Week three of Plastic Free July again pitted me against the challenge of not buying any plastic products. 

With every week which goes by during this challenge, I continue to make mistakes as well as learn some hard lessons. 

That’s life, right?

This week, I wrestled with the demons that are products that come in tubes and bottles. Think, toothpaste, detergent etc. 

I briefly touched on this in another article, but this week I wandered the isles of the supermarket looking for toothpaste in particular, to no avail. 

The biggest, easiest change I made which made me feel better, was switching to a wooden toothbrush. 

The thought of every single toothbrush I will use in my life outliving me by possibly a million years terrifies me. 

I have also put away my shampoo and conditioner, which came in bottles, to try and opt for the bar variety, which proved okay. 

It just takes some getting used to. My shower also now sports three variety of bars. 

The problem I have found with this challenge is monetary. 

It is simply cheaper and more convenient to opt for things which are not plastic-free. 

That’s the crux of this problem, and our society, is that the cheaper, more convenient options are often the most harmful to the planet, and us. 

To be plastic-free is expensive. So too organic, or vegetarian, etcetera, etcetera. 

I once read something which said, “to be poor is expensive”, which explained the ratio of your outgoings is much more expensive in proportion to your income. 

The poorer you are, the harder it is to make positive changes to your buying habits and lifestyle. It becomes an endless cycle and feedback loop. 

So to me, it seems the more wealthy you are, the more opportunity you have to make positive buying decisions and lifestyle choices. 

But often, the wealthier you are, the more time-poor you are. 

That wealth has gotta come from somewhere. You spend your time. 

So to truly make this a frugal, environmentally friendly lifestyle, one has to be able to create, cook, build, grow or manufacture the things one needs. 

Unfortunately, I damn well can’t make toothpaste and I don’t want to try some of the recipes I googled - some of which requires you to buy things in plastic packaging anyway - silly (but I suppose outcome (product)-for-expense (plastic) ratio may end up more economic than buying a tube of toothpaste (more toothpaste for less plastic). 

I wonder, if there could be a local buy & swap for sustainable products such as plastic-free items. 

I’d participate in that. Just a thought. 

For now, I gotta suck it up and buy some expensive toothpaste in a jar and have it mailed to me. 

I’ll let you know how it goes.