Message in a bottle

Our Plas­tic Chal­lenge is over. For sev­en weeks we have forced our­selves to find alter­na­tives for plas­tic pack­ag­ing. Now that we are used to these changes, we keep avoid­ing plas­tic as much as pos­si­ble. But indi­vid­ual choic­es are not enough — we need major social changes. Every­thing flows to the sea If I have learned anything …

Don’t push it

I cycle through Aberdeen, a bag of gro­ceries swing­ing from my steer­ing wheel. I have been to the Lidl where you can buy, for exam­ple, cau­li­flower and zuc­chi­ni with­out pack­ag­ing. Shop­ping veg­an and plas­tic-free by bike, it doesn’t get much more envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly. But the warm, fuzzy feel­ing stays away. Instead, I feel anger bub­bling up. …

Doughnut, anyone?

A full moon ris­es over a snowy Aberdeen. The mer­ci­ful, white blan­ket cov­ers not only streets and gar­dens, but also the lit­ter at the side of the road. Last week I found a lot of plas­tic while run­ning (it turns out this new sport is called plog­ging), but I can’t moti­vate myself to go out …

Wanted: Dump site

After a week, we are slow­ly get­ting used to plas­tic-free shop­ping. It does take more effort, but so far we haven’t run into any prob­lems. The chal­lenge also gave us the push we need­ed to get a veg­etable box deliv­ered from a local organ­ic farm. They work with plas­tic, but give the option to order …

Food without plastic

Fred­dy has joined a group of col­leagues who will try not to use sin­­gle-use plas­tic dur­ing Lent. This Plas­tic Chal­lenge start­ed on Wednes­day. So, in the com­ing weeks we will not buy any­thing that is pack­aged in plas­tic. Because plas­tic is main­ly a prob­lem when it ends up on the street, I also intend to …