Week 1: Soya milk
So I've come to the end of my first week of plastic-free living. Being the first week in January, it's also that weird, hungover time when you're feeling a bit fat after all the seasonal indulgence and faced with the dichotomy of dying to get back into a healthy routine, but also faced with a mountain of festive chocolate and other goodies left to eat!
So I was prepared for a few stumbling blocks this week just because everything in the first week in January always fells "just a bit weird". Also, I'm not going crazy out there looking for plastic-free goods: I'm just taking it one shop at a time. That said, I have been researching those items from my diet that I am most attached to: namely soya milk, yoghurt and spinach (and also watercress, pea shoots, basically any dark, leafy veg). These things invariably come in plastic bags & tubs, only some of which are recyclable with my household waste. So I've spent much of this week sweating nervously whilst I scour the internet and local shops for plastic-free solutions.
I started by looking over the long-life milk isle in my local supermarket where I would normally source my beloved soya milk, but my search revealed that the only milk product that doesn't involve a plastic screw cap is UHT cow's milk, which I have only ever encountered in cheap hotel rooms and I believe to be universally denounced as, frankly, disgusting. Not wishing to resort to pouring UHT over my bran flakes in the morning, I contacted the local wholefoods store to ask if they had any ideas. Sadly, they were unable to point me in the direction of any suppliers that do not package their products in some kind of plastic.
Getting a little desperate now, I contacted Alpro, the market-leader in soya and other alternative dairy products, to ask if they had any plans to eliminate plastic from their products. A couple of days later I received this (not terribly overwhelming) response:
"At Alpro, we are always evaluating and testing new technologies and new ingredients to improve the existing products, including the use of biodegradable plastics for our range. However, we have not introduced the use of biodegradable plastics in our packaging as we feel the current technology, and applicability of packaging made of biodegradable plastics, is not sufficient to maintain the high quality standards of Alpro’s products.
We do hope to offer something that is both biodegradable and has the same taste keeping qualities in the future, so please rest assured we will forward your comments onto our Packaging Team."
Laudable enough, but it looks like I will not be seeing fully biodegradable soya milk cartons on the supermarket shelf by next week: by which time I calculate I will run out of my current supply and will be forced to decide if I am prepared to fork out for the (admittedly mostly recyclable) tetra-pak product or subject myself to a protest-purchase of UHT...
Unable to bear that thought, I remembered that I used to have my milk delivered from 'Milk & More' up until about four years ago (I quit at the time because they started delivering my milk in plastic cartons instead of bottles, which seemed a bit self-defeating). Faced with the prospect of UHT purgatory, I looked up Milk & More once again to find that they do indeed still deliver in recyclable glass bottles! So, I have signed up for a new account and am now eagerly awaiting my first delivery on Monday.
I must admit I can't wait to revisit the nostalgic experience of my childhood of opening the front door to find 4 milk bottles waiting there, maybe even with little holes pecked through the silver-tops by greedy robins!
Of course cow's milk is no substitute for soya milk. I recognise that not being a vegan gives me a much wider range of choice in this area (I just buy soya, almond and coconut milks because I prefer the taste on my cereal and I believe them to be more sustainable crops).
Since I take both my tea and coffee black I mostly only use cow's milk in cooking nowadays, but if I had to go back to having a splash of green-top on my rice crispies, I would not consider it to be too great a sacrifice (although after all these years my tummy might protest at the sudden dairy-tsunami!)
Of course, since my usual cereals (Bran flakes, Shreddies & Rice crispies) all come with plastic inserts, this may all prove to be a bit of a moot point. Fortunately for me, my favourite brand of porridge oats (you know the one: yes, that one with the nice young kilted man on the box) does not pollute their product with pointless plastic! And since I already make my porridge with water in any case, I can still enjoy a familiar breakfast that I love (indeed the Scott's porridge oats are another nostalgic product from my youth).
And the good news for my breakfasts doesn't stop there: since I can make my own bread if needs be and preserves of all descriptions come in glass jars, I can still enjoy a spot of toast and jam whenever I like. Butter is another matter, but I'm confident that I can source some paper-packaged butter from somewhere.
