I want to go Plastic free in my home. can anyone offer me suggestions on brands to use?

Question

What can I do about toothpaste, yogurt,dishwashing liquid etc. so many things only come in plastic wrappings.

Answer 1

I think it would be really hard to, many companies have been using plastic containers instead of glass for safety reasons. I use baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) for brushing my teeth and washing my hair. It works well, I guess you could use it as soap, too. Lots in our house is made with plastic--hairdryer, pipes in the house, the turntables in our cabinets, the computer, calculator, most pens, lots of containers in the fridge or freezer, most spice bottles, most produce wrappers, radio, clock, outlets, light switches, shades, blinds, so much more, too. I would like to cut down on plastic items in the home, too, but, I think it will take a lot of effort. My closet has plastic in it besides the hangers. Even some of my clothing and my back pack do. It will take an incredible amount of planning just to reduce.

Answer 2

Have fun, but I hope you don't really think you are accomplishing anything.  Also, to be truely plastic free you are going to have to go a lot deaper than just buying all of your food in cardboard containers.  Just some examples:

Do you have running water?  If so you are going to have to take all of your faucets apart and replace the plastic seals with something else (maybe natural rubber).  Have fun.

Fush toilets?  I'll wager that the flush valves are almost entirely plastic, you can probably find some brass ones, but they will still have plastic seals.

Look at your cabinet doors and drawers, they probably have nylon rollers, and hinge bearings.

Electric lights?  How many plastic parts can you find?

Is your bathtube made of fiberglass? that's a plastic.  

How about those wall switches and electrical outlets?

Check out your drain pipes, unless you are in a very old house, they are probably plastic too.  Oh, and don't forget all the insulation on the wires in your walls.

Your television is probably in a plastic case.  Ditto for your stereo, radio, cable box, and your iPod.

Better toss out the cell phone, and while your at it your regular phone too, all plastic.

And if you take all of the plastic out of your car, will probably not work very well either.

Keep looking, this is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

Like I said before, have fun, get back to us later and let us know how well you like living in a wooden shack with dirt floors and no plumbing.  Or you could rethink this whole "plastic is bad" thing.

Answer 3

Wow!  You need to go back in time, say about 100 years.  It's been a long time since seeing toothpaste in anything other than a plastic tube.  Maybe there's toothpowder that you can still buy in metal cans.  Otherwise, you'll have to use salt for brushing your teeth.  At least salt is still in cardboard containers.  Yogurt is in plastic, too, but you can make your own yogurt -- that's what I do.  You can also make your own soap -- I don't do that; my grandmother used to do it, though.  My dishwasher detergent comes in a cardboard box.  Lots of foods you can buy in bulk from bins, but the stores supply plastic bags to bring them home in.  You can supply your own containers.

Answer 4

Now a day Bio- degradable plastics are avalable in market ,which are used for packing etc.You can use / re use such  types of bio degradabie plastics .

Answer 5

Forget the brands go back to the old fashioned ways of doing things. Bicarbonate of soda comes in boxes it makes a good toothpaste, makes a great cleaner, can use it as a dry deodorant, use it in the fridge (small open dish prevents smells), use it in laundry see below.  Use bicarbonate of soda to wash pots.

Use essential oils to fragrance yourself and your home. Pop a bit of rag in your bagless hoover with essential oil (lemon is nice) on.  Use vinegar and salt, diluted in hot water to get rid of stains on carpets and furniture.  Disinfect bathrooms with neat vinegar such as the toilet, pour some onto a cloth and wipe over and around toilet. Use olive oil on wood instead of furniture polish, you can always add a drop or two of essential oil for fragrance.

Laundry basket: with children and smelly socks I sprinkle baking soda into the dirty clothes as they await washing to deodorize.

Pre-treating stubborn stains: I use quarter cup of water with 6 tablespoons of baking soda. Mix into a paste, spread over the stain, tie into a plastic bag and leave at least over night.

