on the person.
I mean, I'm, I am someone who, you know,I don't wanna say I operate by the,
kind of off the cuff, but, you know,I'll, I'll suddenly go, oh, I might
just pop into this coffee shop and Ihave no intentions of going in there.
(10:59):
Um, so then I won't havea reusable cup with me.
But then you can choose to stay inif you've got the time to do that.
Yes.
You know, so there, sothere is that option there.
Um, also if you do, um, depending on whereyou go, but you, you most likely will end
up with a paper cup and a plastic lid.
So you can, you can rinse it out, you canmaybe reuse it in some way in the garden.
(11:21):
Or you can perhaps rinseit out and recycle it.
That's it.
If it it, if it's clean enough to do so.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
And as one of our greatvolunteers, Kevin has said.
Single use plastic is only singleuse if you only use it once.
And if you take that plastic cup home andthen put compost in it and grow seedlings
(11:42):
again, you're extending its useful life.
True.
Um, so it's thinking outsidethe box a little bit.
I always have a foldable carry a bag.
Which is, um, you know, fabric reusable.
Um, that's another great movement.
Morsbags.com if you're interested, um,in prolonging the life of textiles, but
(12:06):
also keeping, um, down, you know, theusage of and reliance that we have on, oh,
I'll just pay 50p or whatever people pay.
I have no idea.
Um, for a plastic bag.
Um, so yes, I don't go, that's in myhandbag and I don't go anywhere without,
(12:27):
um, you know, a foldable shopping bag.
Yeah, same.
I ha that is something, despite mystruggle to remember things, uh,
which I've mentioned on the podcastbefore, without reminders, lists.
Uh, that kind of thing.
I should remember things.
That is something thatI have got locked in.
I've got my own reusable cloth bag, whichkind of doubles as a handbag, and I do
(12:49):
have additional bags in there so thatI'm not caught out in the supermarket.
But I think as well, if you are.
If you are in the supermarket and youdo, you do end up with a plastic bag,
remember that that plastic bag canbe reused, as you've already said.
You know, as as wonderful volunteerKevin's talked about, you can, you can
reuse that plastic bag and, and if youget one of those sort of super strong,
(13:11):
durable ones that's made out of plasticand other materials, remember as well
that that can't go into your recycle bin.
So if you've got a pure plastic bagthat's still, um, called a bag for life
that can go into your recycle bin, butmore importantly, you can reuse it.
So rather than putting it in therecycle bin, if you've got it.
(13:34):
Keep using it, don't putit in the recycle bin.
But if you, if it reaches a point whereyou don't have a choice, then it can go in
so long as it's not that mixed material.
Yeah.
And, and again, uh, those bags forlife, bags for life, if it's got, got
a bit, uh, if it's disintegrated a bit.
It's got a bit holy.
Mm-hmm.
You can still use it, um, in ahanging basket as a, as a liner.
(13:59):
That's a good point.
Yeah.
And put your compost in.
You've got drainage holes.
Um, so again, it's thinking outside thebox and prolonging the life of everything
that you use and reducing that waste.
Yeah, plastic or otherwise, reallyit's just thinking of ways to reuse,
reduce, and I think that that thekey one, which obviously we've
(14:20):
already touched on is, is refusing.
So obviously tracking back to thatLove Food Hate Waste campaign.
If you are refusing to buy something inpackaging, you are making that choice, so
therefore straight away, that's, that'smuch, much better for the environment.
But if you have ended up with something.
Re reuse it, repurpose it, um, upcycle it.
(14:43):
Maybe there's, there'sother things that we can do.
Yeah.
Before that kind of endpoint,if you like, of recycling it.
And again, uh, big point on whatyou've just highlighted about refuse,
is if you refuse to buy plastic bagsat the shops they won't make them,
(15:05):
they'll, they'll stop making them.
That's true.
Yeah.
You know, I dunno whether, what's worse,a single, single use plastic bag or these
bags for life that people are still buyingas if they're single use plastic bags.
So that, that's anotherwhole conversation.
Yeah.
But again, you know, if thereisn't the demand for these.
Bags, these plastic bags, then theywon't churn them out the way they do.
(15:30):
And unfortunately, they make themlook all pretty and, and, oh, well,
I like this pattern and I like thatcharacter and I love that film.
And so they make them so attractivethat you end up buying more.
