Practical Steps to Using Less Plastic

"Plastic is a brilliant invention" you say?
      Why yes, yes it is.

"Why would you throw away perfectly good usable plastic?"
      Well if you have any sense you wouldn't!

Like anyone who has recently embarked on the perilous journey to avoiding plastics, I have a heap of plastic-ware in my kitchen and around my house. So what should I do with it, I mean I must be a hypocrite if I'm still using all this plastic stuff while telling others we need to avoid it, right?
Well not quite. If I was to throw away all the plastic things I've accumulated I would only be perpetuating the problem of plastic polluting the environment. And besides a lot of the items still have a long and useful life ahead of them, why would I be so wasteful as to throw them out?

All Rights Miyazaki City Koho Publication

It's easy to get caught up in appearances and making sure you 'look the part' of the eco-warrior. Especially when you are 'guilt tripped' into buying the latest plastic alternative items. I'm in a few plastic-free/ Zero Waste support groups on Facebook, and if I had a dollar for every time that people are chastised for using reusable plastics or heaven-forbid suggesting an item that contains even a shred of plastic, well I'd be one rich lady!

There are however some real health implications of using plastics for food storage, so phasing out their use is certainly desirable. Knowing the different types of plastic can be useful when deciding on how to reuse or re-purpose plastics.

It may be possible to cutout all plastic items, but unfortunately it's not convenient, practical or fun. You can compromise. Here are some really easy things you can do which will make an impact and also make you feel good about refusing and reducing plastics, particularly single-use plastics:

• REFUSE. Take your own reusable shopping bag. I have two rolled up in my handbag and a couple in the car. Get in the habit of telling the cashier that you don't need a bag. If you live in Japan you can say 'fukuro ga arimasu' I have a bag. Or 'biniru bukuro ga iranai desu', I don't need a plastic bag. To refuse the produce poly bags say 'pori bagu mo iranai desu', I don't need a poly bag either.

  

  Reusable produce bags

•  Stop wrapping things in clingfilm! You can use plates and bowls to cover things. Or make use of all those Tupperware containers you're NOT going to throw away. There are also wrap alternatives such as beeswax wraps, that are pretty easy to make too.

• Take your own containers to the supermarket/ butchers/ grocers. Yes they can be plastic just make sure they're clean and reusable. So far I've had no trouble at my local shops. The takoyaki guy even graciously squished all the takoyaki into my container last Friday! And your own containers are much easier to handle than some of the ones offered at the deli section of the supermarket.('koreni irete itadakemasuka?' Can you put those in here for me?)

• Ditch the straw and ask for real cups. If you're dining in at a cafe skip plastic lids and straws and cutlery ('futa to sutorou ga iranai desu'=  I don't need a lid and straw), and ask if they have real mugs/ glasses (futsuu no magukapu/garasu de onegaishimasu'). Or if you can be bothered, take your own reusable cup. If you really need a straw (do you really need a straw?) there are glass, steel, or paper ones available too.

  

  Take your own cutlery/straw

• REDUCE. It's near impossible to refuse all plastic in this day and age. Start small, every little bit counts. Plan meals to avoid using ready made sauces. Eat more fresh fruit and veges and less processed stuff. Source items packaged in glass/paper/tin.

  

  Plastic package free sunscreen, shampoo/conditioner, facewash

  
  

• REUSE. It doesn't matter how many bags I refuse I still somehow manage to accumulate them passively from friends and relatives via gifts etc. So if I give you something in a plastic bag, don't judge me, I am reusing it and would be most grateful if you would do the same. Find an alternative use for plastics that aren't recyclable and that would otherwise end up in landfill/ incinerated. You can also save empty spray bottles to make your own cleaners as well as jars and containers to re-purpose.

• REPAIR. Self explanatory. Like your grandparents used to do!

• RECYCLE. When you have no need for a plastic item anymore make sure it's recycled properly in your city's garbage collection, or better yet give it to someone who has a use for it or donate to a second- hand shop.

Now go forth my friends and rid the world of disposable plastic one piece at a time!

Are You Hooked on Plastic?

What does a world without plastic look like?

There are fewer and fewer people who are able to answer that question. After the mass production of the plastic bag and explosion of plastics onto the consumer market in the 1950's, plastic has become so ubiquitous that it is difficult to imagine a world without it. Imagine walking along an urban beach and not seeing a single scrap of plastic, walking down the street and not seeing plastic rubbish discarded in the gutters and drains.

No doubt life was very different pre-plastic, when working your land, providing for your family, and living within your means were considered the norm for many. A time when things were slower and simpler. But my how times have changed in a relatively short time frame. For better or worse the invention of plastic has made life a lot more convenient for our time poor, money rich, consumerist society.

