Looking for ideas on how to avoid plastic in our daily life? In this post, I’ve listed six simple tips to limit plastic use through clever plastic free alternatives.
Most people generate plastic waste everyday. Unfortunately, this large amount of plastic consumption leads to waste entering our oceans, killing millions of marine animals every year.
Fortunately, it’s easy to cut down on single use items and plastic. You don’t need to completely cut off all plastic items in your life to make a difference. Any plastic item you swap for plastic free ones will make a huge environmental impact in the long run.
Here are my best tips to use less plastic!
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How To Avoid Plastic In Our Daily Life
Below, I’ve listed six easy methods on how to avoid plastic in our daily life. Besides recycling, there are many other methods to cut down on plastic waste in our environment. I’ve gathered six simple tips to cut down on plastic use through clever plastic free alternatives and shopping tips.
Under some tips, I recommended helpful plastic free products I felt had the most value for the cost. For more eco friendly product ideas, I wrote a post here. Otherwise, let’s get started!
1. Stop Buying Bottled Water
Did you know that bottled water is a thousand times more expensive than tap water? Despite this fact, millions of bottled water are sold every day. It takes 700 years for a single plastic bottle to dissolve!
Bottled water is horrible for the environment and our wallets. Plastic free alternatives are also widely available! A simple way to limit single use plastic waste is to stop buying bottled water.
Use less plastic by swapping bottled water for a water bottle (like a Hydro Flask). Make you own filtered drinking water at home for a fraction of the cost using a Brita Filter Pitcher. You can get a decently sized Brita for around $16 on Amazon (this is the one I use at home).
Best Insulated Water Bottle
I’m a huge fan of Hydro Flask products because of their amazing insulation. If you love drinking iced water, a Hydro Flask water bottle will keep your water icy cold and ice cubes frozen all day! It’ll also keep warm beverages piping hot for hours!
If you are planning to swap over from bottled water, I highly recommend this insulated water bottle from Hydro Flask. Not only do they have a wide selection of beautiful colors to choose from, but their insulated water bottles are also dishwasher safe and will last for years.
2. Stop Using Plastic Straws
Did you know there are currently billions of plastic straws in our oceans, killing off marine animals? Plastic straws are one of the worse plastic single use items, because they are easily littered and difficult to recycle. Despite this, hundreds of millions of plastic straws are used daily.
One easy tip on how to avoid plastic in our daily life is to stop using plastic straws. Stop buying plastic straws for personal use and go straw-less as much as possible. Reducing plastic straw use is an easy way to cut down on plastic waste.
If you want to use straws, opt for stainless steel straws ones instead. You can get a four pack of stainless steel straws for around $4. They are easy to clean, last for a long time, and help reduce plastic pollution in our environment!
Best Budget Stainless Steel Straw Set
Looking for a budget stainless steel straws set? Look no further! This four pack of stainless steel straws comes with two straight straws, two bent ones, and a cleaning brush.
These straws are extra long to fit most tumblers and long glasses. Compared to plastic straws, they don’t split or break. They come in a sturdy carry bag, so you can easily bring them into a restaurant or bar.
For the price, these stainless steel straws are worth it! The only thing I would note is that the bent straw may be harder to clean with the cleaning brush and these straws are definitely longer than regular ones.
3. Bring Your Own Grocery + Produce Bags To The Grocery Store
Looking for ideas on how to avoid plastic in our daily life? Grocery stores are packed with single use plastic. Two simple ways to cut down on plastic is to bring your own grocery and produce bags.
Billions of single use grocery and produce bags are used every year. Did you know it takes at least a 1000 years for plastic bags to fully break down? Even after they break down, their toxic particles remain and contaminate the environment.
Reusable grocery and produce bags make excellent daily plastic free alternatives. You just need to buy them once and use them over and over (you can buy a quality grocery and produce bag set for around $16). If you drive to the grocery store, I recommend keeping your reusable grocery and produce bags inside your vehicle in case of emergency grocery trips.
Best Quality Grocery + Produce Bags Set
Looking for a sturdy set of reusable grocery and product bags to bring to your next grocery trip? This reusable grocery and produce bag set comes with a reusable mesh grocery bag, three mesh produce bags, and three muslin bulk food bags in three sizes.
The produce bags look stylish and expensive, come in a variety of sizes, are stretchy and easy to clean, and lightweight. This is the perfect grocery and produce bag set for college students and people who live alone. If you are looking for a simple way to cut down on plastic in everyday, I highly recommend purchasing and using a set of reusable grocery and produce bags like these ones!
