9
ways
to
reduce
your
plastic
use
Use your own reusable bottle
In the UK we use over 35 million plastic bottles every day! Carrying your own reusable bottle is a great way to cut your plastic use and save money too! There’s even an app that tells you where you can refill your bottle for free!
Don’t use plastic straws
Plastic straws are really bad for ocean.Next time you are about to order a drink think very carefully if you need a straw and if you don’t, just say no, I have my own. You can also ask your local pub and coffee shops to stop adding straws to drinks as standard and give paper straws to those who want.
Use your own coffee cup
2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away every year in the UK – and less than 1 in 400 are recycled. Carry your own cup with you. Some cafes offer discounts if you have your own cup and if they don’t maybe you can ask them to do it.
Avoid excessive food packaging
We can all try and cut down the plastic we buy. And as an added bonus, loose fruit and veg is often cheaper than pre-packaged.
Don’t use plastic cutlery
When you buy your food salad or yoghurt outside there are only one option to eat it with. Plastic cutlery. While it’s hard to carry your own cutlery all the time, consider having a non-plastic ones with you all time
Use refill stations for detergents
There are some products where it’s difficult to avoid a plastic container (for example washing up liquid or laundry liquid) the good news is that there are an increasing amount of places where you can refill your old bottles. Find your nearest refill.
Try not to use microbeads
The good news is that the UK government have announced a ban on microbeads. Before you buy check labels if they are contained with polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
Get your milk to your house
Even though getting delivered milk to your home not as common as it used to be, there are still lots of places in the UK where places deliver you milk in glass bottles. Which are re-usable. You can find your nearest milkround here.
Carry your own shopping bag
Plastic bag charge was introduced in England, there’s been a massive 85% drop in their use. Most of us are used to having an extra bag with us. If you find it hard to carry it around with you try using a foldaway bag that can be carried in your normal bag.
Small changes on your daily life can make big impacts on our amount of plastic use on a day to day basis.
