10 tips to live plastic free

Single use plastic is everywhere. Think about: plastic bags, food packaging, plastic straws, water bottles and takeaway containers...

It may be cheap and convenient, but it has tragic consequences. Plastic pollutes the land and air, devastating the oceans and our marine life, even invading our bodies.

Good tips to roll out your plastic usage:

1. Bring your own bag.
   Get yourself a couple of good cloth bags and leave them in the car or your bag so you’ll always have them on hand.

2. Give up bottled water.
   You don’t need it. There are plenty of good quality reusable bottles that you can fill with tap water or filtered water and it’s a lot environmental friendlier.

3. “Unwrap” your toilet paper!
   Buy bare toilet paper rolls packed in cardboard. Buying tree-free toilet paper also saves trees and paper waste. Look at The Good Roll’s Wrapless Choice toiletpaper for instance, or for optimal sustainability, check out the #NAKED bamboo toilet paper!

4. Use natural cleaning tools.
   If you need something with scrubbing power, go for copper instead of plastic. Use a cotton dishcloth or a coconut coir brush for dishes, instead of a plastic scrub brush.

5. Remove plastic from your laundry routine.
   Use soap flakes, soap strips, or soap nuts instead of conventional laundry detergents that come in plastic-lined cardboard with plastic scoops or thick plastic jugs. They are truly awful for the planet.

6. Choose plastic-free chewing gum.
   Did you know almost all chewing gum is made of plastic?

7. Switch to bar soap instead of liquid soap.
   People sometimes worry that sharing a bar of soap is less sanitary than sharing a bottle of liquid soap. But the bar soap gets rinsed off every time you use it, the plastic pump doesn’t!

8. Make your own snacks and energy bars.
   You don’t have to give up crackers, energy bars, and other snacks that come packaged in plastic if you learn to make them yourself.

9. Use a handkerchief instead of paper tissue.
    Every Kleenex has a plastic window. However, we can avoid plastic waste by opting for reusable hankies. Some people make their own out of old T-shirts, or you can go for The Good Roll’s tissue boxes which are 100% plastic free!

10. Find DIY solutions for techno needs.
    I.e., knit a cover for your iPad instead of buying a plastic one, or crochet new headphone ear pads when the foam is worn out.