Each year on Earth Day, we focus on one sector of our environmental impact that we can create greater mindfulness and inspire change. This year the global movement is to reduce plastic consumption and consequently, plastic pollution. We each have a daily opportunity to make mindful decisions around our plastic consumption. Below are three ways you can start reducing your plastic consumption today.

  1. Reusable Water Bottles

Did you know that Americans use about 1 million plastic water bottles each minute? And, only 8% are recycled! A simple swap that can make a major impact is choosing a reusable water bottle verses plastic. One reusable water bottle swap per day can save over $50 dollars per year per person

Tip: Try to drink ½ your body weight in ounces or water per day to stay well hydrated. Reusable water bottles make it even easier to track your daily ounces. (Example: 180 pound man would shoot for 90 ounces of water daily)

 

  1. Say “no” to straws

When eating out or grabbing a drink on the run, straws are a given. These plastic creations are a fun, simplified way to consume our beverages, however, this small piece of plastic slowly adds up to an average use of 500 million straws each day. For perspective, that’s enough straws to fill a school bus 125 times a day! So, it’s easy to see how our straw use quickly adds up

Tip: Make a request for your drink without a straw next time you’re out. There are also reusable straws that can be purchased here.

 

 

  1. Breakup with Ziploc

Choose a reusable silicon food pouch over a plastic sandwich bag to save both money and our environment. Opting for a silicon bag may also be a better choice for your health. Plastic is a known endocrine disruptor that may cause developmental malformations, interference with reproduction, increased risk of cancer, and disturbances in the immune and nervous system function. You can typically find a reusable silicon product online here.

Tip: You can take these reusable bags to the grocery store to use instead of plastic produce bags.

 

 

Just as we keep our bodies healthy, we all play a part in keeping our planet healthy, too. The changes you make may seem small at first, but each small change you make has the potential to make a large impact and continue to create a better world for generations to come!