Earlier this month we touched on the ways we can reduce our daily plastic consumption for plastic-free July. This week we want to talk about how we, as a team got on. To be honest, we all struggled, but we tried to do our best, and are always trying to do more. We learned that it’s certainly a case of picking your battles. Unfortunately, in today’s society, it’s nearly impossible to cut plastic out cold turkey, but it’s definitely something we all believe we can work on reducing. So don’t beat yourself up over the occasional plastic bottle purchase when you forget your re-usable one – simply having the right intention is a step in the right direction!
As a team, we discussed what we improved on this month, and what we personally want to keep working on. It’s all about trial and error, the more we try, the more we learn and discover ways we can work together to tackle this issue.
So, how did the team get on?
Charlotte, Head of Marketing:
- Good: I’ve managed to switch out my plastic shampoo bottles for Beauty Kubes – an environmentally friendly alternative to shampoo bottles.
- Bad: I always seem to forget to bring my reusable shopping bag when I do my food shop – something I’m trying to work on!
Florien Pickering, Business Development Manager:
- Good: One of my pet peeves is the amount of single-use plastic in supermarkets, so I’ve started bringing my own plastic containers when I go shopping – so far, it’s saved so much packaging!
- Bad: I’ve noticed the cosmetics I use are all in plastic containers – so I’m looking into some more environmentally friendly options.
Adrien, Senior Developer:
- Good: I don’t use disposable cutlery when eating out (unless it’s biodegradable). I also always carry my water bottle around so never purchase plastic bottles.
- Bad: When I do a food shop I find it impossible to avoid plastic, but I’m trying to source ingredients with the least packaging and am starting to learn new recipes as a result!
Pippa Snadden, Key Account Manager:
- Good: I’ve started buying our laundry detergent and cleaning products from a zero waste refill shop and have recently purchased a bamboo toothbrush to replace my plastic one.
- Bad: I always seem to forget some toiletries when I go away and end up purchasing mini travel cosmetics rather than using my eco-friendly ones.
Sophie Freeman, Senior Business Development Manager:
- Good: I always make sure I buy food from the supermarket which isn’t packaged and bring my reusable shopping bag rather than use a plastic one.
- Bad: I’m a diet coke addict, so I have to try and stop myself reaching for the plastic bottles on the supermarket shelves!
Joanna Thomas, Marketing Assistant:
- Good: I carry my Chilly’s bottle with me everywhere and refill at local spots across the city to prevent buying plastic bottles. I’ve also started to purchase all fruit and veg from the local greengrocers where everything is loose and unpackaged.
- Bad: I often order online and have been disappointed with the amount of plastic packaging, so I’m trying to shop in-store more – the old fashioned way!
It’s clear there is still lots of room for improvement from us all, and there’s one key issue many of us struggled with – grocery shopping. Unfortunately, in our city, it’s almost impossible to shop totally plastic-free, but becoming a more conscious consumer encourages us to opt for products with more sustainable packaging, or alternative options like veg boxes or shopping at local markets. Just opening up this conversation leads to great improvements as we learn about alternative sustainable practices and products (who knew you could bring your own Tupperware to the supermarket?). Plastic-free July is a great starting point, but we’re all making a conscious decision to continue with our newly learned eco-friendly practices and keep working on reducing our plastic consumption.
