There is a plastic waste island wafting about in the middle of the Pacific Ocean which stretches as far as 1,6 million square kilometres. There is approximately 500 million tonnes of plastic that is produced yearly all around the world. By 2020 it was expected that we would have generated about 900% more plastic than in 1980. In 2050 it is expected that oceans may contain more plastics than there will be fish in the ocean. And each year there is around 8 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in the oceans and seas. If you have been thinking of cutting down on plastic use, then the time has never been more appropriate – in fact, you are long overdue.

Here are a few ways to reduce plastic use in your kitchen or home:

1. Refrain from using drinking straws

Straws take about 200 years to decompose therefore rather opt for paper and metal straws or leave them all-together, you can just sip.

2. Use a reusable shopping bag

Using a reusable shopping bag can reduce your plastic usage rate by about 300 or more bags per year.

3. Buying less chewing gum

Chewing gum is mostly made of plastic, so it’s not just the packaging alone that is made of it. You should rather opt for plastic-free gum.

4. Buying fewer packaged products

Buy less packaged products because the grocery stores are filled with overwhelming amounts of disposable containers such as polystyrene trays, PET bottles, tetra paks, plastic containers, etc. Therefore, rather opt to buy from businesses that offer bulk buys to avoid using these packaging containers.

5. Replace plastic containers with glass or steel containers

Using plastic containers to carry lunch to work is part of most people’s daily life but we suggest you switch up that routine by opting to use glass or steel containers.

6. Refrain from buying bottled water

Bottled water adds to plastic pollution and not forgetting to mention that its production requires a large amount of fossil fuel which contributes to environmental harm.

7. Refrain from using plastic cutlery

It is surmised that we use plastic cutlery for at least 3 minutes before we throw it away, so just carry the usual metal cutlery instead.