Reducing Plastic | Coacto Year of Change #9

The media is full of stories about our plastic consumption, and we know we need to reduce the amount of plastic we produce and use. Up to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enters our oceans every year and the environment is suffering. While it can seem a daunting prospect, it is important for all of us to do our part! One easy way of contributing is by reducing the amount of packaging and plastic in your daily life. 

For more facts about how much each of us consumes annually, check out this link from Global Citizen.  

So, if you feel you need to make a change, here are a few tips for reducing how much plastic you’re using:

1. Using recyclable and reusable materials. Check the items your buying to make sure you can recycle the packaging it comes in.
   
2. Invest in a reusable coffee cup (Although keep in mind bamboo ones are not good!) and canvas bags. This one time expense will help in the future – most coffee shops are happy to fill your reusable cup (and sometimes for a discounted cost!) and having canvas shopping bags at the ready is always useful.
   
3. Find a local supermarket which offers package-free food. There aren’t a lot of package-free food shops around the UK at the moment, but it’s part of a growing movement. Taking a Tupperware box to fill with pasta saves on buying plastic; so if you have the possibility, why not try it out. Using recyclable and reusable materials. Check the items your buying to make sure you can recycle the packaging it comes in.
   
4. Search around for sustainable, plastic free products such as razor or nappy alternatives which are better for the environment.
   
5. Reusable water bottles! We’ve mentioned this before in a previous Change blog, so give that a read for more information. Invest in something that will last longer than the usual disposable bottles.

Making these changes may not seem like a huge difference, but if we all start cutting down on our plastic consumption, the effect will be noticeable, and manufacturers and supermarkets will produce less and consume less. If you’re curious about your own personal plastic footprint, try Greenpeace’s plastic calculator and see what your impact is! 

Making an impact:

As mentioned earlier, we recently posted about reusable water bottles. We mentioned the number of plastic bottles consumed over a series of day long workshops at a customer of ours. We visited that customer again recently and are delighted to report that the managing director kept his word and the fridge in the board room is now empty of plastic bottles, and most of the staff there now have reusable bottles!  A tiny difference but if we all make an effort, those tiny differences will add up.

You can contact us to find out more about how we can help. We love to chat, so give us a call!