It’s been made pretty clear by now that single-use plastic is bad for our environment and is slowly killing our planet. Everyone can do something—no matter how small—to use less plastic. It’s really very easy. Here are 3 simple ways to get started:
Reusable Grocery Bags
Many countries have banned plastic bags altogether, which has Mother Nature cheering, I’m sure. If you are the crafty-type, try making your own reusable grocery bags. Click here to find written instructions. And click here for a video with instructions. If you are unable to make your own, you can buy them very cheaply. Reusable shopping bags are a GREAT way to use less plastic.
No More Plastic Straws
According to the National Park Service, 500 million drinking straws are used every single day. Every. Single. Day. If you need a visual… that’s enough straws to fill 125 school buses each day. Wow. If we want to use less plastic, we really need to change our habits. Do you really need a straw to drink from a glass? If so, try getting a reusable one made of metal. Some of them are collapsible so you can carry them around with you. They’re not expensive and they make GREAT stocking stuffers for holidays or gifts for birthdays.
Say NO To Single-Use Water Bottles
One million plastic water bottles are thrown away every minute. Every. Minute. My family uses stainless steel water bottles. Some come in a bottle shape. Some have wide-mouth openings. Some have a thermal feature that keeps cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot. You can go a long way in saving our planet if you stop using single-use plastic water bottles. Choose whatever works best for you.
If everyone around the globe started using the three suggestions listed above, just think how much less plastic would be going into our landfills, our rivers, our oceans. Wow!
I have other suggestions, too. Things like:
- Glass containers for leftovers
- Clean with vinegar and water
- Use baking soda as a cleaning abrasive
- Use cloth cleaning rags rather than paper towels
- Buy dishwashing powder in a cardboard box
- Buy bar shampoo that comes in a paper box (I LOVE this stuff!)
- Switch to bar hand soap rather than liquid soap
- Repair items when they break rather than ditching then into the trash
Lastly, educate your children and grandchildren. I bought my
granddaughter a copy of this rhyming book
and we both learned a lot from it.
What tips can you offer so that we can all use less plastic?
About the author:
Donna Fasano is a USA Today Bestselling Author of sweet romance, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction. Learn more about her at her website. Sign up for her newsletter by clicking here.
So glad you brought up this topic. I AM SICK of EVERYTHING coming in plastic. I have cut down my plastic usage in many of the ways you've suggested. I've stopped using Suave shampoos, etc because their bottles never have the recycling triangle. Why don't governments start to address this???
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these great ideas, Donna. I'm already doing many of them, but there's still room for improvement. I seldom use a straw, but some of my friends have the silicone drinking straws. I love the little cleaning brushes; almost makes dishwashing fun. ;)
ReplyDelete