Think about the amount of packaging you are throwing away every week, just from essentials. Now think about the amount of that which is plastic… It’s not a very nice image, is it?
The average person in the UK drinks 1.4 litres of milk per week, according to ahdb.org.uk. That’s roughly a carton and a half worth of packaging thrown away every time – and you’re lucky if you’ve managed to finish it all before its use-by date.
Milk is not the only issue here – you’ve got other food products, hygiene products and beauty products taking up more and more space in the landfill. Shampoo and conditioner are daily necessities that are also plastic polluters. And so many of us wouldn’t want to be without shaving cream, mascara, moisturiser or other daily use toiletries, would we?
What if we said there’s a solution to this that makes our environmental impact that bit smaller? Drum roll please… dehydrated goods – a great way to reduce our waste as a society. Alongside saving your pennies, dehydrated food goes a long way, and packs a whole lot more into one container than your average hydrated liquid product. This reduction of packaging is crucial to slowing the amount of packaging that gets thrown in the recycling bin, because you simply won’t create as much waste.
Take Overherd oat milk powder as an example for this, just one lightweight pouch of oat milk powder contains enough to make 8 litres of the stuff. Now put that lightweight pouch next to 8 Tetra Pak cartons… that’s a pretty big difference, right?
Plant-based milk is mainly made up of water, which is being transported around in lorries all around the country, and the world at large – resulting in a large carbon footprint. Why put out so many emissions for cartons that are full of water? A lorry full of milk powder would be able to feed so many more people than a lorry full of milk cartons for this exact reason – there’s no water. You just need to do the last step of rehydrating your product at home, and this allows you to customise your food in any way you like, whether you want it thicker or thinner; your exact chosen preference.
Do you ever throw something away which still has food in it, and thought to yourself “I should’ve used that faster”? Dehydrated products are the answer to your food waste woes, because you can make just the amount you need, and nothing more. If you’re living on your own or are the only person with certain dietary preferences in your household, you can make just the amount that’s suitable for you – because sometimes, a whole package of food is too much to consume within its shelf life.
This low waste option can work in other areas too. For your cleaning product needs without all the excess plastic, Smol is an amazing alternative to buying bottles upon bottles of supplies. In true dehydrated fashion, you simply take a tablet, pop it into a reusable bottle and add some water. Et voila… and the environment will appreciate you for it! Other great brands including Vox and Blueland are also using this approach, giving us a growing selection of choices.
There are beauty brands that are hopping on the dehydration train, such as The Powder Shampoo. Pretty much what it says About on the tin, with no plastic, 0% water and a completely vegan formula and they offer refillable containers together with an option to buy refill pouches. Awake Organics also have a plastic free packaging for their powder shampoo, all made in the UK.
Dehydrated products can be one step towards an eco-friendly, plant-based lifestyle. Less packaging, lower transport emissions and preventing waste.
Written by Hannah Barrett Overherd in collaboration with The Local Vegan
THE LOCAL VEGAN 