{"id":7498,"title":"Plastic Free Packaging","description":"Plastic pollution is in the media a lot these days and rightly so, it is a massive problem.   Here at Winnie & Wellie we are pleased to say that are products are plastic free, even our packaging.","content":"<h2>We Say No to Plastic<\/h2><h2><strong>Plastic pollution is in the media a lot these days and rightly so, it is a massive problem.<\/strong><\/h2><h3><strong>So we wanted to let you know that here at Winnie &amp; Wellie, we are pleased to say that not only are our products plastic free but our packaging is too.<\/strong><\/h3><h3>We are so proud of that fact that we thought we would blog about!!<\/h3><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/wnyhny0AZYSoySrQL9oEh2TfbJf5PUus85lEqKhV8hMVeQXe.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60316174\" \/><br \/><br \/>Before we tell you about our awesome packaging, here are some shocking facts about plastic pollution and how it is polluting our world.<\/h3><h3>1.\u00a0Since plastic was invented, everything that has ever been made from this material still exists.<\/h3><ul><li><p>Most plastic will not decompose as it is not compostable or biodegradable. Instead after around 400 years (yes, that's 400!) it will start breaking up and \u201cphoto-degrade\u201d. This means it will more than likely turn in to tiny, little bit of plastic which will be even harder to avoid. These micro particles will be everywhere, even in us!<\/p><\/li><li><p>Sadly, half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years.<\/p><\/li><\/ul><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/kQmyHxnHVVfx2uOhANkrHOVb7DpSovdUBAeddhEGEvKoLF3e.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60317104\" \/><br \/><br \/>2. Take a minute to try and picture what 700 <em>billion<\/em> plastic bottles would look like - well that is equivalent to 10% of the plastic we use every year that ends up in our oceans.<\/h3><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/36NrWTnaWS9flTubr8O1hTCZlIE4K8g5E8F0ZwhvOepbigBh.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60317467\" \/><br \/><br \/>3. Millions of birds, fish and other marine animals are killed or injured every year by discarded plastic waste.<\/h3><ul><li><p>This is either by ingestion and starvation or entanglement. It is not only the animals in our oceans that are impacted, our land animals are suffering too.<\/p><\/li><li><p>Additionally, more than 90% of all birds and fish are believed to have those plastic particles, that we mentioned earlier, in their stomachs.<\/p><\/li><\/ul><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/SxIUB8V9M5IPmKm4b5fwb2cLG6Hz475fHXwfpuEXMXLgIC9F.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60316652\" \/><br \/><br \/>4.<strong>The average time that a plastic bag is used for is \u2026 12 minutes.<\/strong><\/h3><p>Yes, just 12 minutes, but that's not the worst part, they then take up to a 1,000 years to break up and as you now know, not completely disappear either.<\/p><h3><br \/><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/Ln3b08256stQE5es01BitBhDoBqRclAIwY3tMQhEYotN0JIZ.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60318686\" \/><br \/><br \/>5. <strong>73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic<\/strong><\/h3><ul><li><p>Once this litter finds its way into the oceans then there is really no getting it back as it is very difficult to retrieve<\/p><\/li><li><p>A large proportion of plastic beach litter comes from plastic bottles<\/p><ul><li><p>Did you know that it takes more water to produce a plastic bottle than it actually holds<\/p><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><p>Plastic pollution costs the economy millions, whether it is through the destruction of marine life and ecosystems or the cost of the cleanup of oceans and beaches<\/p><\/li><\/ul><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/upkOpCZup24uyIsCbxQzeKn9uJUbZux7XqgQHJAPL8rhBNaF.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60317789\" \/><br \/><br \/>So what's the answer to this worldwide plastic disaster?<\/h3><p>The answer in the long term is for it not to get out there in the first place. This can be achieved by better recycling, reducing plastic use, especially single use plastic products and better product design.<\/p><p>Which is where our fantastic packaging comes in here at Winnie &amp; Wellie, kindly and cleverly produced for us by our partner company, Teemill.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/aSKf2VWxKBKONQfcPbowAGzMvay3Yd67ByMCpv1wB2GBsUwc.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60364014\" \/><br \/><br \/>When you receive your purchase you will find that is comes in a brilliantly designed paper bag, but not just any old paper bag, this is specially manufacture to be rip proof and splash proof.<\/p><p>Hand in hand with removing plastic comes recycling and Teemil are looking into ways of making the labels out of recycled, organic cotton cutoffs, left over from the production of our t-shirts, which is real innovative stuff!<\/p><p>If you look carefully you will see that the drawings on the bag are ocean creatures amongst plastic pollution, highlighting the terrible impact plastic pollution is having on marine life.<\/p><p>\ud83d\udc2c\ud83d\udc33\ud83d\udc0b\ud83d\udc1f\ud83d\udc20\ud83e\udd90\ud83e\udd91\ud83d\udc19\ud83e\udd9e\ud83e\udd80<\/p><h3>Get All Creative<\/h3><p>As good as the paper packaging is, we think it would be great if it had more than one use after it has done a great job of delivering your goodies. One thing we suggest is to get all creative and rather than just throwing the bag in the recycling bin, why not get those creative juices flowing and find new ways to use it. If you look on our first blog you will see we created origami butterflies. You can even colour it it if you like and put it on the wall \ud83d\ude03<\/p><h3><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/AsVLEt218jebNH40juJxaVU1OJX4HXHqExS6PYxA3J6gvlhb.