I’m Zero-Wasting My Life! Kicking The Plastic Bottle Habit

How sustainable is my life? #1
This is where I start looking at my own life and making those small but vital changes towards sustainability. Let’s see what effect a few small changes can make. I’m going to start with plastic waste.

The large plastic bottle in the image, left, is what my herbal bath soak came in. More plastic on the recycling heap? OK, it’s better than chucking it out but there must be a better way.

I should add that I don’t take a bath every day. Just once in a week or two to loosen get those crusty feet back in shape … why am I telling you all this?

Kirsty is on the Facebook Plastic Free Support group. Kirsty suggests I make my own Epsom salts so I don’t have to buy them in a throw-away plastic bottle. What a great idea!

This is so simple I wonder why I haven’t done this before. All you need is:

We have sea salt, we have the essential oils. All that’s missing are the Epsom salts and the baking soda.

Luckily there is a pharmacy down the road to where I live. I immediately check it out – they have Epsom salts. Price is OK but there’s one problem – they also come wrapped in plastic. What’s the point of that? I think.

So Sue and I set off to Brighton’s Open Market to see what we can find. We come across our old friend Debbie from the Foodshed Co-op. Yes, they do sell Epsom salts you can dispense to your own container. But no, they don’t have any in stock.

Doh! So close. But just as we are leaving we see this:

Solution!

Meanwhile another Facebook friend has agreed to supply me with the Epsom salts as she gets about a ton of the stuff each month. Hmm … must have very soft skin.

What’s wrong with plastic bottles?
A reasonable question, check out Sustainableplastics .