So, for the duration of this experiment I guess I'll just have to restrict my breakfasts to porridge and toast. And eggs. And pancakes...
So I was prepared for a few stumbling blocks this week just because everything in the first week in January always fells "just a bit weird". Also, I'm not going crazy out there looking for plastic-free goods: I'm just taking it one shop at a time. That said, I have been researching those items from my diet that I am most attached to: namely soya milk, yoghurt and spinach (and also watercress, pea shoots, basically any dark, leafy veg). These things invariably come in plastic bags & tubs, only some of which are recyclable with my household waste. So I've spent much of this week sweating nervously whilst I scour the internet and local shops for plastic-free solutions.
I started by looking over the long-life milk isle in my local supermarket where I would normally source my beloved soya milk, but my search revealed that the only milk product that doesn't involve a plastic screw cap is UHT cow's milk, which I have only ever encountered in cheap hotel rooms and I believe to be universally denounced as, frankly, disgusting. Not wishing to resort to pouring UHT over my bran flakes in the morning, I contacted the local wholefoods store to ask if they had any ideas. Sadly, they were unable to point me in the direction of any suppliers that do not package their products in some kind of plastic.
Getting a little desperate now, I contacted Alpro, the market-leader in soya and other alternative dairy products, to ask if they had any plans to eliminate plastic from their products. A couple of days later I received this (not terribly overwhelming) response:
"At Alpro, we are always evaluating and testing new technologies and new ingredients to improve the existing products, including the use of biodegradable plastics for our range. However, we have not introduced the use of biodegradable plastics in our packaging as we feel the current technology, and applicability of packaging made of biodegradable plastics, is not sufficient to maintain the high quality standards of Alpro’s products.
Laudable enough, but it looks like I will not be seeing fully biodegradable soya milk cartons on the supermarket shelf by next week: by which time I calculate I will run out of my current supply and will be forced to decide if I am prepared to fork out for the (admittedly mostly recyclable) tetra-pak product or subject myself to a protest-purchase of UHT...
Unable to bear that thought, I remembered that I used to have my milk delivered from 'Milk & More' up until about four years ago (I quit at the time because they started delivering my milk in plastic cartons instead of bottles, which seemed a bit self-defeating). Faced with the prospect of UHT purgatory, I looked up Milk & More once again to find that they do indeed still deliver in recyclable glass bottles! So, I have signed up for a new account and am now eagerly awaiting my first delivery on Monday.
I must admit I can't wait to revisit the nostalgic experience of my childhood of opening the front door to find 4 milk bottles waiting there, maybe even with little holes pecked through the silver-tops by greedy robins!
Of course cow's milk is no substitute for soya milk. I recognise that not being a vegan gives me a much wider range of choice in this area (I just buy soya, almond and coconut milks because I prefer the taste on my cereal and I believe them to be more sustainable crops).
Since I take both my tea and coffee black I mostly only use cow's milk in cooking nowadays, but if I had to go back to having a splash of green-top on my rice crispies, I would not consider it to be too great a sacrifice (although after all these years my tummy might protest at the sudden dairy-tsunami!)
Of course, since my usual cereals (Bran flakes, Shreddies & Rice crispies) all come with plastic inserts, this may all prove to be a bit of a moot point. Fortunately for me, my favourite brand of porridge oats (you know the one: yes, that one with the nice young kilted man on the box) does not pollute their product with pointless plastic! And since I already make my porridge with water in any case, I can still enjoy a familiar breakfast that I love (indeed the Scott's porridge oats are another nostalgic product from my youth).
And the good news for my breakfasts doesn't stop there: since I can make my own bread if needs be and preserves of all descriptions come in glass jars, I can still enjoy a spot of toast and jam whenever I like. Butter is another matter, but I'm confident that I can source some paper-packaged butter from somewhere.
So, for the duration of this experiment I guess I'll just have to restrict my breakfasts to porridge and toast. And eggs. And pancakes...
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