3 Easy Plastic-Free Swaps To Make in 2020
As an engineer, I’m all about efficiency and the 80/20 rule. I want 80% of the results for 20% of the effort. So, when considering where you get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of reducing your plastic usage, look to your eating habits.
I’ve mentioned countless times that 8 of the top 10 items found at beach cleanups are plastics related to food and beverage packaging. And if you think about it, people eat 2 to 5 times a day depending on personal habits. That’s multiple times a day you have to choose between disposable plastics and reusables.
So, what are the three easiest swaps to get the most bang for your buck?
- Reusable water bottle
- Reusable coffee cup
- Reusable utensils
Let’s walk through the day and see what you could save.
Breakfast
Maybe you’re a Starbucks or Philz Fan and on the way to work you stop by and scoop up your favorite coffee beverage, but you ran out the door late this morning and forgot your reusable cup.
You pick up a coffee and a blueberry muffin for breakfast.
- 1 paper coffee cup (lined with plastic)
- 1 plastic coffee lid
- 1 cardboard coffee sleeve
- 1 paper bag
It’s estimated that Starbucks uses 4 Billion paper coffee cups each year. That’s 1.6 million trees harvest each year just for Starbucks single-use paper cups.
So, while it might seem like just a cup here and there, it can add up fast. Still not convinced? I challenge you to keep your disposable coffee cups for a week or a month stacked at your desk at work or your kitchen counter at home and see how the stack grows.
Snack
It’s been a busy morning and that blueberry muffin is not going to last you until lunch. So, you grab a snack from the vending machine. Since you ran out of the house so fast you forgot your reusable water bottle. You eye a soda but since it’s the start of a new year (and probably a new diet), so you choose a bottle of water instead.
- 1 plastic packaged snack
- 1 plastic water bottle
It’s estimated that the world uses a million plastic beverage bottle every minute. EVERY MINUTE. That’s insane, right? As I’ve mentioned before in “5 Ways to Reduce Microplastic Pollution“, even when bottled from the same source, water from plastic bottles contain 7 times the microplastic particles compared to tap water.
By skipping the plastic beverage bottle, not only are you saving one more plastic water bottle, but you also avoid drinking more microplastic particles.
Lunch
Your co-workers invite you out to lunch–good thing since you forgot the lunch you packed in the fridge at home. (Note to self: need a more organized morning routine.) They choose a fast casual sit down restaurant. You’re feeling healthy so you choose a salad and water.
The restaurant only offers plastic utensils. They have disposable plastic cups for water. And the salad comes in a disposable plastic food container. Clearly, not an ocean-friendly restaurant.
- 1 plastic food container
- 1 plastic fork
- 1 plastic water cup
It’s estimated that we throw away billions of utensils every year. The Ocean Conservancy lists plastic utensils as one of the most deadly littered items for sea turtles, birds, and mammals because they mistake utensils for food.
By keeping reusable utensils in your bag or car you can save potentially thousands of utensils each year.
Coffee Break
You’ve hit the afternoon dip and need a pick me up. Since you spent money on lunch, you choose office coffee. Your office has not switched to reusable mugs yet, so you grab a paper cup which is still lined with plastic.
- 1 paper cup (lined with plastic)
Keeping a coffee cup at your desk at work is a great way to avoid extra waste. It will always be there when you need it and it can also double as a water cup in a pinch. I haven’t used a disposable cup for coffee at work in nearly ten years!
Dinner
It’s been a long day. On the way home you were motivated enough to hit the gym (you’re so awesome!) but now you’re way too tired to cook.
You have some healthy and delicious food delivered to your house. And even though you’re eating it at home, the restaurant threw in plastic utensils–ugh. So, you either use them or throw them in the miscellaneous drawer overflowing with plastic utensils you’ll use “someday” (i.e. never).
And of course, they gave you 10 sauces packets for your one meal as if they’re having a fire sale. So, all those sauce packets suffer the same lonely fate as the plastic utensils–years in a dark drawer until they’re finally thrown out when you move.
- 1 plastic food container
- 1 plastic fork
- 10 plastic sauce packets
- 1 plastic bag
Many delivery companies are aware of this waste and are working on ways to reduce it. Some companies will have you opt-in to utensils by checking a box. Whichever the company, when ordering food to be delivered make sure to ask only for the items you need.
Total for the Day
In just one day you’ve used 13 plastic items. That’s 13 items that will outlive you, your children, your grandchildren, and on and on.
- 2 paper coffee cups (lined with plastic)
- 1 plastic coffee lid
- 1 cardboard coffee sleeve
- 1 plastic water cup
- 1 plastic water bottle
- 1 paper bag
- 2 plastic food containers
- 2 plastic forks
- 2 plastic sauce packets
- 1 plastic bag
- 1 plastic packaged snack
Multiply this by 365 days in a year and you have 4,745 pieces of plastic. If everyone in the US ate like this, in one year alone it would be 1.5 Trillion pieces of plastic.
I know. You’re thinking, “But Olivia…this example is a little excessive. I would never do that.” Yes, this might be an exaggeration, but this is a typical day for many American and there may be parts of this routine that you do daily. Or when you travel this might be exactly what you do.
My point is that eating is something we do multiple times a day and it has many opportunities to replace disposable plastics with resuables.
By simply committing to a reusable coffee cup, water bottle and utensils you’ll be making a dent in your waste.
Simple Swaps
What makes these swaps simple is that you probably already have a reusable water bottle, coffee cup and utensils. It’s just remembering to bring them.
Make it easier on yourself by keeping spare items in your car or in your bag.
I find that a wide-mouth 16 ounce mason jar is useful for coffee or water if you forget your bottle or cup.
The wide mouth version is easier to clean but if you don’t have one, just clean out a salsa jar after you’re finished and use that!
I keep a set of utensils in my purse and regular utensils from my kitchen in my car. These are like a Swiss army knife for eating! By keeping a few extra things in places you frequent, like your car or your desk at work, you can reduce a lot of waste.
Here are the few items I keep in my car:
And here are some pictures of my cabinet at my desk at work.
What do you think? Can you commit to always bringing a reusable coffee cup, water bottle, and utensils? Or how about keeping a spare jar and utensils in your car and commit to using them when you forget to bring some?
What are some other items you keep in your car or desk at work to avoid plastic waste? Tell me in the comments!
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