Plastic Free Beginnings

Plastic has amazing material qualities and have brought us forward in many ways throughout decades. It is superior in many areas. It is lightweight and hygienic; however, it is not all good. It can take 100 years for plastic to decompose (if it ever will) which means that nearly every piece of plastic that has ever been created is still out there, in the nature and our oceans. This is why I want to try to minimise the amount of plastic that I bring into my life. 

To start the journey of becoming plastic free you must understand where plastic exists in your life and try to minimise it from there.  Some common areas where plastic exists are:

Packaging
Can you skip the plastic bag and bring your own when shopping for groceries? Can you choose products that are not packed in plastic? If something is packed in plastic, can you use the packaging for something else?

Beauty Products
There can be plastic in your beauty products, and it is not that easy to target. I have made the habit of stay away from products where microbeads exist in the ingredients lit. Also, often when something starts with “poly...” it can be plastic.

Clothing
Many synthetic materials in our clothes are made of plastic so try to look for natural materials such as wool and linen. Also, when you wash synthetic material microplastics from the garment are released into our waters.

Other things you can do reduce plastic waste:

• Support companies that take responsibility for their plastic. For example, at Lush you can bring empty bottles of plastic back to the store.

• Refuse single use plastic items. For example, utensils, lids for your take-away coffee etc.