Plastic Free East Dulwich

[plasticfreeED]

Part of a national plastic free initiative being run by the marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage. The goal is to achieve 'plastic free' status for our community through meeting certain objectives.

This campaign is about raising awareness and taking positive steps within the community to change behaviour through engaging with local council, local businesses, local schools and community groups and individuals.

If you're interested in this issue and would like to help please let me know and if you have instagram please follow us at www.instagram.com/plasticfreeeastdulwich for news, tips and events.

We're just getting started but any support is much appreciated. Watch this space.

[James Barber]

Great idea and campaign.

First event is planned for Saturday 19 May.

What I hadn't appreciated is even cigarettes have micro plastic in them. So when discarded in the gutter get washed into the drains, decompose and micro plastic bits end up in the sea eventually. Who knew!

The Surgers Against Sewage recommended personal actions to curb plastics are -

- Remember your refillable water bottle

- Take a reusable coffee cup and refuse single-use take away cups

- Refuse single-use packaging

- Resist a straw; straws suck

- Refuse a single-use plastic bag and take your own

- Take your own cutlery or use sustainable alternatives

- Avoid single-use plastics in the bathroom

- Refuse single-use condiment sachets

- Do your own #MiniBeachClean. Grab a handful of plastic pollution every time you visit your beach

- Fund the Resistance- Donate to SAS today and help fund the resistance. Just ?5 helps support the movement towards Plastic Free Coastlines

[plasticfreeED]

Thanks James. Great to have support from local councillors for this initiative.

It?s an issue that affects us all so having cross party support is key.

More details to follow soon on how people can get involved and the event on May 19th.

[cazfay]

Excellent to see. I?m now following on Instagram.

I?ve just written my top 10 list for reducing my family?s plastic waste and general household rubbish. By end of 2018 I want to create no waste in the following areas:

Hand soap

Washing liquid

Cleaning spray

Cling film

Sandwich bags

Milk bottles

Cheese

Coffee cups

Fruit

Veg

Tea bags

Well it?s at 11 now... but tea bags is an easier one to achieve!

[Coach Beth]

Great campaign and I resolved in January to reduce our plastic use. I've just switched to glass bottles for milk by having delivery from Milk & More. It is an extra cost but it is much more convenient to have doorstep milk delivery and no more plastic milk bottles! Bought a Keep Cup for buying coffee when I'm out and about and a water bottle for myself and my son from Karavan Eco Shop on Lordship Lane - which is great because we've gone from buying at least 3 plastic single use bottles a week to none.

[heartblock]

We are using Milk&more too. The organic milk is yummy and it is great to recycle the bottles. We are also trying to cut down on plastic. M&S seem to wrap everything in plastic and Sainsbury?s could also do better. I would be interested in any outlet for buying dried pulses, nuts etc without packaging.

[Elphinstone's Army]

heartblock Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We are using Milk&more too. The organic milk is

> yummy and it is great to recycle the bottles. We

> are also trying to cut down on plastic. M&S seem

> to wrap everything in plastic and Sainsbury?s

> could also do better. I would be interested in any

> outlet for buying dried pulses, nuts etc without

> packaging.

hb there is a lovely stall on the Saturday market at Crystal Palace in Haynes Lane which sells everything loose, and for those of you who have not yet discovered it, a feast for the senses.

Marks and Spencer would be a good place to start. Three lots of packaging for four pears for example.

In the olden days my Mum used to have a sturdy shopping bag : fruit and veg were weighed in brown paper bags, tossed and twizzled, smoothed out and reused, greaseproof paper for cheese, waxed paper for bacon, paper cones for dried fruit, far more aesthetically pleasing, fish and chips in a paper pouchette, newspaper, hugged close to the body on the way home. Milk in glass bottles, 'pop' in returnable bottles, leaf tea, then emptied onto the roses.

Bring bag string bags, willow baskets, old fashioned baskets with raffia red flowers adorning, oilcloth bags, hessian, linen and cardboard boxes, to pack Shreddies, box Energen rolls, Huntley and Palmers Breakfast Biscuits, quarter of Ty Phoo tea, silver bag of Blue Mountain ground coffee, blue paper bag of demerara sugar,box Whitworth currants, roll of Chocolate Olivers, 3lb Homepride SR Flour, pkt Smash and a Vesta Beef Curry.

[amylamontfitness]

Google the Naked Larder in Herne Hill. They are all about package free shopping.

[plasticfreeED]

Great to see people getting engaged in the topic and already doing their bit.

Another packaging free shop launched recently in Chiswick: www.thesourcebulkfoods.co.uk

Not as convenient as Herne Hill from a location perspective but open every day and from the looks more like a supermarket that you can just drop into where as from what I can see Naked Larder (https://www.nakedlarder.co.uk/) in Herne Hill is more of a wholesaler and you have to pre-order and specify a time to collect.

I was planning on giving both a go and reporting back but if anyone has first hand experience of either would love to hear.

If anyone has experience of the Herne Hill

[monica]

Great Idea, there are stores on Lordship Lane who have refilling stations for Washing up liquid, Fabric Conditioner and washing liquid, for clothes. The brands available for Refill are Bio D and Ecoleaf. Participating shops are Eco shop Caravan, SMBS and Healthmatters Healthstore.

All bottles are welcome.

In 2008 I was part of a Community group called SNUB, with Cleaner, Greener Safer funding from Southwark council, we made and distributed 14000 Hessian and cloth bags in the East Dulwich area. I still see those bags being used, which makes us very happy.

We also received Lottery funding to build edible gardens in 5 local schools, with the help and sponsorship of local builders Mc Govern Design and Build, we are happy to see the schools are using the gardens, and have extended them.

I look forward to ED becoming plastic free, It would be great if the local coffee shops gave their customers an incentive to bring their own keep cups.

Good Luck

[cazfay]

Monica that?s great to know.. I?m goinf to start refilling! Thanks!

[mariagatty]

What a fantastic idea!

[plasticfreeED]

PLEASE NOTE, NEW DATE!!!!

Plans have shifted so we don't clash with a certain wedding so our community street clean is happening this coming Saturday, the 12th May. We'll be meeting at Rye Books at 10.30am where they have kindly offered all participants 10% off books.

After a quick briefing we'll head out in groups to clean different areas before meeting back at Rye Books at 1.30pm.

Please PM me if you'll be coming so we have an idea of numbers and let me know if you have any questions.