How to Live a Plastic-Free Life
1. Carry reusable shopping bags. I carry several of them in my purse so I am never without a bag.
2. Give up bottled water. Plastic may leach chemicals into the water Why take a chance?
3. Carry your own containers for take-out food and leftovers. Request takeout places use your container instead of their disposable one.
4. Carry a stainless steel travel mug or water bottle at all times for coffee and other drinks . Carry reusable utensils and glass drinking straws.
5. When ordering pizza, say no to the little plastic “table” in the middle of the pizza box. It’s called a “package saver.” Think about it. A single-use plastic device meant to save a single-use cardboard box. What about all the marine animals that swallow that type of disposable plastic? It doesn’t save them, does it? When ordering, say, “Please don’t put that little white plastic thing in the middle of the pizza.” They’ll know what you mean.
6. Treat yourself to an ice cream cone. Instead of keeping containers of ice cream in the freezer, I will enjoy the occasional ice cream cone while I’m out. That keeps my ice cream consumption down, which is better for my health, and it also does away with the plastic-lined containers as well.
7. Cut out sodas, juices, and other plastic-bottled beverages. I’ve made the decision to eat fresh fruit instead of buying juice. This eliminates the need for all disposable bottles — glass as well as plastic. I don’t drink sugary sodas.
8. Let go of frozen convenience foods. The more we limit our consumption of frozen convenience foods, the less plastic waste we’ll generate and the healthier we’ll be!
9. Buy fresh bread that comes in either paper bags or no bags.
10. Choose milk in returnable glass bottles.
11. Buy large wheels of unwrapped cheese.
12. Choose wine bottled in glass with natural cork stoppers.
13. Learn to love the bulk bins. Look for stores in your area that sell foods from bulk bins and allow you to use your own bags or containers.
14. Choose plastic-free chewing gum. Did you know almost all chewing gum is made of plastic? That’s right. When you’re chewing gum, you’re chewing on plastic. But plastic-free chewing gum options do exist.
15. Clean with vinegar and water. I use a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water as an all-purpose spray cleaner
16. Baking soda is a fantastic scouring powder. Seriously, there are soooo many uses for baking soda.
17. Use powdered dishwasher detergent in a cardboard box.
18. Hand wash dishes without plastic.
19. Use baking soda or bar soap. Seriously, I’ve been using baking soda to hand wash dishes for several months now. It scours well and leaves dishes feeling squeaky clean.
20. Use natural cleaning cloths and scrubbers instead of plastic scrubbers and synthetic sponges.

to be continued…