How to live life with less plastic!
Choose to refuse single-use plastic to do your bit for Plastic Free July! Whether you’re at home, eating out, at school, uni, or work, you can play your part. Read on for our top 10 tips:
TAKEAWAY TIP
Take a reusable coffee mug to your favourite takeaway café when you go to grab your usual coffee or hot choc. Most coffee cups are not recyclable so taking your own mug reduces waste.
PLASTIC-FREE PARTIES
Throw a zero-waste party by switching out balloons and plastic cups and decorations for paper bunting, tassels, cups and pom poms. Give glitter a miss, too – they contain micro-plastics, which can find their way into our rivers and oceans.
DITCH THE STRAW
Say no to plastic straws and go without or swap it for a paper one. You could even carry your own sustainable option in your bag if you really can’t go without a straw in your cold drink. You can buy straws made from bamboo, steel and even glass.
DENTAL SWAP
Choose a sustainable toothbrush made from bamboo. When you’re finished with it, just remember to cut the plastic bristles off before popping it in the recycling bin as these can’t be recycled.
SHOP SUSTAINABLY
Refuse to use single-use carrier bags and choose to carry reusable shopping bags. Plastic bags are incredibly dangerous to the environment and wildlife. Use a tote bag for small trips and sturdy reusable shopping bags for the ‘big shop’.
WATER BOTTLE WASTE
Forget single-use bottled water – invest in your own environmentally-friendly reusable bottle (made from stainless steel, glass or safe aluminium) and fill it from the tap.
LOVE YOUR LUNCH & LEFTOVERS
Avoid plastic cling wrap and pack your lunch in a sustainable way to keep it fresh. Wax wraps and containers make a great alternative, as do reusable silicone bowl toppers, which you can pop over the top of a glass bowl to keep food fresh.
SOAP SWAP
Pick up a bar of soap rather than hand wash and shower gels in plastic containers. Bar soap is often packaged in cardboard or paper, rather than plastic, and it also tends to last longer.
PLASTIC-FREE PERIOD
Girls, you can even have a plastic-free period! The packaging used for tampons, pads and applicators all have single-use plastic and, sadly, much of this will be flushed down toilets, causing all kinds of problems. You could try period underwear, washable cotton sanitary pads or a menstrual cup. Read more about period products here.
PLASTIC-FREE PARK
Get a group of like-minded friends together and head to your local park to do a spot of litter picking. This is a great way to make an immediate positive impact on the environment. Don’t forget gloves, water and buckets for waste – oh, and sun cream if the sun is shining!
For more ideas on how to reduce plastic or to take the Plastic Free July challenge, click here.
