5 Plastic-Free Swaps to Make Today!

Plastic-Free or even low plastic use to seem like a pretty intense goal especially considering that before I started my own journey I never paid much attention to the plastics in my life. Translation: I was surrounded. Engulfed. Overtaken. A hot mess Barbie dressed in water bottle shoes and plastic bag minis.

I was sucked into the same marketing schemes that most people are and would often buy whatever I thought was the cutest. I would take appearance and feel into consideration #1. And yes, sure, eco-friendly often caught my eye…but I didn’t really know what I was buying.

Once you start learning about plastics and their affects on our systems you’ll quickly start seeing all the plastics in your life. They are everywhere! Honestly, they’re unavoidable in a lot of ways. We can’t control much about what our cars are made of or things outside of the home, but we can control all of the extras that we bring into our lives. This Plastic-free Swaps list is a good starting point for those seeking baby steps into a low plastic/plastic-free life.

1.Wooden or Stainless Utensils

I’m not necessarily talking about only what’s in the kitchen. This swap is also (I’d say mostly) in preparation for take out foods that you may get. It allows you to say, “No, thanks.” to the plastic-ware that is often forced on you at restaurants.

2. Metal/ Silicone Straws

I’ve actually already touched on this one in another post, but they still remains a great option for a zero waste/plastic-free swap out. Plastic-free straws are pretty popular now so they shouldn’t be hard to find! I keep these in my car!

3.Dryer Balls

This one might seem a bit random because maybe you don’t use these anyways. I have always used the little spiky plastic balls, but as soon as they died I recycled those bad boys and grabbed these all-wool dryer balls. Heating plastic is a big no-no and there I was throwing it in the dryer! I mean, “Whaa?”.

4.Laundry baskets

It turns out that without realizing it I already had a few plastic-free laundry baskets, but with a family of 5 I needed two more to contain…IT (the laundry that is). I snatched these up, and I’ve loved having these cuties in my laundry room. For me, I have dedicated one for dirty clothes and the other for clean. Whenever I purchased mine, each large basket also came with a small basket – toy basket anyone?!

5. Cutting boards

I actually loved my plastic boards so this one was harder for me to give up. That is until I saw the slices that my knife had made in the plastics. Some cuts were so deep that I could pick the plastic off with my fingers! You know that was going straight into whatever I was cutting up. ?? I have since purchased a few wooden boards and one marble board for meats.

Going 100% Plastic-free isn’t an easy task, but as you can see there are a few baby steps that you can take to help you get closer to your goal. At first I’d suggest that you aim for a low plastic life. You can start by purging and recycling the plastics in your life that are run down.

Another awesome way to get rid of plastics without sending them straight to the trash is to see if you can donate them. Not everyone is going to feel the way that you feel, and that’s ok! If someone can be blessed with Tupperware or a toy that they will use then it gives the item another chance to be loved before it takes that trip over rainbow bridge.

Don’t be intimidated, living clean takes time. It’s daily activism. This world is so accustomed to “life in plastic, it’s fantastic” that choosing a cleaner life means you’ll have to think and act a little differently.

Lastly, we can’t forget that the people who aren’t plastic-free are still lovely people too, and going plastic-free doesn’t give us the right to be hateful. It doesn’t matter if we save the planet if we’ve got no one to share it with. ?