Difficult Stains:

Blood: on natural fibers soak in bowl with cup of salt overnight. You are meant to then boil the fabric in a large pan, after soaking but I usually find that it comes out by washing as above.

Fresh blood cover in salt and blot with cold water. Keep adding fresh water until stain has gone.

Grease cover in salt leave overnight brush away. Repeat if necessary.

Ink: cover in salt then soak fabric in milk overnight. Wash as usual.

Wine: Sprinkle stained area with salt immediately with salt. Soak in  enough water to wet the salt. Leave overnight.

Mildew make a paste of lemon juice, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Lay in the sun to bleach item then, when dry wash as usual.

Coffee/Tea that has dried, soak in water with cup of vinegar hang out in sun to dry then wash as normal.

Grass/ink/juice soak stained area in neat vinegar. Line dry then wash as normal.

I tend not to buy too much white stuff because it is easier than trying to keep it clean all the time.

Alternative to chemical bleach make a paste of lemon juice, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Lay in the sun to bleach item then, when dry wash as usual.

My daughter wears white jeans, which are a nightmare because they get covered in absolutely everything going from juice to grass stains so I use the above for them.

http://www.ecoballsdirect.co.uk/

I use eco balls have a look at link above,  in the wash. These are expensive and friends and family use dog balls instead and have the same great results. So buy three rubber dog balls about the size of an apple. Or the ones with the holes in like in the picture above. Alongside this I put in about 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of salt in the wash drawer and 1/2 of vinegar in the conditioner drawer.

The dog balls will work fine on their own, without anything, however, with smelly teenagers and a husband who works outside, I think I get a better result with the baking soda and salt. The baking soda deodorizes the clothes. The salt  helps to get rid of perspiration stains, helps prevent colour bleeding,  and as we live on a farm, it kills any nasties including chicken flea eggs.

The vinegar helps soften the clothes particularly towels and blankets and gets rid of the treatments on new clothes that can irritate skin. It prevents static cling too.

For delicates wash by hand and use vinegar in the rinse water to remove soap residues.

Freshening dry cleanables: Test for colourfastness then you can clean with a solution of 4 tablespoons of baking soda in cold water.

Ironing, clean rough spots off your iron by setting it on low then ironing a piece of paper with a layer of salt on it.

I use salt, vinegar and baking soda and a few essential oils for all household cleaning. I also use them and a few other things for most personal care toiletries too.

Buy only the cheapest malt vinegar - which is acetic acid - you don't need to buy white wine vinegar, cheapest cooking salt and cheapest bicarbonate of soda. In UK the value range has much less packaging and is much cheaper than any other products. So a bottle of malt vinegar is about 14p, a kg bag of cooking salt is 63p and tub of bicarbonate of soda is 37p a box around 99p. I use pure natural essential oils in cleaning and for personal care. These last ages and are around £2.50 a bottle.

Cleaning: Start off by making a household cleaning spray for general use in an old spray bottle. In a bowl put quarter cup of salt, half a bottle of vinegar pour on boiling water. Decant into spray. Use as general purpose from kitchen to bathroom.

Make a paste of bicarbonate of soda and water, use this pans with dried on food, on rubber, on plastics on wood, on countertops  (add salt if you need to scour) on stainless steel, ovens etc.

Half a cup of baking soda and half a cup of salt to clean/mop floors.

Half a cup of baking soda and salt to deodorize carpets and sterilize (kills chicken, dog flea etc eggs) sprinkle on carpet then hoover up in the morning.

To keep drains, sinks clear dilute cup of baking soda in enough boiling water to make a solution, pour down drain. then follow with a cup of neat vinegar. When foam subsides rinse with warm water.

Plastic Bins: Pour boiling water in them, just enough to swish out. Wipe around inside with a cloth soaked in vinegar, allow to dry, then sprinkle with baking soda to stop smells.

Toilets wipe over with vinegar soaked cloth. Use salt and bicarbonate of soda paste and leave on any stains, scrub and rinse. Then sprinkle loo with bicarbonate of soda to prevent smells.