Plastic bags and wraps are practically unavoidable, but there are ways to cut down on them significantly. As much as possible, I buy loose fruit and vegetables. My mom made mesh bags for me that I use when I go shopping. It also means I can buy only what I need instead of buying too much and watching food go to waste.
I have a budding garden where I’ve planted basil, parsley, tomatoes, lettuce, and mint. Some have struggled, some have thrived. The thriving plants allow me to source what I need for my cooking, straight from the garden. The struggling plants mean I need to find a way to best the birds that steal my tomatoes. Maybe I should eat less chicken…
My garden is especially useful when it comes to cooking with herbs, because it means I can pluck what I need straight from my garden instead of buying too much from the shops in flimsy plastic bags and containers that aren’t great for reuse.
Back home from a shoot and thanks to the Jozi rain my garden is not only surviving but thriving ????☘️???? pic.twitter.com/E78ZjdgQu9
— Claudia Hauter (@ClaudiaHauter) December 4, 2020
One thing I never ever buy is plastic wrap. Instead I store food (such as leftovers) in plastic or glass containers. This is where plastic has been put to good use: Tupperware. It’s an eminently durable and reusable product, even if the original lid has been sucked into the black void of Tupperware lids and lost socks. I also save plastic containers and glass jars from butter, mayonnaise, and the like and use those for storage too. To wrap cheese (with which I have a faint obsession), I use beeswax.
I haven’t used plastic wrap in years but I don’t always have enough containers for storage so I got these reusable, multipurpose beeswax wraps. #PlasticFreeJuly pic.twitter.com/QmX4j8pvtB
— Claudia Hauter (@ClaudiaHauter) July 1, 2020
Zero waste tips:
Buy loose fruit and vegetables.
Store food in reusable containers.
Use beeswax.
Grow a garden.