Top Tips to reduce your plastic waste

Reduce plastic use:

Over the last 6 or 7 years I have become increasingly aware of the impact my lifestyle is having on the environment, an inescapable side effect to diving into the pre-owned fashion market probably! I was horrified by the amount of non recyclable, damaging waste I was personally responsible for - if you’ve never kept a weeks worth of (non-perishable) rubbish to lay out on the floor and look at; I would recommend it. Over time I have discovered more and more new ways to decrease the waste and rubbish I create and it has completely shifted my mindset, for the better. I’m not saying I am Zero Waste, it’s all a journey, but my view is that if we all make a few small changes it will have a HUGE, compound effect and that’s when BIG changes really happen.  

So, here are my tips on how to get started. It will most likely be too much to do them all in one go, so why not challenge yourself, take on one tip each week, and over time - you’ll get there!

1) Keep hydrated - single use plastic water bottles are everywhere! A very creative marketing ploy from the 18th Century has created a global, multi-billion dollar industry which currently sees one million bottles being bought every single minute - that’s 1.4billion plastic bottles of water every day! So, first thing to do is invest in a reusable bottle (I actually have 3 in varying sizes depending on what my day away from home looks like). If you’re happy drinking tap water (which I have been doing in the UAE for almost 3 decades!), then fill from the tap, and if you like it cold then keep a spare bottle in the fridge.

[Photo credit: @julesville_ as used on HydroFlask Instagram]

If you want filtered, you can consider bamboo charcoal which filters the water naturally without any chemicals (I have personally bought from: https://www.kuro-bo.com/product-category/collections/charcoal-filters/  & https://charcoalpeople.co.uk/buy-water-filters/ ).  Another option is to have a water filter installed and simply fill up your bottles directly from the tap before you leave the house! A top recommendation for UAE readers is our friends at Liquid of Life: http://www.liquidoflife.net/

2) Caffeine fix - do you have a caffeine addiction and find yourself running into a coffee house once or twice a day? Or perhaps you have a home machine and work your way through the convenient capsules? There’s zero-waste solutions so you don’t have to quit coffee!

Did you know that not only to takeaway coffee cups come with a plastic lid, but they also have a plastic coating on the inside of the paper? Less than 0.5% of coffee cups and lids are recycled, so along with your reusable water bottles, you should also get yourself a reusable coffee mug that you can carry with you on the coffee run, or take 5 minutes of ‘me’ time and sit in the coffee shop and enjoy the moment.  

If you’re an at-home capsule user there are a couple of options - I like the reusable capsules that you fill yourself with your chosen ground coffee. Alternatively, check out the newly launched Loose Unicorns (yup, we love their tongue in cheek branding too!) offering 100% biodegradable coffee capsules, which break down in just 12 weeks: https://looseunicorns.com/

3) Carry on carrying - Shopping bags are an easy switch to make, because you can simply pop a bunch of reusable canvas bags in your car or one of those small folding bags that just lives in bottom of your handbag, ready for you to whip out when you need.

As an extension of this, make sure you avoid being tricked into using all the plastic produce bags as well.  What I do is have one dedicated bag for my produce in which I put all the loose fruit and vegetables directly, have them weighed and get the stickers stuck to the outside of the bag (handy tip - this also saves you time at the checkout).

4) The Last Straw - So strangely, glasses were designed to be drunk directly from, so really… do you REALLY need a straw? NO, the answer is no. So next time you go to the bar make you add ‘no straw’ to your order. If you MUST drink from a straw, there are 3 alternative materials; stainless steel, bamboo and glass. We actually sell reusable bamboo straws at the RETOLD boutique, so you can grab a couple on your next shopping trip!

[Reusable bamboo straws available at RETOLD boutique]

5) Get Clean - Changing the way you clean your home will take a bit more getting used to but there are a couple of easy options.  A brand called Common Good provide plant based, sulfate- , phthalate- , M.I.T.- and paraben-free cleaning products and I’m super excited for their Dubai launch in January, when you’ll be able to take your refillable containers to a number of their refill stations around town. Keep an eye on their Instagram page for the updates: https://www.instagram.com/commongoodandco/

Whilst not single use, plastic products like dish scrubbers are often seen littering beaches across the world, so make sure the next one you buy is a biodegradable option like these from EcoCocoNut: https://ecococonut.com/collections/kitchen

6) Cosmetics -

If you haven’t already, now is the time to switch to back to good old fashioned bars of soap (there’s actually much less chemicals in these anyway!), I love the Camel Soap Factory ones, which are all handmade here in Dubai from Camel Milk, Olive Oil and Essential Oils.

I have recently made the switch to shampoo and conditioner bars, which means I’m no longer throwing out the plastic bottles. There are many options globally I particularly like the way the Unwrapped Life ones leave my hair feeling - https://unwrappedlife.com/pages/wildcrafted-shampoo-bars-and-conditioner-bars

[Detoxify shampoo and conditioner bars from @unwrappedlife - Photo credit to @unwrappedlife]

Bamboo toothbrushes have seen a rise in popularity, and local ocean-loving brand Azraq stocks them: https://azraqme.org/shop/bamboo-toothbrushes

Reusable bamboo pads to replace cotton wool pads are fantastic - easily ordered from Souq.com, and I’d suggest getting a set with a washing bag so you don’t lose any to the evil laundry pixies!

So, there are my top tips for easily reducing the amount of waste you use, particularly single-use-plastic.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these, and of course any and all recommendations you have for your favourite products!

Thanks, Sian

Chief Storyteller at RETOLD