Take this 30-day pledge to reduce plastic waste and we will donate 1€ for every pledge + share on social media.
2021 was the year when media made plastic pollution a major issue for the planet. Despite this the amount of plastic produced and consumed increased by about 4%.
Can we make 2021 the year when we reduce plastic waste?
Eliminating single use plastic is really hard for most people. Most products we buy every day are wrapped in plastic in some way (vegetables, snacks, coffee, tea, etc).
To reduce plastic waste we need to make it easy and convenient. Therefore we’ve focused on 3 sources of plastic that anyone can avoid without a complete lifestyle change.
Make the pledge to reduce plastic waste for 30 days
For 30 days, I pledge the following
1. Avoid buying bottled water
2. Not use plastic bags from stores
3. Avoid single use cups and straws
Your pledge
Note: Your email address will only be used in connection with the pledge and you will not receive any e-mails unrelated to this.
3 tips to make it easier
Bottled water
If you live in Barcelona like we do or somewhere else in the world where the water tastes poorly it’s not so easy to give up bottled water. It’s available for a small amount of money in every store and restaurants don’t offer any alternative.
Here’s how you can make it easy:
Use a water filter such as TAPP, Brita or PUR at home for better tasting and clean tap water
Always carry a refillable water bottle of your choice and use apps such as Refill (Europe), Tap (North America), RefillMyBottle (Asia) or MyTAPP (Europe) to locate refill stations of fountains if you run out
Ask for tap water or use your refillable water in restaurants and coffee shops
Plastic bags
To be fair a lot of progress has already been made in reducing plastic bag use thanks to government regulation and grassroot movements such as Bye Bye Plastic Bags. If you haven’t already then get some strong compact shopping bags (nylon or organic cotton) that you can always carry in your pocket or handbag. And note that these bags also require natural resources to be made, so treat them well and they will last for years!
For your household waste use biodegradable bin bags such as All-Green.
Single-use cups and straws
Most people think that paper cups at their local coffee shop are made of paper. Unfortunately this is not the case as they have a plastic lining which makes them impossible to recycle.
We don’t want to interrupt your daily coffee or tea fix so thankfully there is an easy fix. Bring your own refillable cup and straws and the problem takes care of itself. Or, if you have a little bit of extra time one day, sit down for 5 min at your local coffee shop enjoy drinking from a porcelain mug.
The rules of the pledge
These are the rules of the game:
Who do I compete with?
Challenge 3 friends to participate. Just tag them in the social media share to make the pledge.
Start date: Tomorrow
How long: The pledge is for 30 days from tomorrow but you can continue for as many days as you want afterwards. Hopefully the rest of your life.
What about an emergency:
Emergencies happen. Even the strongest individuals may forget to bring their reusable bag, refillable bottle or cup. Therefore you have 3 get out of jail cards during the 30 days.
Accountability:
You are supposed to share updates on your accomplishments and failures with the friends that you tag. We will stay in touch after one month to see if you were successful and to measure the collective effort from the pledge.
Now let’s get started. No more excuses.
Our pledge
For every share of this blog on social media we will donate 1 euro to the Plastic Oceans charity.* Plastic Oceans works with education, scientists and businesses on programmes to reduce plastic waste.
* Up to 5,000 euro to start with although are ambition is to match whatever the number of shares/likes are.
Data sources:
2018 plastic growth is based on the last 10 years trend and projections. See https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/business-booming-plastic-giants.
