How to Reduce the Use of Plastics in your home

By Hauwa Ali

It is the responsibility of Every parent to provide their family with a greener and cleaner environment so that they can live happily and raise healthy kids to generations. But we do not know the steps for the green future. There are a few steps we can take today which may seem weird, but important to save our environment.

First, You can do your bit to reduce, reuse, and recycle and therefore slowly eliminate single-use plastics at home for the betterment of the world with these few steps:
Carry Your Own Bottle
Make sure you pack a bottle (steel or glass) in your bag so you use that and refill it every time instead of buying pet water bottles from the store. Be it meeting a client, flight travel, or a visit to the movie theater, kindly make sure to carry your own bottle. This way you say goodbye to loads of single-use plastic bottles strewn across.
Use Chewing Sticks!
Yes, You heard right. Chewing stick! It is reported that over 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes are found in landfills every year. How hard is it to make the switch to simple and effective bamboo toothbrushes for everyone in the family to save the planet?
Say Bye-Bye to plastic Straws
Get a steel straw for every member of your family. Be it having your favourites milkshake or that healthy tender coconut down the road, carry your own steel straw in your bag, everywhere you go. There are plenty available in the market. Over 8.3 billion plastic straws are used and thrown every year – this way, you will be doing your bit to save the planet.
Purchase Wisely
Always ensure to buy in bulk to reduce too much packaging. Whether you order online or purchase from the local supermarket, be a smart consumer. For every small pack that you order, you would be throwing out that many plastic covers that pack the same. Remember as kids, how we saw our moms buy in bulk and store them right? Adopt those simple practices to eliminate frequent and small-size packs.

Educate your Family
Remember to educate your kids and family too as you adopt these little practice. Let them know why you adopt these practices. Read books with them and help them understand why we must act now before it is too late.
Educate them about the recommendations from United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on plastic waste reduction:

1. We can reduce our plastic consumption in many affordable ways, but the easiest ones include replacing single-use plastics with reusable alternatives.
2. Products should be designed to be both lightweight and durable to maximise reusability. Production should be sustainable by using renewable energy and recycled materials.
3. Sourcing locally and avoiding air-freight transported goods is another way to reduce the environmental impact of products over their life cycle.
4. Finally, end-of-life impacts must be considered so that products can be recycled or discarded in an environmentally friendly manner when they can no longer be reused.