
My no-plastic life: I tried to cut out single-use items for a month – and it almost broke me
The scale of plastic pollution is so terrifying, I mostly try to avoid thinking about it, but some facts stop me in my tracks. According to the UN Foundation, there is already enough plastic in the oceans to fill 5m shipping containers – and if production continues at its current rate, by the middle of this century there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. It is also indestructible – all the plastic ever made is still here, decomposing into microplastics that contaminate every corner of the planet – including our bodies. And it's not just a case of somehow finding a way to 'clean it up'. 'Plastic pollution is now altering some major processes at the scale of the entire Earth system,' the Stockholm Resilience Centre reported, chillingly, in November.
In the UK alone, our plastic waste problem is mindblowing: in its 2024 Big Plastic Count, Everyday Plastic got almost 225,000 people to count their plastic waste for a week; the final tally was over 4.6m pieces.
Is there anything individuals can do about a problem on this scale? I'm pessimistic, but my editor wants me to give it a try: she challenges me to eliminate single-use plastic (SUP) for a month. Uneasily, I agree.
Week 1Single-use plastic is all the stuff that you use once, then throw away or recycle, from moisturiser tubes to milk cartons. Starting out, I complacently believe I don't consume that much of it. I already use York's 'weigh and pay' store, the Bishy Weigh, for refills of cleaning products, laundry stuff, shower gel, nuts and pulses; I buy bread, milk and vegetables at the market, get a veg box delivered, and have a cupboard full of plastic containers I reuse until they fall apart. Having the time and money to do that is a privilege – and living in a city with lots of similarly privileged folk means those resources are available. I'm lucky.
Even so, going through my house and tallying up the SUP reveals piles of it, from the bathroom to my office and worst of all, the fridge-freezer. It's packed with plastic: mostly sachets and pots with film lids. My supermarket shop includes salads, stir-fry veg, fruit, frozen peas, chips, fruit and crisps, all encased in protective plastic cocoons. According to Alison Colclough of Everyday Plastic, this tallies with the Big Plastic Count's findings: 'The two big hitters were soft plastic from snacks and soft plastic from fresh fruit and veg.'
Why is flexible plastic so ubiquitous? Because it's engineered to be excellent at its job. 'Flexible plastics save a lot of food waste,' says Mark Miodownik, professor of materials and society at UCL and founder of its Plastic Waste Innovation Hub. These wrappings are 'managing the humidity inside the package, allowing water to pass through, but they're also a barrier to oxygen, and oxygen ages food very quickly.'
Adam Herriott, from waste-prevention charity Wrap, agrees that food wrapping is sometimes better than food waste. However, a 2022 Wrap study found that for apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes, the impact of plastic packaging on shelf life was demonstrated to be minimal. What actually made a huge difference was refrigerating at 4C. Wrap is asking supermarkets to ban plastic wrapping for 21 grocery products and to sell them loose.
Appropriately inspired, I head to my nearest supermarket, M&S. Beyond tinned stuff, pickings are dismal: apart from onions, garlic and leeks, the only vegetables I find loose are two types of cabbage. Morrisons is much the same: some loose fruit, but almost all veg is wrapped. Waitrose does slightly better: we get cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, carrots and mushrooms.
It's quickly apparent in supermarkets how many aisles are off-limits – many of them entirely made up of bright, convenient, indestructible flexibles and films. Some 70% of UK food and drink is plastic wrapped – 51% of this unnecessarily so, according to one study.
Emerging with a trolley of tins and loose carrots, our weekly shop is cheaper than usual, but what's for dinner? We add pasta, rice, lentils and oats at the zero-waste shop, but the real revelation is our local greengrocer, Millie's, where there is far more unpackaged fruit and veg. Meals take plastic-free shape: oats and nuts for breakfast, homemade hummus with lunch when I can be bothered, or tinned soup and toast. Green stuff isn't plentiful – and salad is basically impossible. When I was in Italy in November you could buy beautiful loose salad leaves in paper bags, I rant, boringly, to anyone who will listen. Dinner is as boring as I am: we cycle through baked potatoes and beans, brassica-based stir-fries and pasta and sauce – all fine, but not every night.
Sweet treats are easy – York is 90% artisanal bakeries – but it rapidly transpires that I'm dependent on my 6pm crisps for my mental equilibrium. I trial hummus with carrot sticks (dull), plain nuts (depressing) or bougie olives in tins (ruinously expensive). None of them scratches the itch.
I'm exasperated that teabags come in inner bags for 'freshness': I have open boxes that have done three house moves with me and they still taste fine (I know because I'm reduced to finishing them). Thankfully, before things get really unpleasant, I track down plastic-free teas (thank you, Clipper) in a local health food shop.
Week 2Desperate for crisp-adjacent snacks, I get peanut crackers and something called 'paprika twists' at the weigh-and-pay shop. The latter are dreadful: dusty, sad, with the barest memory of crunch. I eat them all anyway.
Is there actually any point to this exercise, I wonder, crispless and cross. 'I'd say yes,' says Herriott. He explains that eliminating plastic is the first step towards stopping the global plastic mountain getting any bigger. Then, the waste-reduction hierarchy of reduce, reuse and recycle should kick in. 'Most people default to recycling because that's convenient,' he explains, and it's true that I rely on the fact I can put hard plastics – all those tubs and pots – in my recycling to assuage my guilt, but it's an imperfect solution. Breaking down plastics for recycling can increase their toxicity and much of the global north's plastic waste ends up in poorer countries to be dealt with. With this in mind, while the flexible-plastics recycling bins outside supermarkets seem like a step forward, it's worth remembering that they are limited in number, and also flexibles can only be 'downcycled' (used, for example, to make bin bags) not 'closed-loop' recycled (made back into food packaging). An investigation by Everyday Plastics last year placing trackers in waste in storefront containers cast doubt on the efficacy of this system, finding a proportion was being incinerated or exported. Herriott is emphatic it's worth doing anyway: 'Downcycling is necessary for things to happen,' he says, and recycling flexibles 'shows recyclers this material is here.' Still, everyone agrees that using less is the best option, so I stagger on.
Crisps aren't the only head-scratcher; I struggle with household stuff. I already get washing-up and laundry liquid refills, plus paper-packed bamboo loo and kitchen roll (a decent eco option, according to the Radio 4 consumer show Sliced Bread). The compostable dish sponges the Instagram algorithm (which swiftly cottons on to my new obsession) recommends are fine. But bathroom bits are trickier: good luck sourcing plastic-free ibuprofen. Shower gel and shampoo refills are widely available if you're not fussy (I'm not) and I won't run out of moisturiser this month (Ethique and the Body Shop offer good plastic-free options if I do, according to an Instagram reel from sustainability blogger Moral Fibres).
Dental stuff, though, is a nightmare. Toothpaste tablets in a glass jar are awful, like brushing your teeth with a Trebor mint. My normal floss comes in cardboard boxes, but inside, the roll is packed in a tiny plastic bag. I upgrade to a metal dispenser and silk floss and switch to bamboo-based interdental brushes (you remove and recycle bristles, compost the body); they're fine, but a further expense. So are 'recyclable' toothbrush heads, which need to be returned to the manufacturer for recycling. Researching, I realise they are recycled into walking sticks, not more toothbrush heads. The whole sector feels opaque and unsatisfactory: another 'eco' toothbrush manufacturer I'm algorithmically advertised turns out not to have recycled any of its brushes yet because they haven't reached 'critical mass'.
My fail of the week: on a Sainsbury's dash, my brain switches off entirely imagining my Friday night martini and I buy a bag of ice cubes. The shame.
Week 3My weekly get-out-of-vitamin-jail card is salad in 'home compostable' bioplastic bags in my Riverford veg box. Unfortunately, I discover UCL investigated home compostables in 2022 and the results were 'just bad,' as Miodownik, who conducted the research, explains. Although these bioplastics compost under lab conditions, 60% of the study participants who attempted it at home failed. 'It's just not a good solution,' says Miodownik. I can't bear to quit, but unable to guarantee my compost is up to scratch, I send the bags back to Riverford, which composts them itself (I check, and they confirm, sending me a photo of their compost heap).
