A challenge - A fortnight without plastic

[Shirley]

http://www.canmakers.co.uk/education/ho ... e_made.asp - looks like the cans are ok! I'm sure there are big cans... and some shops sell the cans of beer in cardboard boxes too!! I don't 'think' there are plastic rings on them but could be wrong.

You can also look out for loose cans in shops that sell them individually... are there any pubs that will serve take out beer?

French bottled beer with cork seals??

Drink wine instead - but check to see what the cork is made from. Some bottles say this on the outside... make sure the cork foil is foil and not plastic!

[legendaryone]

Perhaps you ought to check if the widget in cans of beer is made from plastic which it probaly is

[Shirley]

only posh draught tinnies have the widget don't they??

You COULD put out an appeal for homebrew in the local paper lol.....

[Boots]

What an absolutely brilliant concept...

Am so impressed Andy. While it is not hard to think about "how difficult it would be to do this", I doubt any of us would have ever really considered the full effects of doing it, had you not shared them.

Sitting here at my desk, I have the plastic off the "Tax Pack", a plastic carry bag that a friend dropped off some stuff in, plastic biros, plastic handled screwdrivers, very plastic looking sunglasses, and a small plastic level... and that's overlooking all the electronic gear that is always encased in it. It really has infiltrated our existence hasn't it? We just had snag sandwiches for tea because we'd all had late lunches, but both the sausages and the bread came out of plastic! Even the salt and sauce!

I think the challenge was a brilliant eye opener. Well done for raising it and getting folks thinking realistically about our plastic lifestyles.

[Andy Hamilton]

I was giving this whole experience some thought the other day and if I did not have a well stocked kitchen as I do then it would have been much more difficult. Bread would be one of the biggest hurdles and not milk as this has highlighted. More to the point yeast or even bicarbonate of soda. THe freeze dried yeast that comes in a little metal container that I use has a plastic lid. Yeast when bought fresh always comes wrapped in plastic. - Bicarbonate of soda and baking powder always come in plastic containers.

If I did not have my allotment I think this experiment/challenge would have been much, much harder.

You have to factor in the sort of area that you live in to it. I live in an inner city depreived area this means that much of the stuff in the local shops is crap. - There is a green grocer but no butcher, there is no bakers other than the chain one gregs that wraps its bread in plastic. There are loads of take aways though and three supermarkets, T***o, Lidl and Aldi. - all pretty rubbish and full of plastic. This challenge would be a lot easier where I used to live in Bath. There are loads of heath food shops around which are ethical and even a place to fill up bottles with selected oil, a place to fill up washing up liquid, places to buy seeds, pulses and nuts that you can put in paper bags. I have to travel for about 30 mins on my bike to get up to the north of the city if I want to find any shops like this.

So if anything this has really highlighted the rich poor divide in Bristol, it's not easy being green if you are poor!

[Chickpea]

That's great Andy. I think this has been a brilliant challenge. It's thrown up some really surprising and unexpected findings. Well done. Are you going to do anything beyond write about it here? I think it would make a great article in a newspaper or magazine, and of course you'd give the website a mention!

[Andy Hamilton]

That's great Andy. I think this has been a brilliant challenge. It's thrown up some really surprising and unexpected findings. Well done. Are you going to do anything beyond write about it here? I think it would make a great article in a newspaper or magazine, and of course you'd give the website a mention!

I have to ring up our agent later so I will drop it into conversation with him and see where it goes - you never know.

[Scrake]

Don't know if you like Grolsch, but they do a swingtop sealed bottle, and certainly I can't see any plastic on the one I have here (the red seal seems to be rubber).

http://www.grolsch.co.uk/Beer/Enjoy-the ... ngtops.gif

[Andy Hamilton]

I do like Grolsh and the seal is made of rubber and not plastic good point. It is also worth keeping those bottles for home brew.

[dibnah]

just read this post what a great idea I thought I hardly used any plastic but now I realise I use loads. might give it a go myself but dont know how the wife and kids will cope? what do you do about meat from the butcher can i take my own plastic bags that have been used before, the local shops are used to my odd requests.

[dibnah]

just been to the local co-op and they do glass bottles of milk bit of a long walk though

[Andy Hamilton]

I went vegetarian for the two weeks, no big deal for me really as I don't eat much meat anyway. I would imagine that there is some health and safety law that might scupper your chances with using your own at the butchers. - worth asking though.

[Stonehead]

I went vegetarian for the two weeks, no big deal for me really as I don't eat much meat anyway. I would imagine that there is some health and safety law that might scupper your chances with using your own at the butchers. - worth asking though.

I've only come across one butcher that still uses butcher's paper - and even he uses a small piece of plastic to fold around the meat first.

And once you've got it home, how do you store it in the freezer without using plastic bags or containers?

[2steps]

really interesting. got me thinking, plastic is everywhere, even though I'm careful of buying and of trying to reuse it if possible. we have a milkman who delivers glass bottles so that'd be ok but the bakers wraps the bread in plastic so do the meat and fish counters in the market. would be ok buying fruit and veg as the market stall uses paper bags still :)

not using plastic at all would be a massive challenge - no sewing as my machine has a plastic case :s - I'm in the middle of making nappies. pushchairs and car seats have plastic parts, infact my cooker has plastic knobs!

[dibnah]

we have a UPVC door I would not be able to leave the house!

the fact is you could not live without using plastic at one point but even trying not to add to your daily consumption is very hard. Perhaps it's a s'ish way to give up smoking