Um, so it's a, it's a, yeah, it'sa dangerous area to get into.
But one of the interesting things thatwe were discussing, uh, recently was
(15:51):
uh reducing plastic waste in the bathroom.
And that key thing about, uh, some of thefigures that were coming out about how
people, um, tend to recycle less in thebathroom because they don't tend to have
a dedicated recycle bin in the bathroom.
So this is something that, againduring July, you could give some
(16:14):
thought to and think, well, Iwon't put that in the bathroom bin.
I'll actually take it down to the kitchenor wherever you have your recycle bin.
Yeah.
Um, and try and make that extraeffort not to just lift your, your
waste out of your bathroom bin anddump it straight in the general bin.
Um, and you know that, that, thatagain is putting more of your plastic
(16:39):
waste into recycling rather than itgetting lost in, in the general waste.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And I think, yeah, I mean somepeople, I guess it depends
on the size of your bathroom.
You might, you might have a recyclebin in there, and if you do, that's
fantastic because then you've got a muchgreater chance of actually recycling.
(16:59):
Whatever it is.
It might not be plastic, it couldbe cardboard, um, it could be,
um, aerosols, you know, hairspray,dry shampoo, that kind of thing.
All of those things findthemselves in the bathroom.
Uh, but yeah, absolutely.
If you haven't got a recycle binin your bathroom, it's just making
sure that you do make that effort torecycle it elsewhere in the house.
(17:22):
And I know something that, that we findin our house, whereas I, as you can
imagine, am pretty much the, the queen ofrecycling, reusing, doing all the things.
You know, it's, it's something thatI really do care about as a person.
However, not all the members of myhousehold, you know, kind of follow that.
You know, that sort of,um, thought process really.
(17:43):
So they do put things in the bathroom binthat don't belong in the bathroom bin.
So sometimes if it's possible I'll findmyself having to kind of rummage through
the bathroom bin to take stuff out.
And sometimes it isn't possible 'causeit might be contaminated in some way.
So, yeah, you know, we, we have thosedomestic challenges if, if you will.
(18:03):
You're not alone.
Yes.
Yeah, it's, uh, and I know you Hazel, soI know that you will do things as well
to prolong that product and get the mostout of it before you need to reach, you
know, into the store cupboard for another
packaged item.
Um, and that, again, reduces thewaste, like cutting the top off the,
(18:27):
uh, tube of toothpaste or exactly,you know, a, a bottle of hand cream
and, uh, scooping out with a spoon.
All the extra product thatwe tend to throw away.
And of course, the benefitof that is it saves money.
It saves money.
The product lasts for longer.
Um, and of course, you know, you, ifyou've got, um, a plastic container
(18:47):
full of body lotion, if it's stillgot the body lotion in there, you, you
can't put it into your recycle bin.
It does need to be rinsed clean.
So if the only way you can dothat is by removing, you know,
cutting into it in some way safely
of course.
Then that needs to happen because you,you've extended the life of the product.
You've saved yourself some money andyou've ensured by rinsing it clean that
(19:10):
it can actually be recycled, assumingit's squashable plastic, of course.
Um, but yeah, and I think also justtracking back again to the refillables.
That is something thatmakes such a difference, and
that's something that I do.
So you do cut down on yourbathroom waste, you know?
Yes.
A lot of the, the bathroom items thatwe have are plastic and effectively
(19:32):
single use plastic, but we are reusingthem for as long as we possibly can by
refilling them up with shampoo, refillingthem up with conditioner and so on.
Yeah, and those, you know, those cleaning,um, containers as well, the spray
bottles, you can refill those up with.
Refillable cleaning spray becauseof course the, the, the nozzle, the
(19:53):
spray part can't be recycled becauseit's a mixed material and I think
it's a harder like rigid plastic.
So it's only the basethat could be recycled.
So you are, again, with refillables, youare, you know, you are kind of at least
temporarily removing the need for that.
I mean, eventually, you know, it may startto be unusable, so eventually you would
(20:14):
have to do something else with it, butit's gonna last a lot longer that way.
Yeah.
So.
And, and there's, you know, otherenvironmental swaps, you know, from
aerosol to non aerosol, you know, from,from spray deodorants to roll-ons,
um, those sorts of little wins thatreduces our impact on the environment.
(20:35):
Um, absolutely.
