Live your life plastic free
Tips to use less plastic yourself @home, while shopping & travelling.
All ages, 1 hour initially, 5-10 minutes every week
What
Reduction of plastic waste of the whole family at home and while traveling.
Aim
Reduce plastic usage and plastic waste and pollution, step by step, week by week.
What can you do to be prepared
- Think how to avoid buying new: use the Buyerarchy of Needs (see picture below).
- Consider ‘From All Take Half’
- Say no to single-use, unnecessary plastic. Plastic may be functional and has benefits, but we should avoid single-use plastics that become waste within minutes, and try to use alternatives.
- Buy reusable bags, bottle, cup and box/containers for shopping, drinking, lunch, storing and freezing (e.g. left-overs), for the whole family.
- Take an inventory of the products you buy that come in plastic as well as the food products in plastic packaging.
- Make a shopping list of plastic-free alternatives, what and where to buy.
- Reuse, repair and when needed buy quality clothes or fabric products with a minimum of synthetic materials.
- Ask your neighbours, friends and family for tips
- Discuss with your kids and partner, start today, step by step and do it together!
Use apps to help you to use less plastic
- Get inspired by the app ‘My Little Plastic Footprint’: more ideas to use less plastic and calculate your ‘Plastic Mass Index’ (PMI),
- The app ‘Beat the Microbead’ to look for products with less or no microplastics.
Tips for the path to less Plastic waste
Daily shopping
- Prevent buying new food packaged in plastic, buy in unpackaged stores.
- Do not buy lavishly packaged products like gift packaging or sweets.
- Bring Your Own (BYO): Use your own shopping bags, bottles or containers.
- Buy vegetables and fruits without packaging or in reusable nets.
- Buy bread in reusable cloth bags.
- Milk and yoghurt are also available in returnable bottles or glasses.
- Use refill options or a refund system for your used jug or plastic bottle.
@Home
- Do not use single-use cutlery or plates.
- Check with the local water supply company whether the tap water is of drinking water quality. If so: drink tap water instead of plastic bottles.
- Eat leftover food; Use boxes instead of cling film or aluminum foil to store leftover food.
- Understand how to use the waste collection system in your community.
- Collect organic waste separate from paper, plastic, metal, wood or rest waste.
- Wrap organic waste in newspaper, when you cannot just use the organic waste bin or composting box.
- Always separate different plastic parts for the yellow sack or the plastic waste bin.
- Use soap instead of liquid soap or shower gel, use soap bars without microplastics
- Use dish washing plastic-free strips and plastic-free laundry detergent strips
Clothes and washing
Go through your closet. How much of your clothing is petrochemical based? You don’t have to throw them out. But next time you shop, transition to natural fibers or buy clothing made from high-quality, long-lasting, les synthetic materials. Your skin and body will thank you. And once you get rid of them, they can be reused or recycled.
- Buy fewer clothes, less frequently and buy 2nd use
- Buy clothing made from natural fibres or buy quality clothes that last a lifetime.
- Wash clothes less frequently.
- Use washing powder concentrate instead of liquid detergent.
- Install a microfibre filter at the washing machine or use plastic-free detergent.
When traveling
- Take your food and drinks from home.
- Use your own bottle or cup for refill or coffee-to-go.
- Refuse all single-use, unnecessary plastics while in restaurants, shops, hotels, and report to the owner or cashier about it. Recommend refills.
- Say no to drinks bottled in plastic, especially for carbonated liquids. You are consuming microplastics from the plastic bottles. Choose glass.
- Bring Your Own (BYO) Use your own shopping bags, bottle, cup or box/container.
- Take your waste bag to collect waste, and dispose it at destination at the proper way.
Share your experiences
- Make notes of your experiences, what you will continue to do, where you can make another step or find an alternative.
- Tell your friends and family or publish your achievements on social media. Promote easy steps, and arrange a reward for yourself.
- Send tips, plastic-free alternatives or just your experience to endplasticsoup@gmail.com, jointly with the description of your actions including results and lessons learned.
Contact
Gert-Jan van Dommelen, endplasticsoup@gmail.com
Tami Mulcahy, info@esragplastics.org
