According to Plastic Oceans, each year produces over 300 million tonnes of plastic, half of which is merely for single-use. A shameful 8 million tonnes of this taints our oceans annually. It’s time to make some plastic free swaps. The planet is choking on plastic.
It’s quite on trend to sprawl #savetheturtles over your Instagram and warn about the effects of plastic straws (which is great!), but the issue runs so much deeper than that. The marine life is suffering. The wildlife is suffering. And if we keep feeding plastic to our oceans, we will eventually suffer too. Here are 5 ways you can reduce your plastic use:
1. Hemp Shopping Bag
Plastic bags are suffocating the earth. It’s common knowledge that plastic carrier bags are bad for the environment, but there are conflicting opinions about exactly how long your used plastic bags will hang around. While some say it’s 1-5 centuries, some reports state that it can be as long as 1000 years! Discontinuing the sale of these bags completely is the way forward. Until this happens, tackle the problem yourself by opting out of using disposable bags and switching to a reusable one. The popularity of reusable carrier bags is growing. They can be made out of fabric such as cotton or canvas, or even recycled plastic bags! Hemp shopping bags are very eco-friendly, incredibly strong and weather resistant. Hemp also looks great, so even the most style-conscious of us can do the earth a favour and make the switch to the first of these plastic free swaps.
2. Copper Drinking Bottle
Landfill welcomes over a million plastic bottles every single minute, where they then take 450 years to decompose. You don’t have to be a genius to recognise that this is a problem and needs to be combatted ASAP. Making the tiny switch to a reusable bottle is something we should all be doing. We often see reusable plastic or stainless steel bottles, but copper drinking bottles are also a thing. Apparently copper has a number of health benefits, including better digestion, slowing down ageing and even beating anaemia.
3. Plant-Based Dish Sponge
Plastic can easily sneak its way into our lives, even through our dish sponges! Many conventional sponges have a short life span and have to be thrown away every few weeks. As they’re not recyclable, this type of plastic waste builds up. They may not be in our homes for very long, but a dish sponge containing plastic may not decompose for a whopping 52,000 years! But luckily for us, there are now plant-based sponges available. Cellulose, walnut shells and agave twine can all be made into sponges. These plant-based alternatives are much kinder to the environment. If you’re looking to create a zero waste bathroom, there are similar products available as a replacement to plastic loofahs. Make the swap and keep the earth as clean as your home.
4. Vintage Pen and Ink
It may not have even crossed your mind that even your pens could be having a negative effect on the environment. Made almost entirely of plastic, an estimated 15 million pens are sold each day. But instead of adding your pen to the already massive pile, write off this problem by using using an eco-friendly alternative such as a vintage pen and ink. This traditional alternative may make you feel like you’re back in the 18th century, but it’s definitely worth a shot. If you’re not keen to do too much time travelling however, you could always invest in a fountain pen with a refillable ink cartridge. There are some beautiful sustainable pens available and you could even up your calligraphy skills while you’re at it. If enough people realise the enormous effects of pen waste, then maybe the problem will run out as fast as their ballpoints.
5. Glass Jars and Zero Waste Stores
Supermarkets use so much plastic. Although some stores do make an effort to cut down on their plastic use, the artificial material isn’t being abolished any time soon. While we can’t force supermarkets into going plastic-free, we do have the power to vote with our dollar and spend our money at more eco-friendly establishments. More and more zero waste stores are popping up, signifying a demand in the market. Invest in some glass jars, find your local store and get yourself down there armed with your new crockery, ready to save the planet.
