The excessive amount of single-use plastic that is currently used has become an increasingly bigger issue that we need to deal with. There are a number of fantastic groups and petitions pushing this forward to raise awareness and policies to help reduce the amount we use (check out Surfers Against Sewage, one of our favourites). Here are our favourite three tips to cut down on the amount we use every day.
1 - Buy a reusable water bottle
Investing a small amount into getting a reusable water bottle, such as a Klean Kanteen can go a long way to cutting down the amount of plastic we use, getting rid of the need for plastic water bottles. Make sure to pop your bottle into your bag whenever you head out, and use Refill to find your nearest free top-up point.
2 - Change your bathroom products
Rather than buy a new bottle of shower gel and shampoo every couple of weeks, and in turn, burning through plastic bottles, you can replace both with soap bars. Rather than use shower gel you can go old school and replace with a bar of soap, working out cheaper in the long run and leaving no plastic behind. You can also go one step further and purchase a specific shampoo bar of soap leaving the need for a plastic bottle of shampoo far behind.
Furthermore, you can switch up your toothbrush for a plastic-free alternative, with one of the most popular replacements being a bamboo-based brush. Another massive, and usually forgotten about, contributor to plastic are wipes (of many varieties). So rather than use a wipe to clean your face and take make-up off, change it up for a flannel that you can reuse and hand wash clean over and over.
3 - Replace your household items
Instead of buying a new dishcloth every couple of weeks, look at getting a bamboo reusable brush to wash your dishes. Rather than use plastic-based dusters and cloths, find an old t-shirt and start dusting down!
There are great schemes that are beginning to pop up more and more where you can get deliveries every week for most your daily products in glass, reusable and recyclable bottles. You can get your usual stuff delivered, such as Milk and Orange juice, but you can now take it a little further and get some of your cleaning products in reusable packaging such as your washing up liquid. Look online for your local service - an example of our local Manchester service M20 Refills.
It's also worth keeping an eye out for brands that are making positive changes, and supporting them how you can. Ecover are doing lots to move in the right direction, with refill stations opening up in plenty of stores so you can just top up your washing up liquid in a reusable bottle.
Hopefully these small ideas can help inspire and push you to start making easy changes to your life in order to live plastic free, and therefore more sustainably.