Plastic Free July | Day 30

Plastic Free July

Day 30

Today for plastic free July I found these bamboo toothbrushes. I've seen bamboo toothbrushes in a bunch of different stores before but for plastic free July we decided to buy one. Bamboo toothbrushes are great because there is so much plastic be generated from the plastic toothbrushes. You can find these online at a lot of different places and a few stores.

Did you know that every year we make enough plastic film to shrink-wrap the entire state of Texas!

Plastic Free July | Day 29

Plastic Free July

Day 29

Today for plastic free July I did a variety of small plastic free things. I had a plastic free lunchbox (which I have pretty much every day), we went shopping with reusable cloth bags, I had a shower using a bar of soap instead of a plastic bottle and lastly I contributed to the Bokashi bin and the compost. Just by doing a little bit like this every day still helps!

Did you know that 11% of household waste is plastic, 40% of which is plastic bottles! 

Plastic Free July | Day 28

Plastic Free July

Day 28

Today for plastic free July I'm going to share with you about the five R's which are REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and ROT. First of all REFUSE. Before you buy something made out of plastic think "Do I need this? Do I really need to buy this?" If not then you REFUSE it. REDUCE means to lower the amount of plastic you use, buy and just in general consume on a daily basis. Ask yourself "Am I keeping something that I'm not using that someone else could put to use?" Maybe donate something to an 

op-shop or sell on-line.

REUSE and RECYCLE... well, instead of throwing away things like bottles, plastic plates and plastic bags think of new ways to use them or at the least, RECYCLE them. Get your clothes or shoes mended instead of buying new ones. And finally, choosing things that'll ROT or break down naturally in your compost, worm farm or Bokashi bin.

At our house we have five large worm farms, four Bokashi bins (which are made from old paint buckets) and one large compost bin. The worm farms and Bokashi bins are for our kitchen food waste and the compost is for our green waste so basically none of our food or green waste is going to landfill. There were some blog posts I made you can go and check out about things such as biodegradable floss made from silk that comes in a glass container or a brand called Smartass that makes toilet paper, tissues and paper towels from things like bamboo. You can check all that out and buy all these things online. 

Did you know that in 2010 an estimated 60,327,785,210 kg and $242,618,950,000 worth of food waste was thrown away in America alone!

Plastic Free July | Day 27

Plastic Free July

Day 27

Today for plastic free July we went into town and I found this reusable mobile cup in the Cooks Pantry. This cup can be squashed down to a really small size and it's reusable! You can find these types of reusable cups in a lot of different stores now like when we were on holiday in Golden Bay I saw some in a cafe which you could buy. This is a great way to reduce plastic and you won't ever have to buy a plastic cup again.

Did you know that there is an island made entirely from plastic! This island is where all the plastic in the pacific ocean eventually makes its way to. The island is located off the coast if California and it's twice the size of Texas, with plastic pieces outnumbering sea life six to one!

Before

After

Plastic Free July | Day 26

Plastic Free July

Day 26

Today for plastic free July I reused an old cloth pencil holder that my sister made as a cutlery holder. You can use this to transport cutlery if your going on a trip somewhere and it's really easy to make if you have the right materials. It's being plastic friendly on the go and it's also good for the environment so give it a try!

Did you know that annually approximately 500,000,000,000 (500 billion) plastic bags are used worldwide and more than 1,000,000 (one million) are used every minute.

Plastic Free July | Day 25

Plastic Free July

Day 25

Today for plastic free July I made a plastic free bin liner. The bin liner I made is for a little paper bin and can be made from a single sheet of newspaper. You can check out a video I found on how to make it right here. The good thing about this bin liner is you can pick it up out of the bin and throw it out along with the rubbish inside and it's super easy to make!

Did you know that enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times!

Plastic Free July | Day 24

Plastic Free July

Day 24

Today for plastic free July some plastic free toilet paper arrived that we bought. This brand is called smartass and it's a brand of toilet paper that decided to much plastic was being produced from toilet paper. The toilet paper is made from bamboo instead of trees. This brand also makes plastic free things such as tissues and paper towels. You can check them out here.

Did you know that 384 trees are used to produce the amount of toilet paper one man uses in his lifetime!

Plastic Free July | Day 23

Plastic Free July

Day 23

Today for plastic free July I made my own cheese and crackers. Doing this saves lots of single use plastic packaging that really isn't necessary. All I did was get a reusable container which has two compartments and put some cheese in one and crackers in the other.

Did you know that in the last ten years we have produced more plastic than we have in the last century!

Below you can see just one example of all the plastic you can save!

