5 Thing You Can Do To End Plastic Pollution ❌

Earlier this year a male pilot whale died on a Thai beach having swallowed 80 plastics bags. The world has taken notice and countries are starting to act.From bans and taxes on various single-use plastics, to investments in waste collection, and policies on reduced plastics packaging, to beach clean-ups.

We need to break the addiction to plastics and contribute to a healthier world. Everyone needs to be on board to solve this problem and individual actions count.

 

Here are five things YOU can do starting TODAY ­to end plastic pollution­­:

1.Say NO To Plastic Bags 

There are an estimated 1 million plastic bags used every minute, and a single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to degrade.You can set an example by bringing your own reusable bag when you shop. 

Photo source: Tarian Pantry

2.Use a Refillable Water Bottle 

We buy an estimated million plastic bottles per minute and most of this plastic is not recycled. Plastic bottles take over 400 years to naturally decompose. So you should use  a recyclable bottle for your drinks instead of buying several bottles. 

Photo source: Hannah Ellsbury 

3. Don't Use Plastic Straws 

Plastic straws are among the top items of marine plastics found around the world, and they’re generally not recyclable. As a customer, use your voice at restaurants, cafes and eateries to refuse straws and plastic stirrers. Help a movement towards paper straws.There are metal and bamboo straws that are now more widely available.

Photo source: Plastic Oceans

4. Avoid Plastic Cutlery

Plastic culterly is a prime source of the estimated 269,000 tons of plastic pollution swept into waterways and oceans, where they partially degrade, harming marine life and affecting human health.When ordering take-out tell them to not give you plastic cutlery. Bring your reusable cutlery. 

Photo source: Green Initiatives 

5. Make better choices at Home

Make Green choices at home in choosing products with less plastic packaging. Move away from the throwaway culture. Avoid cosmetics and personal hygiene products with microbeads. Microbeads are are the little dots in your toothpaste, and facial scrubs. New research shows increasing amounts of damage from microbeads to marine life, leading to potential harm to human health. Shop around before investing in clothing that has synthetic microfibers. Often when these items are washed, they release microfibers into the water, which make their way to oceans, and may then be ingested by fish and other marine creatures.