Week 1 (2022) #Attempt 2

Challenges:

Tindall Tribe:

What becomes quickly apparent is that you can’t get everything you need in one shop. Having attempted this last year, I realised I needed a strategy since it had become a full time job traipsing from one establishment to the next in search of my weekly shop. While I could get green apples (the only ones youngest daughter would eat) free of plastic in Sainsbury’s, they couldn’t offer coriander free of plastic or soft cheese (but then who can?!).

Lucy & Family:

Trying to persuade my family to sign up for this was definitely a challenge. Instead I substituted products ninja style on the 1st of November while they were all out. This caused a degree of uproar when Andy was about to take his shower and couldn’t relate to the apparently random bars that had appeared, and one of my daughters refused to use deodorant for the first few days until she decided that change was better than being smelly.

Ali & Co:

As a pharmacist I am acutely aware of the large amount of single use plastic generated by my industry. I have come across a green campaigning pharmacist who I am going to contact to see what avenues are open to us to tackle this. A particular challenge for me is that I work long days so convenience is important.

Successes:

Tindall Tribe:

Living within driving distance of a market town, I discovered that Crediton could offer me pretty much all I needed. A butcher, where you can take your own containers, a grocer with brown bags to weigh your produce, and a baker with fresh unpackaged bread and a refill zone. Oh yes, and a café with coffee and cakes; a little incentive. Quite conveniently they are all open at 8am and so on Thursday, after a quick swim, I managed to shop along the high street for my weekly provisions.

I felt smug having achieved a no-plastic shop, but equally resentful that the guilt is placed firmly on the shoulders of consumers given they are not offered a real choice.  In reality for the majority of people where shopping in a supermarket is the only practical option, you simply cannot opt for a no-plastic alternative for a huge range of products: cheese, yoghurt, herbs, toothpaste, even most organic products seemed to be firmly gusseted in plastic.

Lucy & Family:

Shopping was definitely the easy part, although painful for the finances. The zero waste shops are a bit out of town but well stocked and I managed to get our household goods – loo roll wrapped in paper, wooden washing up brush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and conditioner. There was also plenty of food available in dispensers so I felt reassured that I would be able to source what we needed.

Ali & Co:

A good start with paper wrapped bread, glass container of peanut butter, coffee in a metal caddy, and non-packaged fruit. Post arrived from the beekeepers associated in compostable plastic. Off for a bath to celebrate with foam bath in a glass jar.

Failures:

Tindall Tribe:

It wasn’t all rosy however, and I have to confess to a few lapses. Swimming without my contact lenses is rather disorientating so my pledge only to wear my glasses for a month took a knock. Then at the weekend, staying in a pub for my Uncle’s memorial, I failed to bring soap so had to use the little plastic covered bar. I also have to admit there are still hula hoops lurking in the back of the larder so there has not yet been a full scale rebellion on the school packed lunch front. Just in time I have found a source of crisps in compostable packaging, but yes, guess what? They are in yet a different shop, in a different town to my strategically selected shopping spot.

Lucy & Family:

We have had a recipe box for a couple of years now and my family refused to give this up even though it comes with a lot of plastic in tow. The tiny sachets in most bags are a definite loss, but the bigger plastic bags I will re-use as freezer bags, so it’s made me rethink my plastic use there. There is a lot of room for improvement here, not least since the plastic sachets have ‘Do not recycle’ printed on them which is very frustrating. The company have used recycled paper for the bags so clearly consider the issue but they have a lot further to go.

Ali & Co:

Convenience played a part here with the need for easy access to vegetables outstripping the need for plastic-free. Meanwhile the plastic wrapped bagels and plastic shampoo bottles scream at me from their respective shelves.

Costs:

We were hoping that this would not be the case, but it appeared that in almost every case choosing no plastic was more expensive.