Sustainability

Plastic Not Fantastic: How I Tried To Curb My Consumption

Image may contain Cutlery Spoon and Wooden Spoon
Steve McPherson / Getty Images
Steve McPherson / Getty Images

My personal plastic shock came at Christmas walking along the wild and deserted shore of Rutland Bay on Mustique, where plastic junk lay strewn amongst the rocks, carried on currents across the tropical Atlantic. Deciding to take action, "Say no to plastic" became both my Instagram tag and New Year’s resolution because, apart from the threat to the entire ecosystem from truckloads of plastic entering our oceans every minute, that’s where pearls come from. Did you know that oysters gasp for breath in polluted waters or that corals are like you and me? They become wounded and then infected which spreads across the entire colony, so living organisms are suffering the double whammy of warming oceans combined with disease from plastic. How have I fared with my plastic challenge since then? With difficulty is the honest answer. You need to be constantly vigilant because there are plastic pushers out there.

A newspaper I bought at Heathrow to read on a Geneva flight came with a free plastic bottle of water. I was thirsty; reluctantly I must confess only 14 days after my pledge, I caved. What the hell are newspapers doing declaring war on plastic across front pages, whilst dolling it out with the other? Forgoing water at the cinema the next day, I queued for a tea. Damn, I’d broken it again. It slipped my mind that I can only drink loose tea until the Co-op, with Typhoo, introduce their 99 Tea Blend bags later in the year free from polypropylene making them fully biodegradable.

Read more: Why Microfibres Are The New Microbeads

Shooting a pearl story spurred me on to invest in a water bottle – and download the refill.org.uk app, listing free water bottle filling stations around the country (Costa coffee shops will be joining from March). And the next day I proudly pocketed a 50 pence discount for taking my own Thermocafe cup into Pret a Manger for a turmeric latte. Fashion editor Ellie Pithers has solved our plastic cutlery consumption at Vogue by providing steel spoons, knives and forks to share in our galley kitchen.

You see recycling products isn’t enough - according to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall only nine per cent of plastic is recycled, and a massive 72 per cent ends up in landfill or the sea. Or underneath the Eurostar, I realise when taking a picture of the mounds of plastic rubbish on the track as I board the train at the Gare du Nord, returning from Couture Week. Cutting consumption means that anything reusable beats a one-time use product. On that basis I’ve dropped cotton pads, organic or not, from my weekly shop replacing them with biodegradable facial sponges. My new friends, on the Marine Society Conservation plastic challenge website, share the information that Lush makes a great shampoo bar.

Read more: Five Simple Ways To Use Less Plastic

A week later there’s a picture on the front of the newspaper of The Queen doing a walk-about in the rain near Sandringham carrying a plastic umbrella. Only she, and possibly the Pope, who need to be visible in large crowds should be allowed to carry one of these.

I’m searching to buy bottled products only although Lionel Shriver writes that melting down glass uses too much energy. Her practical suggestion is to standardise containers for food and drink, clean them out, sterilise and re-fill. That would be real recycling, she promises. But that nirvana is some way off, I think catching sight of the contents label on the cupboard above my desk: "Pens, pencils, plastic zip folders". How do I feel at the end of the month? At times overwhelmed by the impossibility of the challenge but keeping the mantra - pearls before plastic swine - in mind, I’m continuing with small steps in the right direction.

Seven tips to reduce your plastic consumption
  1. Carry a reusable water bottle/coffee cup
  2. Drink tap water
  3. Carry a canvas bag for shopping
  4. Use paper folders
  5. No plastic cutlery or straws
  6. Stop chewing gum (it contains plastic)
  7. Pick up litter especially near beaches, waterways and shorelines