Go plastic free and live your love for the planet, every day
We’ve put together five of our favourite plastic free and zero waste hacks for Plastic Free July, and for living life all-year-round in alignment with your l-o-v-e for nature, people and our beautiful planet.
#1 Zero waste on-the-go: More than one reusable cup = so much more love
It’s so easy to love more than one reusable cup these days, and it can be super practical too. We love The Minimalists, but when you’ve left your cup at work, been out the night before, or are just having a lazy night/morning, it can be an utter delight to grab your spare and rock out the door.
Spread this philosophy to all your reusables and you’ve just made your goal of doing life single-use plastic free so much easier to achieve every day. Plus, a tiny trove of spares can be so handy when family or friends are staying, or when you’re lending some consciousness to a lover that hasn’t yet made the realm shift.
What's more, we recently confirmed that Silicone Rubber, the material that makes up the lids of reusable coffee cups and other things, can be recycled at the end of its life, and we're hopeful this might help stop these bits from following a broken cup into the landfill bin. If yours breaks, you can hang onto your silicone bits and grab a replacement glass cup here, or use them on a spare glass jar that you already have at home - the best.
And if your silicone bits are really done then we would love you to recycle them with us - to say thank you we'll send you a code for 10% off your next Life Wild purchase. See our Wild Reuse, Remake & Recycle program here for the deets and what else we can accept too. Mother Earth love, all round.
#2 Rewild your home: nature’s solutions for our everyday needs
Did you know that nearly all sponges we can buy at the supermarkets are made from plastic? Same goes for most of the stuff we can buy to keep our homes clean, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Here's a few of our favourite natural, plastic free and circular swaps that you might love too:
Reusable Dish & Cleaning Cloths made from Cotton – the ultimate sponge replacements. These are our versions which have been made from Australian cotton that’s never left our shores – it’s been grown under best management practices, ginned and spun all in Australia, and the yarn is raw, which means the fibres haven’t been dyed or seen water since the paddock. We then weave the beautiful yarn into durable, absorbent clothes which last and last, and we think they perform just as well as typical plastic sponges, and maybe even better! Then when they are finally done, which could be in many months' time, they can simply be added to your compost and returned gracefully back to the earth. L-o-v-e.
We also have a limited number of our Organic Cotton Dish & Cleaning Cloths left in stock too - they've been handmade by us using organic cotton grown in Peru by rural artisan farmers. The fibres have been processed manually, without dyes, chemicals or synthetics, so they're 100% natural and chemical free.
And for a great make-do solution, we came across one divinely savvy lady who made her own yarn by cutting up an old T-Shirt into lengths and crocheted it herself – so good!
Natural Kitchen Brushes – how did we ever do plastic when these divinely inspired creations existed? Our range of Eco Max brushes are predominantly made with naturally anti-bacterial coconut fibre bristles and galvanised wire, so they won't smell, go mouldy, or rust, and they can all be composted and recycled at the end of their life too. They're beautiful zero waste cleaning salvations for every earth-loving home.
See our range of Eco Max's ethically made, plastic free brushes in our Home Collection: Kitchen Scrubber, Dish Brush, Bottle Cleaning Brush, Vegetable Scrubbing Brushes, Non-stick Pan Brush, Scrubbing Brush, Toilet Brush, Indoor Broom, Outdoor Broom, as well as our range of Paper Pottery and other beauties which can help you clean your home naturally.
#3 Regenerate the earth – compost at home and reduce your waste with easy, odour-free caddies for your kitchen
Do you compost or have you ever tried to? With a Bokashi One Bucket, it’s super easy to start composting no matter where you live, and even if you don’t have any outdoor space or a garden in which to use it. While they might be made from plastic, 50% of it comes from recycled plastic, and they can help you reduce your need for plastic bin liners too (more on this via our Circular Reusable Bin Liners here).
You can put just about all your organics in it, and we mean anything organic, so you can return as much earthly goodness back to the earth as possible and minimise your waste to landfill. It comes with the Australian made Bokashi One Mix which you sprinkle over your organic waste to help it to start to ferment, and the airtight lid helps this process too and means your bucket won't smell or attract any insects. It also gathers liquid gold at the bottom of the bucket which can be easily used for so many things, like fertilising your plants or to clean your drains – this is my favourite bit as my plants seem to love it.
When it’s full, you can bury it in your garden or add it to your larger outdoor compost bin if you have one, or if you don’t have either, check out the ShareWaste App which is a brilliant way to find a local who is happy to take your compost, and also to offer your compost bin to other locals if you want to too. One word of caution, if you’re going to use ShareWaste you just need to make sure that your compost bin contents are aligned with the local you’re going to drop it off to, as some won’t accept things like processed food, meat leftovers, or citrus, for example. Happy composting.
#4 Plastic free soap that’s great for your precious skin and the earth
We’ve been conditioned to think that we can’t use ‘Soap’ on our precious faces and bodies - the commercial versions typically contain chemicals that aren’t great and dry our skin. Today's soap though is not always this mass-produced version that can have these effects, and we now think of our soap – made by Tasmanian company Beauty and the Bees – as a beautiful, solid elixir that is absolute heaven in the bathroom. I use it to cleanse my entire body, from my face to my toes.
In addition to these glorious soap bars, the thing we love most about Beauty and the Bees is their golden ethos: they only use natural and beneficial ingredients which have been used by humans for centuries (wisdom); they don’t test on animals (because who would); they choose local products as often as they can to support local industry and reduce their environmental impact (triple tick); and they source organic and certified products whenever it is possible to do so.
And almost the very, very best? Their soap bars are palm oil free - hurrah - and their ethos extends to their packaging too - it’s predominantly recyclable or compostable, and their soaps come in a cardboard box. Our favourites include Unscented Wild Jojoba, Apple Cider Skin Tonic, Damask Rose & French Clay, and Leatherwood Honey & Tasmanian Lavender Flower, amongst the many divine combinations to choose from in our Body & Beauty Collection - find one that will cleanse, soothe and nourish your particular type of skin here.
And to hold your new favourite natural soap? Our Undyed Hemp Soap Bags have been handmade by the beautifully values-aligned Boho Things in country NSW. It's a lovely combo that will help you retain your plastic free vibe too - you can use it instead of a plastic soap container when travelling - it's great.
#5 Plastic free reusable face cleansing cloths
You might already be a convert or be thinking about becoming one: reusable organic cotton face cloths are simply divine. Not only do they replace single-use synthetic face wipes that we can buy in droves, they are completely natural, chemical free, plastic free, zero waste and economical too.
We hand make ours in convenient 9.5 x 9.5cm squares or 18cm x 18cm for a fuller face or body wash. I typically have seven of our 9.5x9.5s on rotation for the night cleanse, paired with my favourite Tasmanian Lavender Flower Soap, which I find so relaxing before getting into bed. And after you’ve used one, just pop it into your normal clothes wash and use again and again. So much love.
What's your favourite Plastic Free July change you're rolling out this year? We'd love to hear and be inspired - head over to our Instagram to jump into the conversation.
Happy earth-loving,
Ashleigh + Life Wild x
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