Some of the little things I do to reduce my plastic footprint

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By now I believe that most of us are aware of the problems that single use plastics brings to our environment, particularly to that of the oceans. It not only causes the death of marine life and birds, but now micro-plastics are being found inside our bodies from consuming seafood [2]. The implications of this aren’t currently known but could prove disastrous for our health.

Plastic usage is increasing annually everywhere, and recycling alone is probably not going to combat the problem. Besides requiring a lot of energy and resources to recycle, there’s a lot which cannot be recycled, and the current facilities cannot cope with demand. To combat the problem of plastic waste, we need to force corporations to change and significantly cut down on their use of plastic products and packaging. But as an individual, I’d like to share some of the ways in which I personally try to cut down on my plastic usage.

Use a Safety Razor
I believe safety razors are a great way to cut down on plastic use. They are typically made from solid metal, so will last a long time and their blades are just a piece of sharpened metal. Not only does this mean that both elements can be easily recycled, but if disposed of in the environment, they will rust away. The blades are very sharp and provide about 10 good shaves each, plus are inexpensive. The last time I checked, you could get a pack of 100 blades for about £20 on eBay/ Amazon.

The typical cartridge razors seem like such a con to me, as the blades are often very expensive, and I personally find they provide a poor shave compared to safety razors (beware, they're quite sharp!). In terms of plastic, each cartridge head is made of the hard kind and cannot currently be recycled anyway [3]. As for disposable razors such as Bic, where the entire thing is thrown away, don’t even go there!

Get a re-usable water bottle
This one sounds obvious, but I don’t recall knowing a single person who regularly uses a re-usable water bottle. Single-use plastic bottles are literally everywhere, and Americans use approximately 50 billion a year. This works out about 13 per month and considering only about 23% of them are recycled, this is pretty shocking [4]. If I could go back a few decades and tell people that in the future we’d be buying water in bottles, when we have such clean tap water, I’d get laughed at for sure.

I must admit, I used to go through a lot of water bottles myself and only as recent as a few years ago did I invest in re-usable ones. This is mainly because my house’s tap water is hard and tastes vile. Fortunately, I discovered carbon filter water bottles and purchased a Forbes one for approximately £20. That’s not bad, considering I was spending a fortune on cases of water every month. The filter takes out the bad limescale taste and lasts for months. I literally carry this thing around everywhere, from home, to work, days out and even the gym.

Cut down on the ready-meals
Pretty much every ready-meal comes in a plastic container, with a plastic film on the top. Having previously worked awkward shift hours, I myself used to go through a lot of ready-meals. They’re simply a quick dinner, requiring minimal effort. The trouble is, there’s single-use plastic involved so I decided to majorly cut down. I now prepare my own meals in bulk and freeze them for when there’s little time to cook. Not only did this save me a lot of money, but it has resulted in my recycle bin not filling up so quickly.

Stop smoking
This one might sound unexpected, but not only is smoking bad for your health, it’s also bad for the environment. The filter part of the cigarette is made from plastic and is very often discarded in the street, washing into rivers and finally the ocean. 5 trillion cigarettes are used per year globally and it’s estimated that a substantial percentage of them end up in the environment [5]. I don’t personally smoke, but I know people who do, and I try to encourage them to stop. Making them aware of plastic pollution from their discarded cigarette filters, is just another reason besides their health in which they should quit.

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