Plastic Free July | Day 22

Plastic Free July

Day 22

Today for plastic free July instead of taking a plastic knife and fork to school I took a metal knife and fork. This saves buying any plastic in the first place and it's just better for the environment. I encourage you to do this because it's just as easy as taking a plastic one.

Did you know that a full 32% of the 78 million tons of plastic produced annually is left to flow into our oceans!

Plastic Free July | Day 21

Plastic Free July

Day 21

Today for plastic free July my mum and I baked some bread. You can see the recipe here if you would like to make some yourself. It took about 20 mins to make the bread and another 50 mins to bake it. I think this bread tastes great and I suggest it. By baking this bread we have saved a plastic bag which a loaf of bread from the super market would usually come in.

Did you know that if just one person used recycled plastic bags over their lifetime, they would be removing 22,000 plastic bags from the environment!

Plastic Free July | Day 20

Plastic Free July

Day 20

Today for plastic free July I went to the library to find some plastic free ideas that we can do throughout the house. The library is an amazing place to find plastic free ideas and pretty much anything else. I found a book called "101 Small Ways to Change the World"

written by Aubre Andrus and this book tells lots of little cool ways you can make a difference with plastic in your everyday life. It's a great book and it's only one example from the wide variety of books you can find on plastic at a library.

Did you know that when you were a baby and you wore single use diapers that those diapers will actually be around longer than you! Eww!

Plastic Free July | Day 19

Plastic Free July

Day 19

Today for plastic free July I did this Japanese art of folding called Furoshiki. Furoshiki is a traditional wrapping cloth technique which can be used to transport clothes, gifts and other goods. We found out about this tradition when we went to a workshop in Greymouth a while ago called the Rubbish Trip.

Did you know that globally approx 100,000,000 marine animals are killed each year by plastic waste. 

Plastic Free July | Day 18

Plastic Free July

Day 18

Today for plastic free July we went to the Cook's Pantry and bought this Kitchen Seed Sprouter which allows you to grow your own sprouts in your kitchen instead of buying lots of single use plastic containers which the sprouts you buy at the super market come in. It's super easy to set up and saves buying lots of plastic.

Did you know that 8,000,000 tons of plastic flow into the ocean every year!

Below you can see an image of the Kitchen Seed Sprouter and one of the single use plastic containers as well.

Plastic Free July | Day 17

Plastic Free July

Day 17

Today for plastic free July I made my own all-purpose spray cleaner instead of having to buy a new bottle of it. The recipe I used was for 1 litre. I started by putting one tsp of baking soda into the bottle. I then added a few drops of liquid soap along with 10 drops of tea-tree essential oil. 

To finish off I shook the bottle a bit to mix everything up inside and there you go! If you have a wooden bench at home add about one tsp of olive oil and shake the bottle every time you use it to disperse the oil. There a loads of different recipes online that probably work just as well so be sure to check it out! This bottle of spray cleaner is not only environmentally friendly but only cost about 10 cents to make, super cheap!

Did you know that 38,000,000 plastic bottles go to landfill each year in America alone!

Plastic Free July | Day 16

Plastic Free July

Day 16

Today for plastic Free July me and my friend went to watch Marvel's Spider-man Far From Home at the cinema. However we were trying to make it completely plastic free so we went to the Cooks Pantry before we went to watch the movie. We brought a container each and filled it up with some lollies. By the way the movie was great and I suggest it.

Did you know that aluminium cans sometimes actually have a secret layer of plastic in them! If you search it up on YouTube you can see a bunch of videos all about it. You want to be choosing the ones without any plastic in them because it's not good for you or the environment.

Halfway Through Plastic Free July | Recap

Halfway Through

Plastic Free July

So far plastic free July has been a blast, saving having to buy any plastic and reusing and recycling. I've been making Tawashi (reusable sponges made from old clothes), going to the Cooks Pantry, going to the local butchers and lots of other things that have made me realise just how easy it is to save buying or using any plastic.

What has been rewarding/challenging:

Pros

• I loved making Tawashi because it was interesting and creative. It's reusing re-purposing and up-cycling clothing that would otherwise have gone to landfill. Hey, and it's free!
•  I also think the Cooks Pantry is a great place to shop because of the wide variety and all the plastic free packaged items. I like that you can take your own containers and refill from the bins.
• Making and eating my own food was also fun and interesting. I learned lots of things as well. The custard we made tasted amazing!
• Using the internet and library to find plastic free solutions and creative ideas is a great way to find ways to decrease the amount of plastic you can use.

