Life before plastic

I remember going to the greengrocer's to get potatoes for Mum. I had to take an old shopping bag and after weighing the potatoes, he would tip them loose into the bag. All the shops would have several sizes of paper bag and you put your shopping into a sturdy shopping bag.

We used to have our milk delivered by a lovely milkman. The milk came from the local monastery where they kept dairy cows. They closed down the dairy due to increased cost and now make beer. Our milkman retired recently so our milk now comes from the supermarket. It's a shame but things change.

I don't see having soap delivered as a set back because everything I buy has to be delivered to me. I am housebound, I live in a village and all shopping except for a few basics involves car travel or a rare bus!

Shampoo bars work very well on my (difficult) hair. There is no ‘soapy’ sticky residue at all. My hair has never looked so good. Who knew?

I was a teenager when my mum got her first fridge. Even then it was one that was, as they say now, pre-loved.

I'm not that old, mid-60's, but mum had managed fine until then, I don't recall eating any rotting food! Ice cubes were such a novelty to us.

We had enamel washing up bowls in my childhood, and I remember the glass bottle of Stergene (used for washing woollens) being used to wash the pots. You used to get 2d old money refunded when you took the empty bottle back, also on Domestic bottles which were dark green glass, 2d also back on those as well. Milk bottles put out on the door step to be collected when the milkman brought the next days milk. Rag and bone men used to come around from time to time, and as well as collecting old clothes would take jam jars and give you about 3d for about six jars. As children we were allowed to have the money from the bottles and jars for sweets. The only time we used to buy those paper carriers with the string handles was if we were sent to the fish and chip shop as they made the other shopping bags reek from the smell, I think they were around 3d, otherwise shopping baskets or bags. When you bought a large item of clothing such as a coat or suit, they were packed in either a very large strong paper bag bearing the store"s name or a large shallow box with tissue paper inside, and then wrapped in brown paper and fastened with string. Most of us had open fires and would burn the wrappings from foodstuffs that were smelly or had leaked and couldn't be used for anything else. I think the bulk of the contents of our dustbin were the ashes from the fire.

My mother's aunt used to wash up with Daz. Then everythingnhad to go back in a bowl of clean water for a good rinse as it would leave a residue behind.

My parents used to buy Kudos washing up liquid from Boots by the gallon and just refill the same bottle - they were plastic though. And as someone who always wanted a washing up bottle to make something they showed in Blue Peter I was always disappointed.

DH has just told me they used something called byprox? to wash up dishes before eazy peazy lemon squezy first appeared.
Anyone else remember that?

I love Primark paper carrier bags!! They are remarkably strong and durable!! Surely if Primark can do it, so can the other high street shops??

Not seen bar shampoo

My DD uses bar shampoo and conditioner , she has lovely hair . The only place I see it is in craft fairs

There will be bacteria on the pump of the liquid soap when you press it with dirty hands, my bar soap doesn’t get cracked or black, I usually use a good quality natural soap , can find lots of lovely ones at farmers markets or French or Italian ones in TK Maxx. I got some lovely French lavender soap there for about £2.99, much nicer smelling and lathers up much better than slimy shower gel. I also bought a nice little porcelain soap dish.

I'm sure my mum used Rinso washing powder for the dishes before the arrival of squeezy liquid.

I have some lovely soaps which are in my dressing table drawers, none of them very expensive and often hand-made and not that expensive.
crystaltipps - yes, TK Maxx is very good for soaps.

Just ordered bar shampoo and conditioner- great idea.

Our local French supermarket sells conditioner, bleach, handwash, etc, all in soft pouches, I have had the same containers for years and just refill- and have gone back to washing powder sold in cartons. For huge plastic bottles with ridiculously huge lids are a real disaster.

I remember eating a bag of raisins and the bag

Thanks Bijou for reminding me of the trip to the shop to get a loaf of bread. Obviously it was before pre-sliced bread and came in fresh every day and it was wrapped in tissue paper. I remember the soft feel of it and the smell especialy when I made a small hole in the top to just pick at a wee bit of it! By the time I reached home most of the black crust had gone. In Scotland it was called a "plain loaf" and although they still produce it and I did try it some time ago the pre-packed and sliced did nothing for me. Another memory is mixing the sachet of shampoo before Mum and I used to wash our hair. My Dad used to say he didn't know why we bothered "as Daz was fine for him"! I must say he had a fine head of hair till he was well into his 60's.

My daughter uses a store in Glasgow which refills all sorts of containers - milk, shampoo etc - called Locavore. She is trying to go single use plastic free for lent but found it difficult when in the USA for work! So much packaging is unnecessary. I buy tomatoes in a cellophane 6 pack usually but recently Sainsbury's added a plastic tray inside the cellophane packet as well. I wrote to them about it and they gave me a load of waffle about reducing plastic by whatever % by 2020 but couldn't justify the EXTRA new packaging. I told them I would be shopping elsewhere. I think their different suppliers do different things though as I've noticed the trays are in packets sometimes but not always. I wish the loose tomatoes were not significantly more expensive than the pre-packed as that would be best but then you end up putting them in a plastic bag to weigh unless you only buy one!

I use the supermarket mushroom bags for small loose veg like sprouts or tomatoes. Always choose loose carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, etc over prepacked.

At my local supermarket cabbages and cauliflowers come in loose plastic bags which I hand back at the till after they’ve been scanned.

At their deli you can have fish, sliced meats, etc in a slightly waxed paper back if you insist.

Loved how food was wrapped in greaseproof paper and paper bags, tissue, lovely tins etc ....potted meat, bacon, bread, cakes, coffee, sweets etc..... I remember being horrified when bread started coming in plastic bags !

Sliced bread used to be bought in waxed paper, mother used to save the paper to wrap sandwiches in.
I still buy bread in waxed paper.
Daz was used for dish washing and it was very harsh on the hands, it also left an aftertaste on cups, father insisted we rinsed the cups with boiling water.

In an effort to save our blighted High Street, encourage a sense of community, and perhaps educate eachother about tackling poverty, inequality, climate change, animal welfare, loneliness and all modern woes a group of local enthusiasts optimists took on a lease, and have subsequently bought, an empty shop. Part of this is open and sells food and groceries supplied by
www.suma.coop
and www.greencity.coop
All other goods come from small local or Scottish companies such as milk from the wee isle dairy www.gigha.org.uk
Fresh locally grown vegetables and fruit from our community garden and www.eastcoastorganics.co.uk , even paper bags are made nearby.

There is a community garden run by another similar group. www.garden.pnicuikcdt.co.uk
and a lunch is cooked and served free once a week using surplus food donated from the garden and from supermarkets.
It's early days, we've been open just over a year and are still entirely dependent on volunteers, but it's proving very popular. www.penicuikstorehouse.org
So pm me if you want to try similar in your area or volunteer with us!

Yep, I'm old enough to remember By-prox. Granny was seldom without it as I recollect.

Talking of fresh bread from the bakers. We used to buy fresh yeast there to bake bread. The dried stuff I use now doesn't smell so good.

crazyH, as has been said earlier, Lush do bar shampoo.

We use bar soap which stays dry as we have metal soap dishes which are made with big enough holes to drain the soap efficiently so that it doesn't stay damp and soggy.