Plastic Free July – How I Am Cutting Down On My Plastic Usage And Reducing My Carbon Footprint

I’m writing this blog post to outline what I did for each day of July 2019 for the Plastic Free July Challenge. Globally people have been taking part in the hashtag #PlasticFreeJuly in a bid to reduce the amounts of Plastic being used and then ending up in landfill. Lots of people are being educated about the issues that Plastic causes and how it’s our job as human beings to help save our planet.

I’m going to begin with why you should cut down on both Plastics AND Paper waste in order to help the environment. And then I will be outlining the 31 other things I have done this July, ways that you too can reduce your carbon footprint this year…

I saw this being passed around on various social media, some of these things I already knew about but others I didn’t. I was shocked to learn about Plastics causing Hormone Disruption!

Reducing Your Plastic Usage

Use glass jars and dishes to store leftover food inside, instead of plastic tubs.
Consider purchasing food items that are packaged in recyclable trays.
Choose not to purchase items that come in non-recyclable packaging.

Reducing Your Paper Usage

Consider using Old Tea Towels to clean with instead of Paper Towels.
Buy A Set of Handkerchiefs to use at home instead of disposable Tissues.

Other Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Walk More and Use Your Car Less
Walk More Instead Of Using The Bus
Grow Your Own Fruit And/Or Vegetables
Choose Packaging Free Fruit And Veg At The Supermarket
Recycle As Much As You Can And Do It Properly E.g Wash It Out
Reuse Your Tupperware, Glass Jars, Plastic, Cotton and Hemp Bags

I’m making some positive changes for #PlasticFreeJuly

But I, like so many other people, cannot afford to make tons of expensive changes. I certainly don’t have the money to make any investments in Solar Power Panels, buy an Electric Car or buy Organic Plastic Free Produce at a Farm in the middle of nowhere…

… But What I Can Do, Is Do Things Like What Is On My List Below…

Here is one example… we all need to use something in our kitchen bins, we have a counter top bin and nothing more because we recycle as much as we can. Usually 85% of our rubbish goes into recycling. For the things that are currently not recyclable I use bags in the bin that are made from already recycled materials.

Choosing to buy something made out of 100% recycled paper and plastic when necessary is just one of the ways I’m reducing my carbon footprint.

I have even considered using items to make things and reuse them and re-purpose them for something new. I saw this photo ages ago on a parenting website, where a Dad had collected the family’s toilet rolls and created this awesome car garage for his son. It is made out of an old crate and toilet rolls with some glue and paint, genius!

Plastic Free JulyHow I Reduced My Plastics This Month

1 Reusing A Specific Tupperware As A Lunchbox – No More Plastic Sandwich Bags. Did you know most sandwich bags and freezer bags cannot yet be recycled? If they can then they need to be clean with no food bits, that’s really hard to do if they’ve been screwed up in a lunch bag after use.

2 Using Cotton and/or Hemp Bags for going Shopping. Retail or Food Shopping I don’t purchase Plastic Bags and always bring my own. I have done this for several years now, and always have two bags folded up inside the main bag I take with me everywhere, so even if I forget my main bags I always have one or more available.

3 Reusing one specific Tupperware for Red Leftovers like Baked Beans or Pasta Sauce so as not to stain and ruin many different tubs. It’s really annoying when food stains something like plastic. If you don’t want to ruin lots of plastic tubs, when you buy a set, allocate ones for specific reasons.

4 Going through all the Plastic in the Kitchen Cupboard, Cleaning and then Recycling everything with the Recyclable Logo that I no longer need or use. Keep what you do use but only if its clean, has a lid and has a purpose, otherwise recycle it.

I do a lot of bulk cooking, but it’s useful every couple of months to go through all your plastic Tupperware and get rid of ones that smell odd, have any damage or wear to them, no longer have a lid or are no longer required.

5 Make Your Own Lunches and Picnics, buy less prepackaged foods, if they are in material that can be recycled then no problem, but if it’s single use plastic then don’t support this type of food packaging. This month I have tried to make choices that include packaging that I can recycle.

6 Decline Plastic Straws when out for a drink, only accept paper ones that can be recycled after use, or use metal ones that you can buy and carry with you.

7 Re-purposing Glass Jars and use them instead of plastic around the home in order to store food and / or items inside.

Lately I have been reusing Glass Jars and Bottles around the home. Here are just some uses, Cosmetics, Pen Pot, Kitchen Drawer Randoms!