Things that used to be crafted from wood, clay, steel and glass are now plastic, extruded and churned out on a line for immediate consumption, with many items literally only used momentarily before ending up in the bin. The much-loved plastic shopping bag is used for a whopping 12 minutes on average, before being unceremoniously discarded.

There was a time when plastic items were expensive and treasured, a wonder of science and technology, take Tupperware for example. But now it's so easy and cheap to get plastic ware that we literally throw it away after a single use with barely a second thought!

Fruit in Japan

Fruit in NZ

It's doubtful that our addiction to plastics is a mere accident or natural progression. On the contrary I believe we have been conditioned and manipulated to use and accept plastic without question, and despite increasing calls for decades to find alternatives to fossil fuels and their byproducts, we are consuming more and more plastic with no tangible end in sight. A world without plastic pollution and fossil fuels is still a fantasy.

I was an eighties kid so I grew up in the 'plastic fantastic' age, when plastic was marketed as a new-age wonder of technology and plastic toys were being constantly pushed onto kids that had to have it all. Now there are fewer and fewer options for non-plastic items, or items not wrapped in plastic packaging, and more often than not when I ask retailers why there are no alternatives they look puzzled and have to think about an answer or some kind of excuse. The number one reason I'm given for fruit and vegetables being wrapped in plastic, is hygiene.  It seems a bizarre reason when you consider that vegetables are grown in dirt and manure! Not to mention that most people wash their produce before consuming, or that the majority of Japanese people don't eat the skins on their fruit and vegetables, even peeling individual grapes?!

Manufacturers laughing all the way to the bank.

With the oil industry under increasing threat do you think it's a coincidence that we are being pushed to buy bottled water while waterways are increasingly polluted? That everything comes in plastic because it's just more hygienic? Or that we are given no alternatives because they are inferior? Just think about those reasons for a second. On one hand we are told we must reduce our carbon footprint, while on the other hand manufacturers continue to churn out more single use plastic, and encourage us to buy more, more, MORE polluting products.

Take a look at the example of disposable and 'reusable' razors. Today I went to buy replacement cartridge heads for my lady shaver, which although still has some plastic parts is somewhat less than the disposable versions. The manufacturer gives me one choice of replacement cartridges in a small cardboard box, at 598 yen for two. Or instead I could get a pack of four disposal plastic razors in disposable plastic packaging for 198 yen. So essentially in trying to avoid plastic I have to pay three times the price?! Some will argue the quality is better but in my opinion that is absolute garbage. If anything I would say the replaceable types blunt quicker. Manufacturers must sit around the meeting room table rubbing their hands together while they laugh and laugh at our gullible stupidity.
Barring going au naturale (which will probably get me even more weird side glances), there's waxing of course (if medieval torture is you're thing), or other expensive and involved permanent hair removal options. But seriously, my next non plastic investment will probably be a metal safety razor with replaceable blades, for a fraction of the cost. You have to wonder why these much more environmentally friendly razors have been replaced by inferior plastic versions, don't you.

So what can we do about this conundrum?

Be vocal.
There are many household things I've successfully and fairly easily replaced with non plastic items, pantry items and hygiene products for example. But I often have to hunt for things, it requires effort, and sometimes I just don't have the time or the money. We need retailers to provide more options, and if we don't tell them we want it then how are they going to know there is a demand, or that we even care? So my advice is email your local supermarket or talk in store with the manager directly (if possible), whenever you have the time or inclination. Ask retailers if they have alternatives, and if they don't then why not? Kudos has to go out to the rare gems who are addressing the problem head on, like the fantastic Kiwi business Innocent Packaging that sees the value in being a business that supports sustainability.

Start to question your own habits.
So many things we do on a daily basis have just become force of habit. Sometimes we do things because we are told to, or perceive that everyone does things a certain way so we must also.
Do you really need that little plastic bag to go inside a big plastic bag? Or could you just carry it to your car and put your purchase in your eco-bag? Do you really need plastic bin liners? Or could you use paper or fold your own? Do you really need plastic food-wrap? Or could you put a plate or bowl on top instead, or transfer to a reusable container? Do you really need those plastic net things to put in your kitchen sink catchment? Or could you just empty it out directly in your compost or bin every day and wash it? Are you buying into the marketing hype or just doing things because everyone else does it? Think about what motivates you.

I've been careful to try not to push my agenda on people, as it's not my goal to guilt people into feeling they have to stop using plastic. At the end of the day I realize people are busy and will reach for the most convenient and cheapest options, and for that reason conscious consumerism will fail and is a fraud as long as manufacturers continue to get a free-pass for using unsustainable materials. It's a gloomy and sickening realization when you find out you've been naively manipulated for so long. We can turn it around though, but boy oh boy have we got a lot of work to do.

