Can you believe these are all made out of recycled plastic!
Recently, it seems as though hardly a day goes by when we don’t learn something new about the terrible damage done to the earth by the huge amount of plastic we throw away each year. conscientious households, horrified by stories of polluted seas and human health risks from the toxic chemicals released as plastic breaks down, are trying to cut consumption of plastic cups, containers and packaging. this is a vital positive change — but it can feel insignificant compared to the mountain of waste plastic that already exists. thankfully, innovators are now finding clever ways to re-purpose plastic — in some cases, even after it has been washed out to sea. All sorts of plastic ‘waste’ is now being recycled to make new products. Manufacturer Procter & Gamble has launched Fairy washing-up liquid bottles made entirely of recycled plastic, 10 per cent of which is recovered from the sea. Meanwhile, the company’s Head & Shoulders will release shampoo bottles made with 25 per cent recovered ‘beach plastic’.
And there are some surprisingly stylish household items you’d never believe were made from old bottles.
‘Plastic exists in huge quantities already — we need to stop making more of it and, instead, tackle the mountain of plastic in a creative way. the possibilities are endless,’ says tasha Green, of Weaver Green, a company that recycles plastic from the sea and landfill sites into homewares, including turning old bottles into a ‘yarn’ with the soft feel of natural wool.
everything from furniture to toys, stationery, clothes and even duvets and pillows can now be made of recycled plastic. even better, many can be recycled again at the end of their lives.
So, if you want to give your home a chic, environmentally-friendly makeover, have a look at our pick of the best recycled plastics . . .
can control. They control you.’ In my case, without medical intervention I continued to lose weight and became fixated on exercising. On one holiday I remember obsessively swimming round a crowded pool for an hour. I couldn’t even bring myself to have an ice cream. My poor daughters just wanted to have fun with their mum.
One of my biggest regrets is that while I was always able to provide the girls with food and practical care, I was so selfabsorbed that these feel like ‘lost’ years as a mum.
My weight kept slipping down. At my lowest my ribs were visible and I struggled to sit in the bath as my coccyx pressed against the tub.
EVENTUALLY
I was referred for residential treatment for four months. Here, every morsel I ate was calorie controlled and meal times were heavily policed.
There were group therapy sessions and only when we were considered to have improved enough were we allowed out with staff to cafes to start reintegrating food into our lives.
It was hard on the girls for me to be away for so long. Chris and my family shared their care and we told them I was ill and needed to go to hospital.
What has helped me long-term are two therapies — firstly, mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural therapy, which helps you to become aware of any negative thoughts that enter your mind and to challenge them. The idea is that if you quickly challenge each negative thought, it will become weaker until you can let it go.
I also stumbled upon a complementary therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques when I was setting up a business to help small firms with marketing, and I have retrained as a practitioner.
The idea is that tapping specific parts of the body in a particular order whenever a negative thought comes into your head helps to short circuit the brain’s fight or flight response — so the thought loses its power.
I realised my ex had not intended to send me tumbling into an eating disorder. My extreme reaction was because of low self-esteem, rooted in me since childhood. Finally I was able to let go of negative thoughts about myself.
Chris and I didn’t last. Once I recovered we realised how wrong we were for each other. We separated in 2012 and divorced two years later.
I am seeing someone new, but we are taking it slowly. My girls are my priority. They went through so much that stability now is the least I can give them. I’ve talked to them about eating in a balanced way and how being skinny didn’t make me happy.
I’m grateful I’ve been able to win my battle. Sarah and Claire are still battling their eating issues.
I’m 42 now and 12 years after my first marriage ended I’m happy and healthy. I love food and I’m content, not just with the body I’ve got and the life I’m living, but with myself.
Some names have been changed.
How To Kiss Goodbye To Ana: Using EFT In Anorexia Recovery by Kim Marshall is published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, priced £12.99. It includes Kim’s own story and practical EFT materials.