Everyday habits for less plastic

Look upstream of recycling

When plastic comes up, most people think of recycling first. But not all plastic, even when rinsed and sorted, becomes raw material again. Items made of mixed materials, coloured plastics and anything with food residue are often rejected during sorting, and what does get recycled frequently ends up in a lower-grade use. The surest approach is to cut the amount of plastic that enters your home in the first place. This guide is not about how to sort waste; it is about what you can change before that stage. For item-by-item sorting rules, see the recycling guide under the life tips topic.

Keep a log for one week

To decide what to tackle first, you need to know where your household's plastic comes from. For one week, jot down each piece of plastic by type just before you throw it away. You will usually find that a few sources account for most of it. Finding alternatives one at a time, starting with the biggest source, saves you from burning out by trying to change everything at once.

• Takeaway containers and disposable cutlery
• Bottled water and drink bottles
• Trays and packs for fruit, vegetables and meat
• Parcel padding and plastic wrap
• Bottles for detergent, shampoo and the like

Cut plastic while shopping

Shopping is the main route by which plastic enters a home. Keep a shopping bag by the front door or in your everyday bag so you forget it less often. Buying fruit and vegetables loose avoids packaging trays and means you buy only what you need, so less food goes to waste. For the same product, one large pack generally uses less plastic than several small ones, and single packaging less than multipacks. But buying more than you can use before it goes off just increases waste, so match pack size to how fast you actually get through things.

Cut plastic from takeaways

Takeaway food arrives with containers, lids, cutlery and sauce pots all at once. If the order form lets you decline disposable cutlery and side dishes, tick that option every time and use your own utensils. For nearby shops, you can take your own container and collect the food. If giving up delivery is unrealistic, setting a limit on how often you order still makes a difference. Ordering several dishes from one place rather than from different shops also cuts packaging.

Cut plastic from drinks

Bottled water and drink bottles pile up quickly because they turn up every day. Carrying a reusable bottle or cup when you go out reduces how often you buy drinks, and many cafes will fill your own cup. At home, you can boil tap water or use a water filter. A filter needs its cartridge changed on time to stay hygienic, so consider whether you will keep up with that before buying one. Using one bottle you already own consistently means more than buying several new ones.

Cut plastic in the bathroom and laundry

Bottles of detergent, shampoo and body wash come up more often than you might think. You can buy refill packs and decant them into existing bottles, or fill up at a refill shop. Solid soap and shampoo bars need no bottle at all. Washing synthetic clothing is known to shed tiny fibres into the water, so running full loads and not washing clothes more often than necessary also helps. When you switch products, finish the old ones first.

Use what you already own until it wears out

Throwing out perfectly good plastic food containers to buy glass ones in the name of cutting plastic gets the order backwards. The longer you use something that already exists, the more value you get from the resources that went into it. Safety still matters, though. Do not heat food in plastic containers that lack a microwave-safe mark, and move deeply scratched or warped food containers to storage duty for non-food items. Put hot or oily food only in containers whose heat resistance you have checked.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is aiming for perfection and giving up quickly. Rather than targeting a plastic-free life, change the one or two biggest items from your log first, and move on once those become habits. That approach lasts longer.

• Buying a pile of new eco products
• Buying bulk packs you cannot finish and throwing them out
• Buying a shopping bag and leaving it at home every time
• Trying to change everything at once