An opportunity to cut back on plastic

Sorry, just saw that HannahLoisLuke had already posted this!

Those new veg bags from Sainsburys are also great for washing delicate items in the laundry I find.

Monica you'd need to check the labels yourself to find out that. Many of the shampoo bars are made by small companies so Google 'shampoo bar' or 'solid shampoo', then go to their websites and read up.

Plastic can already be made from plants and then be composted.

See: youtu.be/mETzoNau5A8 (Miscanthus degradable packaging)

or youtu.be/Dg44IQl2nyw (Miscanthus grown in Britain)

and youtu.be/zlFXd9mGrOs (Carlsberg paper beer bottles)

The "compostable" sleeves used for posting various magazines won't break down in a normal household compost bin because the temperature is too low. A commercial composting heap heats up tremendously and disposes of them, but the sleeves will still be in their original form when you tip out your garden compost for use.

@olliebeak, I remember doing this. We all used to take our newspapers to the greengrocers and the assistant would line our basket before the potatoes went in.

Asda has reusable bags for £1 but all the fruit and veg items are still wrapped in plastic and you can’t remove the plastic as it has the barcode on it so pointless really

Many years ago - back in the 1950's - I used to go shopping with my grandmother. She always used a proper shopping bag for her veg. Potatoes were always bought first - and went straight into the bottom of the bag - onions followed, then carrots and topped off with whatever 'leafy veg' she was buying that particular week (cauli/cabbage) and things like peas in their shells. When she bought fruit, those would go into paper bags. It was as simple as that - heaviest/bulkiest items at the bottom with the most delicate stuff on the top!

Are the solid bar shampoos/conditioners organic and free of parabens, I have a number of skin allergies and sensitivities so steer clear of all high street brands.

Shysal, Waitrose, Sainsbury's and Boots all sell solid shampoos. Our local chemist stocks them, as well.

Calistemon, I'm now using the "bar" shampoo" (and "bar" conditioner) from "Friendly" soaps. (Buy online.) I'm also using their ordinary bar soap and have bought their products as gifts for other people as well. The bars are reasonably priced (notably cheaper than Lush's soap - and less highly-fragranced) and each is packed in a small cardboard carton (recyclable). You can buy a handy tin, which just takes a bar, for storage/travel. Recommended!

When I shop, I don’t use plastic bags unless absolutely necessary. Onions, carrots, bananas, etc all go into my trolley loose. I like shopping in Aldi, but have a real problem with the way practically all their fruit and veg is plastic wrapped.

Just wondering if anyone has used the ubiquitous nets that fruit and vegetables are packed in to make something? I suppose I could sew some together to make a bag similar to the reusable Sainsbury ones. I've never thrown them away as I have vivid pictures of birds/animals/fish getting caught in them.

Actually, I am not certain the recycling plastic is the answer, as the process uses quite a lot of natural resources, which makes it very difficult to know what is best.

Certainly, vegetables shouldn't be sold in plastic bags, which are neither good for the contents nor the environment.

Thanks again. I also have ordered some eco bags from Amazon. I won't tell my daughter where I bought them as she wouldn't approve!

I have loads of old net curtains that I could make into these bags. Not sure if the shops would accept them, though.

Biodegradable bags are not allowed in the food waste here, as they don't biodegrade properly. Or something. We are exempt because we opted for the self-composting option. We now have four composters in the garden - huge black boxes.

Everybody has already made the points I was going to mention, but here's another use for those reusable mesh bags, as wash bags for containing small delicate items in the washing machine. Two jobs in one. Delicates washed, bag washed.
I don't use mine for fruit and veg, they go steaight into the trolley and then into my shopping bag, but I am only shopping for one. They're great for bread rolls though.
Charity shop net curtains make lots of bags as already mentioned.

Callistemon, I haven't seen shampoo bars in the shops, but read on GN that the Lush ones are good. I buy mine on Ebay and can recommend these pictured, which can come in a cardboard box, or a tin for travelling. They have a lovely creamy lather and I find that they last much longer than a bottle of shampoo.

I was in Waitrose yesterday and complained to DH that I couldn't find any reusable veg bags to buy, then I noticed that all their small veg bags are the compostible type and suitable for re-using in a food waste bin.
Well done, Waitrose.

I still haven't found bar shampoo.

A great idea. At our French supermarket, I don't mind using the compostable bags for veg, as I tie them loosely so I can re-use them for the cat food bin. Nothing here goes to landfill, so it's OK.

Been re-assessing every day processes for house this year. Gone back to powder for washing machine- from cardboard box. Lucky too that we can buy concentrated refill pouches for conditioner and bleach- so have had the same bottle for conditioner for years.

Refills too for shower and hand soap- so refill same containers again and again. And switched to hard soap shampoo, sold in paperwrap. Still use conditioner in plastic tube as not found a good alternative yet- but I use little. And again, it does not go to landfill. 'hard' shampoo alone would save millions and millions of bottles and lids.

It would be good if supermarkets started selling potatoes and carrots in this type of bag. They would last longer then.

Thank you Monica. I will get some for both me and my daughter. She is fervently against the use of plastic in anything, including toothbrushes etc. I have bought her some cotton handkerchiefs for Christmas which I am going to wrap up in toilet paper (as a joke). She is in this Circular economy thingy (it's new but it is basically what we were doing 60 years ago).

I have never used the plastic bags for veg. I am the person who's veg runs all over the place at the till. I do have a load of net bags now that I bought on Amazon. Problem is I can't remember where I put them....sighs

Actually if you are buying a lot of them and can sew then use an old net curtain (charity shops) - some to keep and some to give away at xmas.

And if you buy unwrapped bread then take a pillowcase to pop that into.

Things are improving gradually. I picked up couple of brochures in Asda yesterday and they were sealed in a compostable bag. Last year I emailed them complaining that their magazine and advertising brochure were unneccarily sealed together in a plastic bag. When you think of the amount of plastic bags over all the Asdas that one change has saved you realise that one small change can have quite a big impact.