Plastic is THE hot topic at the moment, thanks largely to the work of Sir David Attenborough and his wonderful team who worked on Blue Planet II; the series that shone a light on what plastic is doing to our oceans and the extent of the problem.
Since this series aired, there has been a noticeable decline in some everyday plastic uses and more and more people are making changes in their lives and asking how they can reduce their plastic consumption.
If you want to know why plastic is so bad, you can read thousands and thousands of articles about it all over the internet. Instead of writing a depressing post about what a terrible state plastic has got us into, and more doom and gloom, I am going to offer 10 everyday things everyone can do to reduce their plastic consumption. The little changes DO make a difference in the long term, especially when adopted by as many people as possible.
"It's just one straw" said 7 billion people.
- Don't use straws. I have noticed in more and more bars and clubs, straws are not just handed out now and are not in reach of the bar; you have to request them. I think this is brilliant because it will dramatically reduce the number of straws these establishments go through a day.
- Buy a wooden toothbrush.
- Use tea leaves instead of tea bags. There is plastic in tea bags, so even if you put your bags in the compost, it will not all break down and adds to plastic pollution.
- Re-use shopping bags. In supermarkets all over the world now, plastic bags are not free. Save yourself 5p and help the environment by re-using your bags, or using alternative bags for your shopping.
- Stop buying plastic water bottles. Use a reusable bottle and keep it with you.
- Do the same for your coffee (or bag-free tea) on the go. Many coffee shops even offer discounts now for sustainable cups for takeaway coffee. If you forget your cup, ask for your coffee without a lid.
- Buy products from cardboard boxes rather than plastic bottles when given the choice - i.e. washing detergent.
- Buy loose vegetables to cut down on packaging.
- Use bars of soap, instead of liquid hand soap.
- Use razors with replaceable blades, rather than disposable razors.
This very short list took me about 6 minutes to write. There are hundreds of ways to cut down on plastic, and so I will inevitably come back to this issue time and time again.
The point I mostly wanted to highlight with this list though is, often where there is plastic, there is a plastic-free alternative (or an alternative that re-uses plastic or reduces the amount of plastic).
No one is perfect, and I'm not telling you to live a 100% plastic-free life from now on. I know that's unrealistic. However, what we can all do as individuals is think about what we are doing to the environment, make sensible choices and small changes, and reduce plastic pollution.
 |
| Found on Google Images. |
