This week has been far harder than I’d imagined. I’ve been in London at various meetings and events, making it pretty tricky to control what I’m consuming. My breakfasts have mainly remained the same – porridge, given that it’s so easy to get hold of oats in paper bags. I also discovered that both Holland & Barrett and Lidl do offer some dried fruits and nuts in bulk containers meaning you can buy plastic-free! The porridge has just got tastier! But even the McDonald’s breakfast I had on route to a meeting seemed relatively plastic free (granted the coffee cup was probably plastic lined)!
Holland & Barrett offer a range of nuts and seeds in bulk.
It’s the lunches and dinners that I’ve been struggling with. Where possible I’ve found food markets to get my lunches in, or made sandwiches using my homemade bread, but it’s all the meats and salads to make a good sandwich that come wrapped in plastic. I’m going to work on this over the next few weeks.
Single use plastic salad box on the go. There was no alternative in Sainsbury's.
Most of my dinners were either at friends houses or in restaurants, but the once I did cook were a little easier as I was able to find loose veg items such as peppers, leeks, courgettes, mushrooms and so on. That said, I was fortunate enough to be staying near a large supermarket offering loose items. If I’d had to rely on the smaller ‘convenience’ ones, I would have struggled even more too. Those are the worst culprits for the pre-packaged fruit and veg! They’ll be my target!
I've taken to tweeting a few companies about their pointless use of plastic and I'll continue to do so as I come across it. However, I've not heard back from this week's culprits Bottle Green and Fortnum & Mason.
Being out and about I took my water bottle with me to top up wherever I could. A few places do let you fill your bottle for free which is great news for the environment! I was speaking at the Telegraph Travel show at the Excel Centre on both Saturday and Sunday, so as with the rest of the week I took my own water bottle. However, when I nipped into the loos to refill it, I found that the taps only produce hot water! There really was no alternative to purchasing a new bottle. I decided to go thirsty as opposed to consuming a single-use bottle.
While there I took some time to speak to the Incredible Oceans team, an organisation that educate people about our oceans. Not only did they have an impressive display of whales made from single-use plastic, but they also made me aware of some shocking statistics that we really need to be thinking about very seriously…By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish! Gulp!
The Incredible Oceans stand at the Telegraph Travel Show
Next week, I’ll be better and back on it!
Plastic count:
1 x Coffee cup (I returned the lid as soon as they gave it to me)
1 x Bag of lettuce
1 x Cucumber wrapper
1 x Ham wrapper from the deli counter
1 x Tetra-pak soup container
1 x Pre-packaged salad box from Sainsbury’s
1 x Chicken breast packet
2 x Plastic lids from spice jars
1 x Hummous pot
4 x Window enveloped from Nationwide, my bank!