4. Replace Your Disposable Razor With A Safety Razor
Another easy tip on how to avoid plastic in our daily life is to swap your disposable razor for a safety razor. Every time you replace a disposable razor, you release more plastic waste into our environment. To reduce plastic use and to save money, I highly recommend swapping to a safety razor.
Safety razors are a million times better than disposable ones in every way. Disposable razors only last for a good three to ten shaves before they become basically unusable. When the razor blade dulls on a safety razor, you just need to swap the blade out for a new one.
Since you only have one blade against your skin, safety razors give you a better and closer shave, and less skin irritation and shave bumps. Since you only need to replace the blade and not the actual razor, safety razors cost less money compared to disposable ones in the long run. You can get a quality safety razor, like this Butterfly Double Edge Safety Razor from Weishi, for around $17 (this is the one I use!).
Best Budget Safety Razor
I can’t recommend this safety razor by Weishi enough! As someone who uses this safety razor regularly, I love how smooth the shave is. It glides over my skin easily and doesn’t cause shave bumps.
If you are new to safety razors, there is a little bit of a learning curve. I recommend using barely any pressure and going slow your first time. Once you get used to it, safety razors are incredibly easy to use and you will get the perfect shave every time!
If you want to use less plastic on a budget, I highly recommend this quality budget safety razor. Not only will you save money and enjoy the close shave, but it’s a great plastic free alternative to help the environment by creating less waste.
5. Buy Secondhand
Looking for other ideas to reduce plastic waste in our environment? One clever way to reduce to the impact of plastic items is to shop secondhand.
I highly recommend visiting thrift stores and secondhand shops for clothing and home items. Not only are they cheaper than new items, but many people donate barely used items in perfect condition. You can get great deals on lightly used furniture, appliances, and decor!
I love shopping secondhand because you never know what treasures you will find. It’s like an easter egg hunt every time! Thrift shopping is a fun activity to do with friends or yourself. Try visiting a thrift store or secondhand shop near you!
6. Avoid Single Use Items
One easy tip on how to avoid plastic in our daily life is to avoid single use items. Throughout this post, I’ve listed plastic free alternatives to single use items like plastic straws, plastic bags, disposable razors, and bottled waters.
Most single use items are made cheaply with plastic, causing a massive amount of waste in the ecosystem. This waste pollutes our oceans, killing off millions of marine life every year. To use less plastic, I encourage readers to see what single use items you could replace at home. There are so many quality, eco friendly options out there you might not have known about.
Most single use item alternatives last longer, have higher quality, and will save you more money in the long run. Not only will they help you use less plastic, but they’ll save you trips to the grocery store. Eco friendly products are better in every way!
Looking for more eco friendly tips and plastic free alternatives to use at home? I wrote a post on 10 awesome budget eco friendly products to become more sustainable.
Summarized: How To Avoid Plastic In Our Daily Life
In this post, I listed several plastic free alternatives, as well as, ideas on how to avoid plastic in our daily life. Here are all the best tips summarized:
Best Products To Use Less Plastic
Easy Single Use Item Alternatives
- Stop buying bottled water. Save money and reduce plastic use by filtering your own water at home with a Brita. Use a water bottle like a Hydro Flask to hydrate on the go.
- Stop using plastic straws. Go straw-less or use stainless steel straws instead. Bring your own reusable straws to a restaurant or bar, or request for no straws.
- To use less plastic at the grocery store, bring your own reusable grocery and produce bags.
- Swap disposable razors for safety razors. Not only will you also save money in the long run, but you will get the smoothest, bump free shave every time.
Easy Ideas On How To Avoid Plastic In Our Daily Life
- Shopping second hand is an easy way to purchase “new” items without adding more plastic waste to our oceans. You can get good condition clothing and home items for a bargain price.
- Avoid buying single use items when possible. Most plastic free alternatives last longer than plastic ones, saving you more money in the long run. For more single use item alternative ideas, I wrote a post on 10 awesome cheap eco friendly home products.
Conclusion
In this post, I listed six easy tips on how to avoid plastic in our daily life. I listed easy plastic free alternative ideas for everyday items to help readers limit single use item use. As people are becoming more conscious of humanity’s impact on the environment, there are increasingly better eco friendly alternatives to plastic items.
Today, it’s easy to become eco friendly. Many plastic free alternatives are inexpensive, last longer, and will help you save money in the long run. They also work just as well as single use plastic items (if not better).
I hope this post gave you several ideas on how to use less plastic in your own life. I recommend gradually swapping to plastic free alternative products when you finish up and recycle your old plastic ones. Small swaps can make a huge difference!
If you want more ideas of budget eco friendly products to swap out at home, I wrote a post!
Good luck!