10 Top Tips for Going Plastic-Free

The Earth’s plastic pollution epidemic isn’t a new issue, but when David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II aired last year, viewers were in for a shock. Alongside the world’s most astounding ocean-dwellers was shown to be plastic bottles, cotton buds and food packaging.

If this wasn’t emotive enough, you only have to walk along a littered beach to realise that something needs to be done and we can all help. Every household can cut their plastic use, just by being a little more mindful about how we eat and shop.

Here’s our Top 10 Tips to help you on your way to becoming plastic-free:

1. Buy only unpackaged fruit and vegetables: Most supermarkets offer the option of buying loose fruit and vegetables, but some only offer plastic bags to put them in, so make sure you take plenty of your own reusable shopping bags. Farmers’ markets are also a good source of loose fruit and veg.
2. Buy fresh bread that either comes in paper bags or not bagged at all – who needs an excuse to buy fresh bread?!
3. Take a look at your washing-up routine: Plastic brushes and sponges often dominate the kitchen sink, but both end up either burnt or in landfill, neither of which is good for the environment. Take a look at our LoofCo washing-up pads, brushes and scrapers for natural and plastic-free alternatives.
4. Give up plastic bottles: Either make sure you only buy drinks in glass bottles or fill up your own reusable cup at home. Stainless steel water bottles are also a good option.
5. Avoid disposable cups: Coffee cups are the worst offender, but you can still enjoy a hot beverage and be plastic-free. Lots of mainstream coffee shops now offer reusable cups and many offer a discount for using them.
6. Switch your morning brew: Most tea bags contain plastic, so a nice loose-leaf tea not only tastes better, but it’s plastic-free.
7. Have your milk delivered in glass bottles: Almost totally phased out in the mid 90’s, glass bottled milk is now making a comeback! Dairies have reported a large increase in enquiries regarding glass bottled milk – don’t be fooled, even cardboard milk cartons are covered in a plastic coating.
8. Give up ready meals: Not only does convenience food contain lots of hidden sugar and salt, there’s often an excessive amount of non-recyclable plastic packaging.
9. Try out shampoo bars and treat yourself to nice bars of soap instead of shower gels.
10. Swap your shower or bath sponge for our LoofCo body loofah, or bath-time loofah. These fabulous natural products are 100% biodegradable and a great alternative to plastic exfoliator pads.

At NatBrands we’re committed to sourcing plastic-free alternatives to everyday household and personal care products, which is why we developed LoofCo, our own product range that offers a sustainable, plastic-free alternative to cleaning pads, brushes, exfoliators, scrapers and scrubbers. You can find out more about the LoofCo range here