Today there are many alternatives to plastic. Today I will show you some of the alternatives to use less plastic at home.
It’s not about being perfect and becoming 100% plastic-free and getting rid of all the plastic stuff we have in the house and changing it into super cool eco-friendly compostable stuff and god knows what other fancy terms.
It’s also about consuming less, consuming responsibly. It’s about thinking about how we consume and whether we need everything we buy.
1. Looking for alternatives to the things we have to buy regularly and are made of plastic
More and more companies and shops are providing alternatives to plastic in their products. When we need a new toothbrush (you’re supposed to change it every 3 months) we can look for sustainable bamboo alternatives.
If, for example, you are used to running around and don’t have time to drink a cup of coffee, instead of using plastic cups, get a reusable cup, there are glass, silicone, or bamboo ones. There are many options available on the market.
CHECK MY ARTICLE ABOUT REUSABLE COFFEE CUPS
It’s not about being perfect, we can forget the cup sometime, but at least don’t put the plastic lid on it if you order coffee to go. Or maybe we should rethink why we don’t have 5/10 minutes of our lives to quietly drink coffee and relax for a few minutes.
When we have to renew our plastic toothbrush, switch to a bamboo toothbrush, or change our plastic deodorant for a non-plastic solid deodorant. Look for alternatives that are without plastic, such as
2. Shopping fruits and vegetables with less plastic wrapping
If we go to large supermarkets, many times we find lots of fruits and vegetables wrapped in plastic. Even if they are already cut up (the maximum level of laziness in this world “without time to live”) and in plastic packages. One option would be to go to local markets, to the small shops or to investigate in the nearby supermarkets in search of what we want. My solution many times is simply to buy other fruits or vegetables that day that are not wrapped in plastic.
3. If we already have plastic Tupperwares, keep using them until they break
I reiterate. If we already have a lot of plastic Tupperwarers, we can use them until they’re no longer useful. Replacing them immediately does not solve the problem, you spend money and those Tupperware will end up where they don’t belong. The same applies to any kitchen utensil we have, let’s not replace things directly, but when the ones we already have, break down.
4. Plastic bags or paper bags
If we have enough plastic bags at home, we don’t have to change in the plastic bags for paper, or millions of cloth bags. Just reuse the plastic ones we have and, when they don’t give more than if, switch to some cloth bags. Many times we tend to “leave the bag at home”, small changes of behavior like trying to have a bag in the car always or in our backpack, purse, or whatever we carry. It doesn’t take up as much space and we will run out of excuses to resort to plastic.
5. The key to using less plastic at home is to reuse
The opposite of consumerism would be to reuse resources, the things we already have at home. I’ve been emphasizing this concept quite a bit throughout the article, as it’s something I’ve been thinking about these past few months. Painting shoes that have simply lost their color, making a table out of an old pallet have been several of the things I’ve been experimenting with lately.
Trying new things and changing the way we perceive consumption doesn’t have to be a negative thing, we can learn from it, be more sustainable, and save money in the process.