You’d have to be living in a tiny hole to not have heard about the clamp down on the worlds plastic crisis. It is crazy to think of how much this product has caused such an impact on the environment, and something, that for me, was always a problem waiting to escalate. I remember when I was in primary school, back in the early 90’s, we’d have some classes where we’d watch videotapes (yes that long ago), and there was one about recycling and landfills. I remember, and still to this day can visualise the image of the UK map, where it explained how much waste we generate. That was in the very early 90’s, I can’t even begin to think about where we are now.
I’m very pro-environmental health, I want future generations to have a chance at seeing the animals we love and being able to go in the sea without fear of waste. There have been so many horror stories emerge, but I finally feel like we’ve made an incredible turn, to actually do something. I’m incredibly passionate about it, and whilst we can’t change each other, we can do something individually, so I want to talk about some simple and easy switches to cut down on plastic use.
Coffee cups
Whilst those lovely take away cups look like they will be environmentally friendly they are actually lined with a plastic case. You already know what I’m going to suggest, but reusable coffee cups! I just ordered some of the bamboo ones, and I’m planning on having one in my handbag and one in the cupboard at home in case I need it to go. You can get those Stoji collapsable ones which look pretty easy to take anywhere.
Eco-coffee cups £10.95
Milk
This one is often quite tricky and I’m still trying to get a balance myself. We used to have the milkman when I was younger, but it is expensive. You’ll get a 4 pint of milk from the supermarket for £1.50 but 1 pint from the milkman is 81p. If you drink a lot of milk this is a tough one. I do. I like cereal, tea and coffee, so I’ve tasked myself to cut down on my milk in the hope to move to two pints from the milkman. Sainsbury’s did do milk bags which are far better in recycling terms and cost wise, if like me you love milk to the point of it being a big cost to use a milkman, however, I believe that has stopped now. It might be worth tracking down your local farm that sells milk, as not only will you be able to take your own reusable storage container, you’ll also get super fresh milk.
Toothbrushes
Manual plastic toothbrushes? Well, they’re plastic! You can’t pick up bamboo made toothbrushes for super cheap from places like eBay or Amazon and they do the job just the same, except these ones are environmentally friendly. Just think of how many toothbrushes people go through…
Environmental Bamboo Toothbrush – £2.95
Water bottles
How many of you pick up a bottle of water in a meal deal? I was guilty of this but decided that enough was enough. I now find it super hard to get a drink in a meal deal due to the overwhelming amount of plastic. You can pick up stainless steel water bottles often with a carabiner that you can attach to your bags for on the go. Like coffee cups, it can be initially hard to remember to take these things with you, but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll find it as a routine. The one below is rather expensive, but it’s also quite fun, but you can pick up plain ones for a few pounds.
Chilly’s Avocado Stainless Steel Waterbottle – £25.00
Groceries
Hate to say this but the big supermarket shop is probably the worse in terms of plastic. So much packaging just around you solo avocado, so what is the best way to do it? Find your local market. You’ll get far more for your money anyway! Many will supply a brown paper bag, but if you take reusable bags, you’ll be doing that little bit extra. A lot seem to think that you’ll have to go to some hippy health food shop to get things like this, but simply going to your local market will help not only those small independent suppliers, your purse strings, but most importantly the environment. Find where your local market is here.
How else to help
There are many more ways you can make switches, but these are all the places I have initially started with. You can’t do it all in one go, we’re creatures of habit but little steps are massive. It is hard, but with a little legwork, it is quite simple. I’ve just volunteered with Surfers Against Sewage in my local area, to help combat the impact of unrecycled plastic has on the environment, and I urge anyone else to try to get involved. It doesn’t have to be at the sea, there is big litter picks going on all the time. I often have to litter pick near where I live. People have picnics in the summer and leave rubbish. It is just ridiculous. It’s our time to act, so do what we can and do it now.
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