With us all paying much more attention on how we can save the planet and cut down on plastic it’s impossible to know which household items/foods do have plastic in them and which do not.
Life Before Plastic have a list of items they know contain plastic and which you probably use on a regular basis. If you want to find alternatives for the list below just head to the Life Before Plastic website.
Did you know Tea Bags contain plastic? I certainly did not, but Yes, that’s right. That means that when you are drinking tea, you are potentially drinking very small micro-plastics. And that tea bag you’ve just popped in the food waste? It will never fully compost!
Chewing Gun is another unusual one but it does contain plastic. The plastic used to make chewing gum is a polymer, it is this ingredient that helps the gum to be stretchy and sticky. Now think of all those times you swallowed your chewing gum, slightly scary to think about the impact that plastic may have had to your body.
Metal Jar Lids are not free of plastic and yet I pop mine in the recycle bin all the time. Typically a glass jar lid is made from steel with a polyethylene lining. The good news is that these lids can still be recycled. Phew !!
Plasters are not Compostable. Plasters are made from both the gauze for the wound and a sticky backing. It is this backing that contains plastic. You can see this more clearly when you look at water-proof bandaids. The shiny surface is often a good sign of something containing plastic. And it’s not just the plaster itself. Each plaster is packaged in its very own sterile plastic wrapper. None of these items being compostable.
Country Living added Crisp Packets to the list of household items that you may not know contain plastic. Although the inside of the packet is shiny and looks like foil, it is in fact a metallised plastic film. This type of material is not currently recycled and should not be put in your recycling bin.
One that really shocked me as I have plenty of it in my craft room is Ribbon. A lot of ribbon that looks like it’s satin is actually made using polyester or plastic, so it’s important to check with the manufacturer.
Finally, for now anyway is Wrapping Paper which most of the time is not paper but if its shiny or sparkly wrapping paper is more than likely covered in plastic and cannot be fully recycled.
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