Do you and your family use plastic straws and bags? Or maybe you buy packaged food and drinks in bottles?
Just a couple of minutes – and after use, only plastic debris remains.
These single-use items account for over 40% of plastic waste, and about 8,8 million tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean every year. These wastes threaten wildlife, pollute water and endanger human health.
The statistics are frightening, but you have a secret weapon to at least reduce plastic use in your family: your children!
Many children are very worried about nature. How can a child be happy to see a sea turtle suffocate after choking on a piece of plastic? Children understand that the Earth on which they will live is in distress.
Make small changes in your family’s attitude towards plastic waste – your children will be happy to help you, and you will achieve noticeable real results in the fight against plastic!
We suggest you start with these tips.
1. Plastic straws – down!
It is estimated that in America alone, people use about 500 million plastic straws every day. Encourage your children to choose a beautifully colored reusable straw instead of disposable straws. Keep it handy in case you and your family want to grab a bite to eat somewhere out of the house!
2. Ice cream? In the horn!
When buying ice cream by weight, instead of a plastic cup with a spoon, choose a waffle cone or cup. Moreover, you and your children can try to talk to the store owner about switching to compostable dishes. Perhaps, having heard such a reasonable offer from a charming child, an adult simply cannot refuse!
3. Festive treats
Think about it: are packaged sweet gifts really that good? No matter how beautiful the packaging is, very soon it will turn into garbage. Offer your children eco-friendly, plastic-free gifts, such as handmade candies or delicious pastries.
4. Smart shopping
The purchases that the delivery service brings to your doorstep are often wrapped in multiple layers of plastic. The same story with store toys. When your kids ask to buy something, try with them to find a way to avoid unnecessary plastic packaging. Look for the item you need among used goods, try to exchange with friends or borrow.
5. What’s for lunch?
A typical child between the ages of 8 and 12 throws out about 30 kilograms of garbage a year from school lunches. Instead of wrapping sandwiches in plastic bags for your kids, get reusable cloth or beeswax wrappers. Kids can even make and decorate their own lunch bags from their old jeans. Instead of a plastic-wrapped snack, invite your child to take an apple or banana with them.
6. Plastic won’t float away
When planning a trip to the beach, make sure that your child’s toys – all those plastic buckets, beach balls and inflatables – do not float away to the open sea and do not get lost in the sand. Ask your children to keep an eye on their belongings and make sure all the toys are back at the end of the day.
7. For recycling!
Not all plastics are recyclable, but most of the items and packaging we use every day can be recycled. Find out what the rules for separate collection and recycling are in your area, and then teach your children how to properly separate garbage. Once the children understand how important this is, you can even invite them to talk about plastic recycling with their teacher and classmates.
8. Bottles are not needed
Encourage your children to choose their own personalized reusable water bottles. Take a look around: are there any other plastic bottles in your house that you can refuse to use? For example, what about liquid soap? You can encourage your child to choose their own type of soap instead of buying a plastic bottle of liquid soap for general use.
9. Products – wholesale
Buy items like popcorn, cereal, and pasta in bulk to cut down on packaging (ideally in your own containers). Invite the children to choose and decorate reusable containers for each product, and put everything together in their proper place.
10. To battle with garbage!
If you have a free day off, take the children with you for a community work day. Are there any events planned for the near future? Organize your own!