Tips for Plastic-free Travel

If there's one thing I've learnt during my journey away from throw-away plastic consumption, it's that at least a little bit of effort is required, and in fact, sometimes a bit more than that. But you do need to care, you need to prepare, and sometimes, for your sanity, you need to cut yourself some slack!

Some things are so easy to give up, like plastic shopping bags, easiest thing ever...no really it's surprisingly simple, you just have to remember. However, other things require a bit more thought and planning.

On a recent trip home to New Zealand I learnt a thing or two on how to avoid single-use plastic when travelling on long-haul flights. Here's what I prepared on my Air NZ flight with two rugrats in tow:

• Trusty insulated travel mug
• Drink bottles for the kids
• Antibacterial wipes
• Reusable cutlery (of the non-lethal kind)

As you go through security you will need to open all the drink bottles/mugs to show that they are empty (or if it's a small child's bottle, that the contents are indeed just water/consumable liquids). 

For this reason it pays to have all bottles easily accessible in or on your hand luggage to save a lot of rummaging.

The drink bottles were by far the best thing to take as it meant no spills, and the kids had plenty of water to keep them hydrated during the flight. My mug was also well used, but there were a few times when it wasn't accessible (sleeping kiddies are good like that). I was still able to ask for a reusable cup though. If you take notice, they have two options for cups on Air NZ flights, and the reusable cups are a bit bigger so that's an extra bonus. It pays to ask, sometimes you'll be surprised that there are alternatives available.

If you forget your cutlery or just can't be bothered, don't fret, you can use one set of plastic cutlery, then use the antibacterial wipes for cleaning or wash them in the bathrooms to reuse for your next meal. The cutlery is pretty good quality, so you can take it home to reuse again, or use this ingenious idea to stop cat's from crapping in your vege patch!

I'll be honest, travelling with kids on my own was exhausting and towards the end it all became a bit 'too hard basket'. I did succumb to accepting a takeaway cup for my cup of tea on the last leg back to Japan on a domestic flight. Hey no one's perfect. Missing out on my fix because my travel mug was in the overhead locker was NOT an option by this stage!

One final tip, to avoid a drenching, remember that the air pressure on planes creates a bit of a vacuum when opening drink bottles with straws! Ehem....I managed to do this more than once.

My top tip for avoiding messy surprises in your luggage when you reach your destination: 

• Ditch liquid hygiene products and go solid.

You can get shampoo, conditioner, hair styling products, sunscreens, and moisturizers in bar form that require no plastic bottles. Currently I'm in love with Ethique, but my all-time favourite shop is Lush, who have a heap of scrumptious solid products to indulge in. The extra bonus with solid product is that you don't have to worry about the restrictions for carrying liquids on flights either. Win win.

Bon voyage :)

Plastic Free February: A Summary

When I embarked on the Plastic-free February challenge I wasn't really prepared for how it would change my life. There have been some hugely satisfying surprises and dismal disappointments, it has certainly been an interesting ride so far.

When I started this year it had not crossed my mind that I would turn out being a nut about refusing plastic! While I've always despised litterbugs, and have in the past been a fan of recycling, I guess my interest in environmental protection (like many) had been more of a personal, quiet interest. I thought I did my bit and that was enough. Wrong. After a month of refusing single-use plastic I realized that I, that we, can do so much more. But just like quitting anything, we have to care enough first.

So what is single-use plastic anyway?
Straws, takeaway cups, plastic shopping bags, plastic water bottles, food wrap, and general plastic packaging. Pretty much anything that you would use once and then throw away.

Where single-use plastic inevitably ends up.

Reuse plastic, don't throw it away.

There were various levels of commitment for the challenge, go cold turkey and quit the lot, or just choose a few. I decided to focus on refusing three: plastic bags, plastic bottles\takeaway cups, and plastic wrap. Not wanting to set myself up for failure, I felt these three were realistically doable and anything above and beyond that would be a bonus pat on the back.

For the month of February in total I refused 54 plastic bags, 20 plastic bottles or takeaway cups, and 3.8 meters of plastic wrap. Actually the wrap figure is likely much more as half way through I got so used to not using wrap that I got a bit slack at taking record!

I am probably most proud of the fact that I haven't used a single piece of plastic wrap in the kitchen since January, nor accepted a single plastic shopping bag. It is now getting to the stage that I am running out of suitable shopping bags to put recycling in (I have however found a few ways around this which I'll expand on in future posts).Overall our plastic waste has halved. We are now putting out a bag every two weeks rather than every week, and surprisingly, our general 'burnable' rubbish has also halved.  So it appears that in general we are consuming less and therefore creating less waste overall. This was not something I was expecting to be honest, but as I've found it extremely difficult to find any snack foods that don't come in layer upon layer of plastic, our consumption of such items has decreased considerably.

