Throwing a party at home? What’s the menu? No, more importantly, how do you serve? Ordering food online? What’s your pick? No, more importantly, how is it packaged? Packing lunch box? What’s for lunch? No, more importantly, what cutlery did you pack?

Over the last few years, these are the questions that have been popping in my head. We are living in a plastic world, no not metaphorically so much as practically so. The perils of “single use plastic” are reaching dangerous levels. It is high time we changed the way we live. My mission to live plastic free led me to these three steps:

 

Say “No” to “Use and Throw”

It is convenient and cheap. The birthday cake cut into pieces and served on disposable plates with plastic forks. Eat and throw. Only, it does not get thrown away. From the dustbin to the municipal garbage truck to the landfill or the ocean and back in our system through tap water, bottled water, food and air.

Do I want it? No. Can I avoid it? Yes. If we don’t want it in our system, we need to stop putting it in our system.

Next time you throw a party, plan how you will serve food before planning the menu. Reusable plates, spoons, tumblers made of steel, porcelain, melamine; the options are endless. Stock, store, pool with your friends so that if anybody throws a party, he/she can use stuff from the combined pool.

And if you must “use and throw”, why not go for leaf plates, paper straws, edible spoons and forks?

 

Carry your bottle

Bottled water, sure, comes in handy when you forget to carry your bottle. But forgetting it every time? Do you forget to bathe or eat? Why do you forget the bottle?

Remembering to carry the water bottle every time you step out of the house goes a long way in reducing the load on the municipal waste disposal system and reducing the carbon footprint! Water dispensers are present in almost every office or establishment. All it needs for us is to carry our bottles with us!

 

The Wrap Trap

Gift wrapping in style? Flowers for your friend? Green salad for dinner? By all means, go for it. Just avoid the shiny plastic wrap; choose paper or cloth. Ditch the cellophane around the bouquet. The flowers will still look fresh! And, you don’t need the plastic cling wrap to keep the salad fresh. Cover it with a normal lid!

Use, reuse and feel good, you would have saved the world!