Cons

• Going plastic free takes time and organisation as well as dedication. You have to plan so you don't have go to the Cooks Pantry a gazillion times (like we ended up doing). From now on we are going to be planning  everything we need for one trip. This means writing a list of plastic free things that we need to purchase at the Cooks Pantry, online, the supermarket and the local butchers.
• Sometimes it's more expensive to buy plastic free things (even though this sounds ridiculous!) So you have to do some research and maths to find out whats most cheap and where to get it for the best price!
• Another con is making sure everybody is on board and making a difference in your family and your friends.

For the last two weeks I'm thinking of doing things that are outside my comfort zone such as sending letters to companies who aren't using plastic free packaging. I will also be experimenting with baking crackers and bread completely plastic free. I look forward to the rest of plastic free July and all the single use plastic saving that will commence! I hope you like my recap and I would like to hear any plastic free things you've been doing so far this month!

Plastic Free July | Day 15

Plastic Free July

Day 15

Today for plastic free July we made our own custard. The custard we made was egg custard and we made it because it's waste free unlike a yogurt container or other things that produce trash. We began by putting one litre of milk into a sauce pan (we doubled the recipe). We then put a little under a cup of sugar in because we didn't want it to be too sweet (the amount we were supposed to put in was one cup). After that we put in two teaspoons of vanilla. We put the sauce pan on medium heat and just kept stirring until the sugar was completely dissolved.

In a separate bowl we cracked six eggs separating the yolk from the egg whites. We then beat the yolks slightly. Once we had done that we put in three tablespoons of cornflour and beat it until it was a thick paste. We continued by pouring half of the first mixture into the paste and mixing it with a whisk. We then poured that mixture into the first mixture. We kept on mixing until it began to thicken and turn to custard (this may take a little while so have some patience).

I really hope you try this recipe because it's simple, it saves buying any plastic and it tastes amazing.

Did you know that a plastic bag is used for an average of 12 minutes! In fact less than 3% of all plastic bags are actually recycled and the rest are usually discarded, and then the plastic stays around for quite a while (about 10-1000 years!)

Plastic Free July | Day 14

Plastic Free July

Day 14

Today for plastic free July we made these kitchen sponges out of any old clothes like socks, t-shirts etc. If you would like to make your own sponge then click here to see a video. We began by making the board which you require to weave the sponge and then cutting out the right pieces from the fabric. You then weave the sponge and finish it off. I think this is a fun activity and it saves money and it's completely plastic free!

Did you know that nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today!

Plastic Free July | Day 13

Plastic Free July

Day 13

Today for plastic free July we got these reusable metal straws instead of single use plastic ones. The metal straws we got are just straight and not bendable but their still better than having to buy plastic straws.

Did you know that a turtle was found with a plastic straw shoved up its nose and the people who found the turtle had to pull it out!

Below you can see the metal straw on the right and a plastic one on the left.

Plastic Free July | Day 12

Plastic Free July

Day 12

Today for plastic free July we found plastic free floss. This floss is amazing because it comes in a little glass container and instead of a plastic one. This floss is from a website called Do Gooder and you can check out here. This floss is made out of silk instead of nylon (or Teflon). You can also buy refills for the floss so you don't have to get another one.

Did you know that recycling plastic saves just as much energy than burning it in an incinerator!

Plastic Free July | Day 11

Plastic Free July

Day 11

Today for plastic free July we went to get some more meat from the local butchers for some lasagne we're going to make. We got the mince meat at the butchers so we didn't have to get any of the plastic rubbish that the mince meat from the super market comes in.

Did you know that an estimated 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of each year!

Plastic Free July | Day 10

Plastic Free July

Day 10

Today for plastic free July we went to get some supplies from the Cooks Pantry. I got to get some sweets which were plastic free. You can get these lollies which were wrapped in plastic or you can bring your own container and get them them yourself with a scoop. 

Did you know that if we joined all the plastic bags in the world together there would be enough to circumnavigate the globe 4,200 times.

Plastic Free July | Day 9

Plastic Free July

Day 9

Today for plastic free July we made our own almond milk. First we soaked about one cup of almonds for 8-12 hours in water (or overnight). After that we put them in a blender along with four cups of water. We then blended the mixture until it was smooth. We then got a muslin cloth and secured it over a bowl. Once we had done that we poured the mixture into the bowl through the muslin cloth. After that we formed the muslin cloth into a ball with all the blended almonds inside and really squeezed out all of that milk.

Then what you have in the bowl is almond milk. It's really easy to make and saves using a lot of plastic and rubbish. Below is an image of the milk we made. You can see the Tetra rubbish beside the milk that you could save.

  

Did you know that plastic bottles take up to 700 years to dissolve!

