Thank goodness it is July 31.
I started the month full of optimism, excited about going plastic free. I had already been reducing my waste since the start of the year so how hard could Plastic Free July be?
Really hard is the answer.
We are so much more reliant upon plastic than I realised. Needless to say it was not possible for me to avoid plastic for an entire month.
A few times my slip ups were actually out of my control. Times where I went out of my way to do the right thing and despite that still ended up with something plastic.
The best example was the supermarket this week, I went in with my glass container to get some pancetta but when they handed it back to me they had wrapped it in an A4 piece of plastic and then put it in my container.
Another time, I ordered a cheese scone and had it on a plate so I wasn't producing any waste. Unfortunately, it came out with an already opened plastic packet of butter.
There were other days where it was just too hard.
I was working in Auckland and had that atrocious winter cold going around. I attempted to take my container into a supermarket to fill up on a few things for dinner but they didn't allow BYO containers. In my cold ridden state it was too difficult to search around the city for a plastic-free dinner option. I retreated to my sick bed with a plastic microwave dinner.
Clean waterproof containers will be accepted nationwide at Countdown deli, meat and seafood counters. (Source: Other)
Over the month I have also discovered some foods are impossible to get plastic-free. Like cherry tomatoes, feta cheese and butter.
I couldn't help but think if it was impossible for me with no dependents living in Wellington to be plastic-free, it is not going to be any easier for a rural family of four, or a low income family.
There is quite a good saying floating around on Instagram: 'If your bathtub was overflowing, you wouldn't immediately reach for a mop- you'd first turn off the tap. That's what we need to do with single-use plastics'.
In my opinion, a few things need to happen and they need to happen fast.
Firstly, a ban is needed on items like plastic straws, water bottles and packaging. We need to turn off the tap and then focus on cleaning up the mess we've already created.
Plastic shopping bags are gone, but reporter Tamati Rimene-Sproat wants even more of a plastic-detox. (Source: Other)
Secondly, companies need to be responsible for the products and packaging they put into the world. At the moment, companies abdicate that responsibility to the consumer as soon as they buy the product. It's not a responsibility that consumers should have to bear in full.
And lastly, it needs to be easier to make sustainable choices.
As I've discovered - it's not convenient, it's not cheap and it's not even possible to live without plastic. While going cold turkey isn't what everyone wants to do, I think most New Zealanders would like to do their bit. It's up to both private and public sector to make that an option.
Jessica Roden is the 1 NEWS politics producer, the author of waste-free blog Get Naked and a recent waste free advocate.
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