To vary my brassicas 'n' beans diet, I peruse my freezer, unearthing berries from last summer and long-forgotten curries. Deprived of biscuity things and other treats, we bake apples (good) and roast our own nuts (meh, they're no crisps). 'It's probably forcing you to eat a lot less processed foods,' says Herriott when we discuss the snack shortage, and I sanctimoniously tell him that, actually, I miss beansprouts and baby spinach. It's true, but I miss big Hula Hoops more.
Carefully selected takeaways relieve the monotony: pizza works, and our local Korean serves bibimbap in cardboard boxes. Unfortunately, when I collect, I realise the bag I thought was paper is plastic, so that's my fail of the week.
Week 4Planning a day trip, I recall that in a German study where a small group kept diaries of their attempts to reduce their SUP use, commuting and travel was one of the most challenging areas. 'You have to plan your trips differently,' Melanie Jaeger-Erben, who conducted the study, tells me. So I do, bringing my usual water bottle, but also a reusable coffee cup and snacks. My bag weighs a ton. Despite this, I end up adding to my plastic count, when the Lebanese treats I always pick up in London come in a box with a plastic window rather than their usual paper bag.
Back home, I'm struggling. I'm a vegan, so easy protein is usually tofu, which is now off limits. I consider, research, then abandon the idea of making my own: I can't find soya beans that aren't in plastic and the coagulant also comes in plastic sachets. Someone tells me chickpeas and lemon juice work as substitutes, but by this point, I've lost the will. I become a lunch nihilist, joylessly chomping jars of cold lentils, like a plastic-free Huel.
I'm guilted into another fail: I can't bear our baby tortoise's sulky face when presented with foraged dandelions, so treat him to the plastic-wrapped chicory he loves. He falls on it with unprecedented savagery.
Week 5Trudging to the finish line, the one bright spot is the arrival of Two Farmers crisps in home-compostable bags; the catharsis of crunch returns to 6pm. Thinking guiltily of Miodownik's research, I put the empties aside to compost in spring, when I vow to get our bin up to a high enough temperature for decomposition.
Despite all these efforts, my final box of plastic shame contains 20 items. It's a combination of stuff beyond my control (boxes of matches bought online arriving plastic wrapped), medical necessity (ibuprofen, HRT), 'lesser of two evils' rationalisations (I eat some tofu well past its best-before date) and the various other failures catalogued above.
I can achieve a low – not a no – plastic existence, but there's a massive sacrifice of convenience and money. Online shopping is out (except for specialist sustainable suppliers) and so, more or less, is supermarket shopping. Busier people, especially those with caring responsibilities, will find that impossible. 'A packed life leads to packed things,' as Jaeger-Erben puts it. Even experts struggle: Miodownik describes his 'Jekyll and Hyde existence': weekends thoughtfully buying loose produce at markets, but a midweek dash to feed his kids ('I'm rushing to the local shop and I am not questioning'). The waste minimisation team at St Nicks, a York-based environmental charity I'm a trustee of, tried a plastic-free month in 2021; waste and recycling manager Sam Taylor says the worst bit was 'the amount of planning. You're going around three or four places trying to get your basic staples.' She ate, she recalls, 'a lot of risotto'.
I'm angry with supermarkets – stop wrapping oranges! – and with governments. Consumers won't just choose to sacrifice their convenience; reducing plastic use needs to become the easy (arguably only) option. 'I always say structures need to come first,' Jaeger-Erben says. Miodownik agrees. 'If the government were to say, 'No, sorry, the environment is more important than your choice,' I think people would grumble for a couple of years then they'd just get used to it.'
