For Plastic Free July this year, we have put together a Guide to Plastic Free Living with plastic-free tips & behaviours that you, our Content Community, have shared with us. While we understand that living entirely free of plastic can be a challenge, and some of you have echoed this, we can all do something!
So to get inspired we asked our Content Community: “Have you found it easy to minimise your own single-use plastic-print? What did you find it easy to change?” Through your answers in this guide, we hope to inspire everyone to make at least one small change to minimise their single-use plastic consumption, for Plastic Free July and beyond.
“One word… SOLID soap bars. For hair & body. So many emerging great options. I find this a good way to start minimising plastic in my bathroom.” – @gundiedesign
“I bring my own containers to our local takeaway restaurants and this is a really simple switch to avoid extra plastic usage. It might make the companies think too.” – @jess.m.patel
“The best thing I’ve learned is to reduce, reuse and recycle. There’s no point throwing away perfectly good things in your home only to replace them with Insta-worthy glass/paper/cotton. A good example is sturdy plastic Tupperware or plastic shopping bags. Instead of recycling, why not use as many times as you can before you replace them with something glass or cotton? Reuse as much as you can before you go and buy something new.” – @jenetije
“Something that is pretty simple and yet seems so strange, especially when I go food shopping, is bringing my own recyclable sturdy bag that can become super small and placed in any handbag. The best ever thing! You would be surprised how few people use it. I always look at the packaging of things I buy to make sure its 100% plastic free and, if lucky, plant-based. This especially goes for my tea bags, which are biodegradable corn starch. I drink loads of tea so this is important to me.” – @soireeauwonderland
“Thank goodness the plastic free movement has finally gained momentum. I have realistic hopes now to see the life cycle end of the plastic electric toothbrush and tons of other waste we cannot control by immediate consumer behaviour! Things like electronic plastics, short-lived, mass-produced plastics are worrying. Things like clingfilm… I’ve been searching high and low for an alternative. If you really cook and bake you can reduce but not completely substitute with beeswax wraps. The list goes on. Obviously prices are still not realistic for society en mass. There is a but here… It needs a change in education, people need to comprehend to spend money differently. Plastic pollution is the result of a badly educated society. Start at the root. I learned in Biology 25 years ago that a plastic bottle takes 400 years to degrade, and never forgot that message either. Wrapping up produce. Realistically I am still buying cucumbers or tomatoes still all in plastic at Waitrose when not covered on the market/or no alternative. Never understood that still don’t. No apologies for the ramble.” – @almaatelier14
“I find it harder when I travel. I cannot refill my bottle at the airport as they only sell plastic disposable bottles and there is no tap water that can be used for a refill. When I buy food (I am vegan and I tend to eat salads, quinoa, cous cous etc.) in mono portions, it comes in plastic containers. I find it easier to buy fruit and veg as it can be bought without the plastic wrapping (more expensive though). I use a reusable shopping bag and I recycle my trash – even though I don’t know if the town hall is disposing of it correctly or not. I use soap bars instead of liquid body wash that is contained in plastic and I try to refill when possible. I still find there are not enough places where it is possible to buy “unboxed” cereals and legumes.” – @istylenotes
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