Recycling isn’t enough – How you can tackle the plastic crisis.
Sally is a young campaigner tackling the impact of plastic pollution through her project Eco-Sal. Here she explains why.
Plastics and waste are filling our oceans and land. The way we consume is harming our planet. Sally is a young campaigner tackling the negative impact of plastic pollution through her project Eco-Sal. Here she explains how everyone can do their bit to tackle the plastic crisis.
If you look around you, it’s quite scary to see how many things we use in our day-to-day lives that are packed in some form of plastic. It’s even more terrifying to think that less than 9% of plastics actually get recycled, so even when you think you’re doing the right thing by putting your rubbish in the green bin, it’s always better to try and reduce and reuse first.
In 2020 alone, it was estimated that 24-34 million tonnes of plastic waste entered the world’s lakes, rivers and oceans. This is what is now known as the plastic crisis – we are literally drowning in our own waste!
Here are some reasons we should reduce our plastic waste now:
- 50% of all plastic produced is for single use purposes – we use it for a few minutes and then throw it away where it will stay for hundreds of years. Plastic does not biodegrade easily!
- 1 million marine animals are killed by plastic pollution every year
- We eat over 40 pounds of plastic in our lifetime – Terrifying!
- There will be more plastic in our oceans than fish by 2050.
My plastic-free journey
I started reducing my plastic use back in 2017 when I first moved into my own home. I hated seeing how much plastic I was throwing away after watching David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II, so I decided to make small changes, starting with washing up utensils. I changed the standard green and yellow plastic sponges to a coconut alternative, and was surprised to see it actually did a better job! In fact, most of the things I have changed since have been better alternatives to the norm we are so accustomed to.
I got so addicted to making changes in my own life, that I started trying to encourage my family to make changes. Eventually they started seeing the world through my eyes and decided to start their own plastic-free journeys.
Seeing the effect that I had on my family inspired me to set up my own plastic free online shop, Eco-Sal. I use the shop and my social media platforms to share products, tips and tricks on living greener that I have come across on my own zero waste journey, in the hope that this will help encourage someone somewhere to make at least one change.
How to get started
My main tip for starting to reduce plastics is to start in one of the main rooms in the house – maybe the kitchen or the bathroom and write a list of all the things you can see in that room that contain or are packaged in plastic. Then slowly work your way through the list, swapping each thing to a more sustainable alternative as you run out.
Start with the easy things – things that aren’t a complete change from the norm like your kitchen sponge for example. This was a straight up swap and required no change of habit. Don’t forget to use up what you have first! It defeats the object to throw away all your plastic bits and bobs that still have life in them and replace them with sustainable alternatives.
I have shared swaps you can make at home and when you’re out and about in my new eBook The Eco-Pal – Your Go To Guide For Greener Living which is full of tips, tricks and recipes which you can use as a point of reference throughout.
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