Friday Five: Level up your plastic free habits

1. Cook from scratch

How satisfying is it when you can prepare a beautiful meal from scratch? It’s also a great way to reduce packaging from processed and pre-made foods. We know sometimes it’s a struggle to find the inspiration to plan and prepare meals, while also working with a budget, so check out these awesome seasonal meal planners from WasteMINZ. They include meal plans, recipes and even the shopping list for weekly family meals. 

If you are tight on time, you could also check out the Wellington business, Yum Jar, that do a fantastic Zero Waste Meal Box with easy to build meals in returnable, reusable jars and containers – they even supply some weekly staples like coffee!

2. Look at the quality of your clothes  

Did you know that when we wash synthetic clothes, micro plastics shed into the greywater which ultimately ends up in waterways. This waste can be reduced by opting to buy clothes made from natural fibres like wool, linen and cotton. If we have synthetic clothes, try to wash them less by spot cleaning and airing out.

You can even put things in the freezer, which kills bacteria and gets rid of smells. There are also washing bag and laundry balls available, these help to catch microfibres.

3. Change up your snacks 

To avoid plastic waste from snacks, try opting for homemade popcorn over individually wrapped chippies or muesli bars. Popcorn is great for school lunches and snacks when you’re on the go, there are so many flavours to get experimenting with. From deliciously sweet, salted caramel or chai flavoured, to spicy wasabi or classic butter and salt – give it a go!

4. Shine up those pearly whites with a simple home recipe

Most families go through a fair few tubes of toothpaste over a year, but did you know it’s easy as to make your own toothpaste? Simply combine two parts baking soda to one part coconut oil, make sure you couple this with fluorinated toothpaste tablets and you’re good to go! There are also refillable toothpaste and tablet options available.

For more information check out the Rubbish Trip.

5. Decorate with sustainable products

Celebrations often generate a lot of single-use waste, so at your next party try opting for bubbles not balloons. Or, instead of a balloon on the mailbox, a nice big ribbon will do the trick. Reusable bunting or freshly cut flowers are other great ways to decorate the house.

For more ideas, check out this page on low waste parties.

Watch out each Friday for a fun list of five great activities to do, places to explore, or things to discover in our awesome city.