Hi folks!
For this week’s post, I’m keeping it simple and offering up some everyday alternatives to lessen your impact on the environment. All of these alternatives avoid the daily dependence on plastics which can leach harmful toxins into the environment, polluting waterways and occupying our landfills. These materials are often tied to endocrine disruption and break down into harmful microplastics.
- The first on the list is a quick and cheap alternative to using plastic Ziploc bags. These are made to last and can be machine washed to use again and again. Think of all the landfill waste and harmful chemicals you’ll be avoiding by simply cutting out this basic plastic product.
2. Secondly, plastic water bottles are one of the number one forms of plastic waste. By re-using glass bottles or keeping your favorite water bottle handy, you not only avoid endocrine disrupting chemicals in your body but also keep single-use bottles from getting into our natural environment.
3. Thirdly, one of my newest investments was into these stainless steel drinking straws. By keeping these in your purse or bag when out and about, you can avoid another common waste that enters our natural environment–plastic straws. Not only is it good to remember to bring these along with you more often, it might help you remember to refuse plastic straws when grabbing fast food or dining out.
4. The last alternative is so simple but very easy to forget. I like to keep at least a couple reusable cloth bags in the back of my trunk so I always have them on hand for last-minute grocery or shopping trips. Plastic bags end up everywhere in our natural environment and take years to break down, making them a wasteful one-use product that we can all work to avoid.
Hope these were helpful, be sure to give them a try if you don’t already tried them out!