8 Don’t replenish your Cling Film when it Runs Out – Change to Foil or reuse Tupperware boxes instead.

9 Reusing Tupperware for Bulk Freezing when bulk cooking, I do a lot of bulk cooking and I reuse old takeaway tubs when I freeze food. They are create for portion control and also for stacking up in the freezer.

10 Up-Cycle something in your home that you’ve not used for a year, gift it to a friend or start using it again at home.

11 Buy something from an Ethical Business or something that is Ethically Sourced and then let people know about it so they can do the same.

12 Choose to have a Takeaway that the containers can be recycled from like Pizza Boxes or Plastic Tubs.

13 Buy / Order / Use A Reusable Water Bottle Today. You can get them at most retailers these days, large Supermarkets or Amazon.

Tesco are selling some very pretty and affordable Insulated Reusable Bottles. They keep Cold drink cold for 24 hours and Hot drinks hot for up to 10 hours!

14 Today I Chose Unwrapped Fruit and Vegetables at the Supermarket to reduce my Plastics for the Day.

15 Go Paperless for your Bank Statements and Bills to save on both paper and plastics, you should be able to do this on your banking app or in branch.

16 Decline bottled water when out for a meal and ask for a glass jug of cold tap water with glasses for the table to share instead. No straws remember!

17 Buying Necessary Home Essentials that are made from 100% Recycled Materials such as bin liners or tissues…

These Bin Liners are made from 100% Recycled Plastic – Go Tesco!

18 Use old tea towels and micro fibre cloths you have at home to do some cleaning and home chores instead of using paper towels, then wash them on a eco washing cycle ready for next time.

19 Reuse any Newspaper or Tissue Paper to Wrap Presents for peoples birthdays. If it’s a large gift then once it’s been unwrapped cut off the best parts and re-use them again in the future.

20 When you go out for a drink choose a glass bottle or a glass, a can or a drafted liquid, rather than something provided in Plastic bottles.

21 Buy something that you need this month from a Second Hand Shop rather than buying it brand new and take a bag from home in order to carry it back in.

22 Bring your own container to a Fish & Chip* Shop & ask for them to serve your food into that to save using their packaging. * Some places won’t allow this due to health and safety, but it doesn’t mean you can’t ask.

23 Buy Less Disposable Tissues and Use A Handkerchief instead.

24 Use a Reusable Water Bottle All Day – Aim for 2 Litres (it should be with you by now if you ordered one online).

25 Buy and Use a Reusable Hot Drinks Cup – If you like hot drinks and don’t already have your own cup then invest in one. With the Cup Tax coming into force across stores it’s going to save you money in the long run too.

26 Refuse Plastic Cutlery if you’re eating out & carry your own set of metal ones when out for the day.

27 Buy Supermarket Own Products that come in Cardboard so you know that it’s easily Recyclable.

28 Choose Food Snacks in the Supermarket that aren’t contained in Single Use Plastic. Don’t purchase anything that comes in single use plastic, choose a different item this time around. Compare what is available to you.

29 Consider Purchasing Refill Packages for things such as Coffee In A Bag That Refills your original Jar…

Refill packets now come for a variety of products, one that we use regularly is this Kenco Coffee one.

30 Start Composting Your Food Waste – this is one I plan to do in the future once we have finished doing our garden, it’s a work in progress right now!

31 Invest in Beeswax Wraps for Food. If you cannot get some then only use Foil to wrap food or place it inside something made of glass.

✩✩✩

Sabrina’s Easy Tips For Recycling

There are some basic things that everyone can do when it comes to recycling, and there should be no excuses nowadays to do just a little bit. Most councils supply the bins, all you need to do is fill them up!

1 Have a designated bin or basket inside the home so that everyone can place recycling inside it. Toilet Rolls are one of the easiest things to recycle yet so many people put them in bathroom bins!

2 Teach young children the importance and ease of recycling now so that they consciously do it as an adult. Recycling doesn’t always mean it goes in a bin it can be used to make craft items for example for school projects.

3 Remember to remove some recyclable materials from one another before using them, such as peel off the label on a tin before you cut it open. That way the paper and the tin can be recycled separately once they’re collected from you.

Items that are easy to recycle Glass, Foil, Paper and Cardboard.



Thank you so much for reading this relatively long post today. I hope I have given you some ideas on recycling that you can put into practice in your own lives.

Even if you do one thing off this list it is helping the environment and your carbon footprint, let’s make the Earth safer and cleaner and better for our children’s children. After all it’s the only planet we have.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes.