Plastic Free July | Day 8

Plastic Free July

Day 8

Today for plastic free July we were at the super market and got these plastic free q tips. We had the choice between plastic ones and plastic free ones. Usually on a normal q tip the rod holding everything together is plastic but on the ones we got the rod was paper. Since the q tip is made up of paper and cotton that means that they are biodegradable.

Plastic Free July | Day 7

Plastic Free July

Day 7

Today for plastic free July we went shopping at the supermarket and got some chocolate which has compostable paper wrapping. It looks like plastic and feels like plastic but you can put it in your worm farm.

Did you know that most plastics categorised as "biodegradable" actually decompose into toxic or polluting materials!

Below are some photos of the worm farms and inside them.

Plastic Free July | Day 6

Plastic Free July

Day 6

Today for plastic free July we went and got some cereal from the Cooks Pantry with our own cereal box. This means you don't have to buy any of those plastic bags that the cereal comes in. The Cooks Pantry has these containers with scoops so you can take it yourself. You take your container up to the counter and they weigh it for you and see how much you can put in it. 

Then you go and find what you need and put it in your container. You then get it weighed again and then you pay. I really encourage you guys to do this because it saves another plastic bag. Did you know that the amount of energy/fuel (petroleum) used to create a plastic bag can drive a car 11 metres. That means that the amount of energy used to create 10 plastic bags could drive a car the length of a whole football field!

Below is an image of the bin that we took the cornflakes from at the Cooks Pantry.

Plastic Free July | Day 5

Plastic Free July

Day 5

Today for plastic free July we haven't used any plastic bottles. We pretty much always use these double insulated reusable water bottles that are amazing. They keep your water super cold for at least two hours depending on what heat your in. You can get these bottles a lot of places like New World, the Warehouse and Typo (however we found them to be quite expensive at Typo). These water bottles are good for your pocket and the environment. Below is an image of one of the water bottles I'm talking about.

Plastic Fact: Did you know that 90% of the cost for a bottle of water is actually the bottle itself and your paying for it!

Term 2 Reflection | Emil

Term Two Reflection

Term two has been a pretty good term. We had an amazing camp at Hanmer Springs, we did tree climbing, mountain biking and orienteering. I also learnt so much in maths and in all subjects.

This term we've also started Wearable Arts which, will be held next term which I can't wait for. I've also really enjoyed tech this term where we've done cooking, soft materials and digital tech. I've really enjoyed term two and can't wait for term three!

Plastic Free July | Day 4

Plastic Free July

Day 4

Today for plastic free July we went to a local butchers to get some meat. We took our own containers to take the meat in. We bought some chicken and some pork for tonight and tomorrow night. I can't wait to eat!

Did you know that a plastic cup takes 50 - 80 years to decompose! Plastic bags and other plastic garbage takes up to 1,000,000 sea lives every year!

Plastic Free July | Day 3

Plastic Free July

Day 3

Today for plastic free July we went shopping with reusable bags which saves using plastic bags. We pretty much always use reusable bags apart from the times we forget them which isn't very often.

Plastic Fact: Did you know that approximately 1,000,000 plastic bags are used worldwide every minute?! That means that about 500,000,000,000 - 1,000,000,000,000 plastic bags are used every year worldwide!

Statistics DLO | Emil

Plastic Free July Day 2

Plastic Free July

Day 2

Today for plastic free July I'm using a soap bar instead of the liquid soap in a bottle which saves using a lot plastic bottles. The soap bars we got didn't come in a plastic bag, they came in these really small cardboard things which just wrapped around the bars. All I did was wet my hair, wet the bar and just started rubbing the bar into my hair. It works fine and I really encourage you to try it.

Below I have inserted an image of a reference photo so you can see all the plastic that I saved and you can save!

Plastic Free July Day 1

Plastic Free July

Day 1

Today for plastic free July I didn't have any single use plastics in my lunch box at school. Single use plastics are plastics that can only be used once. I do have reusable plastic containers in my lunch box but no single use. In conclusion a great first day!

Probability DLO | Emil

Plastic Free July Beginning | Emil

Plastic Free July

Hey Guys! Beginning today I will be making a blog post everyday for the rest of July explaining something that I did that was plastic free that day. The things that I am going to be doing won't have to be anything major, it could just be something as simple as using reusable bags when we go to the super market. This project is for my speech all about plastic free July. I really hope this inspires you to do at least one thing a day that's plastic free because let's be honest, this plastic pollution that's going on is a big problem and it needs to be solved fast! If you see somebody drop a piece of plastic in front of you don't just leave it be, go and pick it up!