7 Ways To Have A Plastic-Free Weekend

We find the weekend one of the toughest times to be plastic-free. You’ve spent all week packing lunchboxes in glass or metal containers for you and the kids, remembered your shopping bags and sipped from your water bottle but then the weekend comes and you’re out of the house a little bit more and looking for ways to treat yourself to a coffee from your local cafe. It’s all too easy to fall back into your old plastic wasting habits.

The Plastic Free July Challenge is a great way to get started on the road to a zero-waste lifestyle, but it is exactly that – a lifestyle. Incorporate some plastic-free activities and practises into your weekend and soon they will become second nature, meaning that you will be reducing your plastic without even thinking about it! Here are 7 of our favourite plastic-free weekend activities to get you started.

Visit the local farmers market

Farmer’s markets are a great weekend activity and a great way to save on plastic wrapping, eat organic, support local and independent businesses and have an all-around more personal shopping experience. You can find these in your local town and more and more are popping up in cities. Bulk food stores are also another way to say on the packaging, just grab your favourite refillable container!

Buy from the deli or bakery

When it comes to buying the ingredients for brunch this weekend visit your local bakery for your loaf of bread or the deli for your bacon. Most businesses are happy to wrap your products in your own containers or wax wraps so just ask!

Take your own picnic

If you’re lucky enough to have some sunshine this weekend, pack up a picnic and set off for your local park. As most of us can’t visit cafe’s at the moment a picnic is a great alternative, and it will help you to reduce your plastic waste.

For the ultimate plastic-free picnic, wrap your goodies in muslin or wax and store items in glass or stainless steel containers. You can also bring your own glass cups to drink out of and bamboo or metal cutlery, if you need them. Then all you need to do is just sit back and relax.

Remember your water bottle

Plastic bottles are the quickest thing to sink to the bottom of the ocean, and will never biodegrade. Plastic particles from bottles are also slowly eroding into your water so on a whole they are bad for the environment, and bad for your health! Grab yourself a stainless steel water bottle and remember to keep these on hand when you’re out and about this weekend.

Start your own herb garden or veggie patch

Herbs and veggies often come with a huge amount of plastic waste. From herb portions wrapped in plastic to fruit on plastic trays, there are so many ways that you can reduce your plastic waste and growing your own is one of the best.

Even if you just have space for a few small pots of herbs or salad leaves on your window ledge growing your own is a perfect weekend activity!

Ditch the coffee run

We know that a coffee run on a Sunday morning feels like a treat, but disposable coffee cups can no longer be recycled. It is estimated Australians use 1 billion disposable coffee cups each year. That’s approximately 2,700,000 paper coffee cups thrown out every day!

Instead, invest in some quality, fair-trade coffee that lives up to your takeaway coffee standards and make your own at home. It also means that you can stay in bed a little bit longer while you drink it.

Make your own cleaning products

There is basically nothing that you can’t clean with a little vinegar, baking soda and water. Mix 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup baking soda into 1/2 gallon (2 litres) of water in a glass spray bottle and you’ve got an eco-friendly cleaner that will clean kitchen surfaces, water deposit stains on the shower stall panels, bathroom chrome fixtures, windows, bathroom mirrors, etc.

Can you count how much plastic you’ve used so far this weekend

What is Plastic-Free July – and how to get involved

Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution.

Founded by the Plastic Free Foundation in 2011, Plastic Free July allows us to work towards our vision of seeing a world free of plastic waste so we can have cleaner streets, safer oceans and beautiful communities.

The Plastic Free July challenge helps millions of people take small, daily actions to reduce plastic consumption. Last year, 326 million people across the globe took part in the challenge from 177 countries to reduce each participant’s household waste and recycling by an average of almost 5% (21kg). 

This year, the Plastic Free July® challenge is calling on people to choose to refuse single-use plastic in a bid to help exceed last year’s worldwide efforts and hit the global target of 1 billion kilos of waste avoidance.

