One of the main reasons we founded The Swag was due to our huge concerns around the effect’s plastic was having on the world we live in. Plastic is, for the most part, non-biodegradable and plays havoc with the environment including the oceans and dry land. As a result, we took Mahatma Gandhi’s advice to ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ and created organic, natural alternatives to plastic food storage bags.
Below are tips on how you can go plastic-free for a week, and hopefully beyond! Even if you adopt half of the tips below, you’re making a positive contribution to the amount of plastic being sent to landfill, or worse still ending up as litter, around the world:
Where to Start:
To go plastic free for a week the below items should be avoided entirely if possible:
- No buying new plastic items such as toothbrushes, plastic storage bags etc.
- No using single-use plastics such as shopping bags in grocery stores.
- No buying food in plastic packaging.
- Using re-usable plastic containers is ok if you already own them but don’t buy new ones, look for alternatives.
Meals:
Shopping without purchasing anything wrapped in plastic is just as difficult as you may think! Most processed foods including biscuits and chocolate amongst many other types of food come wrapped in plastic, so this eliminates them immediately. Fresh fruit and vegetables should be bought and put in reusable bags or ‘swags’ or just left to roam free in shopping trolleys and washed prior to use. If you must buy products in plastic, such as milk or yoghurt, go for 2 or 3 litre bottles or tubs rather than smaller containers. Beeswax paper is a good alternative to cling wrap to keep food fresh in the fridge or pantry.
Personal Products and Cleaning:
Another tricky area to address when attempting to avoid plastic is personal hygiene and cleaning. Deodorants, skincare serums and cleaning sprays etc generally come in plastic bottles or at least with plastic caps. The best option is to either try and buy products which come in glass containers or again buy plastic bottles which hold large amounts rather than smaller ones. Other products like toilet paper can be purchased in paper packaging if you do your research rather than the abundance of plastic which they’re generally wrapped in!
What to Avoid:
- Straws (just use your mouth!)
- Takeaway coffee cups - buy a keep cup
- Plastic water bottles - buy a glass water bottle and keep refilling it
- Keep your glass jars and reuse them instead of Tupperware
- Plastic knives and forks
- Lunch on the go - buy a healthy sandwich in a brown paper bag for lunch and avoid all plastic packaging.
- Eat in - don't take away those toxic plastic containers
- Most tea bags are infused with toxic plastic. Instead, use a natural and reusable alternative (such as our Tea Swags) and fill them with loose leaf tea.
While these are just a few ways to reduce how much plastic we use in any given week or longer period, they can have a hugely beneficial impact on the environment if we continue to follow these habits over time. We may be a little biased, but we definitely recommend checking out our range of swags on our shop page for an environmentally-friendly option for storing your fruit and vegetables which will also keep them fresh for up to three times longer than using plastic!