Uh, I know several of my volunteersthat use, um, bar of soap shampoo, um,
which drastically reduces the packagingand completely gets rid of the plastic.
Absolutely.
Um, it does take a while totransition over, I believe, uh,
until your hair comes out the otherside and it's absolutely beautiful.
(20:56):
So if any, if anybody is inspired to tryit from this video, do stick with it for
a few weeks, um, because you'll get there.
Yeah, there is know, I've, I've used thembefore and there is a transitional period.
Um, we don't currently use bars,uh, shampoo bars in our household,
but we do use bars of soap towash our hands with like bars.
(21:19):
Yeah.
Which is, which is, which is fantastic.
But it does fantastic rather, but it does.
Bring its own issues, especially if youhave children in the house at which I do.
Um, my child will actually stick herthumb in the soap, so then it will
break up into two bars of soap, whichis fine for a little while, but as they
get smaller, so you end up with lots oflittle baby bars of soap, which aren't
(21:44):
really very useful for washing your hands.
So if you've got young children,it, it can be challenging as
to how you work around that.
So sometimes we have liquid soap.
Which is refillable and bars of soap.
So we can kind of work around it that way.
Um, because, you know, it doesn'ttend to matter how many times,
one might say, don't stick yourthumb in the bar of soap, please.
(22:07):
It still, it still happens.
Um, she will absolutely hate thatI've said that on air, but, you know,
such, such as life such and suchas, uh, oh, such as parenting life.
Yeah, absolutely.
And this is reality, isn't it?
Um, yeah.
And a, a another win going back toPlastic Free July uh, another win is
(22:29):
there are so many clubs and societiesand I think they are all going a long
way to, uh, reduce plastic waste.
But please, if you are in a clubor society that is currently using
plastic cups for the tea breaks, um,please encourage everybody involved
in your club to bring their own mug.
(22:50):
Um, you know, take it away.
And, um, that's a big, big saving.
Um, and I'm sure everybody's gottheir own ways of achieving this, but
there's not always kitchen facilities.
Um, but it's getting everybody on boardwith, uh, certainly um, the choir that
(23:10):
I was a member of, they all broughttheir own mug and took it away again.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, like you say, there'sall, all of these things
collectively make a difference.
And actually if you just do one ofthem and you just, as you've said,
trial it for Plastic Free July mm-hmm.
Then you've already made adifference just by trying it.
But actually if you try it exactly andthen you carry on with it beyond Yeah.
(23:33):
You know, beyond PlasticFree July maybe forever then.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Even better.
Even better.
Yeah.
And sometimes it's about startingsmall and just, um, making that
commitment for, for one month.
And then if you can, um, move beyondthat for a more permanent habit.
Again, it's the same with in July I'mgoing to take my own shopping bag and
(23:58):
then by the end of, I think there's, isn'tit something like it, it takes, I don't
know, a number of weeks to form a habit.
Um, yeah, I, I dunno how many weeksthat is without, I'd be guessing.
But, um, you've now got that habit builtin and you remember that um, reusable bag.
So again, it's it just, right.
(24:21):
I'm gonna take my own shopping bag, andif you can make that a lifelong habit
after July, then that's brilliant.
And I always say there's no excuse forsingle use when it comes to shopping bags.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
I think it's maybe 28days, something like that.
To yeah.
To either create or break a habit,uh, from, from what I've sort of read.
(24:45):
So yeah, it's absolutely, andyou, you're completely right.
There's, there's no excuse forsingle use, particularly when
it comes to, to plastic bags.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, again, inour household, whilst I am someone
that kind of sticks to that, notall members of our household do.
Yeah.
Um, so, you know, you, you, you can't,you know, in, in life we can't, you
(25:06):
know, we can't sort of control otherpeople's, um, how they no choose to
do things we can try and influence,but at the end of the day, yes.
Yeah.
You know, everyone's living theirown lives, so, you know, so.
Moving on finally to kitchen reducingplastic waste in the kitchen.
Let's talk about packaging, you know,for of leftovers and if you're making
(25:30):
your own lunch, because there's loadsof things you can do to reduce the waste
you create when it comes to storing food.
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's a really, really good one.
And I think one significant onethere is avoiding plastic wrap.
Um, I think often the brand nameis, is cling film, although of
course all the brands are available.
