Your Guide To Reducing Single Use Plastics At Home

In a study published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), America created 35.4 million tons of plastics in 2017. That’s 70.8 billion pounds! And only 8.4% was recycled with 26.8 million tons being received by landfills. Our solid waste containment and landfill spaces are finite, and this type of uncontrolled discard cannot be sustained forever. We’ve talked about reducing your carbon footprint as an individual, let’s talk now about reducing single use plastics.

What are single use plastics and why are they harmful?

As the name implies, single use plastics are plastic items that are discarded after using it one time. These can include plastic bags, straws, beverage containers and most food packaging. The reason they’re so harmful is that most of this plastic isn’t biodegradable, it’s a petroleum-based, man-made polymer. It doesn’t break down into an organic state to be consumed by natural organisms but returns to its molecular, persistent state.

 What can we do about single use plastics?

Pack lunches like a pro

From the time your children were in school to packing your own work lunches, everyone knows the struggle of creating a well-balanced packed lunch. Yet, now in addition to filling your lunchbox with something nutritious, you’re also likely filling it with single-use plastics. From plastic utensils to other non-recyclable trash, those who pack a lunch can easily end up with over 65 pounds of lunch trash per year. This means that making the switch to reusable items in your work lunch bag can make all the difference in how much waste ends up in landfills.

So, what types of alternatives exist? Reusable wrappers like cloth or beeswax, reusable straws, and bamboo utensils are just some of the eco-friendly alternatives you may find. When possible, opt for snacks like pieces of fruit or veggie sticks and hummus that can go in a reusable container. Use a reusable water bottle for a beverage rather than juice or soda. These changes are healthier for you and the environment alike.

Skip the straw

In the fight against climate change, plastic straws have been one of the most hated single-use plastics around. And it’s no wonder they’re now considered to be a huge problem; it is estimated that Americans use roughly 500 million plastics straws each day. If you’re looking for one easy way to improve the plastic waste in your home, stop buying plastic straws.

Buy a single pack of reusable straws with a different color for every member of your family. Keep them handy for mealtimes, snacks, and when you go out to eat. While it may be a hassle at first, it’ll soon become habit.

Skipping the straw is one of the simplest ways that you’d an contribute. Even if each person in a four-member family only uses one straw per day, that’s over 1,300 straws that will forever be in landfills.

Purchase a reusable water bottle

In the next minute, about 1 million plastic water bottles will be purchased worldwide. If you still buy cases of water bottles or even just the odd water bottle or two at a gas station or grocery store, now is the time to change that habit.

While convenient, single-use plastic water bottles are one of the items that aren’t always recycled like everyone believes. Even with the relative ease in recycling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic water bottles, only about 30% of the national average is recovered. This is due to the cheap materials it is made from, corporate profitability (profitable to make more than reuse), and lack of recycling incentives.

So, what does this mean? If you really want to make a difference, it’s not about recycling after the fact, it’s about preventing use of the item in the first place. You don’t need to use plastic in order to consume water. Instead, invest in a reusable water bottle (personalize it if you want to) and don’t worry about having to recycling the plastic at all.

Make the bag switch

This one made our Carbon Footprint blog and if anything on this list is easily attainable, it’s this one. Each time you go to the grocery store, they’re providing bags that you just don’t need. Even if you reuse those bags for trash can liners or pet care, you could still find a more environmentally friendly alternative.

It’s estimated that Americans alone use 100 billion plastic grocery bags a year. That really is a staggering statistic for something used for an average of only 12 minutes. Next time you go to the grocery store, invest in the reusable bags that are typically close to the checkouts anyway or click the image we’ve provided to our Amazon affiliate.

Make the simple commitment to purchase reusable bags and keep the in your trunk. Your shopping habits will change very little, but you will make a great impact on what survives in the Earth’s landfills for years to come.

Invest in biodegradable alternatives

The cost of cleaning up plastics just from our marine environments alone are estimated to be about 2.5 trillion annually. It’s not unrealistic to think that by reducing single use plastics locally we can help alleviate a global condition. Think globally, act locally is an expression we should all start taking to heart.

As you plan out household shopping expenditures, consider going online and looking for alternatives to plastics. Garbage can liners, for example, are available in a plant-based form and are biodegradable. The same with animal waste bags if you have pets. These are two immediate purchases you can make and will help eliminate landfill plastic pollution. Yes, they are more expensive, but if we, the consumer, are adamant about reducing single use plastics and make that demand known to manufacturers, then they will respond accordingly. It’s just good economics and the price will come down as that supply and demand curve take effect.

Final Thoughts

Reducing single-use plastics does not have to be difficult. We have more options now than we did a decade ago, not just from product choices but in our awareness and decisions. It truly is up to us to leave our world in a better place than how it was left to us. We hope that you were able to find useful information here and practice each step we’ve offered. (And yes, I’ve done each of the above!)

As always, if you don’t see something here you want, reach out to us through our Contact page or leave a comment below, we read each one. Think green and all the best ~ Glen.