We start off with three basic tips to reduce your waste when going through a regular day. These tips might be logical for some and less logical for others, but we use them to introduce how we will show the true impact of making changes.
Prepare your bag
The very first thing. Find yourself a bag. Put a lot of other bags and boxes. This bag is your starting point to a new world. If necessary, make two of them and leave one in the car and another next to your front door. Having this bag-in-bag will allow you to easily buy everything in a zero-waste style that is not wrapped in plastic in the first place.
But why?
Research shows that the production of one kilogram of PE (polyethylene, the plastic most bags are made of) amounts to 6 kg of CO2. Knowing that a plastic bag weighs about 30 grams, this translates to 180 g of CO2 per bag. If you use 250 bags a year, this results in 45 kg of CO2 or a 412 km drive. Research shows that the production of a PE requires 235 liters per kilogram. This results in 7 liters per plastic bag or 1750 liters per year (if you use 250 bags). This is only a small amount of our total water use, but we have to start somewhere.
Prepare your bottle
Ah, the beauty of your own personal water bottle. They come in all forms and sizes and we believe that you can find your soulmate.
But why?
Research shows that the production of a plastic bottle requires about 0,432 kg of CO2, while the production of a reusable bottle will require the double amount. Assuming you buy 1 reusable bottle in stead of 250 plastic ones a year, you will save 108 kg of CO2 or a drive of approximately 1000 km. Research shows that the production of a PET (plastic) bottle requires 5,3 liters of water. To produce water bottles on a yearly basis, this would mean you would save about 1325 liters. This is of course virtual water. You will learn more about virtual water in level 5.
Find your food container
Making sure your food doesn't go to waste is important, since one third of all greenhouse gas emissions are cause by food waste. But is also important to choose the right container whenever possible. At this point, the use of plastic is the topic of a constant battle between food waste and the plastic waste produced. The production of plastic foil contributes less to global warming then other materials, but we tend to use other materials longer. What is the solution to this equation? That is what scientists are still trying to figure out. If you at home, however, choose the use a food container in stead of plastic foil, we are certain that your lunch will not go bad by the time you eat it. Time to find your perfect lunch box!
But why?
Plastic pollution is a major issue. We used to ship our plastic waste to China to have them recycle it, but that market has become saturated, so now we ship most of the plastic waste to Turkey. This waste is sometimes treated, but can also end up in land fills. The video below will show you all the things that could happen to plastic. Let's conclude that plastic that is only used ones and ends up in landfills must be avoided at all costs.