Recently my recycling company announced they will no longer take glass bottles and will be limiting the types of plastics they take. More companies are opting out of recycling as it’s becoming less profitable. This means that many items are no longer being recycled and will be sent directly to the landfill. Already, it’s estimated that over 33 million tons of plastic go the landfill each year. Only 10% is actually recycled. And plastic can take 450 years to decompose.
Our oceans are becoming more polluted each year and our landfills getting larger. We’ve all heard Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. If we focus on the Reduce part of the recycling plan, we can have a bigger impact on our environment. And there are some really, really easy ways you can reduce. Here are 5 simple tips on how to reduce your plastic trash.
SOAPS
In recent years, more people are turning away from bars of soap for the convenience of body washes. And with this change comes more plastic bottles. Simply switching out your body wash for a bar of soap can reduce the amount of plastic you use. If just half the households in the US eliminated one bottle a year, that would be over 60 million bottles! If you’re one of those people who don’t like sharing a bar of soap, no worries, just make sure everyone has their own bar. Cute little decorative soaps placed in a basket or jar make a great accessory for a guest bathroom.
REUSABLE BAGS
Almost every grocery store has reusable bags that you can purchase for about a buck. While most grocery stores will recycle used bags, lets face it, very few actually get recycled. By simply purchasing a few reusable bags, you can eliminate 100’s of plastic bags going to the landfill each year. When I first switched, I had a hard time remembering to take them when I went to the store, so I ended up buying quite a few. Now after unpacking my groceries, I put the bags directly into my car so they’re available on my next visit to the store.
STRAWS
There are times when you really need a straw, but there are times you can skip it. Seems like every restaurant wants to give you a straw with your glass of water and then another with your drink. Simply tell your waiter to NO straws. It sounds like a small thing, but if EVERYONE reduced even a few straws a year, it would make a difference. If you wanted to go a step further, get a reusable straw for those times you really need one.
CANS VS BOTTLES
Another simple switch you can make is when the option is available, choose drinks in aluminum cans instead of plastic or glass bottles. We already know plastic takes forever to decompose and only 10% is recycled. Glass is recycled more with 26% being recycled but this number is going down due to the large expense of transporting this fairly heavy material. And glass takes thousands of years to decompose. Over half of all aluminum cans end up being recycled due to the value of aluminum. Simply choosing beverages in cans instead of bottles helps eliminate waste since more cans are recycled.
TOOTHBRUSHES
Have you ever given any thought to the fact that every toothbrush you’ve ever thrown away is sitting in a landfill, and will be for about 500 years? That’s a lot of toothbrushes. In fact, about a billion toothbrushes go the landfill each year. Thankfully, we have another option and that is toothbrushes with a bamboo handle. You may not find them in your store, but they’re readily available online. Some have nylon bristles, but this is still much better for the environment than an all plastic toothbrush. And since these decompose in 5-10 years, unlike plastic toothbrushes, they won’t be around when your great, great, great, great grandchildren are.
Some of these suggestions may seem like they’re just a drop in the bucket, and for the most part they are. However, if we all do it, and do multiple steps to reduce waste, we can have a huge impact.
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