How to Minimize the Use of Plastics

Sponsored Article by Paul Schenk

Probably the most relevant question to ask any individual or company today.

We love the stuff, we wear it on our bodies, we wear it on our feet. We eat off it, we carry items in it. We store everything in it. We love to wrap everything in it even a few times in some cases. Just look at our cupboards and fridges at home. For businesses even more so due to pure convenience and cost. It is truly a great product for versatility and value. We are now producing so much of the stuff we are drowning in it and it is time to turn the tide and switch it off. For the sake of the planet, nature and all living animals we must stop this addiction now. Microplastics are now found on every part of the planet from the ice caps to raindrops.

How to eliminate? This starts with you. The easy target is single-use. What are you using in your personal and professional life that is single-use and why? And I mean any single-use materials for example plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, aluminium. Alternatives are there, and we all must move fast to use them.

The recycling system is failed globally and in regions like ours in some countries, there is little to no recycling is done even if we do have the fancy bins to show we are doing something. So do not think for one second this is an option.

There are some really easy ways to tackle this from a business point of view.

1. Leadership, must be lead and owned by the leader of the organization or in any department of the organization. You can and will make a difference.
2. Set up a team to work on this within your organization to look at what you are using exactly and determine do I need this? Can I change the need for this or the way it works? Question everything and on the scale, For example, the dry-cleaning in my hotel all came in plastic single-use sleeves, we removed them on the same day and saved 40,000 pieces of plastic going to landfill and guess what? Not one complaint or even a negative comment from the guests once you give the right explanation everyone is on board.
3. Meet with them and discuss alternatives to packaging and putting in place systems to reuse, re-use, re-use. Think of the milkman system. Now your milk comes in huge and thick single-use plastic and most cases are off to get buried in a landfill. How many milk cartons will you save? Let’s take it further from the milk that now comes in a reusable system: make your yoghurt in house and save on the 1,000’s of little single-use plastic yoghurt containers that get buried in the landfill.
4. Get your suppliers involved and educated ASAP, either they join you or you find someone else that will support your great efforts. Send all of there packaging back to them and let them deal with it. Trust me they will soon come up with a system to support you. Even my chemical company with the large single-use plastic tub’s asked me to return them and they will refill them.

We have so many solutions and together we all can turn this around for a brighter future for all of us.