Reducing Plastic Consumption

PLASTIC! Something that had blasted into our lives and is going to stay for the foreseaable future. While there are hundreds of uses for plastic, it is harmful for nature as most of the plastic, after their usage, is getting dumped into the oceans. I see articles every day on how plastic dumped into ocean is affecting our marine life and it makes me sad :(. After seeing those articles for long, I wanted to do something to help change it. Or at the least, not add to the existing situation. This is when I made some choices in reducing my plastic consumption in day-to-day life

1. Re-usable Shopping bags: I started purchasing re-usable (usually made out of recycled plastic) shopping bags at every store I make purchases. Wholefoods, Walmart, Shoprite and T.J.Max. And boy! This is a game changer. Our usage of one-time use plastic bags at the grocery stores has reduced by 95% with in couple of weeks. At first I used to forget taking them to the stores, but then I made it a point to keep the bags back in the car after taking the groceries out. And even if I forget, my wife reminds me :)

challenges faced : Getting used to this routine is not without its challenges. Here are few what I faced and how I overcame those

• Initially we used to take store specific re-usable bag for shopping (take only Walmart bag while shopping at Walmart, etc. as we felt awkward taking other store bags). When we purchased more items we ended up taking plastic bags. And it defeated the purpose! So, we started taking all re-usable bags to all the stores.  It just took a second thought to overcome the feeling of awkwardness 
  

1. Bottle for drinking water: Bottled water is one of the most commonly and frequently used plastic items. And we can reduce them in great numbers by making minor modifications in our day to day life. I did this by purchasing a good quality reusable water bottle. Initially, I used to drink water from the waxed paper cups available at the office. However I soon learned that those cups are not good when taking hot water. So, I purchased one and kept at office. I also have another one that I take with me wherever I go. Imagine all the plastic bottles saved over the past 3 years!!!
   
2. Soap bar instead of body wash: I had started using soap bars instead of body washes to reduce plastic consumption
3. No more plastic straws : Google for "how many plastic straws are used for a day". You will find that just in US about 500 million straws are used for a day!!!! I once saw the video of a plastic straw struck in the nose of a turtle and it eventually died because of that. That's it! From that day, I stopped asking for straws at restraunts and coffee shops. I still take one or two rarely, but I plan on getting a reusable straw
4. Skoy cloth: I first saw these in Amazon back in 2010. It had good reviews and I bought it to try. Boy! I was surprised how well it works. Using this we can reduce the usage of paper towels to great extent. I still use these and they last long even with daily usage

I also have an idea where I want to purchase 20 re-usable bags at a store and give it to random people at the store. Even if one person starts using it regularly, it saves a lot of plastic bags from being used!!!