Simple Swaps to Beat the Plastic

Local resident Marie Austen has created recipes for homemade eco products without using plastic.

Marie Austen is on a mission. ‘I am running a war against single-use plastic,’ says Marie. ‘I want to demonstrate that you can make lots of products yourself or do simple swaps to limit the use of plastic.’

At an event at High Street Baptist Church during Tring’s Great Big Green Week in the summer, she presented her range of eco recipes for products such as laundry detergent, a multi-purpose cleaning spray and face masks.

As a farmer’s daughter growing up in rural France, she was always outdoors. ‘When I moved to Dijon and then Paris, I needed a green fix to survive at least once a month,’ she says. ‘Now I am very fortunate to live in Tring where the countryside is on my doorstep, with beautiful reservoirs and the Chiltern Hills.

‘I’m always shocked and disappointed to see that some people think it’s okay to leave litter in these places. Plastic is terrible, because it just doesn’t go away.’

Marie met her English husband in Paris, moving to Tring from Newbury for his work in Hemel Hempstead. Her interest in protecting the environment has blossomed during her time in Hertfordshire.

‘It all started with my questioning what was happening to all the plastic after I was putting it in my recycling bin that was filled up to the brim, ready to be collected,‘ Marie explains.

During her talk, Marie quoted a report by the Environmental Audit Committee to the House of Commons in 2018/2019. Turning back the Plastic Tide, which stated that only 75% of plastic is recycled out of the 13 billion plastic bottles collected every year. The remaining 5.5 billion are landfilled, dumped or incinerated, producing approximately 233,000 tonnes of CO2 emission a year.

Clearing litter and enforcing the law cost local authorities £778 million in 2015/16. Plastic bottles make up a third of all plastic pollution in the sea, according to the report.

Marie continues: ‘On average, each person in the UK disposes of three plastic bottles per week such as water, milk, and shampoo. The plastic pollutes the soil, the rivers and seas, and the air near landfills.

‘It is absolutely everywhere; in fish and other living creatures, the human body and brain, even with plants it changes their abilities to crop.‘

Marie began her mission to eliminate plastic with a few swaps. For example, she uses refillable water bottles, soap bars rather than shower gel, washing powder rather than liquid or pods. Also, she uses eco-compostable sponges in the kitchen sink and refillable bottles for deodorant, shampoo and conditioner.

‘Then I went further,’ she explains, ‘and started looking online for do-it-yourself eco products. I tested a few of them, and was so happy with the results, I started to share them with my friends. Laundry liquid, which is brilliant for eczema and sensitive skin, dishwasher tablets, multi-surface cleaner, scouring cream cleaner, and shampoos. I’m still experimenting with new recipes; it’s very satisfying to reduce a lot of my plastic consumption without using chemicals.’

Marie says she was grateful for the help of Polly Eaton who organised the Tring event and layout of the recipes and Jackie MacLaughlin from Grace and Son, Tring, for showing the hardware store’s large range of eco products.

Disclaimer

Living Magazines has not tested any of the suggestions in this article and accepts no responsibility for their use. Always test cleaning products on a small, non-visible area, and use caution when applying products to skin and hair.

Marie’s eco recipes to try at home

Shampoo for dry or frizzy hair

• 1/3 cup of soft soap
• ¼ cup of coconut milk
• 1 tsp of jojoba oil

Hair mask

• 3 tbsp coconut milk
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1 tsp of lemon juice

Leave on scalp for 20-30 mins

Face mask

• 2 tbsp of coconut milk
• 1tbsp honey

Leave on face for 15-20 mins

Descaler

Recipe 1

In a pan add a bit of 500 ml of water and 10 tbsp of bicarb of soda, mix well then add the rest of water and heat gently. Little by little add 400ml of white vinegar and let it cool down, then add 30 drops of essential oils such as tea tree.

Put everything in a spray bottle and shake well before each use. If you want the product to have a gel consistency, add 5 tbsp of corn flour when mixing the water and bicarbonate of soda.

Recipe 2

Wear gloves. In a spray bottle put 2 tbsp of citric acid and very slowly add 200 ml of vinegar and, when the foam settles, add 200ml of water. Shake before each use, spray and let it rest before scrubbing with a sponge and rinse.

Laundry liquid

• 30 g Marseille soap flakes
• 1 litre of very hot water

In a glass mixing bowl, mix half the litre of water with the soap until well dissolved then add the rest of the water and mix again. Note that at this point your laundry liquid is ready, it will separate when cooling down, just shake before using. Use about 100 ml per wash. Very good for sensitive skin, baby clothes. For extra cleaning when the mix is cold, add a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda, a few drops of lemon essential oil (15) and for softness, a tablespoon of Epsom salt.

Add any essential oils you like the smell of, such as lavender or eucalyptus. Store in a glass bottle.

Multi-purpose cleaning spray

Mix in a spray bottle:

• A cup of white vinegar
• 2 cups of water
• A drop of washing-up liquid

Cream cleaner

Mix together:

• 4 tbsp of bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tbsp of white or green
• clay powder

Then add 4 tbsp of liquid soap.

For extra de-greasing paste add 1 tbsp of soda crystals.

Dishwasher tablets

Note: you can add a few drops of essential oils (30) of your preferred fragrances. This is also a very good window cleaner if you don’t add the essential oils drops.

100g of each:

• Bicarbonate of soda
• Rock salt
• Soda crystals
• Citric acid

Mix all together and add a tablespoon per cycle; you could also mould it inside an ice cube tray too.