Dreaming of Plastic Free
Living off grid, I have made some choices about how I want to live and my impact on the planet. I don’t have a council garbage bin and any waste I create, I need to cart away. I have access to my family’s bins, if I need. I am constantly in a process of moving towards a plastic free, waste free life. Ideally, my dream is to have no waste that cannot be reused or go in the compost. I recycle everything that I can but ultimately, I want to move away from recycling and plastic, as much as I can. Over the last few years I have realised that this takes time, patience and research.
Some things are simple and easy solutions.
Toilet Paper
I use Peachie, https://www.getpeachie.com made from 100% recycled paper. It is made from post-consumer waste such as textbooks and office paper, which means fewer trees are cut down, leaving them in the ground to keep our air clean, provide homes for animals and protect soil from erosion.
Choosing recycled toilet paper also saves energy, since the production of paper and cardboard products made from recycled paper uses 50% less energy and 90% less water than making them from raw materials.
Peachie also uses zero-plastic in all of their packaging, processing, and shipping.
Any waste from the toilet paper goes straight into my composting toilet.
Bamboo Toothbrush
There are so many different bamboo toothbrushes out there.
They are in the supermarket.
An easy and simple alternative.
Plastic Free Tea
Loose leaf tea. Use a diffuser, tea pot or a tea swag to turn tea time, plastic free. I purchase loose leaf teas from Organic Merchant, https://organicmerchant.com.au, all their packaging is compostable.
I also use Kindra loose leaf teas that come in glass jars. https://kintrafoods.com.au
A tea swag is a great way to use loose leaf tea. https://www.theswag.com.au
Zero Waste Skincare
Some changes are easy and pretty simple.
A challenging one for me, is skincare.
The best skincare I’ve found is Avirida, and it ticks so many boxes.
- Australian made & owned
- Sustainable packaging
- Fully compostable jars
- Return for refills
- Sustainable sourced timber
- 100% certified organic ingredients
- No palm oil
- Planting trees with every purchase
Zero Waste Laundry
Zero waste is not black and white. The definition I like to use for zero waste is using a product that does not end up in land fill. So if you can recycle the packaging then it is zero waste. If you reuse the container and do not throw it away, that is also zero waste. For me, I aim to avoid plastics and recycling and then use that option if an alternative is not available. A good example is the laundry options above.
I love the Koala Eco Natural Laundry Wash as it is biodegradable and plant based. It is Australian made and is toxin free. So it ticks a lot of boxes for me.
I have found another product that I use, That Red House Organic Soapberries. This product is zero waste but also plastic free and it can all be composted. This is something I prefer in my situation as I need to cart recyclables away. I compost everything that I can.
If you are in a different situation to me and you don’t compost and you recycle, then the Koala Eco may be the better product for you. Throughout my zero waste journey I have learnt that it is not black and white. I aim for progress, not perfection.