There are two elements, Miodownik thinks, to effecting fundamental change: 'government legislation and innovation'. He's hopeful for 'meta materials': changing the structure of a polymer so it can do all the things that currently require three to nine different materials in plastics. That would make 'closed loop' flexible-plastic recycling a reality: 'This is really exciting work,' he says, but for it to be viable at scale, non-recyclable plastics need to be taxed more. Other research is exploring replacing SUP with seaweed derivatives and various natural fibres, but reducing use will always be a vital part of the solution.
Even so, I recognise the 'deep ambivalence' participants in Jaeger-Erben's study reported. 'I avoided buying snacks, potato chips or my beloved coconut water, thus reducing single-use plastic consumption,' one said. 'However, this is not a long-term option, as I already limit myself in other areas of life to reduce my ecological footprint (vegan, no flights, vacation travel only by train, no car, sharing of living space, mobility in the city only by bike, secondhand purchases whenever possible …). I'm not that virtuous, but I try hard to live low-carbon and trying to eliminate SUP is hard and boring – it fills me with a mutinous kind of, 'Why me?''
Why not me, though, since I can? The four loyalty cards I've mysteriously accumulated for the Bishy Weigh are filling fast and I'm a regular at the greengrocer now. Still, when the month ends, there's no denying the guilty thrill of chucking a six-pack of Seabrook sea salted crisps into my shopping basket. My life isn't packed, but my treats are.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Kristin Cavallari reveals scary health issue forced her to have her 'boobs redone'
Kristin Cavallari has had trauma over her breast implants. The blonde jewelry designer announced that she had to have her 'boobs redone' recently after an issue popped up. The incident was scary but she is glad she took care of it immediately. 'My intuition was saying, redo your boobs. Go get your boobs checked out, at least a consultation,' the 38-year-old reality TV diva shared on her Tuesday Let's Be Honest podcast. She went to a plastic surgeon in Nashville who 'seemed a little concerned' about her right implant. 'What we decided was, "OK, well, you get in there and see what's going on," because we knew something was up,' Cavallari continued. She said, 'My boobs were not laying how I wanted them to lay, but just chalked it up to having the implants for eight years. Getting in to see the surgeon confirmed it was much more. 'He gets in there and I have a ruptured implant, and there is no way of knowing how long this implant was ruptured for,' she explained. 'Because my implant was ruptured, my body then formed a huge piece of scar tissue around it, which is good because it, kind of, like, holds it all in place. It's your body's way of protecting itself.' Cavallari added, 'That's why my right boob was definitely not laying right. And it was f***ed up.' It was 'crazy' to have that scare. 'I have no idea when that happened. I have no idea how long that's been going on for,' Cavallari continued. 'I guess, maybe, I could go through my camera roll and like try to figure out, like, when my boob started going a little f***ing cross-eyed.' In early May she showed off her chest. She posed bra-free in a very see-through top making fans comment like crazy. 'Officially declaring Nips Out Summer,' said one fan on Instagram while another added, 'Why is it always so cold where you are?!' This follower accused Kristin of being thirsty: 'If you're not that well known anymore and want some attention... well, then you show a bit more in photos...' She shared racy images to her Instagram page in promotion of her new collection for her jewelry line Uncommon James. Thebeauty paired the thin knit tie top with gray sweat bottoms, flashing her incredible toned midsection. The busty blonde also posed in another bra-free look, opting for a gray sweat set consisting of baggy bottoms and a sleeves crop top. The stunning star's racy jewelry snaps comes just days after a teaser clip of her upcoming reality show Honestly Cavallari: The Headline tour dropped, revealing her reaction to a d**k picture Harry Jowsey sent her. Under her sheer top snaps on Instagram, Harry appeared to shoot his shot with her again. The former reality star told her in the comments section: 'Check DM's sent another pic!' much to the pleasure of her fans. Kristin also posed on a chair with her jewelry on display in another shot for Instagram. The last two images showed off the gold earrings she designed. Kristin's new reality show Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour is set to drop on June 5. In a teaser clip that dropped one day prior, Kristin reacts to Harry sending her a very graphic image. During the Let's Be Honest five day Headline Tour, she has a reunion with Harry. She tells the crowd during of the dates - with Harry right next to her - 'I got a d**k pic from Harry you guys.' When she showed the explicit picture to her best friend Justin Anderson, he exclaimed: 'It's gigantic!' In March, Harry appeared on her podcast and she made him drink hot sauce - to which he reacted with a challenge: 'Who's got the biggest c**k?' Kristin was previously married to ex-football star Jay Cutler; they share three children together. Kristin and Jay were married for seven years before their divorce announcement in 2020; their divorce was finalized in 2022. She recently enjoyed. fling with ex-NHL star Nate Thompson; prior to him, she was in a brief relationship with Tik Toker Mark Estes and also .


Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Telegraph
Plastics are poisoning your body – and the effects are terrifying
The products are used for just a few seconds; their materials will last for hundreds of years. What does that mean for humankind? The journalist Saabira Chaudhuri answers this question in Consumed, the story of plastic packaging. The brief for her engaging book sounds narrow, but it touches on all manner of related topics, from the science of polymers to the sociology of marketing. Plastic was once seen as the environmental choice. In the 1860s, with the advent of snooker-balls and combs made of celluloid, who knows how many elephant and tortoise lives were saved? And since 20th-century plastic packaging was both lighter and stronger than paper – which is also, it's true, more polluting and resource-intensive than many of us realise – what wasn't to like? The assumption grew, incorrectly, that plastics were environmentally inert. As a result, the post-Second World War era saw wild enthusiasm for the use-and-discard lifestyle. In November 1963, Lloyd Stouffer, editor of Modern Plastics magazine, addressed hundreds at a conference in Chicago: 'The happy day has arrived when nobody any longer considers the plastics package too good to throw away.' They certainly didn't. McDonald's rolled out polystyrene clamshell containers across America in the 1970s, and, Chaudhuri relates, up to four billion of them were going to landfill every year. McDonald's claimed they would 'help aerate the soil'. The idea was self-serving, but not ridiculous: the prevailing assumption was that landfills worked as giant composters. But landfill waste doesn't decompose so much as become mummified. Plastic, over the decades, spread inexorably across the globe, into the oceans as well as on land. There was a backlash in the 1980s, but it petered out. A stronger instance began in 2015, and was led by, among other things, a viral YouTube video of a turtle found off the coast of Costa Rica with a plastic straw lodged in his nose. Other videos, more testimony and more anger followed. Plastic became inexorably linked in the public mind, across the globe, with destruction. This material, so casually thrown away, was killing the natural world. Rather than moving beyond disposability, however, manufacturers simply tried to make plastics recyclable (or at least compostable). The problem, as Chaudhuri explains, is that it's extremely difficult to recycle plastic; and commercial logic reduced much of that effort to little more than a giant marketing campaign for the supposedly virtuous companies using plastics – what she brands 'a get-out-of-jail-free card in a situation otherwise riddled with reputational risk'. Recycling wouldn't, in any event, address a more fundamental difficulty. Microplastics – plastic particles ranging from 0.001 to 5,000 micrometres across – first turned up in salt, honey, teabags and beer. In recent years, Chaudhuri explains, they have been detected in 'human blood, breast milk, placentas, lungs, testes and the brain'. You, dear reader, almost certainly have microplastics in your body. In 2024, the New England Journal of Medicine linked them to an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks. The humble plastic sachet – developed in India to serve a market underserved by refuse collectors and low on running water – provides Chaudhuri with what, to my mind, is her most striking chapter. You've probably used these single-use plastics yourself, maybe countless times: at takeaways, at restaurants, at bars. They have an astonishing range of uses, especially outside the West. 'In 2021,' Chaudhuri relates, 'nearly 41 billion shampoo packages were sold in India. Of these, 99 per cent were sachets.' They're so cheap that they undercut bulk purchases; so tiny that no recycler can make anything from gathering them; so smeared with product that no recycling process could handle them anyway. Beyond their tiny delivery of fluid, they have no redeeming qualities. Consumed is an engaging book, written in an efficient style and bolstered by a wide range of interviews. Chaudhuri, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, brings a critical but never censorious light to bear on the machinations of a wide cast: businesspeople, regulators, campaigners and occasional oddballs. For, at its heart, this is a story about plastic's pioneers and detractors, propelled to unexpected successes and stymied by unforeseen problems – and a corporate class who steeped the world in chemicals causing untold damage to us all.


