Easy Swaps for Plastic Free July

Be part of the plastic pollution solution! It gets easier every year, there are now so many new products that are eliminating plastic and offering an awesome plastic free alternative.

When it comes to eliminating plastic, we recommend you tackle it in four steps.

First, overhaul your on-the-go items

The basic list is:

🌸 Carry reusable shopping bags;

🌸 Set yourself up with a stainless-steel drink bottle, lunch box, and keep cup;

🌸 Have a designated container for takeouts and utensils + a straw to eat on-the-go;

🌸 Beeswrap on hand to wrap your sandwiches; and

🌸 A snack box in your bag to keep you boosted mid-afternoon.

Second, overhaul your bathroom

You can now swap your deodorant and lip balm from plastic tubes to gorgeous home compostable tubes. Everkind's lip balm tube is a world-first design and makes going eco feel oh-so beautiful.

And you can give up the plastic bottles by swapping your liquid hand soap, shampoo and conditioner over to bars. Your toothpaste can even make the switch to tooth tablets.

Third, overhaul your laundry

Stainless-steel pegs for the washing line are not only gorgeous, they are also brilliant to use. Swap laundry liquid in plastic to powder in a box.

When it come to cleaning cloths, either knit your own from cotton or cut up old towels into squares. Both clean so much better then synthetic cloths.

Fourth, overhaul your kitchen

Soap in a cage and handknitted cloths are a fun place to start, but the magic happens when you start filling your pantry jars at a Refillery and avoid all those little plastic bags.

When you have your pantry topped up with waste-free ingredients, here are our top three recipes for reducing the plastic even more.

🌸 Gael's Muesli Slice

Ingredients

1c rolled oats
1c coconut
1.5c chopped nuts and seeds
1c dried fruit, chop big pieces
125g butter
1/2c brown sugar
1/3c honey

Method

Line a small slice tin with baking paper.

Heat butter, brown sugar, and honey. Bring to the boil, turn down and gently boil 7-10 minutes (until soft toffee stage - golden not brown).

While butter mixture is boiling, mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the butter mixture, stir quickly to combine, and press into tin.

Cool before slicing. Enjoy!

🌸 Flax Seed Crackers

Ingredients

1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup flaxseeds (linseeds)
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of garlic flakes
1 cup of water

Method

Heat oven to 170 degrees celsius.

Mix all the seeds and seasonings together in a large bowl. Add the water and stir to combine. Leave to stand for 15 minutes.

Cover a baking tray with a large piece of baking paper. Spoon the mixture onto it and spread out thinly with a spatula. Try to spread it evenly, avoid leaving holes, and make the thickness less than 4mm if possible.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn upside down on the tray. Peel the baking paper off and return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes. You want it crisp but not burnt.🤣

When done, cool on an biscuit rack, then break up into cracker size pieces and place in a tin to store.

🌸 Nice Ice Cream

Peel and freeze overnight ripe bananas (the riper the sweeter).

Break three bananas into chucks and blend until smooth. Serve and enjoy.

If you want a chocolate flavour add 2 tablespoons of cocoa or for a minty delight add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint essence. You can add other berries or mango ... the sky's the limit!

Hope our thoughts provide some plastic free inspiration. If you only make one swap this year ... please make it lip balm! Did you know that annually 200 million plastic lip balm tubes go to landfill across the globe. Making this little switch can make a huge difference.

As always, please reach out and share your top tips, I love hearing from you. We're so much better together!