GREEN TEAM--TIPS TO REDUCE YOUR USE OF PLASTICS
Back to Green Team main page
Tips to Reduce Your Use of Plastics
Back to Green Team main page
Tips to Reduce Your Use of Plastics
- Say "No" to single use bags
- Stop buying/using bottled water (use reusable metal containers, instead)
- Buy drinks in glass bottles or recyclable metal cans rather than in plastic containers
- Bring your own coffee cups instead of accepting disposable cups with plastic lids
- Buy in bulk (and use your own container)
- User your own mesh produce bags in grocery stores
- Use your own bags for groceries (get in the habit of keeping shopping bags with you)
- Stop using plastic straws
- Replace plastic wrap with beeswax wrap
- Compost food waste to reduce the need for plastic bags
- Use matches instead of disposable plastic lighters
- Choose unwrapped bar soap in place of liquid soap packed in plastic
- Buy eggs in paper, rather that Stryofoam, containers
- Take your own tiffin container for carryout food or leftovers in restaurants
- Sign up for a Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) program to reduce plastic packaging
- Buy loaf bread from sellers who don’t wrap it in plastic
- Refuse plastic utensils from take-out restaurants
- Make your own cleaning solutions, stored in glass containers, to reduce use of cleaners sold in plastic containers
- Choose clothing made of natural fibers instead of synthetics that contain plastic
- Buy products in boxes, instead of plastic bottles, when possible
- Avoid buying frozen foods (most are packaged in plastics; even those that appear to be in cardboard or paper often have a coating of thin plastic film)
- Use (or encourage the use of) cloth diapers rather than disposable diapers (that contain plastic)
- Use a razor with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors/blades
- Buy bulk coffee packaged in paper or cans
- Avoid plastic single-use coffee products
- Avoid plastic zip storage containers; use reusable silicone bags or aluminum or wax paper, instead
- Use cloth rather than paper towels for clean-up around the house (reducing need for bags for clean-up)
- Buy CDs packaged in cardboard sleeves or buy music online
- Choose milk in returnable glass bottles
- Choose bottled wine (“boxed” wine is stored in plastic bladders inside the “box”)
- Use powdered dishwasher detergent stored in cardboard boxes (versus plastic “pods”)
- Use natural material cleaning pads, versus plastic scrubbers and synthetic sponges
- Use baking soda mixed with drops of tea oil, applied to underarms with reusable cotton round, instead of deodorant
- Avoid disposable plastic pens; use pencils or refillable fountain pens, instead
Back to Green Team main page