The Guardian
01-05-2025
- The Guardian
The best eco-friendly baby products: 11 sustainable substitutes, from reusable nappies to wipes
In the first 100 days of my daughter's life, the app my wife and I use to track every feed, pee and poo revealed that we had changed almost 800 nappies: 769, to be precise. Each of these required a baby wipe (or three or four), a cotton wool pad to pat dry and a nappy bag for disposal. With all of this destined for landfill, my baby's carbon footprint was racking up months before she was even ready to take her first step. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. Statistics from the recycling charity Wrap estimate that 3bn disposable nappies are thrown away in the UK each year and that a baby could get through more than 4,500 before they're potty trained. 'Babies have small feet but big footprints. The best way to minimise this will always be the reusable option, where appropriate,' says Adam Herriott, a senior specialist at Wrap. 'There are pros and cons on both sides of the nappy debate, but reusable nappies have the edge on disposables, which have a heavy carbon footprint linked to their production. Reusables naturally require washing, but limit the resources required, especially when line dried.' Planet-friendly choices don't end at nappies either. Below are some of the best sustainable baby products, from wet wipes to clothes, I've tried with my now four-month-old – and couldn't live without. I've also had, and included, recommendations from fellow parents, who have put each item through the daily grind of child rearing. Mama Bamboo bamboo eco nappies £9.99 for a pack of 24-35 at Mama Bamboo £10.30 for a pack of 24-35 at Big Green Smile Cloth nappies have come a long way in recent years, but are still used by a small minority of the population. Disposables win out when it comes to convenience – an essential for time-poor and sleep-deprived parents who are on the go. There are eco-friendly options, but nappy recycling is limited in the UK: even if a nappy claims to be compostable or biodegradable, it's likely to be incinerated or end up in landfill where it will take decades rather than months to break down. No disposable option is perfect, but it's possible to reduce the environmental impact of its production, which accounts for about 63% of a nappy's carbon footprint, according to a Defra-commissioned report. The Mama Bamboo bamboo eco nappies are 80% plant-based, and the B Corp is part of a carbon neutral offsetting scheme, making it Ethical Consumer's most sustainable disposable nappy-maker. The nappies also work and fit well, and have remained leak-free throughout intensive testing. CA Close Pop-in All-In-Two one-size bamboo reusable nappy £21.45 at Close I started using cloth nappies in 2019 when my daughter was born, and I've used them for both of my kids, who are now six and two. I opted for them for the environmental impact that disposable nappies have, but they've also had so many benefits, including less nappy rash, no poo blowouts, and they look cute. I've tried several brands, including Little Lamb and Tots Bots, but I love the Close Pop-Ins for ease. My initial investment in nappies was £300 and I've probably spent another £200 on additional ones, but over two children, I've definitely saved money compared with solely using disposables. Charlotte Butterworth-Pool, Leeds Etta Loves x Walala Studio Shapes muslin square £24 at John Lewis£24 at Etta Loves My daughter is of the sicky variety, so a constant stream of muslins has become essential at all hours. Finding ones that are soft, absorbent without leaking through, and able to withstand constant washing has been something of a quest, but the ones from Etta Loves tick all the boxes. The B Corp's muslins are made from 100% organic cotton, and each is finished in a sensory design that aids cognitive and visual development. They also double as a great distraction tool on a changing mat or draped over a pram. CA Cheeky reusable baby wipes kit £49.99 at Cheeky My sister recommended Cheeky Wipes back in 2018 when I was pregnant with my first child, and they've been amazing. They're soft, reusable and cheap, and you can use them for just about anything. At first we used them just for nappies, but they're ideal for weaning and wiping up and are a good alternative to wet wipes. I now have two children, and we still use them all the time; usually for wiping sticky faces or hands or in the bath, but I also use them for