“It is high time we turn our attention fully to one of the most pressing problems of today – averting the plastic pollution crisis – not only for the health of our planet, but for the wellbeing of people around the world.” – David Attenborough
For day three of ‘5 Good Days’ I have chosen to comprise a list of plastic free swaps that are very easy to make, and make a world of difference.
“The total amount of plastic entering the marine environment is over 12m tonnes a year – according to a report by Eunomia in 2016. For comparison, a double-decker bus weighs about 12 tonnes.” – friendsoftheearth.uk
Whilst trying to do my bit for the environment, by making simple swaps to reduce my use of single use plastic, I have brought together a selection of reusable and sustainable product alternatives – which together make a great gift package this Christmas.
Tote bag
Investing in one simple tote bag saves the use of thousands of single use plastic bags yearly.
“100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually.” – biologicaldiversity.org/
The tote bag seen in the above image was purchased from the English artist Laura Daly on her Etsy page. I personally purchased this one in particular as she donates a portion of each of her sales to an ocean conservation charity, working hard to fight plastic pollution in our seas.
LUSH products
LUSH shampoo, conditioner and moisturising bars and bath bombs are an eco friendly alternative to standard bottled products as they have ‘naked’ packaging i.e. once used they leave nothing behind. When purchasing from LUSH, your products are placed in a compatible paper bag – completely plastic free! LUSH also sells tin and cork containers for shampoo bars etc, to allow you to take your products anywhere.
Bamboo Toothbrush
Plastic toothbrushes are very harmful to the environment, a sustainable alternative is bamboo toothbrushes which are biodegradable and come from a highly renewable, natural material that has antibacterial, and antifungal properties. These toothbrushes can be found online, as well as in any zero waste shop.
Biodegradable Cotton Buds
After researching into more environmentally friendly ways of living, I discovered the highly negative effects of cotton buds on the environment.
“In the UK alone it is estimated that we use 1.8 billion, mostly single use plastic, cotton buds every year […] resulted in the pollution of inland waterways and the marine environment.” – cottonbudproject.org.uk
I then found bamboo cotton buds which are completely biodegradable and can be bought online or in any zero waste shop.
Cardiau Cymraeg Card
Of course I wouldn’t write a blog post about eco friendly products and not include my own card! As a lover of the environment, I refuse to wrap my cards in any (in my opinion unnecessary) plastic wrappers, instead all packaging and products from Cardiau Cymraeg are recyclable and biodegradable.
Bamboo Straw & Bag
I recently visited a zero waste shop in Narberth called ‘Happy Planet Green Store’, which was adorable! Whilst there, I found some bamboo straws and these lovely little cotton bags to keep them in. I’m not a huge straw user myself, however seeing these straws and that bag I had to have one.
“More than half a billion plastic straws are used every day around the world.” – earthday.org
Travel Mug
In most coffee shops they now offer discounts on hot beverages if the customer brings in their own travel mug. My lovely travel mug (seen in the image above) was a Christmas gift one year and I love it. Since then I have purchased a couple more, as there are so many amazing designs available.
“16 billion disposable coffee cups are used each year. These are coated with plastic to laminate the inside and use plastic lids.” – earthday.org
Glass Water Bottle
I recently made the swap from a plastic reusable water bottle (which is still in use) to a glass one. I had been wanting to invest in a glass bottle for some time, but feared smashing them as I can be quite clumsy sometimes. However, upon research I found that most glass bottles come with some form of protection around the glass lowering the risk of smashing. Along with the pictured bottle (above) I also purchased a glass bottle with a straw, from a company who donate a percentage of the proceeds to the Marine Conservation Society.
“More than 480 billion plastic bottles were sold worldwide in 2016. That is up from about 300 billion only a decade ago.” – earthday.org
Reusable Sandwich Bag
I was given this reusable sandwich bag as a gift one Christmas, not knowing these existed at the time, and I LOVE it. Single use plastic sandwich bags are incredibly wasteful, and making this simple investment / swap is an easy way to tackle the ongoing issue.
Reusable Cotton Pads
A few years ago I decided to stop using single use cotton pads and make the swap to reusable cotton pads (as seen above) which can be washed and reused over and over again. No only am I now not contributing to plastic pollution through the plastic packaging of the cotton buds, but I am also reducing my water wastage (as well as reducing a lot of my own waste). These reusable pads are my favourite to buy, from the Etsy page Little Green Craft a purchase I would highly recommend to anyone looking to make the swap.
“20,000 LITRES– The amount of water needed to produce one kilogram of cotton; equivalent to a single t-shirt and pair of jeans.” – worldwildlife.org
*20,000 litres is the equivalent of what one person would drink over 3 years.
These are just some small things that can be done to reduce plastic waste and help our environment.
Look out on our social media and here on the blog to see what we’re getting up to tomorrow for Day 4 of 5 Days of Good!