Reusable Plastic: Tips to Help You Reduce Your Plastic Waste
In the thirty minutes it has taken you to get ready this morning, you have potentially used a total of 4 items made of plastic, including a toothbrush, coat hangers, sandwich bags, and a water bottle. However, all of these items can be swapped and changed for items that won't end up in landfill or become a threat to that of marine life.
In a bid to help reduce your plastic use, you can swap these everyday items for reusable plastics, or even not bother using plastic at all!
WHAT IS REUSABLE PLASTIC?
It sounds rather complicated, however reusable plastic is basically anything that you already use on a regular basis, however they aren't disposable. You may think that this is in fact worse, however it isn't. The best way I can explain this is by using examples.
Instead of buying a meal deal at your local supermarket for example, where your sandwich comes in a cardboard and plastic box, your drink comes in a plastic bottle and your crisps come in some sort of non recyclable packaging, make your own lunch at home, make a sandwich or a salad and whack it in a reusable Tupperware, bring an apple (the core of which is easily decomposable) and buy yourself a good quality reusable water bottle. By doing this, not only will you save money, but you'll also create zero unnecessary waste.
Small changes such as this can help you to reduce plastic waste on a day to day basis.
IMPACT OF PLASTIC IN OUR OCEANS
In the US alone, they produce enough waste from plastic bottles in a week to circle the planet 5 times. In 2012, a beached Sperm Whale died having ingested no less than 26 plastic items, which collectively weighed 8.1kg! Plastic dumped in our oceans doesn't only effect Whales, but as many as 600 other species, both marine and land animals. Albatross chicks are left starving as far out as the Pacific Ocean, thousands of miles away from human habitation, as their parents often mistake floating plastic debris for food. Not only this, but 70% of stranded dolphins on shores across the world, are found to have ingested plastic debris of some description.
There are two major problems that plastic waste creates for our marine animals, becoming entangled in it, or ingesting it. Dr Chris Wilcox (Research Scientist with the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research) estimated that between 5,000 and 15,000 turtles are entangled by discarded plastic items each year, and that's just off the coast of Northern Australia alone. As many as 90% of sea birds are ingesting plastic, mistaking it for consumable food, leaving their chicks to starve, which could lead to species extinction. Not only this, but the plastics that are being ingested can lead to gut blockages, or perforation of the intestines thanks to a toxic chemical called Phthalates, which also effects the animals' hormone system.
In 2010, thanks to "the most comprehensible study of plastic pollution", it was found that 192 nations across the world generated 275 million tonnes of plastic waste, 8 million tonnes of which ended up in the ocean that same year. By 2021, this figure is likely to double according to Dr Wilcox.
Plastic is made to be strong and durable, therefore it's life span in the ocean can amount to an extremely long time. A thin plastic bag, based on the conditions it has been subjected to in an ocean environment, could last as little as 6 months in the sea, however in the time it has been out there, it has already caused a lot of damage, and the debris left after it has been broken down could be ingested by dolphins, turtles and whales. However, a dense monofilament fishing line could last up to 600 years in the ocean, creating even more damage within the ocean.
In 2017, there was found to be an estimated 51 trillion plastic particles in our oceans.
11 TIPS TO HELP YOU REDUCE YOUR PLASTIC WASTE
1) Turn down the offer of a plastic straw
Yes, you could find yourself in McDonalds with a Diet Coke that you now think you can't drink, but the solution to that is simple, simply take the lid off and place it in the plastic section of the bin that McDonalds provide, or better still, ask for your drink to come without a lid when you place your order in the first place. If you know you're going to be ordering a milkshake for example, where a straw is needed perhaps more so, take your own reusable straw and again, ask for it to come without a lid.
2) Bring a reusable shopping bag
I can't stress this one enough. It is so much better for you to bring your own shopping bag with you, they're designed to be durable, so one should last you an incredibly long time. However when it comes to replacing your bag, dispose of the plastic ones in a responsible way. Supermarkets such as Sainsburys have special bins that are just for your old, unwanted plastics bags, where they can be recycled and not end up in the Atlantic, Pacific or Indian oceans.
