10 Effortless Ways You Can Reduce Your Plastic Footprint

For a while now, I’ve had reservations about how my household (and I specifically) have been doing a bad job of looking at our relationship with plastic responsibly.  Whilst things have gotten better, there is still more to do.  When my son came home from school recently though, talking about the damage plastic is doing to aquatic wildlife and asking if we were hurting the creatures affected by this.  I found myself in the difficult position of thinking maybe we are… and with that I would like to be better and help others who want to do better too.

This post, although not my typical topic, is done with my six-year-old boy in mind and what he thinks I should be making my readers aware of.  It also a reflection of some of the changes I have made and will be making in the coming weeks.

1. Ditch the Plastic Straws

In the last year, you might have heard a thing or two about plastic straws.  Politicians, businesses and communities alike have all been brought into the conversation.  Some might wonder why.

The UNEP published statistics about plastic waste in the ocean that stated that over 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped into the ocean each year but straws are a tiny percentage of this.  However, the quantity is not insignificant, they are a prominent item found in beach clean-up operations and there have been some high-profile cases of marine life being harmed by plastic straws.

One reason why straws are a good target for change is that they are a low-hanging fruit, an achievable goal.  Both consumers and businesses alike have a number of more ecologically friendly options available to them.  The awareness raised in 2017 and 2018 especially has helped to show this.

So, the first simple change you could make is switch to reusable or paper straws (reusable being preferential here).  This seems like a no-brainer.

2. Move to Reusable Bags

Convenience is a killer and it is believed that a single plastic bag could take up to 1,000 years to degrade.  No-one really knows how many carrier bags are used it’s expected to be something around 500 billion worldwide.  Since the UK introduced the plastic bag charge, there has been a staggering almost 90% drop in usage but there’s still room for more inside and outside of the UK to follow suit.

If you haven’t, join the trend and make this small lifestyle change.

3. Switch or Ditch Gum

Chewing gum is the world’s second most common form of little, it is difficult and expensive to deal with and most traditional gums are made with synthetic plastics, this means they will not biodegrade.

There are plastic free gums available now, although they’re still quite rare.  You could seek these out if dropping the habit isn’t an option for you.

4. Avoid Plastic Bottles (Use Reusable Bottles)

The most discarded item worldwide is plastic bottles. Billions of new bottles are created every year and recycling them is not always simple and straightforward. In fact sometimes it doesn’t happen at all due to contamination, or issues with the labels/lids on the bottles.

Addressing this on a consumer level is difficult though, as most bought drink comes in a plastic bottle.  So, do a number of other products (including cleaning/washing products).  For this reason, the most common advice you’ll receive is to carry a refillable bottle and there’s even an app you can get now which helps you find the closest place you can refill.  Taking this approach rather than buying bottled water helps.  Of course that assumes that it’s bottled water you’re drinking not soda (and switching to cans for soda, has other issues).

5. Don’t Cling on to the Cling Film

Foil is recyclable!  Cling film however is not.  This is a remarkably simple change to make.

When foil wont do the job though, there are alternatives such as Beeswax Wraps, reusable storage containers or sandwich packets/snack pockets.

6. Start Paying Attention to your Grocery Packaging

A major culprit of plastic waste that affects us all is food packaging.  So, much of it is unnecessary and only exists for convenience (looking at you fruit).

So, what can you do to reduce grocery packaging waste?

• Move to loose fruit. You can do this either via independent fruit retailers or even the big name supermarkets.  It’s a super easy change to make!
• Seek out #zerowaste retailers like Bare Bazaar (for my local readers).  Places like this offer package-free/eco-friendly ways to buy most of your grocery shop.  If you’re looking for places near you, The Zero Waster might be able to help.
• Where possible seek products in glass or cardboard packaging.
• Avoid (except where not possible) ready meals – which despite the cardboard sleeves are mostly plastic otherwise.

7. Check for Microbeads

In short; avoid products with polypropylene or polyethylene in them.  Basically, these are micro-plastics that degrade from other products that are added to a number of healthcare products such as toothpaste or facewash.  These teeny, tiny beads end up passing through our treatment facilities and into the oceans.

8. Get Milk from the Milkman Again

Plastic is bad, glass is good.  No-brainer.  Plus, the bottles get reused and recycled.  Why not look for a milk delivery service near you?

9. Cut out Disposable Razors

The plastic used with disposable razors takes a long time to degrade and the process of creating them is detrimental to the environment.

Some options here are to:

• • Move to a razor with a reusable head – these tend to last longer and produce less waste overall but aren’t a perfect option, not even close.
• • Switch to electric razors.  The power consumption is low.  They’re difficult to dispose of but they last a lot longer, which means less being produced.
• • Try a straight razor, much better for the environment overall but harder to use:

10. Stop Teabagging

Many teabags use a type of plastic to seal, polypropylene.  When you consider the sheer quantity of tea drunk in the UK alone, that’s a lot of microplastic being generated and disposed of each day!

Some brands, like PG Tips have moved over now, more are expected to do so.  Why not see if your brand has and either switch to one that does or to loose tea.

So, there we have it!  Ten simple changes to your life that will help reduce plastic pollution without making drastic lifestyle changes.  If you found this useful for informative, why not follow, like and share on Facebook.