How to Reduce Plastic In your daily life
One of my 2020 Resolutions is to use less plastic, and honestly, I’m embarrassed that this is still an issue for me now that we know how much harm it’s doing to our planet. But the important part is that I’m consciously making an effort/goal to do better. I’m not promising that I’ll be the most eco-conscious person you follow, but I do think little habits add up – especially if we’re all doing our part. With that, here’s how to limit plastic in your own life…
+ Reusable bags
I’m not just talking about reusable shopping bags, though that’s a start. There are also reusable produce bags, zip locks, etc. that hugely reduce the plastic waste problem. I’ll link more favorites in the Shop section to the right.
+ Straws
LOL first of all…who remembers the straw troll issue?! Since then, I’ve been obsessed with this specific straw because it’s the best (I’ve tried A LOT). I try to carry a couple in my car for on-the-go coffee drinks or whatever, and we use them non-stop in the house. Capri likes them as well.
+ Glass Tupperware
Glass is not only better health-wise (BPA free), but it holds up MUCH better than plastic. Instead of wasting money and plastic on…plastic, invest in a glass set like this.
+ Toys
Capri has a lot of toys and a lot of her toys are plastic. In fact, the entire child toy market is a huge contributor to our plastic problem. Again, this is an area we need to improve and I’m begging my family to stop buying her so much sh*t in general. There are a lot of non-plastic options like wood toys, etc., but if you do own plastic as we do, do your part to pass down toys and swap with friends instead of buying more. I know a lot of donation places don’t accept toys because they are hard to clean, so I’d start with your friend group and then places like Facebook Market.
+ To-go cups
Again, an area of improvement for me this year. I’m vowing to use a reusable to-go coffee cup that I can bring in to Starbucks or wherever. I’m already good about using a glass water bottle and we rarely have plastic water bottles in our house. If anything, paper water boxes like Flow are better on the environment.
+ Don’t support plastic as a consumer
Some of the people I follow who are a lot more knowledgeable about sustainably than I am (like Geri Hirsch) have brought up the issue of plastic in our grocery stores, which TBH, I hadn’t thought of before. I’m not there yet, but if you really want to a step further, support the stores that use less plastic when packing groceries, produce, etc. Or instead of buying the apples in a plastic bag, throw your own into your reusable produce bag, or use the bins for your grains, oatmeal, candy, etc. instead of the plastic-wrapped option.
I obviously still have a lot to learn, but I feel good about starting with these items. If you have more ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Who else is working on less plastic in 2020?