One of the greatest topics of discussion today is how we can reduce our plastic use because our environment is suffering! Currently, statistics show there is 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans alone! Plastic is by far one of the largest contributors to pollution and it’s time we made these simple changes in our daily lives to save our planet!

Reusable Bags

You know those little plastic bags you use at grocery stores to put your fruits and vegetables in? Think about them for a minute. How many do you think you used in the last few months? I’d bet dozens and sadly the majority of them will not end up in recycling, but in the trash. Luckily, there are plenty of reusable produce bags on the market, I personally use some I found at my local convenience store and never looked back!

Take advantage of re-useable grocery bags as well. They’re often sold in grocery stores for inexpensive and they last for years! All of those plastic bags, even when you put them in the recycling, often don’t actually get recycled. Don’t risk it, use reusable ones!

Silicone or Biodegradable Straws

Save the turtles as they say! Plastic straws are a becoming a thing of the past these days, thankfully! I recommend jumping on this train yourself and you have several options for doing so. Of course, the easiest way to reduce your plastic straw usage is by omitting them entirely, but that route isn’t for everyone! Take advantage of silicone straws or even metal straws. I have also stumbled upon biodegradable straws that look and feel like traditional plastic ones but are made entirely from plant products that biodegrade!

Reusable Containers

Assuming all of you lovely readers use products like soap, dish detergent, cleaning supplies, etc. then it’s safe to assume you likely have a fair number of plastic containers in your house that you are going to toss in the trash when they’re empty. Try this instead! Purchase reusable glass containersand refill them each time you run out of a product! Thankfully, many companies are jumping on the bandwagon and offer bulk refills of their products in recyclable bags, leading to much less plastic in our landfills and oceans!

Product swaps

Something I have recently been taking part in is finding product swaps that either eliminate or reduce the amount of plastic I’d be putting into the environment at the end of the product usage. For example, laundry detergent is now being sold in varying forms such as concentrated (meaning less water but the same amount of cleaning solution), which is able to be sold in much smaller plastic bottles. Some companies have even created laundry detergent pods or sheets that don’t come in plastic containers at all! This concentrated way of creating products has merged into several other areas such as toothpaste tablets, soap pods, and dish detergent pods!

There are dozens of ways to reduce your plastic usage and I cannot stress the importance in doing so! You are making a huge difference in the life of our planet as well as your own life! You will feel good knowing you’re doing something to make a difference and all the fish in the ocean will thank you in the future for your amazing contributions!