So it’s plastic-free July and I’ve been trying to do my best to not only cut down on the amount of plastic we use during July, but for it to have a more permanent impact on our plastic usage. This has taken some thinking about and a bit of research, but I feel we’re making progress.
As we already recycle everything possible I felt like we were already doing ‘our bit’, but after researching this, it becomes apparent this isn’t the case. If we can reduce things being produced in the first place and then the possibility of some of these things being littered (wildlife and/or seas) or going to landfill (not by use by the way, but in general) is greatly reduced!
So this is what’s changed so far:
1. I now have a tin water bottle I carry around with me rather than buying plastic bottled water when I’m out and about and thirsty.
2. We’ve have done away completely with bin-bags. As we recycle everything and no food waste goes into the bins there’s no need for them, so now all the bins in the house just get emptied straight into the big wheelie bin outside, without the plastic-bag middle man.
3. We now have biodegradable dog pooh bags, which surprisingly were pretty reasonably priced. (I’ve heard recently that there are some people in favour of the stick and flick method rather than using plastic bags, but this isn’t for me and doesn’t really solve the dog pooh issue, but just moves it from a path to a more overgrown area).
4. If we forget to take the shopping bags with us shopping we don’t pick up carrier bags – we put the shopping back into the trolley or basket and then bag it up at the car instead. (I read this tip recently and wondered why I’d never thought of this simple solution before).
5. We’ve been re-using plastic spray bottles and filling them with natural cleaning products, that I have been making to use around the house.
6. Lastly (apart from writing this blog) I have arranged a Plastic Free Picnic through my Meetup group to demonstrate how easy it can be to reduce plastic usage as well as making everyone aware how much plastic they are using and to have fun and food whilst doing this – http://www.meetup.com/Lets-Make-This-World-A-Better-Place/events/126981922/
Anyone that knows me, knows I’m a bit of a keyboard activist, which is why I set up the Facebook page and Meetup group, so I could continue to raise awareness of things like our over use and over disposal of plastics and also my pet gripe at the moment, our use of palm oil and the deforestation caused by it. I hope not only to raise awareness through these pages and groups online but also face-to-face now through events and meetups and get other people involved. I’m really excited about some of the events we have coming up, which range from watching documentaries together and discussing what we can do to change these things, to beach clean-ups and a visit to Fife Eco-Earthship project.
Tomorrow I will be hosting my first Natural Home & Skin Care Products Workshop, which ties my business as a holistic and nutritional practitioner in with my love of the environment and the ‘Let’s’ page and group. I will be showing people how to be less toxic to their bodies, their homes, and then this in turn will help reduce the toxic waste being dumped into our seas, rivers and the land as well as cutting down on unnecessary products and packaging.
This follows on from some homemade natural soap making me and my friend have been doing recently also. We wanted to find an alternative to normal soap, as it seems even a lot of the natural/eco soaps appear to have palm oil in them.
This was us on out first attempt at making soap a little while ago. It seems really scary to start with but it’s actually fairly easy to do and, of course, really rewarding and much better for the environment. (Don’t we look attractive in our get-up? ha). 
My plan is to do some natural soap making workshops in the future also, once we’ve mastered the process. This was out first attempt:
It’s a bit rustic, but it still does the job! =0)
Whenever I do a workshop, no matter what it is I always offer a Raw Food lunch as this is another one of my many passions. I’m not a complete raw foodist, but I eat a fair amount of it. It’s soooo yummy, so good for you and again it’s really rewarding. I have just starting preparing the Raw Food buffet for tomorrow’s workshop and below is carrot and herb crackers and crsipy kale going into the dehydrator. We have a good selection of other yummy food in the buffet and in next week’s blog I might share with you the reaction it gets from tomorrow’s workshoppers! 
The last thing I got up to this week was going to a Kinesiology talk at the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre through another Meetup group called Healthy Living in the 21st Century- http://www.meetup.com/Healthy-Living-in-the-21st-Century/. It was the group’s first event and was really super, the talk was really informative and I got to be a guinea-pig. The lower back pain that I’d had again since the previous week went away almost instantly whilst I was being treated. I am now extremely intrigued in this magic treatment and hope to train in it in the future as it seems like such a wonderful, simple and effective tool. They basically use muscle testing to establish what’s wrong with the body and then balance the body out and switch on muscles that have switched themselves off. It helps the body work correctly and in a balanced and healthy way, thus ridding us of many health issues we thought we were stuck with or had to put up with.
I’m constantly looking at ways I can minimise my impact on the planet, learning to live a less toxic life, with a less toxic mind and show others how to do the same. I get a lot of joy from this and am always eager to learn new things, so if you have any suggestions on how to do this then I’d really welcome them below this blog as I believe sharing really is caring.
Whilst I’ve been researching Plastic Free ideas I came across some great sites and links, so here they are:
* Here is a simple and wonderful little educational video for kids (and adults, too) — from reducing excessive use of plastics to making healthy food choices and smart household purchases: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73sGgmZoMBQ&feature=player_embedded
*New charge for carrier bags next year: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/28/scotland-5p-carrier-bag-charge
*Make your own bin-liners: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfEX85V9n8w
*Message in the Waves documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olUO47cGNgc
*Thin Ice documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjYpi1CR_fw
I hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks mixed-bag of blog topics. Have a wonderful weekend, Faith
