Milestones

Inspired by Mamalina's beautiful blog post, I wanted to share this photo taken a month ago - at the time I was convinced Eden was about to start walking independently, but even now she manages a couple of tiny, teetering steps on her own.

Plastic Free Shopping

Honestly speaking, plastic free shopping is literally near impossible for us. Particularly being on a low budget, J and I have had a conversation more than once that to be as low waste as possible we feel stuck between between a well balanced, healthful diet and a low waste shop with next to no variety.

Secondhand Sunday: Upcycling

I've been excited about this week's #secondhandsunday because it's the first time I've upcycled clothing in forever! And my first time ever dyeing clothes.

Breastfeeding a toddler

Today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree is "homemade" and it got me thinking I actually want to talk about breastfeeding today - and about breastfeeding a toddler.

Skinsence Coconut Milk Shampoo Bar

Ad - gifted|Perfect for #plasticfreeJuly, I was recently sent a shampoo bar to try from Skinsence. This is a coconut milk shampoo bar designed to restore the pH of the hair. Skinsence are a new discovery for me but I'm so glad to have found them - the shampoos are handmade in small batches and free of SLS, synthetic fragrances, animal fats, detergents, harsh chemicals and plastic packaging (I love when a delivery doesn't come in plastic so this had me at hello!)

Plastic Free Fashion

Today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree is "fashion" and I have a lot of thoughts on the fashion industry (explained much more in my #slowfashionseason post here from July 3rd) but basically the TLDR is we all need to buy less, make conscientious choices, and think about how ethical our wardrobes really are. For those of us (🙋🏼‍♀️) who don't always have the money to buy from responsible, organic and ethical brands who pay workers a fair wage and are responsible to the environment, buying second hand is a great option. This way we aren't voting with our money for companies that don't care about their workers or the planet.

Staying hydrated (Plastic free!)

Today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree is "staying hydrated" - I'm a thirsty breastfeeding mama so hydration is very important! I've already seen some scary statistics this morning regarding disposable bottles (if you haven't already, switch to a reusable water bottle, coffee cup or both depending on your lifestyle habits) Currently we use BPA free litre water bottles that I expect to last for a very long time, after which we will switch to stainless steel replacement (any recommendations on brands that have a litre option would be welcome!)

Washable Wipes for #plasticfreeJuly

We're packing a bag... We're going out for the day! And that means a couple of nappies and some washable wipes.

Self Care (Plastic Free July Edition)

There's a saying "busy hands, quiet mind" and I find this is really important when it comes to self care. My go-to self care habits include baking, yoga, drawing or painting - they're habits that I enjoy, they're good for the soul and allow me to be in the moment and recharge. Self care is today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree and to me a clear link is that my love of cooking and baking means that we hugely reduce the amount of plastic food packaging in our house by buying very little prepackaged snacks. I bake almost all of the bread that we consume (hands up who still has their lockdown sourdough starter going?), as well as breakfast bars, snacks and treats for us all. I use silicone moulds and reusable liners too which means there's next to no material waste. My next mission is oat milk to reduce the amount of cartons we consume. Nutritionally it also means I'm in complete control of what goes into our food and I can make much healthier snacks knowing exactly how much salt, sugar, oil etc has been used. This act in itself has a mindful effect for me as there is a definite comfort in knowing I'm making nourishing food while causing far less waste that is detrimental to the planet.

Eco Bathroom Swaps

Today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree is "bathroom" - this is one area I still have a lot of changes to make. On the one hand I use reusable bamboo makeup wipes, a moon cup, a shampoo bar. But I still have too much plastic for my liking in the form of product packaging within our bathroom. We don't have any single use plastic in our bathroom exactly, but some tubes aren't easily reusable or recyclable. With products including conditioner, deodorant, shower gel and toothpaste I sometimes struggle to find something effective, vegan and cruelty free that doesn't come in plastic, that is affordable enough to regularly purchase. I also found that during lockdown many hygiene products were harder to get hold of because of panic buying, so I know I ended up buying a few things during that time out of necessity that I wouldn't normally purchase. So any recommendations for brands or products you love that fit this criteria would be great!

Plastic Free July: Cloth Nappies

When I found out I was pregnant with Eden I knew I wanted to use cloth nappies. A friend had used them and I remember being super curious about this at the time and knowing that's the path I'd choose when the time came, even though Eden wasn't even thought of then! Cloth nappies are today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree - and of course there are huge environmental benefits of cloth nappies and wipes. Getting away from single use anything is an excellent mindset for a start, and the frankly terrifying statistics on disposable nappies and baby wipes speak for themselves.

Five Reasons I'm Vegan (Compassion)

Today I'm continuing my mini series about why we are a vegan family! We choose to be vegan due to three factors: health, compassion and the environment. I'm not here to be militant or scary, but I hope everybody can learn from some of these facts! Today's focus is on veganism for the animals. This is a hard subject to speak about but it's a very worthy one as many of the facts aren't common knowledge.

Slow Fashion Season

So it turns out #slowfashionseason has begun! As ever I'm the last to know about such things but I think it's so important to chat about slow fashion. I'm a former charity shop manager and that's hugely influenced my buying choices (why buy new when you can reduce, reuse and recycle am I right?!) but until I watched The True Cost and started to get educated I didn't realise the true impact of my former impulse buying.

Plastic Free Kitchen

Today's #setmeplasticfree prompt is "kitchen" - possibly the worst room in the house for single use plastic. With a kitchen I think it's really important not to fall into the trap of buying extra, unnecessary things just because they're eco (Little Mindful Life made a great point about reusable straws - far better than single use, yes, but how many of us were using straws much in the first place?!) Repurposing what we already have is better for the environment than single use anything  - some examples include:

💚 Reusing old tupperware or even takeaway containers rather than using cling film.
💚 Microfibre reusable cloths rather than anti bac wipes (we use 11 billion each year, they're responsible for 93% of blockages in UK sewers, and the vast majority contain non-biodegradable plastic. If you cannot bear to wash a cloth, switch to plastic free kitchen roll and anti bac spray)
💚 I bought some reusable silicone lids for covering bowls as an alternative to cling film (there's always a half eaten bowl of baby oats in our fridge)
💚 Cooking from scratch more inevitably means less packaging, even though the supermarkets still have huge issues with unnecessary packaging. Where possible, veg boxes, pick your owns and veg markets are a good way to consume less plastic.

As for us - our biggest consumption of single use plastic by FAR is the fruit and veg we buy at the supermarket. However, we're lucky enough to have a garden big enough to grow vegetables in, and everything is thriving following the changeable weather we've had - hopefully harvesting our own will make a big impact on reducing the amount of veg wrapped in plastic that we need to buy in the shops.

What are your favourite kitchen eco swaps?

Plastic Free Toys

Today's prompt for #setmeplasticfree is parenting, so I want to talk more specifically about plastic free toys. Last week I ordered this absolutely beautiful Lanka Kade mushroom and minibeast shape sorter from Babipur. Lanka Kade are an ethical, fair trade company and this is a handcrafted, versatile wooden toy as the beautiful bugs are painted on both sides and can be stacked and played with individually as well as for problem solving with the shape sorter. We both love playing with this one!

Plastic Free July

This month, for Plastic Free July, I am joining in with the #setmeplasticfree challenge by @rainbeauadventures and @earth_punk_mama on Instagram. You can find me at @littlepackofvegans.