(25:51):
But plastic wrap, um, it is,it's, it, it is single use.
Once you've wrapped something in it,you're not gonna be able to reuse it
'cause it's gonna be food contaminated.
You can't recycle it.
So it, it is.
A very clear example of single useplastic that we absolutely, ideally
could do with avoiding completely.
(26:12):
Um, we don't actually useit in our household at all.
No, me neither, but, but many peoplemay do and, and it's, you know, if
it's something you've already alwaysused, that kind of makes sense.
But there are other ways ofdoing things that are much
more environmentally friendly.
So, uh, silicon lids is one.
(26:33):
Um, if you've, if you've got leftoversand you wanna pop them in the fridge
to, to keep them fresh, of courseyou can pop them in a bowl and put
maybe a saucer or a small plateover the top is another option.
If you are gonna choose plastic,you could use a reusable plastic
container of some kind, and then justkeep, keep washing it, keep using it.
(26:54):
Um, can we think of any other, uh,examples of kitchen, uh, storage solutions
that aren't plastic or not single use?
Whenever we need a, a quick andeasy cover, we, we do use, um.
Uh, tin foil, but very oftenwe will antibac wipe that
(27:16):
and reuse it where we can.
Yeah.
Um, if we need to sort ofput it over a chicken that's
cooking, that sort of thing.
Yeah.
Um, so we try and get as many usesout of it as we hygienically can.
Yeah.
Um, but.
We wouldn't use it to wrap our rolls atlunchtime, we have wax beeswax wraps.
(27:39):
Yeah.
Um, and we've had those years nowand they're still going strong and
they're, they're brilliant becausethey also act as a bit of a plate
as well if you are having a picnic.
And that, for me, that's a reallybig saving 'cause we very often
have a roll and take it out with us.
Yeah, that's fantastic.
I think you can get like a, a vegan, um,equivalent to that as well, can't you?
(28:02):
If you, if you are vegan or you, you,for whatever reason you wanna avoid
beeswax, uh, maybe allergies or somethinglike that, there are alternatives to
that, to that, that work just as well.
Um, we've certainly used them before.
I think for us it didn't quite work out.
Again, think maybe because.
You know, bringingchildren into the equation.
So I think maybe she lost someand, you know, left them in
(28:24):
school, that kind of thing.
But, you know, it depends on, on thehousehold, you know, so we, we do
use fabric, um, sandwich wrappers.
So we, we've, we've got one, youknow, we've got those and they've
lasted for a really, really long time.
So they're.
Kind of waterproof on one sideand then it's fabric on the other.
And then you use Velcro to secure it.
Yeah, so that they're really good.
(28:44):
And obviously you just washthem in the, the washing machine
along with, with other items.
Oh, probably a point, point to note there,if you've got velcro and you're putting it
in your washing machine, you might wanna.
Protect it from other items because,um, if you pop it in there and
you've got tights in there as well,it's probably not gonna end well.
I suspect from experience, Isuspect learned that along the way.
(29:06):
Um, I may have learned that the hard way.
Yeah.
So, and also the, the Velcro starts to,um, degrade over time, so it becomes,
you know, unsticky, shall we say?
Yeah, but you can still use it.
Actually, our sandwich wrapper, themain one that we have is the Velcro
has gone, but you can still use it.
You can just, yeah.
Fold it, fold it under,basically it's not, yeah.
(29:28):
Might be have a button and a stringand you twist it round the button.
Um, so, and then it's, it's wipeable.
Um, 'cause you, you can'twash, um, the, the wax ones.
Um, not to my knowledge anyway.
You've gotta wipe.
So yeah, we just, yeah, wejust wipe, wipe them down.
Um, yeah, so gosh, we, we'vecovered a lot in, in that we've
(29:52):
covered a lot of ground there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there's, you know, and I feelthat, you know, there must be something
for everyone in there, you know,and, and it can just be one small
change for Plastic Free July, andhopefully, you know, kind of beyond
that, you know, a, a change for life.
But even, even if it wasn't, and youjust did it for Plastic Free July,
you are still making a differencejust, just by testing it out.
(30:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fantastic.
Well, thank you so much fortalking to me today, Alison.
My pleasure.
It's been really interesting.
I hope everybody listening has found ituseful and I hope people will make, uh,
positive changes for Plastic Free July.
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