My last blog was on 22.08.19 which was a few weeks ago now and lots has been happening in my community since. September for me is always a nightmare month as the children start back to school after their summer break and I try to get back into the mom normal routine and my time is limited.
Food shopping has slipped backwards a little into convenience life style and the plastic free household has seen a slight rise in the green recycling bins plastic waste. I have surprised myself though as I still have reduced my overall waste and I refuse to buy unneccessary plastic packaging.
Today I visited the Greener living fair in Kidderminster and i was completed overwhelmed with the amount of stalls offering alternative greener living advice. I am totally Inspired as ever to keep going now and I'm even planning my plastic free Christmas. Most of my September shopping was not buying the easier option but sometimes I was pushed for time and failed. My children have also decided to go back to packed lunches and whilst using reusable drink bottles some snacks have been in the plastic wrapping.
I make up 4 packed lunches each school day and I am proud of how I have changed them. I use a cotton wax wrap for the sandwiches (not tin foil or cling film) which I wipe clean and reuse. The drink bottles are reusable and I fill them with water or squash. Unfortunately the squash has returned and I have been buying the Robinson 2 for £2.50 plastic bottles. The fruit is quite easy as it is not wrapped but the snack bars I put into the sandwich tubs are in a wrapper. I really need to look at an alternative that my children will eat. I did run out of snack bars this week and the children put in a couple rich tea biscuits and crisps, making sure they bring the crisp packet back home to me for Terracycle recycling. So I need to look at ways to do more plastic free lunches boxes as I feel I am letting the family down.
Today at the town hall there were lots of inspiring ways to change a couple of my habits and I am really interested in the repair workshop stalls. These stalls offered to fix broken household items, repair clothing or generally up cycle old clothes. Crafting stalls, home baking vegan ideas and plastic free gifts were also on offer. I now have more ideas for my plastic free Christmas home.
My daughter was asked to judge the decorated plastic bottle competition completing her ambassadorship job for The Pickup Artists. Lots of great entrances made this an incredibly hard competition to judge.
Outside of the town hall were 3 electric vehicles with their owners offering their knowledge to the public? This was totally inspiring and I came straight back home to price up a Nissan Leaf to lease. My excitement turned to anger as yet again businesses are making money from people wanting to be more planet friendly. I could hire a petrol/diesel car for a fraction of the cost of an electric vehicle. This idea is now too far out of my reach and the companies are preventing a faster national change over due to this. When I priced up my petrol costs, tax and mileage from my petrol car I decided that I could afford £180 per month to hire an electric car instead. The advice I was given was to rent a electric vehicle instead of purchasing one. When I looked at online deals I would only be able to drive a maximum of 10.000 miles per year and pay £280 - £360 per month to lease an electric vehicle. This is what I have discovered online so I will however visit a show room to find out more information i'm not giving up on this one.
The turnout of stalls, community representatives, wildlife enthusiasts, litter picking groups, repairing groups, vegan alternatives and others was absolutely commendable. Kidderminster town along with Wyre forest district council is moving forward to make positive changes toward a greener living environmental town.
The bottle return scheme demonstration for me as a litter picker showed that a purchaser is more likely to return their items to this machine. This system is far from complete however its showing some options for the future. Unfortunately I think single use plastics should be banned full stop with this machine offering the incentive for tin and glass only. When thinking of the bigger picture recycling is never the option for plastics but this machine is a step forward none the less.
Eat, Love yoga our beloved Kidderminster cafe was there promoting ways in which everyone can change their shopping habits. If you are yet to visit their shop on comberton road kidderminster then I highly recomend them. Lots of ideas at affordable prices offered to help you with a plastic free lifestyle.
My vegan style stall was an absolute eye opener for christmas gift ideas, their prices were very affordable and the item ideas are boxed and ready to gift. plastic free all the way. www.veganmystyle.com
loved this stall and my daughter is delighted with her gift box of goodies.
Worcestershire nappy exchange wow I wished I knew these nappies when my children were younger. When I think about the amount of nappies I sent to landfill knowing what I know now it makes me feel ashamed. what a great incentive they now offer to families and so much cheaper than disposables.
I have joined a volunteer group that hope to introduce Surfers against Sewage national incentive scheme to help Kidderminster become a plastic free town. Today the room was full of inspiring people who I had previously met in this group and you can clearly see the town’s enthusiasm is behind them 100%.
When I look at our community and see the incredible people who makes an event like this happen I am full of pride to be part of this team. Today was all credit to the organisers Elaine Halford-Bishop and Councillor Vicky Caulfield you really did put on a incredible greener living event Thank you.
