Eco warriors wage war on plastic

AS conservation groups continue to work around the clock to clean up the tons of plastic that washed onto the Durban beaches in the recent floods, one family is doing their best to tackle the plastic problem at its source with a zero waste lifestyle.

Mother and business woman, Emma Holmes said as a family of surfers who spend a lot of time at the beach, they saw how the plastic pollution was getting worse with each beach trip.

“We can see after these floods the devastating effects of plastic pollution. There are so many simple things you can do in your home to help fight the battle. They don’t cost anything although they are not always the most convenient,  convenience is what got us into this mess,” she said.

Also read: A month of cleaning expected in wake of flood

The Holmes family’s ways to reduce household plastic:
Choose reusable packaging
Use reusable bees wax or fabric wraps at home, reusable shopping bags to pack groceries and reusable vegetable bags to weigh your fruit and vegetables. You can buy your reusable items or make them out of old T-Shirts.

Refuse plastic
Refuse plastic straws, take away containers and unnecessary packets. Look for alternatives such as items packaged in glass, cardboard or foil.
Reduce hidden plastic
Switch to loose tea and a strainer to avoid tea bags which are 25 per cent plastic, and replace dental floss with a water pick.
Refill, refill, refill
Take your own containers most butchers, even the butchers in your local supermarkets will gladly put your meat and fish in your own containers. If you buy diary you can go to The Smoking Gourmet and they have a huge selection of cheese, cream, milk and yogurt that they will put in your own containers with no plastic packaging. There are also a number of local dairies that deliver fresh milk. You can also take along your old cleaning product bottles to The Refill Den and get them filled with an environmentally friend option.

Also read: More than 160 000 spoilt ballots confirmed

Recycle
When you have sorted your recycling, make sure that you reduce it , crush the bottles and boxes. That way you will use less orange plastic bags, the recycling trucks can get more in them so will need to do less trips and therefore help the environment. Also be aware of what can be recycled, a lot of people just put everything plastic into their orange bags.
Reuse
Where you can’t avoid plastic, re-purpose it or donate it to an organisation like The Magic Bean Foundation to be upcycled into crotched items like mats and bags.

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