It’s a brand new year and you’re probably working on a few new habits to better your health, increase your happiness, or jump start your career. While you’re considering these habits, why not add some plastic-free habits to your routine?

Whether you’re just starting your plastic-free journey or you are a plastic-free pro, there’s always room for improvement. Reducing the amount of disposable plastics in our lives not only saves us money and reduces clutter, it’s better for our ocean too!

Plastic-Free Beginners

For those just starting your plastic-free journey, let 2022 be the year you commit to these three easy habits:

1. Carrying a reusable water bottle
2. Bringing your reusable coffee cup to the coffee shop
3. Using your reusable bags at the grocery store or while shopping

In other words, let’s:

1. Stop buying water on the go in single-use plastic water bottles
2. Stop buying coffee in to-go cups
3. Stop paying the bag fee (in California) for a plastic or paper shopping bag

By switching to a reusable habit, you’ll save money on at least #1 and #3. Also, many cities such as Berkeley are starting to charge an extra fee for to-go cups similar to a bag fee.

If you have a tough time remembering your water bottle, keep extra ones in your car, your cube at work, your gym bag. Think of the places you usually need water and put an extra reusable water bottle there. Oftentimes you can refill your water bottle while at restaurants that have a soda fountain, or many parks are starting to retrofit their drinking fountains to be refill stations.

If you struggle to remember your reusable coffee mug when heading to the coffee shop, put an extra one in your car. If you make it to the coffee shop but forget your mug in the car, walk back to the car. The memory of that hassle will help you remember the next time. And when you get home, remember to wash out your mug and put it back in your car.

You can also keep an extra 16 ounce wide-mouth mason jar (or any clean jar) in your car. In a pitch this can hold water or coffee!

If you’re always forgetting your reusable shopping bags, keep them in your car and commit to walking back to your car if you forget to bring them into the store. Or, if you don’t remember until you get to the check out, simply put all the items back into your cart and take the cart to your car. Then bag the items at your car.

By committing to just these three habits, you’ll be starting your plastic-free journey with a bang! Just think about how often you’re buying water bottles or coffee on-the-go. If you bought coffee once a week, how much space would 52 coffee cups take? Think of all that waste multiple by the BILLIONS of people that buy coffee on-the-go. Committing to these small habits not only reduces your waste, it puts you in a reusable mindset.

Plastic-Free Intermediates

So, you’ve conquered the three habits for beginners, you’re so awesome! Let 2022 be the year where you commit to these habits:

1. Sit down at a restaurant instead of ordering take-out
2. Bring utensils with you while on-the-go
3. Choose bulk snacks

In other words, let’s:

1. Stop ordering take-out
2. Stop using single-use plastics utensils
3. Stop eating individually packaged snacks

I know we’re all busy but feeding yourself is important. If we don’t fuel ourselves right how will we expect to thrive? Part of that is slowing down when we eat and enjoying our food. Let’s face it, eating food out of a plastic clamshell cheapens the experience. You’re not going to eat at a 3-Star Michelin restaurant and be served food out of a plastic clamshell. So, slow down, sit down, and enjoy your food and some company while you eat.

While you’re at it, bring some utensils with you just in case. I usually have a utensil roll in my car or I have four spoons, four forks, and two sets of chopsticks in our family “adventure bag”.

As for snacks, try choosing snacks that come from the bulk bins. Or at least sold in bulk. I know the individually portion and wrapped snacks are convenient but it’s also a lot of extra plastic. Plus, let’s get real, most packaged snacks aren’t the healthiest option. Why not reach for some unpackaged fruit or vegetables? Since I’ve been trying to cut down on my cheese consumption, I’ve been eating bell peppers and apples instead.

If we think about the amount of to-go containers, plastic utensils, and plastic wrapped snacks we use in the course of a year, that can add up fast. If you get take-out once a week, what does 52 clamshells, 52 sets of utensils, and probably 52 plastic bags look like? Would that fill your whole kitchen? Now, multiply that by your whole lifetime.

Even if once a month, you sit down and bring your utensils, that’s cutting your take-out waste by almost 25%!

Plastic-Free Pros

So, you haven’t bought a plastic water bottle in years and you always sit down in restaurants, you’re so awesome! Let’s take it one step further. In 2022 let’s commit to these habits:

1. Bring your own container
2. Complete routine trash audits
3. Simplify

In other words, let’s stop:

1. Accepting packaging
2. Throwing our trash away and forgetting about it
3. Accepting our routines

Have you ever brought your container to the butcher or deli? It will take you a little out of your comfort zone, but next time, ask your butcher or deli if they will fill your order in your own container. Not all places will do that, but it’s ok. Asking is the first step.

I used to bring my own container to the butcher but since I switch butchers, they haven’t allowed me to do this since COVID. I would go back to the previous butcher but their quality of meat isn’t quite as good. And since we eat so little meat at home, I figured I’d go with the better quality.

At the deli, I simply ask the clerk to hand me my order on the weighing paper after they weigh it. Then I put the cheese in my own silicone bag.

If you’re planning to go out to eat, bring your own leftovers container. Our kids love Chinese food and we go to a little local place at least once a month. We always have extras, so before we leave the house I remember to bring a few food containers with us. When our meal is done, I grab the containers from the car and scoop everything in.

Next, try a trash audit. Start keeping all your plastic and see what you can learn at the end of the day or week. If you don’t want to hold onto the plastic itself, then take a picture of it. We throw things in the trash and since we never see them again, they’re completely out of mind. When we start really observing our trash, we become more aware. And once we are more aware we can start making changes!

Finally, look at your health, beauty, and or food routines. Open up a cabinet in your kitchen or bathroom and start going through things asking yourself “Do I need this?”. If the answer is “yes”, cool, put it back. If the answer is “no”, finish using it and don’t buy it again.

The greenest most plastic-free product you can buy is nothing at all.

The more you can simplify and eliminate the less plastic-free replacements you’ll have to buy…and really, the less you have to buy period! I used to buy shaving cream, face toner, face wash, and a whole hoard of stuff I thought I needed because that was the routine I learned when I was younger. When we start questioning and evaluating our routines we learn what’s really needed.

By simplifying you save time, save money, and help reduce your plastic footprint!

What do you think? Can you commit to some or all of these habits in 2022?

For related and random posts, check out:

• My Plastic-Free Health & Beauty Routine
• Plastic-Free Meal Plan