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Simple swaps to avoid single-use plastics
Think about all the plastics and disposable items you encounter each day. With a little prep, you can avoid quite a few.
Get started by gathering a few reusable essentials:
- A water bottle to fill up for free at water fountains when you’re out and about.
- Shopping bags so you can say “no thanks” to carry bags at the checkout.
- A cutlery set for lunch on the go. Grab spares from your kitchen drawer or picnic basket, or get a dedicated set like this cute cutlery kit from Ruck Rover in Northbridge.
- An airtight container for restaurant leftovers or takeaway meals. (Tip: Use the BYO Containers website to find places that are happy to pop food into your reusables. You can also add places that you find to their map!)
The most sustainable solution is always to use something you already have, but if you need to invest in something new, look for durability and a design that you love.
Cut waste in your weekly shop
Ready to level up your efforts? Here’s how:
- Bring your own bags, containers and jars to pick up pantry staples (such as rice, flours, sugars, nuts, dried fruits, spices, chocolate and snacks) at a bulk food store, like Perth’s beloved Kakulas Brothers in Northbridge.
- Avoid plastic produce bags when buying fruit and veg by simply keeping your items loose or using reusable mesh bags, which are easy to buy at most supermarkets now. (Tip: Farmers’ markets like Perth City Farm are a great bet for finding fresh produce that’s not pre-packaged.)
- Switch your bathroom essentials. Choose solid soap and shampoo bars, or start refilling containers. The Body Shop in Murray Street Mall has a refill station with a range of haircare, hand and body washes.
Ditch disposable cups
What about coffee cups? Well, WA has led the way by banning plastic-lined coffee cups and plastic coffee cup lids. Many cafes now serve takeaway coffees in compostable paperboard cups instead, which is great… if you’re able to compost them. But often they end up in landfill bins, so all the resources used to make them go to waste after just a few minutes of use. (Remember, coffee cups don’t belong in recycling bins!)
It’s far better to bring your own reusable cup. With regular use, the environmental impact of a reusable cup is much lower than all the single-use ones (whether plastic-lined or compostable) that it replaces.
As a bonus, many cafes offer a discount - typically 20 to 50 cents - when you bring your own cup. Use the Responsible Cafes map search to find discounts.
So keep a clean cup in your bag, car, pram, desk drawer, locker, or wherever you’ll remember it when heading to your fave cafes. A mug from your kitchen is just fine, or look for a travel cup with a well-sealed lid. Fressko cups, available at Pigeonhole, come in a stylish range of matte solid colours.
And it’s not just disposable coffee cups we can cut out of our lives. Cold drinks like freshly squeezed juice and bubble tea create lots of waste too. If you regularly buy them, find a suitable reusable cup with a lid and straw. Your favourite drink outlet may offer one in the perfect size - for example, Presotea sells reusable bubble tea cups (with a wide straw for the pearls) at their multiple locations across Perth City.
Small steps, big difference
If all these ideas seem overwhelming, remember that you don’t need to change everything at once. Pick one thing to try at a time and soon enough you’ll be putting much less in the bin!
Plastic Free July’s theme this year is “Small steps, big difference”, reminding us that every time we choose to refuse single-use plastic, we’re contributing to a positive change.
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