5 ways to reduce your plastic consumption

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Reducing our plastic consumption is so important; our oceans are full of plastic. Did you know that 8 million metric tons enter the ocean every year, on top of the 150 million metric tons that circulate our marine environments? So many habitats are ruined on top of millions of animal and plant lives that are lost.

It doesn’t matter if you are interested in science and whether you like animals or not, we rely on them. The oceans provide us with the air that we breathe, it gives us 50% of the oxygen we take in and stores more than 50 times the amount of carbon dioxide the atmosphere stores. We’ve hardly started discovering medicines in the ocean, by destroying them we could miss out on cures to future diseases.

Related: 5 devestating facts about our oceans

Sustainable ways to not use plastic:

Use a travel mug

Bring your travel mug* with you whenever you leave the house – I sometimes find that I’m wanting a coffee but can’t have one because I’ve left my travel mug at home. Often coffee shops will give you money off for using your own mug. This is because you aren’t buying the plastic cup so will reduce their costs. Imagine if everyone did this, then no more single-use cups would be needed!

Related post: The best reusable cups for busy parents by The Heaton Fam

Prepare your own lunch

I understand that the easiest way to get your lunch is to buy a meal deal. However, preparing your own lunch is much better & will save you money. The plastic consumption in a meal deal is crazy! There’s a plastic bag of crisps, a sandwich wrapped in plastic and a plastic bottle.

Additionally, you could batch cook your meals which would be much healthier and greener for the planet.

Say no to single-use plastic

I bring a tote bag with me everywhere I go, you never know when you are going to need one. Plus, they look so much nicer which is always a bonus – you can get some lovely ones on Etsy 💗

Avoid ordering online

Try to avoid ordering online as much as possible – especially off Amazon! Companies tend to have a lot of excess packaging whereas you could just walk to your local shopping outlet. Furthermore, there’s the shipping too.

I’ve noticed recently that Lush pack boxes with biodegradable foam! This is great because you can just wash it down the sink and there’s no harm done.

Buy from independent shops

If you can, it’s great to buy food from a non-chain shop. These are the types of shops that will have paper bags and are more likely to have locally sourced food. They are wanting to attract new people to their business so will take the time to be eco-friendly.

Best wishes C x