Sustainable Dorset
Rather than reinvent the wheel and make a new list of ways to go greener we have included links to Sustainable Dorset’s website that already have comprehensive information and ideas on sustainability
https://www.sustainabledorset.org
Here are some ways to save plastic, from Sustainable Dorset website
More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year! Packaging accounts for just over 40% of total plastic usage. Over 100 billion plastic beverage bottles are sold in the U.S alone each year. Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide each with a “working life” of a mere 15 minutes.
Here are some simple ideas for you to adopt to reduce your plastic usage and waste:
- Take your own bag to the shops
- Drink tap water and carry it in your own stainless steel bottle
- Don’t buy body scrubs – those tiny beads are usually made of plastic
- Choose fruit and vegetables that are not wrapped in plastic
- Don’t use ‘single use’ plates, knives, forks etc. wash up after you eat
- Wherever you can, choose liquid products that can be re-filled rather than bought new etc
- Refuse plastic straws in your drinks, try stainless steel or paper
- If you can’t find an alternative to single-use plastic, make sure you recycle it
- Don’t celebrate with balloon releases, the chances are the balloons will land in the ocean, choking seabirds, turtles and marine mammals
- Use crystal deodorants – they last far longer, are more effective and some even come with no plastic packaging at all
- Use good old-fashioned soap – it works as well as liquid soap and lasts longer
- Buy butter wrapped in paper instead of in a plastic tub
Here are some Plastic Free Home Tips from Friends of the Earth