Replacing Plastic in Your Homes
Plastic has become ubiquitous in our lives and our homes, whether it be in the form of utensils or packaging, it has pervaded every aspect of our lives. The comfort and ease of using plastic is the reason for its widespread popularity and increased application in our daily lives. Being extremely cheap and easily discardable, plastics are fuelling the general waste and pollution problem that the world is struggling with. Plastics can be pretty useful in our day to day life considering how versatile they are and the main issue is not even with their use, but rather how they are discarded after their useful life. Without proper recycling mechanisms to repurpose all of the waste generated at an unprecedented rate plastics choke eco-systems and disrupt many other systems. And not to mention the pollution that takes place producing these plastic items that we use daily in our homes. While we cannot rid of everything made from plastic, what we can do is eliminate single-use plastics, the largest contributor to solid waste.
We can always switch over to other materials to replace plastic in our homes, and it doesn’t even have to be that much of a drastic change. Plastics can be easily replaced in our homes with minimum inconveniences and disruptions to our daily routines. In order to replace plastic in our homes, we must also change our mindsets. Instead of looking for cheap commodities, we must look into making investments that are beneficial for us and the environment. We must discard the notion that all goods are easily replaceable and look into alternatives that promote prolonged use and utility. The most effective way to eliminate plastics in our lives is to use a method that is already quite popular in Indian households: to use metal utensils like stainless steel, aluminium or copper; carry a cloth bag/basket for your shopping, shop at farmers markets. Such alternatives last longer and do not need to be replaced as easily as their plastic counterparts, therefore eliminating the need for single-use plastic commodities.
Alternatives like glass and silicon can also replace plastic effectively, as silicon is as versatile if not even more so than plastic. Ditch those saran wraps for affordable beeswax covers (Shop here), switch to glass bottles instead of plastic tumblers. And for other items, you could always switch to organic materials like cotton, jute and others as opposed to plastic bags and other plastic composite materials. Plastic can be moulded into almost anything but you can always use paper and cardboard for all purposes that plastics would traditionally occupy in your homes.
Following these three steps can eliminate most of the plastic waste in your homes. This positive change in your lifestyle will not only impact your local surroundings but also impact the overall market demand for plastics, reducing the overall demand for the same.
Sources and References
https://www.thebetterindia.com/89395/replace-plastic-ecofriendly/
https://learn.eartheasy.com/guides/the-best-eco-friendly-alternatives-for-the-plastic-in-your-life/
https://www.homestolove.com.au/reduce-plastic-at-home-6906