Whether you’re a beginner or an avid plastic-waste warrior. This is a great opportunity to reinstate the positive progress made in reducing plastic waste and pollution in our own household and across the globe. How much of a difference would this make in your house?

Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free July and one of the world’s leading plastic waste experts, explains why she believes the challenge can achieve record waste avoidance this year.

“Every year this challenge has grown exponentially, having started with only 40 colleagues in Perth to over 250 million global participants. This year the challenge feels more poignant than ever as we begin to realise how intrinsically our social and physical environment is tied to the fundamental wellbeing of our communities. We have also seen the power of collective action firsthand. Whilst Plastic Free July is a personal challenge, participants are part of a global effort to create cleaner streets, oceans, and a cleaner, healthier planet. We can all be part of the solution.”

The Plastic Free July Challenge seeks to address the most critical solution to plastic pollution – waste avoidance. Reducing waste and recycling is significantly more energy-efficient than piling up landfill or trying to extract plastic waste from the environment.

“Plastic Free July isn’t about drastic lifestyle change; it’s about being more conscious of the single-use plastics that you use day-to-day and taking small but smart steps to reduce them. Simple swaps could include switching to bar soap or avoiding plastic when you buy your vegetables. The majority of challenge participants started by choosing to refuse at least one single-use plastic but nine out of 10 ended up creating long-term habits that lasted far beyond the challenge itself,” said Rebecca Prince-Ruiz

Plastic Free July stated that last year, 73% of participants refused takeaway coffee (double that of those who have not been part of the challenge) and 8.5 out of 10 people made changes that have become a way of life.

To help you with your challenge, or just to help you get started, we will be sharing handy tips and tricks of how you can reduce your plastic consumption throughout the month of July. Sign up to be part of the solution and join the Plastic Free July movement here. Will you be taking part in the Plastic Free July challenge?

Vesica combo Byron Bay

Why We Use Leather?

Why We Use Leather?

“Leather is not vegan and eco-friendly, so how can you call yourself an eco-brand?” …We often get asked this because our signature product is handmade water bottle cases made from leather…

Being ecologically responsible and conscious of our impact on the environment is something that we are strongly passionate about here at Vesica, so we thought it was important to address some of these concerns as to why we currently use leather in our products.

As producers and consumers living in a modern first world society – we deeply resonate with the Buddhist philosophy and way of life in that we understand  and honor the preciousness and sacredness of life in all living beings. We recognize the importance of this when we choose to use leather within our products. Yes, an animal’s life was taken – and it is with reverence and gratitude that we receive this as leather to make our water bottle cases.

It is with this deep respect of the creature that was in the end of its life that we may prevent further destruction and devastation of the habitat of other innocent animals such as marine life due to the excessive plastic pollution in the ocean. From one full hide, Vesica can make over 50 water bottle cases which will be used for years and years to come. By making reusable water bottles accessible (and desirable) this encourages people to take responsibility for their consumption of water and therefore the subsequent waste production such as plastic water bottles.

There are many other ‘eco-alternatives’ to leather. Many of which are not yet commercially available and cost-effective. Some suggestions are pineapple, mushroom and kombucha skins. At Vesica, we are also passionate about creating high-quality products that will last years, if not a life-time! Our leather products are of the highest quality and can survive all conditions such as stress, heat, humidity and are water proof as opposed to water resistant like most of these other options. It also has to be structurally consistent and affordable. If a vegan option were available but at twice the cost to the customer, it doesn’t seem as a viable option does it?

There are other styles of carry cases available on the market, made from Hemp macramé and cotton. We may expand into these products in the future, but no plans at the moment as we have out sights on other eco-wares. If animal products are not your thing? our water bottles are available without cases.

Consumers know leather, they know it means quality and there’s no effort in convincing people it’s going to last. We believe leather is going to outlast any synthetic oil based imitation such as polyurethane and fake leather. As an inferior product, they destroy quickly – the outside often peels off after minor use and unlike leather which is an organic material that will bio-degrade easily at the end of its life time, synthetic alternatives aren’t recyclable. Oil based alternatives are also non-porous which causes growth of mold and bacteria,  producing bad odor & hygiene issues on the inside of the cases.

