The Road to Plastic-Free: Small Changes you can make at Home

We’ve all seen the extent of the effect single-use plastics are having on the environment.

Not only do they pollute the environment and introduce highly toxic chemicals into the food chain, they pose a direct threat to marine wildlife.

One of the most recent examples is Frito, the seahorse found entangled in fishing line among a rubbish in Florida. Thanks to a local resident and her daughters, Frito was successfully rescued by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and returned to the wild – although most stories aren’t as positive.

There’s certainly a long way to go in cleaning up our planet’s oceans but it seems that both the UK government and global corporations are beginning to make changes that will have a positive impact.

For instance, the ban on microbeads entering the UK that was enforced earlier this year by UK government means there will be a reduction in the thousands of tonnes of the plastic beads washed into the sea each year.

To help curb plastic making its way into the sea, corporations are being encouraged to use plastic alternatives with McDonalds being one of the latest to set an example by ditching their use of plastic straws.

While these big changes will certainly have an effect, household plastic use needs to be tackled too, especially as at least 40kg of plastic is thrown out of each UK household each year.

If you want to reduce your plastic waste, here are some small changes you can make at home to help do your bit.

Plan your meals

Plastic becomes a problem when we fail to plan. When we need to pick up that last minute morning pastry or forget to pack lunch and so you need to run to the supermarket and pick something up.

These last minute thoughts are usually the ones that contain the most packaging, which is why planning your meals will help you reduce your plastic waste as you’re able to instead make use of reusable containers.

Use a reusable bottle

A million plastic bottles are bought every minute.

That’s an awful lot of plastic bottles, and you can guess that while some are recycled, an awful lot make their way to landfill. You can help reduce this amount by buying a reusable and sustainably created bottle that not only reduces your impact on the environment but aids in sustainable sourcing.

Buy shampoo and conditioner bars

The bathroom is one room where we can all save a bit of plastic. Here there are numerous bottles stacked up around different surfaces, and all of them are usually plastic.

Rather than buying shampoo and conditioner repeatedly and throwing away the plastic bottles, there’s an alternative.

Shampoo and conditioner bars are inexpensive and environmentally friendly. They come in tins or bags and last longer than your average shampoo/conditioner bottle, so you’re saving your pennies while you do your bit!

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This article was provided by Bee Blissful – Bee Blissful is a London based company with a passion for creating stylish and easy to clean reusable glass drinking bottles. Find them on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram