Families tossing out 40kg a year

Familes throw away at least 40kg of (recyclable) plastic each year.

The average household in the UK uses 480 plastic bottles each year, with only 270 being recycled.

World has produced 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics since the 1950s.

Of that, 79% has ended up in landfills or the natural environment, including our oceans. Just 9% has been recycled.

Of 30 billion plastic bottles used by UK households each year, only 57% are currently recycled.

chicken is in a plastic carton, salad is in a plastic bag, cheese in a plastic wrapper.

The only thing that isn’t in plastic is wine. Thank God – it’ll be needed.

In the cupboard we have bread in plastic, ketchup in a plastic bottle... This is going to be tough.

And it’s not just food. Virtually everything we use on a daily basis has some form of plastic in it. The handle of the frying pan, toothbrushes, cleaning products.

It’s clear even on day one that we’ll have to concentrate on reducing plastic rather than eliminating it.

Dinner comes and there is a supermarket chicken that needs using – in a plastic tray wrapped in plastic. We recycle the packing and use veg bought from the greengrocer’s in paper bags.

DAY TWO

It doesn’t start well. The kids’ favourite breakfast waffles have a plastic wrapper. To make up for it, I rustle up an omelette with eggs from a cardboard box.

The girls take a drink to school and as they can’t use glass bottles there’s no choice but plastic bottles. At least they are reusable.

Heading off to the shops, there’s quite a challenge ahead. Is it really possible to buy our weekly items without any