Just some small ways to reduce your plastic usage and help the environment.

BY: Eleanor Yap

 

If you are thinking of cutting down on your plastic usage, there are few things you can do this. Firstly, you can consider bringing along your own cute and colourful bag to the supermarket and say ‘no’ to double-bagging. And don’t just do it for one day, do it all the time … but just don’t forget to bring your bag with you on times when you realise you need to pick up a few things.

Another thing you can consider is bringing along your own reusable stainless steel straw so you can just say ‘no’ to the plastic ones. They come in different thickness as well as various sizes and some even are curved, and yes, there are ones where you can even use them for your favourite bubble tea drink. There are also different types available such as reusable glass drinking straws or those made out of bamboo. If you are wondering how on earth you are going to get the inside of the straw washed, not to fret, some are sold with their own free cleaning brush.

Also, if you like to take away your cup of coffee or tea from the drinks store, you are usually given a plastic holder to carry your cup. Well, there is a green solution to this – there are fabric cup holders available, where you can help save the earth by reducing your plastic and you don’t burn your hands!

And if you are concerned about the cleanliness of utensils at hawker centres or want to stop using plastic utensils, then bring your own stainless steel cutlery set. For me I use a waterproof reusable snack bag/wet bag to put my cutlery set and straw so if I happen to use them and can’t wash them after use, I can place them in the bag and wash them when I get home. I can then clean the inside of the bag and air it out. It is perfect as then you don’t have to use another plastic bag just to store the dirty cutlery.

There are also snack/wet bags where the wet bag portion can be removed for easy cleaning. Depending on the size of the snack/wet bags you get, you can even use them for putting your creams, etc, when you travel so they don’t spill all over in your travel pouch and the best thing is, you don’t use a plastic bag. You can even get a wet bag to store your swimwear (again cutting down your use of a plastic bag) and also to keep your umbrella when it is wet.

There are many other things you can do. Check out the green online stores like The Sustainability Project, GreeNeighbour and Trove of Gaia, and retailer The Green Collective SG at KINEX for more ideas. More and more such green-minded companies have come up recently and they can help you take the first step, or continue your green journey.

 

(** PHOTO CREDITS: The Sustainability Project, GreeNeighbour and Trove of Gaia)

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