Q&A with Non Plastic Beach
Discover Gareth and Nicola’s five top tips for reducing the use of plastic in your everyday life!
What is Non Plastic Beach?
“We sell alternatives to plastic. Basically, if it’s made of plastic, comes wrapped in plastic or contains plastic we provide an alternative that removes or reduces the plastic aiming to stop it ending up on the beach.
We make effective, affordable and sustainable alternatives to plastic, which we want to be at least as good as the plastic version, but usually better!”
What is Non Plastic Beach?
“We sell alternatives to plastic. Basically, if it’s made of plastic, comes wrapped in plastic or contains plastic we provide an alternative that removes or reduces the plastic aiming to stop it ending up on the beach.
We make effective, affordable and sustainable alternatives to plastic, which we want to be at least as good as the plastic version, but usually better!”
Why did you create Non Plastic Beach?
“We had both seen the impact of plastic while we were scuba diving in various parts of the world and decided we needed to cut our plastic consumption personally.
We started to replace items in the house and found that they were often poor quality, dishonestly described or arrived wrapped in plastic, so we decided we could do it better. It started off as a “side hustle” after too many glasses of Sauvignon Blanc, but became our full-time job as it grew and thrived.”
Why do you think cutting out plastic is so important?
“Less than 10% of plastic is recycled in the UK and much of what we use is impossible, difficult or expensive to recycle. In reality, much of what is “recycled” is actually downcycled as many plastics cannot create a product of the same quality (unlike glass or metal). Much of what goes in recycling bins actually ends up in landfill or burned as it is too dirty, contaminated or mixed up with other plastic types, this is sometimes known as wishcycling!
Some big manufacturers are launching genuine efforts to cut plastic, but many are rather cynical and actually not necessarily all they appear. Bottles of cleaning product that you can refill with a flexible pouch might have lower grams of plastic, but that plastic is flexible and difficult to wash out before recycling, so it is much less likely to be recycled than the bottle it came in.
By cutting plastic down or out of a product, you can make a contribution to reducing this recycling burden and use something that is easy to compost or recycle instead. This eliminates the “hope this gets recycled” as it goes in whatever coloured bin your council use.”
Why do you think cutting out plastic is so important?
“Less than 10% of plastic is recycled in the UK and much of what we use is impossible, difficult or expensive to recycle. In reality, much of what is “recycled” is actually downcycled as many plastics cannot create a product of the same quality (unlike glass or metal). Much of what goes in recycling bins actually ends up in landfill or burned as it is too dirty, contaminated or mixed up with other plastic types, this is sometimes known as wishcycling!
What is the non-plastic product that you couldn’t live without?
“We wouldn’t go back to bottled shampoo and conditioner now, I mean Gareth doesn’t have that much hair, but I do and I want it to look good. I have spent serious money on bottled shampoos that have not stood up to the performance of our bars and that is with somewhat highlighted and long hair.”
