It's a Wrap - changes that will stay from Plastic Aware July #earthdeeds

As I said at the beginning of July we consider ourselves pretty plastic efficient already but I’d not specifically participated in plastic free July.

So what changes have we made and what changes will stick around?

Cheese - I really wanted to say we haven’t bought cheese since I discovered it was the third worst polluter food. But we bought Parmesan to be used In additional to nutrition yeast. And regular cheddar. And a speciality cheese from the local cheese place. Both Mr SW and I have been making fresh soft cheeses. So the change is just less cheese, fresh cheese and cheesemonger cheese.

Yoghurt - though the first batch failed our second batch of homemade yoghurt was a delicious success. We were very tempted to buy a multi cooker to help with yoghurt, cheese, bread and general slow cooking but the 1970s yoghurt warmer may have eliminated that purchase.

Bread - I finally found yeast! I’d been looking for yeast since the buying mayhem and restrictions at the supermarket began. It was only last weekend that I found some! So homemade bread is happening, plus we tried homemade whey flatbreads (bi-products of cheese making need to be used too) and I'll try making pita bread. Otherwise it’s off to the bakery with BYO bag.

Biscuits - over the last few months I'd developed something of a biscuit habit, but pretty much every biscuit is in plastic. Instead I've started baking, simple things like chocolate cupcakes and I'll move onto biscuits soon enough. Though I'll need to stock up on flour as it's flying out of the kitchen.

Oats - this was something I’d previously thought unresolvable due to the price difference of bulk vs plastic but working out the actually annual cost convinced me I have the resources to make that choice. I also found Uncle Toby’s Oat don’t have a plastic liner bag, which is great for when the bulk store isn’t convenient or when they’re on special.

Replacements - I think as items as used up I’ll look for plastic free alternatives, things like dental floss, painkillers, cleaning products and even stationery.

There’s lot more to explore but Mr SW encouraged me back to my previous pledge to try to deal with one or two things at a time and make a lasting solution that becomes part of our lifestyle.

Next stop crackers and snacks and I've realised I can make the ones I really want, the ones I won't justify the expensive prices like lavosh, flatbreads and those super crunchy dried seed and fruit crackers instead of boring but cheap rice crackers.

Who knew crackers were really just flour and water!