The fact that people who eat seafood ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year means our plastic pollution has already gone too far. Our obsession with plastic and lack of recycling means our plastic products end up in the sea, eaten by fish, and then eaten by us.
Plastic pollution is not an issue we can hide from – when it ends up in our food it is an issue that is very close to home.
The issue of single-use plastic is the main one that needs addressing. Plastic bags from the super market, take-away food in plastic containers, and of course the plastic bottle. More than 480bn plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 and fewer than half of these were collected for recycling and only about 7% of those collected were turned into new bottles. Instead, most end up in landfill or in the ocean and campaigners are predicting an environmental crisis as serious as climate change.
There are great initiatives trying to save our planet – save us – with creative movements such as Parley for the Oceans finding innovative solutions to raise awareness, clean the oceans and recycle plastic. Like the trainer they created with Adidas made from recycled plastic bottles. And others are doing similar things. Like Rothy’s ballerina shoe. And Ecoalf’s jackets made from recycled plastic bottles and fishing nets. Finding more and more brands using recycled plastic to produce their products is both inspiring and encouraging.
But recycling efforts are currently not enough and there is too much plastic to handle. Which is why we all need to look at how to decrease our plastic use. Plastic Free July is a great initiative giving us tips and encouraging us to pledge to go plastic free for the month of July, and beyond. Once you start thinking about it you realise how much plastic is around us and used by us every day, but being conscious about it also makes us realise that there are simple changes we can make to our daily lives to decrease our plastic consumption. I’m trying to avoid bringing plastic into our new home and being more conscious about it helps when I’m out and about too. I’ve listed 10 simple tips on where to start.
Use soap bars instead of soap bottles.
Buy local and plastic-free packaging.
Avoid synthetic clothing that shed plastic microfibres.
Buy beauty products in glass rather than plastic.
Do not buy bottled water (use re-use bottles).
Use your own carrier bag.
Store leftovers in glass jars.
Bring lunch in a reusable container.
Say no to disposable plastic straws and cutlery.
Use wooden beauty tools like combs and brushes.