Over Lent, one of my promises was to avoid items either made of or packaged in plastic. It proved more difficult than I thought. I changed my pasta (to Barilla in a box), bought all naked fruit and veg -- avoiding the nets of easy to peel oranges. I also discovered that my local green grocer sells unpackaged grapes from time to time. They also carry frozen peas in a box. HOWEVER, trying to buy refillable washing-up liquid, or fabric softener is impossible. I had to go with Ecover, hoping that the bottle will be easily recycled.SHAMPOO IN A BAR

My next conundrum was how I could wash my hair without shampoo in a bottle. I discovered a Lush shop on Henry Street in Dublin, which sells all sorts of fragrant things including facial scrubs without plastic microbeads for my son and shampoo and conditioner bars. It has taken me a while to get used to the new washing regime…wet my hair, then the bar and wash around three times to get it extra clean. My hair looks great and smells nice as well. I have had the shampoo bar for around 6 weeks and with washing my hair every other day I should have another 6 weeks left…not bad value.Another obstacle has been rice, rice noodles, biscuits, frozen veg and pre-wrapped meats, and all dental products. When I remember, I have tried to bring old ice cream plastic containers to my fish monger and butcher to avoid plastic bags. It’s just being prepared that challenges me. As for biscuits, I have discovered that McVities biscuits have an arrangement with Terracycle Ireland, which takes back their biscuit wrappers for recycling. I don’t think they will take back any other brand at the moment in Ireland. They take back many more products in the US, but are still limited here.

Toothbrushes are a definite challenge, but there is a company in the US, Preserve Products, that makes toothbrushes out of recycled material AND will take back old toothbrushes to recycle. They have a ‘toothbrush subscription’! What a great idea!Of course, my family and I try to limit our single use purchases (bottled water, to go coffees and other items encased in plastic) as much as possible. Additionally, when I do have to buy something in a plastic wrapper, I look at the packaging to see if the plastic is recyclable. It took me a while to go through the different brands of rice, but I finally found one with recyclable plastic.How did my 40 days of Lent go?I did reduce the amount of plastic in our household and for the most part the plastic I couldn’t avoid was recyclable. What are the take-aways from this experiment?

1. Sometimes I had to go to several shops to get plastic-free items…this adds a bit to my carbon footprint as well as being more time consuming, but I did reduce the amount of plastic in my house.
2. If you buy from your local producer (fish monger, butcher, baker) you are more easily able to purchase items with your own containers or without packaging. As an added bonus, you usually buy more local produce and support local businesses.
3. Washing my hair with a shampoo bar is really easy and leaves my hair smelling lovely.
4. You can find facial scrubs without plastic microbeads from Lush, Aloe Vera Living Forever or local farmer’s markets.
5. You need to ask your local shop or supermarket to supply more goods that are not wrapped in plastic. I asked my local shop to sell chilli peppers individually rather than grouping three of them together in a plastic bag. They complied and now I don’t have to buy three peppers, including the green one which I don’t like to use!

It is now Earth Day and what I began as a Lenten promise can now continue as I try to reduce the amount of waste I generate on this beautiful planet.Happy Earth Day!!!