Plastic Problem?

Giving Up Plastic in The Home – Plastic Free Living

There’s a lot of concern about the use of plastic because we use so much of it. Here in Aotearoa , hundreds of thousands of plastic bags, trays, cups, wrappers and other single use items are used everyday! We use plastic in so many different products and all of this plastic is causing a lot of problems in our oceans, waterways, landfills, wildlife and environment. Ultimately, plastic pollution is coming back to haunt us as it enters our foodchain! We should all be concerned about the unabating use of plastic – and we all need to start taking measures to stop it in its tracks. Here are some ways that you can start to give up plastic in your home, so you are more environmentally friendly. Start plastic free living today!

Ditch shopping bags

Perhaps one of the easiest things you can do for plastic free living is to stop your use of plastic shopping bags. Thankfully, all major supermarkets have been banned from issuing free plastic bags. You still need to refuse plastic at other smaller retailers however! You can buy quality shopping bags at the store for just a few dollars and these will last a long time. Even better, use paper bags as often as possible. It doesn’t make much sense to use plastic bags when there’s so many other bags available that are more environmentally friendly. Just by giving up shopping bags, you take a huge amount of plastic out of landfills, waterways, and off the streets of our towns and cities. And dont forget to invest in some cloth vege bags while you’re at it!

No Bottled Water

You can buy a high-quality water bottle that will last a long time. There’s no need to use plastic water bottles when you want a drink of water. Many locations are now offering fillable water at water fountains. This is a great way to reduce plastic in landfills and waterways because water bottles are another huge source of plastic pollution. You can also avoid the use of plastic by taking your own mug when you go out for a cup of coffee. More and more fast food restaurants will be more than happy to fill up your refillable cup as they get more on board with plastic free living.

Seek Alternatives!  Think about the options available….

Its time for us all to start thinking outside the box. By spending some time thinking about alternatives we can come up with plastic free solutions. For example, you can save a lot of plastic waste by no longer using disposable razors. Think of how many disposable razors you would use in any given year and how much you could save by buying one electric razor or one high-quality regular razor and then just buying razor blades for it. This is a simple but an effective way to reduce your own plastic footprint.

One really effective way of eliminating plastic bottles from the bathroom, is making the switch to a solid shampoo – there are dozens of suppliers and maker around – find a bar that suits your hair get into it. You will find more natural hair, that needs less washing and no waste! Plastic free living at its best!

If you have little children in the house and babies. You go through a lot of nappies. It’s easy to switch to cloth nappies. The plastic ones are a huge source of pollution and you can easily reduce your plastic footprint by switching to cloth diapers.

Need a new dish brush or toilet brush? Don’t just buy a new one at the supermarket – look around and find a small business that sells a quality timber brush! We have a great range of timber brushware where at Be Natural – check it out!

If you head out for sushi – take your own containers – every little bit helps.

Rethink school lunches! Visit a wholesaler of packaging solutions and grab yourself 1000 small paper bags. Use them instead of wrap and plastic zip locks. They compost easily and do not linger in the environment.

How about investing in honey wraps instead of plastic containers and plastic wrap – which is a true curse on the environment! Checkout how this small business is revolutionising the way we store food! Beeswax wraps work really well in school lunch boxes, and to store bread, cheese and a host of other things.

Think Global, act in your own home!

 

You can look to other ways in your home to reduce your plastic footprint. We all should do our part to reduce our plastic usage because it is a catastrophic problem. It’s a huge source of lingering pollution that is going to take years to clean up! It’s time to rid ourselves of plastic and look to other alternatives because we need to protect and look after our environment. These are some simple ways to reduce your plastic footprint, so you can do your part in the preservation of our most sacred resources.