Plastic has transformed and evolved over the past century, so much that it’s become an integral part in almost everything we see around us. It’s practically used everywhere and moreover will be fused into various applications that we haven’t seen yet.

As much as we love the luxury of plastic use, plastic pollution induces a profound environmental impact on us, our community and our reality. A lot of talk goes on about plastic recycling however what amount of plastic waste is truly recycled?

While it takes an exorbitant amount of time for plastic to degrade (studies say about 1000 years) it also consumes a great deal of resources to recycle it. But plastic recycling is not REALLY recycling, in fact, it’s ‘downcycling’ i.e. the item which was recycled is made into a lower-quality product for another application which will eventually end up in a pile of scrap somewhere.

And as a landfill that accumulates waste bit by bit, day by day, so can our efforts to curb plastic waste. Our joint endeavors can trim down the landfills and here’s how we can eliminate pointless plastic pollution.

Buying food in Bulk

Save money by buying food in bulk, not only does this save you time in making multiple trips to the store but also reduces plastic waste from the packaging.

This can be a great idea if you don’t have much time to go grocery shopping.

No more ‘poo’

This is especially for the ladies.

What’s easy to pack, eco-friendly, smells luscious and lasts longer than bottled shampoo?

Shampoo bars.

Those big round macaroon-shaped bars help you get your hair back to its original, thick and shiny state by clearing out residue left from the use of detergent hair cleansers. And unlike regular shampoo, there is no need to use a conditioner. Why have a BOTTLE when you can get a BAR, am I right?

Use matches instead of disposable plastic lighters

If you smoke, you can save the planet if not yourself. No doubt lighters are more convenient, especially on a windy day, so instead, you could use a refillable metal lighter. Pop this out with a leather jacket and a thick moustache and we’re looking at one tough cookie.

Reusable produce bags

Do you know the most commonly found plastic in the streets is small plastic bags?

So it’s time to start taking reusable shopping bags to the store, preferably cotton bags. So, if you buy foods like cereal, grains, flour, pulses and other grocery use a reusable produce bag.

In fact, you can make your own reusable bag from old clothes.

Check out “THE ZERO WASTE CHEF” to know how to convert cloth to produce bags.

If that’s a hassle, there are other alternatives like cardboard boxes, nylon bags, and baskets.

Substitute garbage bags with newspaper

It’s bad enough that plastic garbage bags end up in landfill sites but to have rubbish in them makes it worse.

Why not line up your dustbins with some old newspaper? It takes about a minute or two and a few sheets of newspaper.

Every year India uses about 5 trillion garbage bags.5000000000000 bags ending up in landfill sites.

Let that number sink in. Meanwhile, sink your trash in newspaper-lined bins.