Menu

plastic free live cottage italy veronika honestlyHi, it's Veronika here!

This website, blog and everything else here has been on my mind for a long time. If I was an English native speaker, I'd flood this space with many ideas, tips, recommendations and more as everyday I'm being inspired by great things worth sharing whilst working on my business(es) as well as in my everyday life. Unfortunately, I don't want you to read all my bad grammar so I have to have my partner to proofread every single word. Hard job. But there will be stuff coming periodically.

Starting now, finally, there's a big topic I'm being challenged with more than ever. It's the plastic life we live. It sounds idyllic, to live plastic-free(like the picture of the cottage in Italy over there may be romantically suggesting...)

But in reality, modern people don't have such idyllic options. For me, plastic is an especially pertinent topic as I have to deal with the packaging for my beach shop products I sell (and send) by myself. At this moment, whilst small scale, I cannot influence so much how my partners pack their stuff which they send on my behalf, but what am I packing and sending physically - like this amazing Rainbow Turtle or Mermaid Keyring - I can find packaging I am happy with.

Imagine I would be advocating to save our ocean, minimize plastic waste, clear up all the rubbish we've accumulated into the oceans and shores, but I wouldn't be practicing it myself - even though I can (as it's possible with my packaging)! So I looked up options and voila! It's not too difficult to find plastic-free packaging! Surprise, surprise!

Magicful Home plastic free packaging

These beauties are glued with vegan & eco-friendly glue and pack in recycled paper envelopes and biodegradable plant-starch based pouches!

Then, because I sell pillows - or rather pillow covers - I was unhappy with the plastic inner. When I'm going the extra mile and making it all amazingly eco-friendly, I can't stuff it with polyester, can I? NO.
What did I do? Research, of course. And I found an alternative I'm happy with (it had to be vegan/cruelty-free, so down is not an option) and currently I'm experimenting with creating my own pillow inserts =)) I'm going to be writing a post about it later here - keep an eye on it if you're curious.

But that fairly easy quest I seemed to solve smoothly pushed me into looking further at my own life, and how I could possibly avoid plastic even more than now:

plastic free packaging veronika honestly

Look for alternative packaging, it really is out there - kitchen rolls (made of recycled paper) made by Suma, UK - wrapped in compostable packaging

Buying bulk packs - tick

Try to avoid fresh food packed in plastic (such a waste anyway!) - tick

Buy other food in paper or glass if possible - tick

Take my own bag when shopping - tick

Re-use all plastic bags as many times as possible - tick

Pack lunches/snacks in reusable boxes rather than plastic bags - tick

Don't use plastic gloves and hat when dying my hair with henna- tick
(I simply don't use gloves at all, and as for hats I use a bin bag which can serve it's true purpose afterwards =)

Recycle as much as possible - tick

Researching plastic-free packaging (If I can provide plastic-free packaging for my products, other, bigger, more established businesses should be already, c'mon) - tick

Generally, researching more and more plastic alternatives, sometimes not always completely natural but at least recycled from the waste mankind has already done, that's better than nothing.

If it's possible, I go for recycled polyester. If it's possible, I re-use what I have already. If it's possible I use less harmful alternatives. Like my most recent discovery - instead of conventional washing up sponges, I use these funky silicone tentacly scourers. Unlike a classic sponge, it can be reused long term, easily washed and disinfected so it's just like new (until it loses too many tentacles - that's unavoidable I'd say). But it's great that every week I don't have to be throwing away one nasty dirty smelly sponge made of foamy plastic. Surely there are other alternatives, but that's just what I know for now and it's an example how I progress step by step. It's better than doing nothing.

silicone sponge sheet washing up veronika honestly

Silicone alternative to plastic-foam sponges. Reusable and very stress-relieving... just touch it!

Just keep digging - whatever is bugging you, look for alternatives. They are out there.

This plastic free mindset is driving me crazier and crazier, especially as I have to deal with it at my beach business. That is, of course, why I'm driven to fund charities. I feel I need to do something.

My latest discovery is a company/charity called 4Ocean. They seem to do really great things, clearing up shores as well as open water and they fund themselves and their eco-activities by selling recycled bracelets. It's surely a great idea, I've seen individuals doing the same (Instagram is a great source for finding inspirational people!), this is just on a bigger scale and for me certainly, thumbs up! I will be getting in touch with them later as I want to learn more so I can give you more information here =) You can check this out for yourself - just visit 4Ocean website.

So, how about you? Do you live plastic-free (as much as it is possible)? How do you do this? Share your ideas and tips for better plastic-free future!

Hi, it's Veronika, your vegan friend and content creator of Veronika Honestly (no, not my surname).
I'm mathemagician (making money as maths tutor! ?), a bit of an artist (well, trying to get back to art) and also animal and adventure lover.
Get to know me on my About page and make sure you sign up for my newsletter to get my free printable greeting cards for vegans I made for everyone to use and spread the vegan word!

See you around and on my social media - stay in touch!

Thank you for reading this whole article =) I have a few things to mention here:

Firstly, if not already mentioned in the article, I would like you to know about my Honest Language Disclaimer (no, it's not about profanity) - in case you were wondering why my English is so weird and not Oxford-dictionary perfect (whose English is, anyway...)

Secondly, my post may contain affiliate links. Namely Etsy and Amazon links. If you click through and buy anything there, I will get a small commission, so you are basically helping me to reach the goals, to raise funds for animals sanctuaries. All of that at no extra cost to you or the seller. It's a win-win =)

Now, in the end, I have a tiny request: If you liked this post, could you please share this?
Sharing helps to keep my costs down so more can go towards animal charities and perhaps you'll make one's day by showing them something from this blog they will like to read! A share from you would seriously help a lot with the growth of this blog that focuses on spreading the vegan word and kindness - just the things you also care about =)

You may like to pin some graphics from here, you may want to share it to your blog (do you have a vegan-themed blog? Let me know, let's collaborate!) or to your favourite Facebook group... there are plenty of choices!

Thank you for your support!

And... what now?

If you read all of the above, then, by all means, you're awesome for reading it all! And I believe you are interested at least a bit in my work here - I'd say we may have a thing or two in common! =)

Let's stay connected - sign up for my newsletter and don't miss any big and interesting news from me, tips and ideas on how to get on with your vegan journey as well as how to spread the vegan awareness (I do it the friendly way).
There's always something going on here. Be a part of it.

And don't forget about my free printable greeting cards for animal lovers and a discount on my products - only for subscribers!

Hop On The Email List

We're in it together - for the animals and the environment, honestly.

 

Comments