8 Ways to Use Less Plastic

The past couple years I’ve been working to implement more environmentally friendly habits in our life. One area I’ve been actively working on is using less plastic. I’ve seen statistics saying that each person in the US consumes about 220 pounds of plastic a year. That is just crazy to think about that much from each person is just sitting there in landfills.

Bring your own container for leftovers

When we get together with my mom or Kevin’s parents it’s amazing how much leftovers we bring home. Sometimes we would use their plastic containers but lots of times we’d end up using plastic bags that would just get dumped right after.

Since then, we’ve learned to bring our own reusable containers just in case. That way we’re not making more plastic baggie trash and the leftovers are already set to be put in our fridge when we get home.  

 

Get a reusable mug & bottle

Plastic water bottles take up XXX in waste. I can only imagine how many coffee cups are taking up space in those same landfills. We are always drinking water throughout the day

 

Reusable shopping bags

I feel like most everyone has at least one reusable shopping bag in their house these days. One of issues I have is remembering to bring the shopping bags. So I’ve taken to having a couple stashed in the car or a small foldable one is always in my purse.

 

Bring reusable bags for produce 

Produce bags are one of the last disposable plastic bags we were using on a regular basis. I had heard of reusable produce bags but hadn’t made the change until Pampered Chef came out with their Reusable Mesh Produce Bags last spring.

These bags are fantastic. Not only are we not using the plastic ones the mesh bags have so many other great uses. We’ve taken them to the beach and didn’t bring home a bunch of sand!

 

Cut back on using plastic straws

Plastic straws can be a tough one. They’re all over the place from your Starbucks order to your dinner out and every meal and snack in-between. You can find some fantastic travel straws out there. If you need one that doesn’t take up too much space go for a compact, foldable type or you can use the sleek Pampered Chef Metal Straws. They come with their own bag and cleaning tool.

 

Buy products that you can refill

Single use plastic cleaning containers have gotten to be such a problem. In recent time I’ve seen many companies are making larger refillable cleaners. You purchase one spray bottle or dispenser that you’re able to clean and refill then purchase a larger container of the cleaner. Or better yet make your own.

 

Avoid using plastic baggies for lunches

For Kevin’s lunch he would always take a disposable plastic bag to put his dirty silverware in when he finished. We’d wash and reuse them a few times but either way he was still using something that you’d have to toss out. Maybe you use them for sandwiches every day or your cookies. There are some great reusable bags now.

 

Give up single use bottled water, pop and juice

We all know how bad bottled water has been for the environment but I think sometimes we forget about other single use bottles like pop and juice. We’ve been cutting down on pop in our house but when I do need a bit of a treat I like to get the fancier ones in the glass bottles or we get a larger size.

 Do you actively work to reduce your plastic consumption?