Plastic Awareness

Hello everybody! Welcome to or back to Guiding at Home. As a society we are using more plastic than ever before and it's really taking a toll on our wildlife and environment. Plastic plagues the oceans, hurting innocent creatures. Landfills are full of plastic that will never break down. Our towns and cities are littered so badly that animals mistake plastic for food. We are not only choking ourselves with this heavy consumerism of plastic but we are also killing creatures and plants that just get caught in our wave. We need to reduce this usage and we can if everyone does a little bit to help. I'm going to go through a few tips that you can start implementing into your everyday life.

1. Use a reusable water bottle.

When we are out and about its easy to just buy a bottle of water from the shop or when you are at school you can just buy one from the canteen. But did you know it takes 450 years for one bottle to decompose? Every second 20,000 bottles are being bought, used and thrown away. Plastic is quick and easy to use but it takes a very long time for it to decompose. Using a bottle that you can fill up everyday is a lot more environmentally friendly than a bottle you can only use once. You might be saying that someone else is just going to buy it so what's the point? By not buying it you are reducing the demand, if less people buy a product the less is made. Every person counts and for plastic production to reduce less people need to stop relying on it.

2. Use reusable cutlery.

Once again when you are out and need to use cutlery most likely you will be going for the plastic knives and forks that are offered or when you are hosting a party it's just easier to buy a load of plastic cutlery. It's easy and you don't need to wash up. But this mentality of doing things because of how easy they are is what is going to kill our planet. Carry around metal knives and forks or bamboo knives and forks so when you are out eating you don't have to feed into the plastic consumerism. When hosting a party layout your metal cutlery instead and just spend an extra 10 minutes washing them at the end. It's not that hard to reduce plastic usage you just have to be aware and stop going for the easy option. 

3. Buy second hand.

We are a world full of fast fashion and consumerism. We feed fast fashion and this means that clothing is made cheaply out of easy to use material like polyester. We move on so quickly with our clothes, toys, accessories etc that the world can't keep up. Did you know that the clothes you wear are the greatest source for plastic in the ocean? Tiny strands of clothing are shed from our clothes every time we wear them, wash them and throw them away. It is estimated that between 15-31 % of all plastic pollution comes from microplastics. Though these tiny plastics are naked to the eye, zooplankton such as krill see them as a tasty treat. Krill is near the bottom of the food chain so when a fish eats loads of krill this plastic is passed into them. Microfibres build up the higher you get in the food chain and we could end up eating fish that is full of tiny plastics. So to help reduce all the plastic from clothing, don't always buy new clothes, go to charity shops or online second hand shops like depop. You can still get fashionable clothes but you aren't hurting the environment as much. It is kinder to keep a piece of clothing in use as long as possible. Another small tip on top of this is to look at what the clothes are made out of. Avoid synthetic and go for more natural materials like wool, cotton and silk. I can go into so many tips on how to be more environmentally friendly with clothing but I'm going to leave it there for now but if you want more tips feel free to comment below.

4. Carry around bags.

Plastic bags are the symbol for plastic pollution everywhere. They have an average lifespan of 15 minutes and take between 500-1,000 years to break down. Beaches across the world are littered with these horrible bags, they are clogging drainage systems, they are being mistaken as jellyfish by turtles. We can assume they are the most common plastic single use item worldwide. One by one countries are banning plastic bags or putting a price on them. However there usage is still common because people are still willing to use them even with the additionally price. This is due to them being cheaper than buying a bag for life every time because they keep on forgetting them at home. I know it's hard to remember to always carry around a reusable bag but it's a good habit to get into. Most of the time when I'm out with my friends I have a backpack but then I also carry a folded cotton bag incase we go to the shops so I can use that instead of buying a plastic bag.

5. Look for plastic free alternatives

My last tip is quite general but a very important one nonetheless. In our day to day lives we use so many throw away plastic items without even thinking about it. We need to be more aware of how much we are using and try to buy the plastic free alternatives. Some examples of things to be aware of are cotton buds, toothbrushes, straws, sponges, sanitary items. With most of these you can find alternatives that use materials such as bamboo, natural materials or metal. It isn't a hard switch you just have to think before you buy.

Like in a few of my other blogs I like to put in a bit of personal experience. As I've mentioned I always carry around a bag with me but I also nearly always have a bottle of water, bamboo cutlery and metal straws in my backpack as well. They don't weigh much but they help me be more conscious of my plastic usage. I also like to shop second hand or from eco conscious brands when I can. At home I use a bamboo toothbrush and wash my hair with bars or buy hair product in bulk so I use less plastic. These switches have been so simple yet I know they will make a difference. Most of these items I have received for my Birthday or Christmas, I know they are weird gifts but I want to do as much as I can to help.

As you've probably guessed by now there is a badge that goes with this blog, it's the conscious consumer badge. It will be in your badge book if you want to give it a go. But even if you aren't going to do the badge I suggest at least thinking about how much plastic you use and ways to reduce your usage.

If you have any questions please comment below, I would also love to hear your opinions and what you are going to do to help reduce your use.

Thank you for reading and make sure you keep safe and keep on Guiding! 

(This is a really good book, if you are interested, it goes through so many tips and gives great advice. I got a lot of data for this blog from here. It's called 'How to give up Plastic' by Will McCallum.)