Sabrina

Free From Easter Eggs Taste Testing and Comparing

Welcome to today’s post as I discuss Free From Easter Eggs with a Taste Testing and Ingredients Comparison.

This Easter time I might be on a Dairy Free diet, but that hasn’t stopped me hunting for treats! I wanted to share my findings with you all, my opinion, product information, photo’s and all! Here is my Review of several Free From Chocolate Easter Eggs.

So I’m trying a few chocolate eggs that are known as free from, I require dairy free but a lot of these eggs come as free from several allergens. Wheat or Gluten or Dairy, most of these go together. I will be outlining Allergens and Ingredients with each egg below.

Number 1. The first egg I have is an Asda Free From Easter Egg with Chocolate Orange Flavour Disks.
The pack is available for £4.00 for it’s 200g.
LINK

This Egg is Vegan, Gluten Free, Wheat Free and Dairy Free. The Asda Chocolate also has No Artificial Flavours, Colours or Hydrogenated Fats.

Ingredients and Allergens
Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Rice Syrup, Inulin, Coconut Oil, Rice Flour, Flavourings, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins).
Soya is the only allergen present. This Egg should be suitable for those who have Nut allergies because Nuts are not part of the ingredients.
The Pack provides 6 servings. 1/6 of the pack (1 serving)
Energy kJ 778,
Energy kcal 186,
Fat 12g,
Of Which Saturates 7.1g,
Carbohydrate 19g,
of Which Sugars 12g
Fibre 0.9g
Protein 0.8g
Salt 0.02g.

Egg Design – The Egg design has lines similar to tree bark or waves. It’s an appealing looking Egg and smells strongly of cocoa. It’s presented inside a piece of plastic (which says is recyclable on the packaging) with disks in a plastic bag at the base. The Egg size and pattern is view able through the mostly clear plastic which is good, you can see what you’re getting. You receive 6 Chocolate Orange disks in orange foil, this is one disk for every serving. The disks are round with lined tops. The foil from the disks is recyclable but the plastic bag they come in is not.

Egg Taste – The Egg tastes very nice, it is quite a strong cocoa taste but leaves a nice aftertaste of sweet chocolate. The sugar content is very high though, and after a couple of bites I had had enough. The Chocolate Orange disks are very tasty, they have a strong natural orange taste to them.

Egg Quality – The Easter Egg itself measures 3mm in thickness at the smallest sections and 6mm at the thickest sections. The chocolate orange disks are 5mm deep and taste great, a nice addition to this Easter Egg treat.

Egg Value – A very tasty Egg and a nice treat for anyone requiring a Free From Easter treat. I would say you get a lot for your money with this considering you get the Egg itself plus the Chocolate Orange disks. Because it’s so sweet you wouldn’t usually eat all of this Egg in one sitting, meaning it will last you longer too.Most of the packaging is recyclable except for the film and carton the egg comes inside.

Asda Free From Chocolate Egg

Number 2. The second egg I have is a Moo Free Easter Egg which cost me £3.00. This pack is only 110g. You can find these Eggs at most stores, I have seen them in Aldi, Asda and Tesco.

Organic Cheeky Orange Egg that is Dairy, Gluten and Soya Free. This pack contains a Chocolate Egg that is a Milk Chocolate alternative made from a combination of Cocoa, Sugar, Rice and Orange Oil. Moo Free are an ethical and family owned manufacturer based in Devon in the UK. They use high quality ingredients that have a single origin, including organic cocoa mass from plantations in the Dominican Republic.

Ingredients
Organic Cocoa (44%),
Organic Raw Cane Sugar (34%),
Organic Rice Powder (20%),
Organic Orange Oil (2%),
Organic Sunflower Lecithin,
Natural Flavouring.

Despite no allergens being present in the ingredients the packaging makes the customer aware that the product is Dairy, Gluten and Soya Free. It doesn’t mention Wheat, and it also states that is is made in a factory that handles Hazelnuts.
This pack contains 2 servings it states, 1/2 of an egg is classed as a serving.
The values per serving are as follows;
Energy 1334 kJ
Fat, Total 21.2g
Of which Saturates 12.5g
Carbohydrate 29.9g
Of which Sugars 20.8g
Protein 1.8g
Salt 0.17g

Egg Design – The design of this Egg is nice, hexagonal shapes are all over the surface of the oval shape and all link together.Taste – The Orange taste of this Egg is very prominent and along with the sugar content makes it rather sweet, almost sickly. I couldn’t manage half of my half (serving) and stopped at a quarter. It’s meant to be a milk chocolate alternative however it’s quite a plain and strong chocolate flavour.

