Five easy swaps for a lower-plastic home
Cutting down on plastic does not have to mean changing everything at once. The swaps that last are the easy ones: things you use every day, where a reusable option is just as convenient. Here are five places to start.
1. Hand soap
The bottle by the sink is used up and replaced over and over. Switch to one refillable bottle and refill it with soap tablets and tap water. You keep the bottle, and only the soap is new each time.
2. Shopping bags
Keep a couple of cloth bags folded in your car, your handbag, or by the front door. The trick is not buying the bag, it is remembering to take it with you, so keep them where you will see them.
3. Water bottles
A good steel or glass bottle, filled at home, replaces a lot of bottled water over a month. If you are out often, keep one in your bag or at your desk.
4. Kitchen storage
Glass jars and steel containers are great for leftovers, spices and dry goods. Old jam and pickle jars work just as well as new ones, so reuse what you already have before buying more.
5. Takeaway habits
If you order in often, say no to extra cutlery and sachets you will not use. When you can, carry your own cup for chai or coffee on the go.
Start with one
Pick the swap that feels easiest and stick with it for a month before adding the next. Small changes that stick do more than big changes that do not.
If hand soap is your first swap, the Seaborn starter pack is the easiest way to begin.
