Zero Waste Week: Our Zero Waste Journey

My zero waste journey started about 2 years ago when I bought my first solid shampoo bar from that shop on the high street that you can always smell before you can see. I was pleased when Babi Pur started selling them earlier this year and since then I’ve used 2 different Lamazuna ones, the scots pine and orange with the lemon one on standby ready to try out next. I’ve been really happy with the Lamazuna bars. Some have said that their hair took time to adapt to using bars, but I didn’t find this myself. Since using the the orange bar I’ve found that I no longer need to use conditioner at every wash. I like to give my hair an Olew treatment every so often and use it when my hair feels like it needs a little something.

Earlier this year I stepped up our zero waste efforts and made a few more conscious decisions in an attempt to reduce our plastic usage as a family. On days out we used to buy at least 1 bottle of water (often more), so I figured that if we got reusable ones we could just bring our own water along with us. The first one I bought was a Kid Kanteen for Iwan; we now have a selection of different bottles and tumblers. My personal favourite is my 20oz insulated seacrest tumbler, I love that I can use it for water or tea. I also have a 20oz insulated classic bottle that was borrowed for about 3 months by my partner who stated that he didn’t need one when I bought it. He now has a 32oz insulated classic of his own.

Other switches that I have made include bamboo toothbrushes, stainless steel straws, muslin cloths, cotton make up remover pads and plastic free deodorant. All of these have been fairly fuss free, super simple switches to make.

Our zero waste journey hasn’t come without without it’s challenges. There is a lot of unnecessary packaging on a lot of foods including fruit and vegetables. Although options do exist packaging free options are not always available in every shop or supermarket. Growing your own fruit and vegetables is one way of getting packaging free produce which will have virtually no road miles especially if you grow them in your own garden.

Earlier this year my brother started growing a selection of vegetables and some fruit. We are lucky enough that our parents have some land at the back of their house with plenty of space for a veg patch. When my brother gets into something he puts his all in, he’s watched countless video tutorials for how to, tips and tricks. We have gone from not growing anything apart from having an apple tree that takes care of itself to having a veg patch with potatoes, beans, carrots and onions and a front porch full of tomato plants. My Dad recently got hold of a second hand greenhouse ready to grow the tomatoes in next year along with some peppers and cucumbers. Growing your own comes with it’s own challenges. Some of this year’s tomatoes weren’t too great and we were advised by the local garden centre that it was due to lack of water and maybe having the plants planted too close together. It’s all a bit of a learning curve but if anything atleast Iwan has had fun helping his Uncle Izzi with picking the tomatoes and preparing some soil in the greenhouse ready for next year.

The next thing on my zero waste to do list (should read Babi pur wishlist!) are to buy a Muhle razor as I’m still using disposable ones, and I’ll probably try the Lamazuna shaving bar at the same time as I’ve heard good things about them over on the Babipur Hangout. I also plan to use up the last of my bottled shower gels and body washes and just use soap bars in future. Another thing we desperately need to cut down on is our food waste. I was really inspired by Hannah’s post on reducing food waste which you can read here. I might start meal planning to help us with this. I think this would help me with putting a more thought out shopping list together, we currently just tend to go without any sort of list which does lead to more impulse buys and in turn us buying things that might not get used. It might even help us save some pennies which is always a bonus in my book, especially when saving for a house!