Egg Quality – The Moo Free Egg is only 3mm thick all the way around the oval. It has been the thinnest of all the eggs I have tried, and is also the most rich. The taste is nice but very strong in comparison to others. Moo do several eggs but I chose to try this Orange one, so perhaps the other flavours are not to overpowering.

Egg Value – This Egg is small and you don’t get much chocolate for the amount of money that you pay. Considering most other Dairy Free items are made with Soya products though, this item gives those who suffer with a Soya allergy a way of eating chocolate this Easter. I’m very happy to see a notice on the Moo Free box which says the plastic that their egg comes inside was made with recycled plastic, and could we please recycle it again. The box is also recyclable, so of course I will do that Moo Free Company! I’d be happy to because I’m big on recycling and it makes me happy to!

Moo Free Egg

Number 3. The third egg I have is a Trio of Flavoured Chocolate Eggs. This one is a little more indulgent, I had it from Asda in their extra special range, it cost £4.50 for its tiny amount of chocolate at just 150g.
LINK

There are three eggs inside this Easter Egg Selection, the first is a Chocolate Egg with Raspberry Pieces. This one tastes delicious, there are sweet and tangy raspberry pieces in every bite. The second egg is a White Chocolate Egg with vanilla, and you can see the flecks of vanilla all inside the white chocolate. The taste is surprisingly similar to white chocolate and has lots of vanilla flavouring too. Finally the third of the set is a Dark Chocolate Egg with cocoa nibs inside. This one tastes delicious because of the dark, rich chocolate flavour combined with the cocoa nibs which give boosts of taste, it’s rich and indulgent but also has a really nice after taste.

Ingredients and Allergens
Dark Chocolate (32%), Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Inulin, Maltodextrin, Maize Flour, Coconut Oil, Rice Syrup, Rice Flour, Flavourings, Cocoa Nibs, Freeze Dried Raspberry Pieces, Vanilla Powder, Coconut Oil, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithins).

Soya is the only allergen present. This Egg should be suitable for those who have Nut allergies because Nuts are not part of the ingredients. It also states that there are No Artificial Colours, Flavours or Hydrogenated Fat.

The Pack provides 6 servings, half of each egg which would be about right considering the different tastes.
1/6 of the pack contains (1 serving)
Energy kJ 583
Energy kcal 140
Fat 8.9g
Of Which Saturates 5.5g
Carbohydrate 14g
of Which Sugars 9.9g
Fibre 1.0g
Protein 0.7g
Salt 0.01g

Easter Egg Selection Trio

Trio Eggs Design – Each of these Egg tastes great, I would say that the Raspberry combination is my favourite, closely followed by the Dark Coca Nibs. The White is some of the nicest Free From White Chocolate that I have tried however, which gives this Egg a bonus point in taste design. The Vanilla definitely makes a big difference. Over all the set is nicely balanced in flavours, you have the fruit combo which is both Sweet and Tangy, you have the Classic flavours of the Vanilla and then you have the Rich and Indulgent Dark.

Trio Eggs Quality – The Easter Eggs were not hugely thick, however they were consistent at around 4mm. The Cocoa Mass was pretty high within this chocolate, dark chocolate has 58%.

Trio Eggs Value – Although they are the more expensive per 100g these eggs also have the better quality. Over all I would go for the taste and these have that in abundance. You don’t feel like you’re eating something that has been designed to not have Allergens in it, but instead you are enjoying a delicious chocolate treat of high quality cocoa and its adjacent flavourings to match.
I have to ask myself, would I buy these again because of the taste and quality? Yes in fact I would do. Only as a treat, and Easter is that sort of one of time where I would allow it. I only wish the eggs were a bit larger, I would pay another £1 for larger ones of this quality and deliciousness!

Easter Egg Selection Trio

Of course there are plenty of other Free From Eggs out there, however I needed to avoid any that definitely contained Nuts due to my husbands allergies. And there were others that I didn’t think I would enjoy due to their flavour combinations…

I loved the flavour of the Orange Disks from Egg Number 1, and I loved Eggs Raspberry and Dark from Number 3 the Trio.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes today, I hope you have enjoyed this Review and that you all have a great Easter Bank Holiday!

✩ Sabrina ✩

HAPPY EASTER!!!