We do our best to offer value for money and guarantee all cases for 1 year. Happy to replace or fix parts to keep each case working. Vesica is not about providing obsolescent and inferior quality products to generate more income, we re-stitch and repair before replacing.

In conversation with Provenance Biofabrics (provenance.bio) who are researching and developing leather made from collagen cells. This is an extremely exciting step forward in leather alternatives; they can even grow sheets of leather to specific thicknesses and sizes. When this technology advances we will definitely embrace it. We are not interested in using oil based materials.

Whilst we seek out viable alternatives to leather in the meantime, we remain dedicated to reducing plastic waste by providing a high quality substitute to the plastic water bottle.

In addition, the current state of the meat industry is unfortunately still causing tremendous issues for our environment. It is an industry continually striving to increase demand for meat and profits each year and with this, comes leather as a bi-product. Our questions is – how do we continue to reduce demand for animal products, whilst still remaining true to our commitment to reduce waste? – so what would happened to all the hides of all those cows?

If Vesica stopped making leather cases it would hardly affect this market and we’re such a small fraction of this bigger picture. “But supply follows demand.” you might say…this is true…and in this instance, the demand is not for the leather products, it is for meat. So by purposing a by-product of a wasteful industry, we are helping to offset the eventual excess by putting this material to good use.

We source our leather as sustainably as possible. The lacing we use is kangaroo leather, the strongest leather in the world. In Australia, kangaroo meat is processed for consumption which is known for its leanness and tender taste. It has been a staple source of food for our Indigenous culture for 60 000 years. The kangaroos are culled because of over population in Queensland and hides are processed to strict Australian guidelines.

We use buffalo leather for our shoulder straps which comes from India from buffalo that have been raised for working fields, milk, meat consumption and finally leather.

Our Deluxe range of cases are made using veg tan leather. This type of leather is the most natural due to there being no toxic color dyes used in the production process. We do the hand staining of the cases using eco-dyes.

Roughly 90% of the coloured chrome and suede leather used is 2nd cuts or recycled leather. We prefer to use what others consider waste and give it a new life as a treasured case, that will be used for years to come.

At Vesica we choose very selectively the leather for our cases.

Furthermore, so much of what we use and consume in this modern society comes with an environmental impact – which can become absolutely overwhelming and daunting when you really look at this in more detail and start to think of possible alternatives and different solutions to the environmental degradation we are experiencing in this age. Take for instance the computer this is being typed on, the devices we stare at every day, the cars we drive, the paint on our walls, the toxins in the air, the transport industry, the food we eat – and so on. It’s enormous! Therefore we believe it’s important to do the absolute best you can with where you’re at and with the means that you’ve got. You’ve got to pick and choose your battles as well otherwise we’d all just completely burn out trying to rid this planet of all the harmful properties known.

So for now, with where we’re at, our big battle is plastic pollution and finding better sustainable solutions for every-day use materials and items. Taking new steps each day to extend this eco-friendly reach further and further – like seeking other eco-friendly products to make available to our customers, being socially active in the eco-conscious sphere and beyond and having a conscious voice within our community to make a lasting impact.  We’re trying our best here at Vesica to discourage people using disposable water bottles everyday along with other nasty plastic products.

In  the long run – Vesica does not intend to be a leather-goods supplier. We are now expanding into more bamboo, LED lighting, hemp and other eco-friendly products to be launched in the near future.

The leather case is a beautiful way to individualize everyone’s water vessel, an important tool in ones life. Any owner of a Vesica knows how handy it is having water on a sturdy strap over your shoulder, making it accessible and reusable.

It is a dream to support a small bio-dynamic farm to raise the cows for all the leather needed to produce the cases per year.

