A PLASTIC FREE LIFE

What can you do to use less plastic? I was surfing the web and found some tips I want to share with you.

1. Don't buy a new bottle of water every single time, but use the same one for multiple times. Or even better: get yourself a sustainable drinking bottle which you can throw in to the dishwasher. Preferbly made from biodegradable materials.
2. Take bags from home with you whenever you do groceries at the (super)market, instead of buying those plastic ones.
3. Poor you coffee into a mug when you're at work. Ignore those plastic cups. Mugs are the way to go. They drink more comfortable and your drink stays warm for a longer time.
4. Get yourself a lunch box. That way you don't have to use plastic bags. And taking your own lunch is much more sustainable too, because you don't buy those single packed cheeses, ham or spreads.
5. Keep your left over veggies or meal in bee's wax wraps or a container instead of plastic foil.
6. Go to a plastic free supermarket! Get your own jars, tins and boxes to the store and fill them with vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, pasta, name it!

And then there are a lot of products on which you wouldn't expect containing plastic. For example, diapers. Disposable diapers contain a lot of plastic, while reusable (washable) diapers are also way more friendly to the skin of your little one. Rumour has it that almost 8% of national waste is from diapers. 

All small, but effective, steps to reduce that pile of plastic waste. If we all keep it at the top of our mind, plastic waste must reduce. Our mentality is changing!

That also shows with big companies which follow their customer's needs. Where the one supermarket wraps its broccoli's in plastic, you can't get the free plastic bags anymore. When you want one, anywhere in the Netherlands, you simply have to pay. Hotels and restaurants take out straws from their routine and food businesses are looking for alternative packaging material. Maybe only from a marketing point of view, but hopefully also from an insight that something has to change.

The national and European politics get involved to. That's great and also a nice example for other countries. Hopefully for less developed areas in the world as well. In the mean time, bioplastics are developed. Sounds good right? But watch out, because the current bioplastic flow would degrade only with temperatures warmer then 50 degrees Celsius. The oceans are not that warm... Read more about bioplastics in our blog about it.

Would you like to stay informed about the rest of our tips? Sign up for our newsletter and discover more about a plastic-free life!