Plastic Free July — that's a wrap

Published for Kankan on 7 August 2020

When the plastic revolution began in 1907, synthetic plastics quickly found their way into almost every cupboard and shelf. It was donned the material of a thousand uses: from shopping bags to food packaging to coffee cups and cleaning products. Years passed and we began ordering our coffees takeaway and settled deeper into the convenience plastic provides.

This July, 326 million people around the world gave up single-use plastics as part of Plastic Free July. The initiative, now in its ninth year, has encouraged people to question their shopping habits—do those bananas really need to be covered in cling wrap?—and find a new, healthier way of consuming. Often, we can discover alternatives better than the plastic version on which we’ve become so reliant.

Kankan’s co-founder Eliza took on the challenge this year. We had a chat to sum up her plastic free month.

Why did you decide to do Plastic Free July?

As a business built on plastic-free solutions, we knew all too well the challenges of going plastic free in the bathroom, but I was keen to see how well I fared in other areas of the house. Plus, it's good to re-evaluate things again which is made even more pressing by being in a new city, especially with the COVID overhangs.

What worries did you have before starting?

It is such a BIG TASK.

I knew there would be some big challenges and unless you have lots of time on your hands it can become quite tricky. You lose much of the convenience of modern life as soon as you refuse plastic. And then you add a pandemic to it all… it gets tricky.

Were there any items in particular that were difficult to source?

Dishwashing liquid, tofu, ice cream and yoghurt — the list goes on and on. The kitchen was the part of the house most difficult to buy plastic free, especially fresh foods.

Wow, that’s frustrating not being able to buy such common products.

I think it’s really easy to assume defeat with this, but that’s the point of this exercise. There are options and they need our support. The biggest issue I think is finding something that doesn’t feel like an inconvenience. Plastic has meant easier supply chains and lower risk for movement of goods and ultimately convenience for the retailers but at what cost?

Where did you do most of your shopping: large supermarkets or smaller shops?

When we lived in London, we had almost everything delivered to the door. You had the milkman and a good veggie box delivery but here in Melbourne, maybe because I’m not clued in, people tend to go to the shops more.

We have a zero-waste shop, a fishmonger and a green-grocer around the corner which is great. I’m convinced there are more options out there that I’ve yet to discover too, like a new online start up—an actual milkman service that I have just discovered on Instagram which is totally refill and reuse which I signed up for immediately. This starts this week.

Why are smaller grocers, independent butchers and vegetable shops more sustainable than chain supermarkets?

I think businesses with big supply chains are built around efficiency; a low waste life isn't going to be a big decision maker for them. We’re seeing some great innovation online with businesses building sustainability into their DNA, but the old dinosaurs will be the last to innovate. Smaller shops are great to support anyway—plastic free or otherwise—and they're close to their customers so they’re keen to listen and help where they can.

Do you think we’re going to see people return to older services like the milkman?

There are some really quick wins that could really help people convert. Services like this Milkman that gives the convenience back to the consumer are brilliant. I think it’s the only way. You won’t convert the many with systems that take more time or more money.

What practices will you keep in your routine now that we’ve moved into August?

I really like the shampoo bars which I’m really surprised about as we struggled with these the last time that we gave them a go. My safety razor is a far better shave and is plastic free—a great example of how plastic free is a superior experience. But the main takeaway is how we love the local shops, and just getting organised makes a big difference.

What was the easiest part of your experience?

Going plastic-free wasn't easy, but the easiest was where I had done my research. Like If you want to do something that isn't the norm you have to give it a bit more thought. And hopefully, with time, these changes will become habits.