The plastic odyssey

We use a lot of plastic every day

By Christine Jeavans BBC News

Earlier this year I spent the month of August living without plastic.

The aim was to try to avoid buying anything new made from plastic or wrapped in plastic, including food, bin bags, disposable nappies for my toddler son, takeaway coffee (the lids are plastic and so is the lining of those "waxed" cups), bottles of shampoo... every part of life, it seemed, involved plastic.

AN AUGUST CHALLENGE Christine's challenge was to live a month without buying or accepting plastic She detailed the highs and lows in her blog... ...and received 1,800 comments Not My Bag - Christine's blog of her plastic-free month A month without plastic 'Why I set myself this challenge'

Even getting a new toothbrush was off-limits until I found a wood and pig bristle one for sale.

I was able to keep and use the plastic I already owned but if anything ran out I would have to buy a plastic-free replacement.

My husband complained about the smelly kitchen bin and our diet was governed by what food was packaged in rather than what we wanted to eat.

It certainly wasn't a case of "biodegradable good, plastic bad".

Loose fruit in supermarkets can involve more waste and packaging in the supply chain than the wrapped version; paper and glass take more energy to transport than lightweight plastic; and biodegradable material in landfill can break down to create the powerful greenhouse gas methane.

And yet the idea that every disposable nappy ever made is still sitting in the ground is distasteful as is the evidence of plastic pollution everywhere in the environment from the duck pond in our local park to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

However, such was the difficulty of trying to live without plastic that when 1 September rolled around I ran back to most of my old ways albeit with a pledge to try to keep up some of the non-plastic habits.

So, four months on, has anything changed?

Yes and no. Firstly we have moved to a new area in which (coincidentally) the local council collects almost all forms of plastic for recycling.

This is just as well, seeing as I was in no way brave enough to contemplate a house move without a mile of bubble-wrap.

Actually none of that has got as far as the recycling bin yet because it has found other uses including a fantastic toy for an almost-two-year-old and protection for some delicate plants in the garden to stop them getting frost-bite.

But this development in our home circumstances cannot mask the fact that I have backslid on virtually every one of the new habits I said I would continue:

I cancelled the milk delivery when we moved and have yet to start it up again. The significant price difference with the supermarket doesn't help on this one.

I have had un-bagged bread from the bakers a couple of times but more often it's from the supermarket.

As for "definitely continuing" to bring my reusable water bottle, mug and cutlery to work to cut down on the rubbish I generate at my desk