Before we began our journey to a plastic-free household and lifestyle we were more focused on convenience and what was the most cost-effective. It never crossed my mind to consider reducing our overall waste, let alone removing plastic items from our daily lives. One afternoon I stumbled upon the documentary A Plastic Ocean, and my eyes opened to the amount of destruction we were doing to this earth with all the plastic in our lives. A switch flipped and I found many more documentaries and began to research ways to reduce the amount of plastic, specifically single-use plastic, in our household.
Did you know? Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years!
I knew it wasn't possible to switch all our products all at once due to cost, so my plan was to start in the kitchen. Slowly we replaced single-use plastic items with reusable products or products that were biodegradable.
It is truly eye-opening to how many products we use every single day that are packaged in plastic or made of plastic.
Plastic Wrap
Plastic Bags
Plastic Utensils
Plastic Cups
K-Cups
Plastic grocery bags
Produce bags
Products/Items packaged in plastic:
Paper towels & napkins wrapped
Paper Plates
Dish Soap
Dishwasher Soap
Cleaning Products
Fact: 50% of all plastic produced is for single use purposes - used for minutes and then thrown away. https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/
I hope you follow along as I highlight each area in our home where we switched from a plastic product/item and discuss the replacement products we have grown to love. There are a few areas still on my list to switch or areas where I am still searching for a "better" product. My hope is you enjoy following along with my family's journey and we inspire you to make a change in at least one area of your household!
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