The harm that the excess use of plastic is doing to the planet is three-fold. It wastes energy and resources as it’s made, it pollutes the environment when it’s thrown away, and because it does not degrade, plastic also slowly leaches out chemicals that are dangerous to both animal and human life. The good news is there are some easy ways we can all reduce our plastic consumption in the home, and our lives outside of the home. Read on to find out what they are.
Invest in a foldaway shopping bag
Plastic bags are not only terrible for the environment but they cost money to buy now too. That is why it makes perfect sense to stop buying plastic bags for groceries and use your bags instead.
A clever way of doing this is to invest in a few foldaway bags, which can be kept in your bag, coat, or car so you will always have one when you need them Although you could follow the instructions below and crochet your shopping bags too.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GcuFJcBl36g" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>Find cleaning supplies that offer refill stations
A major source of single-use plastic use in the home is cleaning supplies and products. Indeed, you’ll notice that most of them come in plastic bottles, packets or pouches. To that end, if you want to reduce your plastic use it’s a good idea to find supplies that are working to reduce the amount of plastic used.
One option for this is to look for products in supermarkets that offer eco-refills. These will contain the same amount of product as you usually buy, just in a much smaller container so less plastic is wasted.
Another option is to shop for your cleaning materials at a store that has refill stations. These are large containers of your product that you can then dispense into your bottles. Some people even invest in metal or glass bottles to avoid having to use plastic altogether with this method.
Refuse disposable plastic cutlery
While disposable plastic cutlery may seem convenient at the time, they create a great deal of waste. Some people try to get around this by washing and reusing disposable plastic cutlery, but this is a bad idea too, as it’s made from plastic that is not intended to withstand heat, and often includes BPAs or BPA alternatives that can be dangerous to human health.
Indeed, many people do not understand that putting plastic in dishwasher is not always a good idea. The reason is that there is a range of plastics that are not designed to be reused or made without BPA could be damaging to the health of those using them!
That is why instead of using disposable cutlery it’s best to invest in a travel cutlery set that you can keep in your bag and use whenever the need arises.
Replace plastic straws with metal
Plastic straws, as many restaurants and retailers have now realized, are very bad for our oceans. This is because of the sheer volume of straws that is used every single day! The good news is that you can skip using plastic straws at home very easily. Instead, just replace them with metal, bamboo, or one of the other kinds of reusable ones on the market, as they can be washed and reused over and over again.