As the maker of Vesica products, I’ve always used leather belts and leather shoes because of its quality. I was a vegetarian for over 10 years and now consume a small amount of meat in my diet. I absolutely support people who choose to go on a vegetarian or vegan diet for ethical reasons.

The leather’s surface provides me with a beautiful canvas for me to create my art, to add totems and sacred patterns to spread a divine vibration of consciousness across our planet. Through connecting these sacred geometrical patterns into the molecular structure of our drinking water, we are helping to recalibrate our human consciousness to our Mother Earth…Pachamama.

Shane

Disposable coffee cup plastic pollution

How To Say Goodbye To Disposable Coffee Cups Once And For All

It takes us just a few minutes to drink a cup of coffee on the go. We buy it, sip it, discard it, and go on with our day. The cup is only a few moments into its miserable existence when we chuck it in the paper-and-lid graveyard all bins seem to become during inner city mornings.

Those cups are not recyclable. Nor are the hundreds of other cups you see in people’s hands as they walk down the street. No matter how cardboardy it looks it’s dead by the time it leaves your hand, destined to spend hundreds of years in a landfill.

The reason? Inside every cup is a plastic lining that makes the whole thing almost impossible to recycle; it can’t be decomposed but will remain a danger to the ecosystem and the animals for as long as it exists. Even biodegradable and waxed disposable cups hardly ever end up at the recycle stations simply because they are so hard to tell apart from the rest. Most places also don’t have the infrastructure to deal with them.

Styrofoam cups aren’t any better, as they can’t be recycled and stays in landfills for about 500 years!

Even if we found a way to recycle disposable cups, would it really be worth it? They need resources. Lots of them. After washing, pulping, and processing 98 tonnes of materials, only one tonne of paper remains suitable for coffee cup creation. And that’s just the paper. Creating plastic from crude oil is an incredibly energy consuming process.

Those are resources that we throw out after just a single use.

The solution has been around for a while. It’s simple, cheap, it’s super sexy, it seals, and convenient. It has won over more and more people during the last couple of years. It’s almost too obvious, too easy, too good to be true.

We are of course talking about the reusable coffee cup. If you want to make a difference today, the Vesica tea infuser meets the need of any environmentalist. Its insulated stainless steel chamber is covered in a beautiful bamboo wood and seals tight to keep the heat or coldness locked in for hours. It comes in a convenient 300ml size that can easily fits in your bag or even large (back) pockets and wont spill a drop. It’s insulated and also includes a strainer for your tealeaves, brew your tea as per the instructions. The basket clips down securely allowing you to put leaves underneath for a stronger brew, without the basket falling out.

However even with this solution available, most people still prefer the disposable cups. In fact, Australians use 113 of them every four seconds.

Most of you out there will feel motivated to stop using disposable coffee cups for a while after reading this blog post. You will sit in instead of take away, or bring a cup with you around. What happens afterwards is that most people slowly fall back into their old habits. When the first impact of the information has started to wear off, and everyone around us is using disposable coffee cups anyway, maybe even mocking the clear conscience keep cuppers, it’s hard to stay motivated.

In order for us as an evolving planet/polluting population to embrace the change we know needs to happen, create a good habit and takeaway the takeaway coffee cup from your life. Could you do it?

Standing out and being a lone fish swimming against the current is too mentally exhausting. Consumer psychologist Paul Harrison says that “Even if we have environmental beliefs, it takes risk-taking behaviour to step outside of social norms”.

That’s why it’s so important to embrace the challenge of change, and be together about it. With the versatile Vesica tea infuser, you can signal to other environmentalists that they are not alone, and also feel supported when you see someone else carrying one. Be proud of the courage you show when you use a reusable cup. There are many people out there like you.

 

Mette

http://www.carryyourcup.org/

http://about.abc.net.au/war-on-waste-fixing-your-coffee-fix/

https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/drinks/tea-and-coffee/articles/are-takeaway-coffee-cups-recyclable

https://www.vesica.com.au/shop/tea-infuser/