What do you do to reduce your use of single use plastics?
I really love the idea of reducing single use plastics in my life. What have you done to successfully reduce or eliminate it?
I am finding that there are things that I can replace stuff with but they don’t tend to work as well. If I can get like 90% efficacy out of a more eco friendly replacement then I’m good, but it’s been more like 50% so far.
Where are you struggling to eliminate or reduce single use plastics?
My approach is I avoid buying things with lots of single use plastics in their packaging. If you shop Amazon you can opt to prefer paper/cardboard packaging (it’s not always used though). I use reusable or no bags at the grocery store. Don’t use straws or use metal / silicone. But that just scratches the surface of common sources of single use plastics - I’m also into 3D printing which can be a bear to reign in plastics use, luckily more companies are moving to cardboard spools for example.
I have the Opinel Picnic+ Cutlery set and it is awesome. It’s a Opinel No.8 with a fork and spoon that can slide in, and all kept wrapped up in a cloth. It has completely replaced my need for plastic cutlery while out as I keep it in my man-purse (which is defined as a purse carried by a man).
I use my own container and utensils for takeaway, bring my own shopping bag, eat less fastfood, and do less online shopping, and also buy less cheap plastic stuff(because cheap stuff that is no good is just plastic waste/e-waste). Not sure what i can do more because almost all groceries comes with one use plastic.
I have a few water bottles, I take my bags for life when I go shopping and I try hard to buy things in recyclable packaging. This has really helped reduce the amount that goes into my general waste.
Out whole system is set up to make it crazy hard. I drink a lot of soda water, and despite what they’d have you believe, aluminum cans are lined with single use plastic. While the aluminum is recyclable, the plastic liner is not. I’ve been carbonating my own water at home to reduce the amount of cans I go through. Glass bottles aren’t much better. In America, at least, they aren’t reused, they are recycled, which involves melting them down at a large energy cost (probably more than the energy cost of making a single use plastic bottle).
I think my main cause of single use plastics is just food packaging. I try to avoid any of the really processed foods that are packaged in plastic. Obviously, I’m no better at this than anyone else, but I at least try to buy ingredients to make my own food. Every loaf of bread I bake is a single use bag I don’t buy.
I also get a good portion of my produce from my own garden, or from a local farm, and that’s all plastic free.
I’m always wary of products that try to do “plastic-free” by switching to a cardboard/paper material, cause if they are a package that needs to be water/air tight, they are going to be coated with some kind of plastic or other petrochemical product. Maybe it actually cuts down on the total amount of plastic, but it might just be greenwashing.
We replaced liquid laundry detergent with powered , replaced shampoos and soaps in bottles with bar soap etc. And bought netting bags to replace plastic bags
I started using those “eco sheets” for my laundry and they work just as well. The big win is the container is the size of your hand and is made of cardboard
We switched to these also, and they work great. We also tried this with dishwasher detergent, though, and didn’t have as much luck. Maybe it was the brand we chose.
A lot of the takeout places near me are exclusively handing out cardboard and biodegradable based utensils. Which is the better solution systemically imo
If you can find one in your location we have been trying to shop more at a package free stores. We have found that the cleaning products which we have purchased are generally similar in price and work just as well if not better than we used to use. After living in a city that charged for bags at the grocery store we have gotten used to using a reusable bag for all grocery trips even though lots of items still have the single use plastics in packaging. For those we try to reuse that plastic as small garbage can liners or other uses but most get thrown away.
We have been trying to reduce our consumption in general (the high costs of goods has helped with this). We have been trying to only purchase the high quality long last version of any item instead of the cheapest one available. This has been difficult since the high quality is more expensive and its difficult to find what items are actually worth it instead of a brand name. Overall it difficult but being mindful of it has been helpful
Health related items are probably one of the few appropriate times to use plastic. I think that’s a pretty common opinion. The medical world uses a lot of plastic to saves lives, compared to cocacola which uses single use plastic to save money and make us unhealthy
Most people wouldn’t consider these “single use plastic” in the same way that a plastic baggie is. But I always make an effort to get glass containers for things like oil whenever possible
People have offered very going advice, something not mentioned is: buying larger containers for any plastic related things I do need to buy. If I’m buying dish soap, i’m purchasing a larger container to reduce the amount of plastic I’m purchasing per unit of product. Meats and fish generally use plastic packaging. I eat a lot of beans which can be placed in your own packaging at many regular grocery stores, and generate less green house gasses then meats and fish.
Absolutely nothing other than voting. Any individual “reducing their plastic use” is just a drop in the ocean. The only meaningful change is through legislation or some economic situation. The only positive outcome of reducing your own plastic use is that warm and fuzzy feeling that you get from believing that you are doing something good.
However, I do not want to discredit that warm and fuzzy feeling. It brings people joy, and I think that is great.
Add comment