Well there we go, my first month Plastic free & I survived & what an interesting month it has been.  Here are some of my quick observations I’d like to share with you.

• My trash has reduced; a tiny paper bag is all I have at the end of the week.

• I barely have any recycling, its mainly paper & I’m working on that.

• There is sneaky plastic that might be hidden in purchases; its like the opposite to the Golden Ticket in the chocolate bar wrapper, that I need to watch out for.

• I’m slowing down (pace wise not brain activity way wise…I hope). I’m speaking to people & asking questions before I purchase an item – which sometimes leads me to not purchase items.

• I also may be gaining notoriety as a “character” in the community; crazy lady wanting things wrapped in paper; goodness the craziness of that!

• I don’t make impulse food purchases so I’m eating a whole lot better. If I’m out & need a snack the easiest thing to come across is fresh fruit when in the past a grumbling tummy would have led me straight to a bag of chips.

• I must remember to take my cutlery pouch with me or be prepared to eat with my mitts when out; corn fritters with guacamole & sour cream are tricky using the mitt method, but tasty none the less.

• I’m buying less food items in general. Planning my meals means I only buy what I need rather than what I think I might fancy when I shop with a hungry belly.

• I need very little from the supermarket; this week was some soap & 3 other small items.

• I’m spending less on crap I just don’t need; no impulse buys. If I need things my first port of call has been to head to the op shop which has reignited my passion for looking for treasure. Buying second hand means less of everything, less manufacturing, less packing, less transportation, less landfill at the other end…winning!

• Everything takes a bit more time so I have to be selective about what I’m doing. This is mostly with food I have to say so my diet has simplified.

• It has also led me to simplify other areas of my life; so far a nice big juicy declutter & a pocket full of cash from my declutter sales.

• I’ve connected with some new & amazing people that share the some passion for cleaning up our oceans & making personal positive changes that impact in a wider sense.

• I feel better as an earth inhabitant. I’m not contribution in the way I was with my consumerism & that feels good. Taking actions, however small just feels damn good!

So I’m slowing down with everything but cooking & food preparation has been the biggest challenge.  I tend to make a large portion of my own food but I do like to have a few snacks on hand or something I can heat & eat.  For the first few weeks I found toast being an easy snack but I knew if keep that up it wasn’t going to be pretty, but I have come across some great snack recipes which I will share soon with you.  My new favourite is cracker recipe from the #Iquitsugar queen Sarah Wilson called Meal in a biscuit.

They are super easy, have a nice crunch & are excellent for spreading goodness on.  I’ve made several batches (the first lasting only an afternoon) which I have adapted & added a few things that I fancy, like lashings of garlic.

 My Bliss balls are another favourite, so if you haven’t made them yet give them a try.

I added a few extra meals to the freezer for when I cant be bothered cooking from scratch.  Making a big batch of soup is perfect to have on hand & you can easily freeze th in perfect portion sizes.

Cooking everything like this is time consuming so I’m still working out my balance, letting some things go & working out what really needs to be done & what doesn’t.  I think tonight I’ll let go of  cleaning the bathroom…surely that can wait so I can pop my feet up after a busy week right!

So the big question is did I buy plastic? No, well not intentionally! 

I had some “sneaky” plastic creep on in.  Here is my plastic stash I collected over the month.

New Plastic Tally

• 2 plastic liners hidden in glass containers

• 3 Protective seals from vitamin glass bottles

• 1 Plastic label attached to glass bottle

• 2 Sock tags (bought these as the outer packaging was cardboard)

• Plastic tab from Vitamin bottle

• Bundle of receipts (approx. 20-some are ferreting around in unknown places