
006: How to Reduce Plastic Consumption at Home
July 28, 2020 by Ashley Madden
Have you ever looked around your house and observed how much plastic you have? Warning: the bathroom might make your jaw drop! Even if you already make an effort — as we at Happy Eco do — you might be surprised by how much plastic you have in your home. Once you make the rounds, you’ll wonder how you can reduce plastic consumption in your home.
Plastic is Everywhere
After you calculate the plastic in your home, don’t feel bad! You’re certainly not the only one who uses these products daily. Each year, Americans and Western Europeans consume about 220 pounds of plastic, mostly in the form of packaging. Unfortunately, much of that isn’t recycled or upcycled, resulting in about 8 million tons of plastic in our oceans every year.
If it doesn’t end up in the oceans, other options for plastic waste include landfills where chemicals can seep into other waterways, or incineration, which produces dangerous air pollution. The best alternative is to find ways to reduce plastic consumption in our homes and daily lives.
Reduce Plastic Consumption
As mentioned above, a good exercise is to walk around your home and take note of the plastic you use. For most of us, the bathroom is where we see the most single-use plastic. Toothbrushes, floss, and packaging (for items such as shampoo, lotion, feminine hygiene products, makeup, and deodorant) are the biggest culprits. Start small and replace some of these items with eco-friendly alternatives, such as sustainable personal care products.
Sustainable Personal Care Products
Because the bathroom houses a lot of single-use plastic, let’s start there. At Happy Eco, our sustainable personal care products use as little plastic as possible. You can easily swamp a conventional plastic toothbrush for one of our biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes, or opt forour plant-based floss picks. Making these little changes is the first step to reducing plastic waste.
One Small Change Makes a Big Impact
Let’s look at those toothbrushes again. Dentists advise us to replace our toothbrush every 3-4 months, meaning that we use 3-4 each year. What do you do with it? Toss it in the trash, most likely — not many recycling programs accept toothbrushes. Now, what about a biodegradable bamboo toothbrush? What do you do when you’re ready to replace it? Throw it in the compost! It’s genuinely that simple.
If you use 3-4 toothbrushes each year and live until you’re 80 years old, you use around 300 in your lifetime! That’s a lot of plastic floating around the oceans for just one person. Multiply that by how many people live in your town, city, country, or world, and you can see how using a biodegradable bamboo toothbrush can make a difference. It may seem like a simple act, but it makes a significant impact.
Other Ways to Reduce Plastic Consumption
Using a biodegradable bamboo toothbrush is just one example of how to change your habits and reduce the amount of plastic you use. Now, apply that same practice to other items in your home. Here are some alternative you can choose:
● Plastic garbage bags → Biodegradable bags
● Bottles of soap or shampoo → Bars of soap or plastic-free shampoo bars
● Grocery, produce, and bakery bags → Reusable cloth bags
● Plastic cling wrap → Beeswax wrap
● Plastic sponges → Natural, biodegradable sponges
You can also try your hand at making some of the products you buy from the store and use refillable bottles. Or, try shopping at bulk stores and bring your containers with you. Many eco- conscious stores allow you to return packaging for reuse. There are so many ways that you can reduce plastic consumption in your home and life. Remember, start small and make little changes as you go.