Sunday, July 17, 2011

Living Plastic Free

Here's my published article in ACF's Habitat magazine on A Plastic Free Year.
Published on the ACF Website in May. Click here.

Living plastic free (part 2)
Gina Prendergast introduced herself to us in the March issue of habitat. It led to an appearance on Sunrise and stirred up a whole lot of interest in her vow to live plastic free for a year.
Go Gina!

Any lifestyle change can be achieved as long as old habits are replaced with new ones for a prolonged period of time. Living a plastic free year is becoming more habitual as time goes on, but some products are still hard to find.
I haven’t found cherry tomatoes or berries in plastic free packaging. One market stall holder selling blueberries informed me he’s looked into using packaging made from plant sugars or starches such as corn, but apparently it’s law in Australia to sell berries in virgin plastic – go figure? I’ve made it a priority to plant my own berries. It will take a few years to start producing fruit, but fortunately the cherry tomato plant I potted a few months ago has already provided my first handful of ripe red sensations.
Cleaning seems to have a plethora of plastic free options. I was using baking soda and vinegar (purchased in a glass bottle). Bottles can be refilled with vinegar and a wide variety of other cleaning products at some co-ops/bulk buy stores. I’ve also purchased my first bag of soap nuts. Soap nuts grow on trees and can be used in place of laundry detergent, shampoo (for you and pets), household and car cleaners, and can even be sprayed on the garden to keep parasites away. Plastic free cleaning brushes such as coconut fibre dishwashing brushes, vegetable brushes, bottle brushes and goat hair dusters are easy to get hold of.
My next challenge? I’m due to welcome my first child into the world in early September and (he/she?!) will be joining me on my plastic free journey. Only I haven’t a clue how we are going to achieve this yet!

To find out more, or contact me with suggestions, please visit:

1 comment:

  1. All Floors Australia is a leading Carpet Flooring Company in Melbourne and we have the widest selection of carpets online from cheap Carpet Flooring to high quality carpets as well as a wide range of flooring options for vinyl flooring, luxury vinyl tiles, wood flooring, laminate and even artificial grass. By purchasing our products in bulk, we are able to offer huge discounts and sell high quality flooring at such cheap prices – helping you transform your home for less

    Carpet Flooring in Hoppers Crossing

    ReplyDelete