Electra Updates

Plastic Free July – UK Team Event

Last month staff at Electra joined millions of others around the world in Plastic Free July: 

‘a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.’ Learning Consultant, Lorraine Warren shares her perspective of how the team handled the challenge. 

Now that we are into August, we wanted to share our successes and challenges with you and some great ideas for a plastic free future. 

Successes

Avoiding Bottled Drinks and Disposable Cups seemed to be easy choices to make, with 88% managing to achieve both commitments. 

Notable Comments: It was also noticed that there is a shift in other countries for lots of refillable options. Planning ahead of time was also a great way to avoid using plastic drink bottles. I found that by switching some of the products I buy from fresh to frozen there were more plastic free options. Things like pizza, Quorn, etc were available in cardboard packaging when bought frozen. With things like pasta, it was impossible to find a plastic free option within a supermarket. 

Reusing Single Use Carrier Bags was another easy choice with 100% managing to achieve this. 

Challenges Faced

Plastic Free Packaging and Pre-Packed Produce: 

Pre-Packed Produce: This was the hardest part of the challenge for me! It really raised my awareness of how much plastic wrapped produce I buy in my weekly shop. I made an effort to buy more loose fruit and veg but the options at my local supermarket were very limited… I may consider subscribing to a fruit/veg delivery service from a local farm in future as I did not feel it was possible using my current options! 

Notable Comments: 

Ourawarenessof how much single use plastics are still readily available is surprising, with limited choices when it comes to pre-packed produce and plastic free packaging. Being more aware will help us continue to make ‘plastic free’ choices in the future.  

It would be great to see a shift from the supermarkets. However, it’s great that most of it can be recycled. Most participants have stopped buying anything that can’t. 

Plastic Free Future

What else can we do? 

  1. Subscribe to plastic free consumables delivered monthly – check out https://smolproducts.com/ a B-Corp certified company. 
  1. Re-ignite the child in you and ‘get busy with the fizzy’ with a Soda Stream 
  1. Re-use bin liners that can be wiped down or popped in washing machine after use – https://thegreenturtle.co.uk/products/reusable-bin-liner