ABC Radio Melbourne / By Matilda Marozzi

Single-use plastics can be hard to avoid when gardening.(ABC News: Matilda Marozzi)

In any garden shedor store you can find dozens of plastic products, including old pots, tools, containers, or soft plastics full of fertiliser, dirt or compost.

If you’d like to cut down, permaculture educator Anna Matilda, also known as The Urban Nanna, shares five achievable ways to start.

For Ms Matilda that doesn’t mean “chucking out all your plastics and buying eco-friendly”.

“I need to take care of the things that I already have that are plastic,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

“And then make sure I’m not bringing in any new plastics, or buying things in plastic.”

To coincide with Plastic Free July, here are her tips:

1. Grow from seed (or source from people who do)

One of the hardest things to avoid are single-use plastic pots.

While there are sustainable alternatives available, including pots made from recycled cardboard or coconut fibre, Ms Matilda can’t think of any major Australian retailers or plant producers using these on mass.

One way to avoid new plastic pots is to grow things from seed.

“For a lot of people, that’s really daunting,” she says.

“Maybe you [could] aim at that in a few years’ time, and in the meantime see if there are some local people who are already growing from seed.”

Ms Matilda says local permaculture communities are a great place to find plants that have been grown locally in recycled pots.

The people involved may also be able to help you to start growing from seed yourself.

Plus, Ms Matilda says “people in permaculture communities are just always giving stuff away and swapping things” including seeds.

So, as well as reducing your plastic footprint, you may be able to save some money.

2. Reuse and recycle pots

Many gardeners will already have a pile of plastic pots somewhere in their yard.

Ms Matilda says finding ways to reuse or recycle them is a great way to reduce waste.

“If you do need bigger plastic pots, you know, if you want to upsize something … reuse those pots year after year,” she says.

“That means having a little space where you can store things effectively out of the sun, so they don’t degrade and break down with UV.”

If you don’t have a use for pots you already have, Ms Matilda recommends trying to give them away in a local community group rather than throwing them out.

Some nurseries or hardware stores also accept clean plastic pots for recycling.

You can also improvise and create your own pots by repurposing a tin can, cardboard toilet rolls or making pots out of recycled paper.

“You basically can just wind a bit of paper around a tin can and smoosh the end of it, so it closes off and it becomes a tiny little pot,” she says.

“The wonderful thing about them is that you can actually pick up each one and transplant it wholesale, as it is, without disturbing the roots.”

Egg cartons can also act as a good alternative to seed trays for shallow rooted, fast growing plants including peas and lettuce.

3. Buy or borrow quality tools

If you need a new piece of equipment Ms Matilda recommends trying to avoid cheap plastic tools, particularly ones that have lots of moving parts.

“They will break and then you’re left with a large tool that you can’t reuse and usually can’t recycle because it’s made up of lots of different bits and pieces,” she says.

Instead, Ms Matilda suggests saving up and buying good quality items.

“Made of metal if you can, and then take good care of it,” she says.

“Look at quality over quantity.”

If you can’t afford a $70 pair of secateurs right now, why not try and borrow?

“A lot of areas now have things called a tool library … where you can actually go and use really good quality tools that have been bought by this initiative, and they’re available to the community for free,” she says.

For those without a tool library in their area, Ms Matilda says it is always worth asking another gardener if you can borrow the piece of equipment you need.

4. Avoiding soft plastics

The soft plastics involved in buying compost, manure and potting mix is a big issue gardeners face when trying to go plastic free.

Ms Matilda says a great way to avoid some of this plastic is to get a worm farm or make your own compost.

It’s also a great way to reduce food waste.

“Making compost is basically acting like a forest floor and layering dry brown stuff and soft green stuff,” she says.

“It’s nowhere near as hard as you think.”

If you aren’t up for composting, Ms Matilda says your local gardening group may have a communal compost heap where you can go and fill up your own bag.

You could also try a no-dig garden bed, or buying in bulk from a local wholesale garden supplier.

“If you can, get a cubic metre delivered and it comes without packaging,” she says.

“If you don’t need that much you can try and get a group of gardeners together, share the supplies and split the bill.”

5. Speak up

While trying to avoid buying plastic is one solution, Ms Matilda says getting companies to stop selling new plastic could be even better.

Ms Matilda says we all have some power to vote for change with our dollar and our voice.

“Get upset about the amount of plastic that’s out there and become that person who writes an angry letter to a company and says ‘This isn’t good enough’,” she says.

“They’ll pass that up the line and eventually we should be seeing a bit more positive change.”