washing my face and taking off makeup. They've saved us loads of money over the past six years, and I love that it's a small thing we can do to help the planet. Rebecca Goodman, Cambridgeshire Doddl baby to toddler feeding set £56.60 at Doddl Since I used the Doddl plate and bowl set, I've never looked back. They adapt with your child (the suction on the bottom can be removed), are dishwasher safe, and are made with biodegradable materials. I know you can get ones with, perhaps, more sustainable materials (I used Bamboo Bamboo, but you have to treat them with plenty of TLC), but these last a long time and are practical for everyday use. They also have a rehoming project for when you're finished with your set. Charlotte Stirling-Reed, baby and child nutritionist Heimess baby gym and walking heart bear £92.50 at Babipur Sign up to The Filter Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. after newsletter promotion Among all the plastic toys, flashing lights and earworm-inducing sound effects, this simple, plastic-free, wooden baby gym from Heimess has become my daughter's (and my) favourite. Watching her progress from staring at the dangling bears to finessing her fine motor skills on the small shapes has become a daily ritual, and it will grow with her, turning into a walking frame when she's ready. Despite being a hand-me-down that's already been used heavily by my two nieces, it's got plenty of life in it yet – and there's not a battery to change in sight. CA Burt's Bees baby shampoo and wash £8.99 for 236.5ml at Sephora£8.99 for 236.5ml at Amazon I use Burt's Bees on my 21-month-old boy, and it's been a lovely part of our daily routine. I started with the shampoo and wash when he was a newborn, and we've stuck with it ever since. It lathers well, rinses easily, is gentle on his skin, and leaves him smelling like a mix of honey, chamomile and that fresh baby scent you wish you could bottle up for ever. Monica Kranner, London Eco by Naty nappy bags £1.59 for 50 at Boots£1.59 for 50 at Amazon If I'm at home, I think nappy bags are completely unnecessary. Nappies go straight in the bin – just a normal bin, not a nappy bin, because they require more plastic and they don't stop the smell! For when I'm out and about, though, the 100% compostable bags by Naty are the best eco ones I've used: they don't rip, and hold up to having heavy nappies put in them. I only use them when I'm not near a changing room, because it's just extra plastic otherwise. Larissa Hazell, Essex Kokoso Baby natural baby hairbrush £7.99 at Kokoso Baby As well as being blessed with a dark brown mullet from birth, my daughter has had a side of cradle cap that we've tried to keep under control. Enter this baby hairbrush from Kokoso. Made from sustainably sourced beech wood and soft-yet-firm natural boar bristles, the brush is good for the planet and my daughter, gently removing the flakes while massaging her scalp in what has become a pre-bedtime ritual. CA Neal's Yard Remedies baby barrier cream £8 for 50g at John Lewis£8 for 50g at Neal's Yard Remedies An early case of nappy rash has seen all sorts of ointments applied to my daughter's behind, but a lot of the more intensive creams dried out her delicate skin as a scaly side-effect, and feature an ingredients list that will have you questioning. This barrier cream from Neal's Yard has none of the nasties and manages to balance protection with moisturising, keeping the area soft, supple and irritation free. CA Mori clever zip sleepsuit £32.50 at Mori£33 at John Lewis Secondhand is the most sustainable approach to dressing your little one, and rather than buying one-off pieces, it's possible to buy bundles of clothes on apps like Vinted for a fraction of the cost of new, helping your bank balance and the environment. If you're in the market for a super soft, eco-friendly option, though, Mori's sleepsuits are made from a blend of 70% bamboo and 30% organic cotton and retain their plush feel after countless wash cycles. CA Have you got any sustainable tips and tricks for bringing up a baby, or have you used an eco-friendly product that you'd highly recommend? If so, please email thefilter@ Charlie Allenby is a freelance health and fitness journalist who puts running and cycling gear through its paces on increasingly ridiculous endurance challenges. He became a parent last December, so has swapped Strava for sensory toys and now fits his exercise in around changing nappies and entertaining his daughter