surely it is up to us - can't wait for some leader or other to motivate us. Let the kids motivate us - why not.
And am sick and tired that anyone who tries, just tries, to make small changes, are just accused of being 'virtue signalling' - such sour grapes.
Just producing plastic uses huge resources – it takes around 12m barrels of oil to make the 100bn plastic bags used annually in the United States alone.
This year Britain’s Iceland supermarket has led the way – and others are beginning to follow suit. Iceland has pledged to eliminate plastic packaging on its own goods in five years.
So what can you do to reduce your own plastic footprint and put pressure on supermarkets and manufacturers to move towards reuseable plastic items and hugely increase the amount of recycled plastic in their products? Here are 10 top tips:
1. Start at home. Do a plastic audit of your household. Shower bottles, deodorants, washing up liquids, shampoo bottles. Aim to make reductions here by ditching shower gel for soap and the plastic cotton buds for biodegradable ones; buy liquid detergent in recycled plastic bottles and find a refill station to fill them up. Shampoo bars and toilet paper in recycled packaging are also available.
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2. In the US, 1bn plastic toothbrushes are thrown out each year, creating some 50m pounds of waste. Try using bamboo toothbrushes instead which only take about six months to biodegrade back into the soil when you have to replace your brush.
3. Carry reuseable fabric shopping bags.
4. Try buying wholesale and putting dried products such as rice, pasta and
lentils into glass jars to avoid buying products wrapped in plastic.
5. Recycle old plastic children’s toys. Search for a toy library in your
area to borrow from or donate to. And consider charity shops when looking for gifts.
6. Carry a reuseable coffee cup or flask; 7m plastic-lined coffee cups are thrown away in the UK every day.
7. Say no to plastic cutlery. Carry a fork with you or use a compostable alternative.
8. Ditch cling film wrap for your food. It cannot be recycled in most UK collections. Foil is recyclable, so use foil instead or reuseable plastic boxes.
9. Use an electric razor instead of plastic disposable one.
10. Write to companies whose packaging is non-recyclable, asking them to consider using less destructive materials. Maybe even think about starting a social media campaign to raise awareness. Strength in numbers!
• This article was amended on 3, 4 and 18 January 2019. An earlier version suggested that 12m oil barrels produced 100m plastic bags. That figure is more like 100bn bags. In addition, the estimate of 1bn plastic toothbrushes being thrown out each year relates just to the US, not globally. This has been corrected. It was further amended to remove a reference to a branded product, and to refer to biodegradable cotton buds rather than recyclable ones.
