Plastic Free July is a great time to make some simple swaps in your home and we’ve got 5 great tips to get you started…

1.Invest in containers for your pantry

The easiest place to start is your pantry and you don’t have to do it all at once. Pick a few of your pantry staples, things you use all the time like oats, cereal, sugar, flours, etc. Then either hunt out some second hand gems or head to the shops to grab a pack of new containers. Bring them into The Pantry, fill them up and you’ll be good to go.

2. grab some reusable produce bags

The next phase of the single-use plastic ban will come into effect on 1 July 2023, with plastic produce bags amongst the newly banned items. So what are you going to put your apples and capsicum in at the supermarket next week? There are heaps of reusable produce bags from organic cotton to nylon like New Zealand made MUBs.

3. MAKE DIY CLEANING PRODUCTS

Stop buying cleaning products in plastic bottles. Invest in some reusable plastic bottles with spray attachment and shop at The Pantry for ingredients to make your own cleaners. For a basic multi-purpose spray mix 1 Litre of water and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, shake well then add 2 Tablespoons of liquid soap and shake again. Find more diy cleaning recipes here.

4. Keep cups for your daily brew

Keep Cups have been around for years now and are a great way to be plastic free every day of the year. There’s many cafes around Invercargill that happily accept reusable coffee cups and The Pantry Cafe is one of them.

5. Shop local

When you shop local you have more opportunities to use reusable containers. Ask your local butcher if you can bring your own containers so you can avoid the meat trays from the big supermarkets. Or take your reusable cotton bag to your local bakery for your daily bread. And of course shop for all of your essentials at The Pantry, you can bring your own container or borrow one of the few we keep on hand.