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60359577\" \/><br \/><br \/>Some Good News<\/h3><p>The points at the beginning of the blog do make pretty grim reading, so here are a few positive changes and initiatives that are making a difference here in the UK:<\/p><ul><li><p>Banning plastic straws and stirrers<\/p><\/li><li><p>Removing single use plastic carrier bags<\/p><\/li><li><p>No more plastic cotton buds<\/p><\/li><li><p>No more plastic micro beads in personal care products<\/p><\/li><li><p>Discouraging the use of plastic bottles and coffee cups<\/p><\/li><\/ul><p>But of course we can all do more and as consumers we can help drive this forward. If we demand less plastic, buy less plastic, recycle and re-use, then change can happen.<\/p><h3><strong>Here are some ideas to help you reduce your plastic usage:<\/strong><\/h3><p>1. Switch to natural products that don't come in plastic bottles, for example getting back to a bar of soap and you can even buy shampoo bars these days too.<\/p><p>2. Take you own re-useable bags to the shops (we have a great selection of roomy tote bags perfect for this).<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/jsBjjA7MpYNtlD0oviA9wtXNHvHPKL7AG7SIIuAbs8YvtTEc.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60361411\" \/> <br \/><br \/><br \/>3. Take a re-cycled cup to the coffee shop and carry your own refillable water bottle. (Hopefully by now there won't be any plastic stirrers around either.\ud83e\udd1e)<\/p><p>4. When you shop at the supermarket, try and avoid the pre-packed, in plastic, fruit and veg, and pick out your own. Also try and avoid processed food, as this tends to come with lots of plastic packaging. Why not think about ordering a delivery from your local farm shop or organic suppliers - these should come in boxes, hopefully plastic free of course!<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/rbBlkRqvF87qdEnzaE9wpnfvSOiKAx7TNwol7uWsBYkX6M6M.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60361654\" \/><br \/>5. Avoid synthetic fibre clothing such as polyester and acrylic. These contain tiny bits of plastic fibre that can find their way into the water course when you stick them in the washing machine. A single washing cycle can release 700,000 microscopic fibres, so that's why our organic cotton products are so great, as they contain only natural fibres.<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/cvJ1Qwaw9ZkCrTc2IsqDffR3zj1O4nvujOAf0bIDLPELZcqC.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60362155\" \/><br \/><br \/><br \/>6. Reduce your clothing consumption and be more conscious of what you are wearing and where it comes from. Our t-shirts are ethically produced and they are great quality, so made to last. Not only that, once they have seen better days, they are designed to be sent back to the producer to be re-cycled in to more t-shirts. This circular fashion initiative is the real game changer in the drive to reduce waste! \ud83d\udc4f<\/p><p>7. Recently seen in the news - shock, horror, the humble tea bag can contain plastic! So either buy brands that don't or switch back to the good old loose tea, a teapot and strainer!<\/p><p><img src=\"https:\/\/images.teemill.com\/nYBljU3lt9nFH8BblRt8bgn5kMSCtEzGtjZlKMTRQZ0Pac74.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=auto\" alt=\"\" title=\"60363777\" \/><br \/><br \/>So, now you know why we are proud of our packaging and we hope that you enjoy yours when you get it and know you are doing your bit towards reducing plastic consumption.<br \/><br \/>Winnie &amp; Wellie x<\/p><p><\/p><p>Previous Post <a href=\"https:\/\/winnieandwellie.com\/blog\/gardening-for-bees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gardening For Bees<\/a><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p><p><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><br \/><\/p>","urlTitle":"we-say-no-to-plastic","url":"\/blog\/we-say-no-to-plastic\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/we-say-no-to-plastic\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/winnieandwellie.com\/blog\/we-say-no-to-plastic\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1600374419,"updatedAt":1605110857,"publishedAt":1600812735,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":68406,"name":"Winnie & Wellie"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/7y1pQSsOezj2ooHtIenzN2Mk0PIoX263g1FEfiR6NHSGr7ml.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/7y1pQSsOezj2ooHtIenzN2Mk0PIoX263g1FEfiR6NHSGr7ml.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/7y1pQSsOezj2ooHtIenzN2Mk0PIoX263g1FEfiR6NHSGr7ml.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":null,"metaDescription":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":12581,"title":"One Tee One Bee","url":"\/blog\/one-tee-one-bee\/","urlTitle":"one-tee-one-bee","division":68406,"description":"Read our One Tee One Bee facebook post to find out all about this great offer this weekend!","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/psbgqri5ouc6jitnawf9bhpfxin9xvuuit76vareg6jh5oh6.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/psbgqri5ouc6jitnawf9bhpfxin9xvuuit76vareg6jh5oh6.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":6679,"title":"Not All Organic Cotton Is Created Equal","url":"\/blog\/not-all-organic-cotton-is-created-equal\/","urlTitle":"not-all-organic-cotton-is-created-equal","division":68406,"description":"How organic is your t-shirt?\nAt Winnie & Wellie all our products are made from certified organic cotton but as the title says, not all organic cotton is made equal.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/l7cmaYqMfe0qUuQPmnGAa2eemWEFgASfuEdknoB7IFAM9NSJ.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/l7cmaYqMfe0qUuQPmnGAa2eemWEFgASfuEdknoB7IFAM9NSJ.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":12729,"title":"Saving Our Pollinators","url":"\/blog\/pollinators\/","urlTitle":"pollinators","division":68406,"description":"Want to know how you can help Save Our Polinators?  Check out our list of organications that are involved in the conservation of these vital insects.  Click on the links to visit their sites to find out more.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vhojie1otnbct404ypd8rutsk2zo0fpntwdofsz8wcgz65m2.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/vhojie1otnbct404ypd8rutsk2zo0fpntwdofsz8wcgz65m2.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}