Once you start looking at plastic at home, you realise it is used in everything. From household items to industrial goods, it seems that nearly everything is made from plastic. It makes you wonder how people managed without plastic before.

This begs the question of how our predecessors managed without it.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to plastic, and for those instances where plastic use is unavoidable, proper recycling is important.

Here are some ideas for avoiding single-use plastic at home…

Choose loose fruit and vegetables at the supermarket. The added benefit here is you can choose exactly how much food you will use, which also means less food is wasted.
Refill existing empty plastic bottles for shampoo, shower gel and cleaning products at a zero-waste shop, try soap bars (without plastic packaging), or even make your own cleaning products. You’ll often find that products from zero-waste stores only contain ingredients which are safe for the environment and are ethically sourced. You can also buy smaller amounts, or bulk buy, according to your requirements or budget.

If you’re local to the Meadows or in the area, why not pop in to our refill station at AMC Gardens? Here you can fill your own bottles with shampoo, conditioner, washing-up liquid and hand-soap!

All refills are pay-as-you-feel … allowing you to stock up on essentials in an affordable and sustainable way!

Find the refill station at: AMC Gardens, Kirkby Gardens, Nottingham, NG2 2HZ

Try loose tea instead of tea bags. The benefit of using loose tea is that it can easily be home composted and contains beneficial nutrients for the soil. Using loose-leaf tea means you can also avoid any milk and sugar being added to compost, which is not so good for plants.

We can recycle certain plastics in our bins at home, such as plastic bottles, tubs, pots and trays. However, there are some plastics which cannot go in the recycling bin, such as soft plastics like carrier bags, bread bags and crisp packets.

Did you know the local Co-op at the Bridgeway Centre takes soft plastics for processing?

Plastic film lids on yoghurt pots, soft fruit punnets, ready meals, plastic crisp packets, pasta bags and chocolate or biscuit wrappers can be popped into the unit in the store, for recycling. They will accept soft plastic from products not bought in store as well.