See full version: How to reduce single use plastic at home
More than 1 million bags are used across the globe every day and annually, about 500 billion plastic bags are produced. Whether you are going grocery shopping at the supermarket or going on a shopping spree at the mall, bring your own bag with you. Most reusable bags are only about 99 cents - a small investment to help out our planet.
Whether you believe it or not, every single toothbrush affects the environment. One billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown out every single year, creating about 50 million pounds of waste annually. There have not been any scientific research results that plastic toothbrushes perform better over bamboo ones. Just like plastic toothbrushes, bamboo brushes needed to be replaced just as often, about every 3 months, but the handle of a bamboo toothbrush only takes about 6 months to biodegrade back into the soil. On the other hand, a plastic toothbrush will never biodegrade and will remain in the environment forever. here
That newspaper that sits on your driveway may seem convenient, wrapped in the unnecessary plastic wrapping. However, chances are, whatever headlining story will be on the front page of the newspaper has already aired on every televised news station and you've already read about it online. If you don't want to give up the joy of reading a newspaper, sign up for an electronic one! Companies make it easy not with iPads, Kindles, and all other forms of tablets to receive the news you want when you want it.
. and say YES to reusable ones. We use more than 500 MILLION plastic straws every single day. Think about it: when you order coffee at a restaurant or cafe, you don't use a straw to drink it. So why do you need a straw for your water or soda? Saying NO to single-use straws is easier than you think. Restaurants and bars have the tendency to give you a plastic straw even before you have the chance to let them know you'd rather not have one, so make sure upon ordering drinks that you let your waiter or bartender know you are okay with no straw. If you would prefer to use a straw, there are great alternatives such as steel, bamboo, and glass straws that you can carry with you and can use them time and time again.
If you can’t remove all of the plastics in your home just yet, try starting with ones containing Bisphenol A and Phthalates. Here’s why:
BPA is found in many drinking containers, the lining of most food and beverage cans (including soda cans), bottle caps, plastic cutlery, plastic food storage containers, toys, dental sealants, some dental composites, water pipes, eyeglass lenses, and more. BPA is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it disrupts normal hormone function, which can lead to a whole host of problems, including cancer. (source)
Buying direct from farmers is a great option for reducing food packaging. Don’t forget your reusable bags. Click here to read about other inexpensive ways to get local food.
Have you ever stopped to think about how much plastic you use every day ? From the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, there are probably dozens of plastic items that you encounter — sandwiches covered in plastic wrap, plastic bags from the errands we do over our lunch hour, straws from our favourite fast food restaurant, and plastic water bottles. Most of these things are used once and then tossed away.
Single-use plastics make up 50 per cent of the plastic litter in our oceans. The problem is, once plastic enters the ocean it becomes almost impossible to get rid of and animals end up eating or getting entangled in plastic . They may also be affected by harmful chemicals that come off of the plastics. And these impacts aren’t limited to just one type of animal. Whales, turtles, sea lions, fish, birds and the tiniest plankton are affected. Even humans! A recent study showed that most sea salt contains microscopic pieces of plastic .
But…pieces of plastic are everywhere in our oceans. Around 8 million metric tons flows into the ocean every year. If things continue, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050! Recycling helps, but not all plastics are recyclable. If we want to make the world a healthier place for all of us, the best thing to do is reduce how much plastic we use every day.
Lauren Fleischmann / Unsplash
Switching to a BPA-free reusable water bottle will benefit the earth and your health while saving you money after as few as 10 uses, according to TreeHugger. more
However, bar soaps aren't without their own disadvantages. Many are made with animal or plant fats that require resource-intensive agriculture, and people tend to use more hot water when rinsing it off than with liquid soaps, a study suggests. So, look out for eco-friendly brands and mind your water usage when using bar soaps. [links]
People use an estimated 100 billion plastic bags each year in the US alone. Around the world, between 500 billion and 1 trillion are used annually, but only 1 in every 200 bags gets recycled, according to nonprofit organization ConservingNow. Billions of them instead end up as litter that lingers for hundreds of years.
Although most textiles are recyclable, 85% of used clothing ends up in landfills and the average American throws away 80 pounds of clothing each year. Like plastic bags, synthetic clothing can take hundreds of years to decompose. Buying second-hand clothes is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to shop since it keep plastic out of the waste stream and doesn't demand new energy to produce.
Unless we take major steps to reduce plastic pollution from production to consumption, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050. Trash islands are already occupying large swaths of sea in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean. That is just one reason why it is so important to reduce single-use plastic use, and to use eco-friendly alternatives whenever we can.