Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic ends up in our oceans. What can we do to reduce our plastic footprint? 

We’ve put together 5 simple steps to get you started on your plastic-reduction journey: 

Reusable coffee cup

2.5 billion coffee cups are thrown away each year in the UK – less than 1 in 400 of them are recycled and an alarming amount has a plastic coating leaving them unrecyclable. Make sure to take your reusable coffee cup with you, most shops offer a discount if you take your own now.

Water Bottles

Swap out your disposable water bottles for reusable bottles. There are so many options out there now to choose from so why contribute to the 7.7 billion water bottles that are thrown away each year?

I use Ocean bottle, they use ocean-bound recycled plastic to make this bottle. Also with the sale of every bottle, they fund the collection of 11.4kg of plastic, equivalent to 1000 plastic bottles and invest in people-powered waste management. 

There are many different options out there, I look for companies that not only use recycled plastic and other sustainable materials but support the clean up of our oceans.

Reduce excess food packaging

9% of all plastic in the world is actually recycled.

We need to do our part, not to just recycle but avoid plastic altogether.

It’s clear to all that the leading supermarkets haven’t been doing enough to reduce plastic waste. The odd paper bag here and recycled toilet paper there is a step in the right direction but we are far from perfect. Do your part by avoiding vegetables in plastic and go for loose. You might even save some money and waste less. More and more products are swapping out plastic for cardboard so keep your eyes peeled.

You may need to look at the places you shop too, we choose to go to our local greengrocers so there are more plastic-free options.

Say no to straws

This one is very easy, simply say no to straws. Most places now offer paper straws (or even ones made out of pasta), but it’s always best to double-check before your drink is made.

If you do like or need to use straws, I would recommend bamboo straws, they are biodegradable and compostable so they never end up polluting the environment. But you can get straw made from most materials now. Metal, glass and even ceramic options are available.

Bamboo toothbrush

Plastic toothbrushes take up to 400 years to decompose and leach chemicals in the process. Swapping to a bamboo toothbrush is again a simple and easy action you can take on your journey.

Supermarkets are even starting to stock them with big brands like Colgate joining the bamboo toothbrush revolution and you can get sustainable bamboo replacement heads for your electric brushes.