“From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet. In response, Earth Day 2018 is dedicated to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behaviour about plastics.” Earth Day 2018
As part of the countdown to this year’s Earth Day on the 22nd April, here are some zero waste tips from Emily Mason (@UniKentSustain) for creating your own waste busting kit!
1: Ditch the disposable coffee cup
With most coffee houses offering discounts if you bring in a reusable cup, it really is far more economical to buy a good quality reusable cup for coffee on the go. We like these smart ones from Keep Cup with the little plug that stops your cold coffee dregs from ending up in your bag.
Alternatively, why not stop for ten minutes and actually sit down and enjoy your cup of coffee out of a real mug. Take ten for yourself to destress, those emails can wait!
2: Refuse straws
Many places have stopped serving plastic straws, or have swapped them for paper alternatives, however you will still find the odd one creeping into your drink so be vigilant and refuse that straw.
If you need a straw then look at buying your own reusable straws to take around with you. You can get metal and glass ones that look cool and are easily cleaned in the dishwasher or with a little pipe cleaner like instrument that comes with them. You can also get ones with the traditional bend in them to make them easier to use.
3: Bring your own cutlery
My favourite place for lunch on campus is the Street Kitchen van on the Plaza, however as it is a takeaway van you are often left with many single use items that are destined for the bin. Cut down on the waste by bringing your own cutlery with you so you don’t have to pick up the plastic stuff whilst on the go.
I have this little Joseph Joseph set that magnetises together and slips into a pouch so that it doesn’t go missing at the bottom of my bag and takes up minimal space.
4: Bottle and bag
Don’t forget your kit will need a reusable and refillable water bottle so you can hydrate on the go without having to resort to bottled water, and of course a reusable bag so that adhoc shopping trips don’t result in unwanted carrier bags.
5: Work out how much plastic you get through
Whilst you are planning your plastic busting kit you may want to work out just how must plastic you are getting through each year. Check out Earth Day’s calculator and tweet us your results if you dare! @UniKentRecycle
Properly integrating your plastics use will throw up some culprits that you did not even realise were contributing to the problem.
Did you know, most tea bags are made in some part from plastic? Go for loose leaf tea if you can for a cheaper plastic free alternative or switch to Pukka or Tea pigs which are plastic free.
6: Campaign against #pointlessplastics
There will be many plastics in your lifestyle that you cannot remove easily e.g. food packaging. Some people will have access to bulk by shops or take back schemes but for the majority of us we are stuck with our local Tesco’s etc… If you would like to see more companies and brands reduce the plastics in their products then join @Global Good Awards in their campaign against pointless plastics.