Starting uni means moving away from home and becoming wholly independent including doing my own food shop. This has led me to the crippling reality of how much plastic and general waste me and my flatmates end up chucking away every week. It is practically impossible to walk into a shop and make completely ethical and sustainable choices. But, there’s a few things I can do, thus introducing No-Plastic November, a sort of challenge I’m setting for myself.
Now, let’s get one thing straight; we cannot independently save the planet and corporations like to pressure the customer to believe that it is their responsibility to make the ‘right’ decision which usually ends up in an ultimatum of how much something matters to you, ie boycotting big companies, avoiding plastic, ethical farming, organic produce etc. So, this is more a challenge of personal improvement and a way to force myself into taking more time thinking about and acting on the climate crisis.
Another aspect of this challenge is my own mental health. It’s hard having to look after myself and I tend to forget to eat or cook good food until late in the day, or forgetting to pack lunch on long days leading to buying something easy on the way or going to the nearby Tesco without the energy to plan a proper environmentally friendly meal. I also tend to struggle with social interaction especially buying things in shops, taking public transport and wanting to avoid making anyone else’s day harder in any way. This leads me to only use self check-outs, getting the plastic bag of potatoes instead of individually picking out loose ones, and not wanting to take the bus to the refill shop or a more ethical supermarket. Basically, this is a no pressure challenge where I’m going to try my best and not beat myself up if I have a few bad days.
If you wanna see how this goes for me, I’ve recently set up an instagram account (which you can find here Liv (@liv_a_1itt1e) • Instagram photos and videos) where I’m going to share my shopping trips and meals I’m cooking or eco-frendlier choices I make in all aspects of my life. I also post some of my art and little life updates too <3
Liv x