In working towards self-sufficiency and a more ecologically aware lifestyle, I took up the challenge of going plastic free for a few months. I wanted to see what changes I could make and more importantly maintain. Some of the actions I took to limit my consumption of plastics included using an apple branch for a toothbrush with rosemary mouthwash and bicarb to replace the toothpaste, using Dr Bronners soap for my hair and body, exchanging plastic disposable razors for a metal one, using cloth pads during menstruation and finally refusing to purchase food wrapped in plastic. Many of the changes I made, I have kept up with, however there was also one big failure.

My plastic free trial started off well but towards the end of the month my throat started to get really scratchy and sore. A few days later, I came down with a terrible flu. It was so severe that I needed to take time off work. I was coughing badly, wheezing with every difficult breath and producing a lot of phlegm. Even after the flu passed, the cough lingered….and lingered….and lingered. My throat became scratchy all over again and I was on the verge of going through that terrible cycle of sickness once more, when I came across some articles on the internet that mentioned a link between oral hygiene and respiratory illnesses. Now, I had been diligently cleaning my teeth with my plastic free replacements, but I decided to switch back to a normal toothbrush and toothpaste just to see what would happen. Within one single day the coughing stopped and I felt fine again.

That’s not to say that plastic free versions won’t work for others, but whatever I was doing, I was obviously doing wrong. I won’t rule out trying alternate teeth cleaning tools in the future but, for now, I’m staying with the usual ones. I’ll change what I can but I won’t compromise my health. The changes I make need to be sustainable, not just in the environmental sense but also in the sense that I can keep it up.