It’s amazing how much plastic we use in our everyday lives, often without even realising. For example, the packaging that encloses a lot of the foods we buy, such as bread bags or fruit bags. We often buy goods without a second thought as to the plastic being used, and how it will be disposed of once its job is done.
As we as a people have become more aware of how plastic impacts the environment (especially plastics that are not kerbside recyclable, such as LDPE), there has been a real shift in conscious decision making to move to using reusable products as opposed to single use. That being said, sometimes this is not possible, which introduces the idea of moving to using plastic free products instead.
Plastic alternatives
There are many different alternatives to plastic items, both single use and reusable items. They can be harder to find in the mainstream supermarkets but are steadily becoming more accessible.
These include:
- Glass bottles instead of plastic – for example, milk bottles.
- Using wax wraps instead of clingfilm to keep food fresh – these are also reusable.
- Aluminium reusable hot drink cups.
- Wooden disposable cutlery (which can be washed and reused or often composted if it is no longer needed) instead of plastic ones.
- Fabric reusable shopping bags instead of the traditional HDPE or LDPE (high- or low-density polythene) carrier bags.
- Metal drinking straws (often stainless steel) instead of polypropylene plastic ones.
Moving to a plastic free lifestyle
Making wholesale changes all at once to become “plastic free” or at least be a “plastic reducer” can be hard; we all have our own habits and lifestyle to maintain. The best way to start is to educate yourself on the most common plastic items in our households that can be switched out to non-plastic alternatives and go from there. Common first swaps include:
- Taking reusable cups for hot drinks instead of using disposables given by coffee shops.
- Taking reusable straws to restaurants.
- Taking your own reusable cutlery if you intend to grab food on the go.
- Using a reusable water bottle instead of buying water on the go – an aluminium flask is also good for keeping the contents inside cool.
- Using a bamboo toothbrush as opposed to a plastic one.
More possible swaps
Once you’ve switched the basics, you can look further at plastics in the home and what you could possibly swap out. This could include:
- Not buying any more food bags or clingfilm, moving instead of using reusable storage boxes, beeswax wraps or silicone bags.
- Looking at the plastic in common everyday items such as deodorant – most deodorant tubes have HDPE or LDPE in their make-up. You can instead buy plastic-free alternatives.
- Buying brands that use plastic alternatives for their packaging, such as glass coffee jars or bottles.
- Some tea bags have plastic in their make-up (polypropylene, to seal the bags), although many brands are now removing this. It is best to check before buying, although we know for sure that big brands such as PG Tips, Clipper and Twinings have removed the plastic.
- Cleaning products – it’s surprising how much plastic we use in our everyday cleaning, such as plastic cleaning bottles, brushes, the outer packaging on dishwasher tablets or laundry items. As such, try to find alternatives that don’t use plastic.
