Four plastic-free swaps

If you’re looking for some easy ways to start being more “zero waste” and cut down single-use plastics, here are some simple swaps for everyday items. Don’t try to do them all at once (guaranteed fail), incorporate one into your daily routine, and when you’ve got used to it start another.

1. Cloth shopping bags

Using a cloth bag whenever you go shopping, whether it’s for groceries or clothes, this will reduce the need for more plastic bags – one of the worst plastic polluters of the sea. Keep some by your front door to grab on the way out, or stuff a couple into your day bag in case you spontaneously buy something.

2. Cloth vegetable bags

When you go food shopping add a few small, drawstring cloth bags to your shopping bags (make them yourself, or we have two sizes at Gram). Then you can skip all the small disposable bags for fruit, vegetables, bread, etc.

3. Reusable water bottle

Plastic water bottles can take hundreds of years to biodegrade and can only be recycled into another bottle once. So, have a reusable water bottle with you when you’re out and about.

4. Take-away coffee mug

Love coffee hate unnecessary waste? Yep, us too. If you think you’re going to get a take-out coffee, carry a reusable mug (Keep Cup are a great size for fitting under most barista machines). Disposable mugs are lined with plastic, so hard to recycle, not to mention the plastic lid, and the paper used to make them is becoming an environmental disaster.

\Rowan