3) Ask yourself, 'does this really need a bag?'
The next time you go shopping and buy a bunch of loose bananas, ask yourself, do they really need a plastic bag? They have their own skin, as do oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits and so on. Do you really need to put these in a plastic bag simply to make your life a little easier? If you need to put them in something, bring your own bag or seek out a paper one that can be recycled when you're finished utilising it.
4) Stop buying plastic water bottles
You do not need to buy bottled water. If you're really that concerned, please invest in a water filter, there are some super affordable ones out there that can filter out your tap water, making it safer for anyone to drink, think about the financial benefits as well. Yes, I know the filter is also plastic, however you can recycle the filters at special centres across the country, and it is also...yes you said it...reusable. Water filters last a long time and you don't even need to buy new ones, you can clean them out yourselves quite easily. It is also much better than throwing away twenty little plastic bottles a week (if you have a family for example).
In addition to this, and as a sub tip to the main one, be organised! If you're in a rush on your morning commute to work, you're more likely to ditch the reusable water bottle and buy a drink on the way to the station, but what happens at the end of the day when you've finished it? It ends up in a generic bin, and therefore, landfill. Being organised means you can fill up that reusable water bottle, take it out with you, use it, bring it home and wash it ready for the next day. In what way does that contribute to plastic waste? Don't just save that reusable bottle for the gym, take it everywhere with you, like I do with mine!
5) Ditch the sandwich bags
Instead of packing up your sandwiches in plastic bags, whack them in a Tupperware container instead, and like with the water bottle, use it, bring it home, wash it and use again. Simple right? Again, there's no plastic waste here either!
6) Stop using plastic cutlery
Unless the cutlery you get at M&S with your fruit pack is recyclable (which most of the time it isn't), then don't use plastic cutlery. But how will you eat your fruit pack? You don't. The fruit pack also comes packaged in unnecessary plastic, so avoid this as well if you can, instead, make up your own fruit salad in a reusable Tupperware container and more importantly, bring your own metal cutlery that can be washed and used again.
7) Choose cardboard over plastic where possible
Lets say you want a punnet of strawberries, and one pack comes in a plastic container wrapped in cellophane, and another comes in a cardboard box or a paper bag, then choose the latter option, not only is it recyclable, paper also biodegrades a lot quicker than plastic does should it end up somewhere it shouldn't. Or better still, make the most of this hot, sunny weather and pick your own fruit!
8) Swap your plastic toothbrush
1 billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown away each year in the US, creating approximately weighing up to 50 million pounds of waste annually. Yes you could swap it for electric, however you have the same trouble, you're eventually going to need a new brush head, so what would you do with the old one? Throw it away. Instead of plastic, opt for a bamboo made toothbrush. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, however when you come to throwing this one away, it will biodegrade within a 6 month time period, whereas a plastic toothbrush will never biodegrade and remain in the environment forever.
9) Stay away from scrubs with microbeads in them
I know what you're thinking, because I thought the same thing with this one as I really enjoy a good facial or body scrub, I feel it does the job and does it well. However, you can get scrubs that are just as good that don't contain microbeads, including salt scrubs and even ones that contain rice instead of tiny plastic balls. You can even buy exfoliators that don't contain any bits in them at all.
10) Choose metal/electric razors over plastic/disposable ones
Try and avoid disposable razors. You can still buy new blades for your reusable ones, or even switch to hair removal creams where appropriate. A disposable razor is basically the same as a plastic toothbrush, it will remain in the environment forever and more than likely, will never biodegrade.
11) Switch to wire/wooden coat hangers
Plastic coat hangers are a real pain when you come to disposing of them, so most people just whack them in the general bin and that's that. Please don't do this. There are supermarkets, such as Sainsburys (again, good job Sainsburys), who provide their customers with bins where they can recycle their unwanted, plastic coat hangers. You can avoid acquiring them in the first place by simply turning down the offer to take one home with you, unless you really do need one. There are some clothing stores that don't allow customers to take their plastic coat hangers home with them, something I believe should be done a lot more.
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Do the right thing, not the easy thing.
"The greatest threat to our planet, is the belief that someone else will save it" - Robert Swan
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