Ocean Protection Through Plastic-Free Living
The best place to start your plastic-free journey is with minimalism. Minimalism isn’t about living with less, it’s having more of what matters in your life–more time, energy, space, and love. Use this guide to help you start.
I live a generally plastic-free lifestyle but I’m not 100% plastic-free…yet. So, to see where the last 1% of my trash was coming from, I started keeping track of all of it. Here’s all my trash for 2023!
With the increasing intensity and frequency of wildfires, it’s important to be prepared! Here’s what I’d grab in case of a fire.
Plastic containers can leach chemicals into your food, especially if the food is hot and or greasy. Let’s pack lunch without the extra plastic!
Plastic-Free July is a global challenge where people refuse single-use plastics for the whole month of July. If refusing single-use plastics for a whole month seems daunting, don’t worry, here are some tips to get you started on the right foot.
Last Updated May 27, 2024
Summer is fast approaching and if you’ve finally used up last year’s bottle of sunscreen, why not replace it with some plastic-free reef-safe sunscreen? Here are some tips to keep in mind.
Choose a sunscreen with non-nano zinc oxide as its main active ingredient. Non-nano simply means that the zinc oxide particles are larger than 100 nanometers. Zinc based sunscreens are a physical sun barrier instead of a chemical sun barrier. These are generally better for you and the environment.
When choosing a sunscreen you want to avoid a number of chemicals that are harmful to marine life and reefs. Check the label and make sure the sunscreen does not include these ingredients:
According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, you should use at least SPF 30 sunscreen, which blocks 97 percent of the sun’s UVB rays.
Also, note that a higher number SPF lasts the same amount of time as a lower number SPF. So, just because you choose a SPF 50, that doesn’t mean you can go longer without reapplying. It’s recommended you reapply every two hours.
Speaking of UV rays, sunlight consists of two types of harmful rays — UVA and UVB. Too much exposure to either can cause skin cancer. Here’s how the different rays affect our skin:
So, when choosing a sunscreen, choose a Broad-Spectrum sunscreen that blocks both rays.
With more and more people concerned about plastic pollution, there are many brands that package in metal, glass, wood, or even paper tubes!
Raw elements is one of the top brands for plastic-free reef-friendly sunscreens. They pack their sunscreens in reusable metal tins and have a few different options including sunscreen for face and body with 95% organic ingredients:
And for the kids, sunscreen that won’t sting their eyes! (This is the one I use for my kids.)
EiR has an option in a cardboard tube. These sunscreen sticks make it easy to apply without getting your hands dirty. My kids and I use this to apply sunscreen to our faces.
Finally, we have Surf Durt which has a sunscreen that’s packaged in a bamboo container.
The best reusable option is to cover up! Put on a rash guard or swim shirt and a hat! This saves you from having to apply and reapply sunscreen! I buy long sleeve bathing suits for my kids so I don’t have to put sunscreen on their arms and back!
What do you think? When you run out of sunscreen, will you consider one of these plastic-free, reef-friendly options?
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