Another surprising outcome is a result of  what I like to call the 'plastic-free diet', Eating more unprocessed foods, and less in general due to few plastic-free options, has had a noticeable affect on my waistline. Turns out I've lost 0.4% body fat predominantly around my midsection, and can now fit into clothes that I had 'outgrown'...ehem...

It has not however been without it's low points.
 For example, having to constantly repeat my wish for no plastic bag, sometimes not once, or twice, but THREE times (no I'm not exaggerating I had to literally take an item out of a bag in front of the cashier on one occasion), or to go to a supermarket and find that ninety percent of the fruit and veges are wrapped in plastic, or to do a shop and literally not be able to find one single thing on your list that is plastic-free (but you're so tired and you have to feed the rugrats so you give-in...defeated). While refusing all plastic is ideal it's really not practical or realistic in modern Japan, as much as I hate to admit it.

Despite the setbacks though, probably the best thing that has come of this experiment is that I've now formed habits that will likely stick with me for life, like carrying a reusable shopping bag with me ALWAYS, and having backups, containers, a cup, and utensils in the back of my car. I used to have ten reusable shopping bags that I could never seem to remember to take to the store with me...now I have two in my handbag and two in the car (oh OK and a couple in the cupboard at home!) and they are finally getting used A LOT!

Take a reusable bag or if you must, ask for paper

DIY reusable beeswax wrap

What I now see cannot be unseen...and it is shocking and incredibly frustrating at times, but also hugely motivating. For the most part I am embracing going plastic-free as a positive change, in fact I cannot think of a single negative thing that would stop me from refusing plastic waste whenever I can, and it feels good to be doing something.

Look No Pura!

For the last few years I flagged the New Year’s resolutions, I mean who really keeps them anyway ?

But this year something changed….the world is in shock and awe over the inauguration of an unlikely President (you know who I’m talking about, so let’s just leave that right there).  By this point I’d had enough of the theatrics, ‘this shit can’t be real’ I thought, time to refocus my energy into tangible action and pull myself away from the drama. And that’s when I decided, albeit a little late in the year, that the only resolutions I needed for 2017 were to love more and to do more.  Yeah yeah pretty vague I know, doesn’t fit the SMART goals framework, but it’ll do!

So in the spirit of ‘doing more’ I set out to tackle a bugbear of mine since the very first time I visited Japan (over 20 years ago), the ridiculously excessive and wasteful use of single-use plastic.

For a country that prides itself on not being wasteful, the often boasted concept of ‘mottainai’, there is a staggering amount of thoughtless waste going on. From the individually wrapped confections, the wrapping of fresh fruit and vege, or the Japanese love of the poly bag, (if it’s naked, cold or hot, it must have a poly bag) plastic is EVERYWHERE you turn.

Plastic rubbish day

Produce packaging madness

‘So what?’, you say, ‘doesn’t matter if it’s all recycled, and Japan is super wonderful at recycling'. Indeed the recycling system here is extremely complex and efficient, with over 70% of PET plastic bottles being recycled, and rubbish being sorted into detailed categories for collection. The successes of recycling are espoused with vigour here, but it would seem the less desirable stuff, like the fact that most plastic wrapping (low quality film/ wrap etc.) is simply incinerated, or that historically Japan has produced the most garbage per person, or that a huge amount of resources (which are finite I might add) and energy are used in producing these one-time-use-throw-away-conveniences, are quietly swept under the carpet. Of course despite our best efforts a lot of plastic ends up in drainage systems which in turn flow out to the sea. Plastic pollution is now such a problem that by 2050 bits of plastic polluting the sea will outnumber fish in the sea!

I found myself starting to fall into the zombie like state of plastic acceptance, and when you snap out of it you are startlingly aware of the plastic society we now live in. Don’t get me wrong, plastic is extremely useful and versatile, but we need to value it more and use it responsibly, we are literally suffocating in the stuff! 

I’ve started this blog to record my personal journey out of the plastic fog. ‘Pura’ is the Japanese word for plastic and the name is a bit of a play with words. It reflects the standard response I often get of shock and disbelief at not wanting a plastic bag, as if I was doing something deemed uncouth or socially unacceptable. The title is also reflective of my own shock when finding the rare item not wrapped in plastic, and discovering how easy giving up single-use plastic has been for the most part.

The sooner we can get back to living more simply (before it’s forced upon us) the better things will be for us and the planet.

Stay tuned for my upcoming posts where I’ll be breaking down my plastic-free month which I undertook in February 2017. I'll go into details of the unexpected challenges, as well as some surprising benefits, of avoiding single-use plastic.