Pant WI member Kelly Kraus experienced the other side of the speaker’s table at their April meeting, when she gave a presentation titled ‘Eco-friendly Swaps’.
Her talk encouraged members to consider many of the cleaning and beauty products they used on a daily basis – invariably not giving much thought to how potentially harmful they can be – and to seek alternative brands that were kinder to the planet, or even make their own from natural ingredients.
Starting off with the theme of recycling, Kelly gave an overview of the myriad recycling symbols we encounter on packaging and what they meant. Confusion over what a symbol was directing the consumer to do could mean that an item would not be recycled correctly, as could the common practice of ‘wishcycling’. This is where consumers have the best intentions and want to recycle but, in their enthusiasm to ‘do the right thing’, they put items in the wrong receptacle which means they end up at the wrong recycling site.
Many cleaning and beauty products are contained within single-use plastic or other packaging that is hard to recycle. Kelly’s statistic that the equivalent of 2,000 rubbish trucks of plastic was being dumped into our oceans every single day was a sobering thought for the ladies. However, recognising that trying to make more eco-friendly choices is often overwhelming, Kelly expertly guided them though the options. These included choosing products from the supermarket shelves that were more environmentally friendly, buying in bulk, or using refill shops. Also, some beauty brands will take back empty packaging.
Looking at the alternatives that are now widely available, Kelly explained how members could swap common single-use beauty products – such as cotton buds, disposable razors and face wipes – for more eco-friendly ones. Similarly, there are now products available that can replace items such as sponges, scourers, cling film and paper towels. The ladies agreed that navigating what was eco-friendly, and what was not, was sometimes a minefield. However, by making small changes to their buying habits, they could contribute to fewer items ending up in landfill and less plastic in our oceans, thereby benefitting and improving our environment. To help them in their endeavours, Kelly ended her talk by demonstrating how to make a cleaning solution from natural ingredients which they could take home to try.
The competition was an Easter table decoration. Linda Elliott took first place, Janet Jones was second and Sandra Hayward was third.
New members or anyone who is interested in coming along and finding out more about Pant WI, please get in touch at pantwi1931@gmail.com. Meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of every month at 7.15pm at Pant Memorial Institute. However, in May, members will be visiting The World of Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent.
