Single-use plastic – How you can help!

• 29/01/2019
• admin
• 1

Single-use plastic is an issue that many people are beginning to tackle. A huge amount of businesses are attempting to do their bit and reduce the amount of plastic that they are using, however many companies are still including a large amount of single-use plastics in their general day-to-day operations. This article is going to give you a deeper insight into the ways that you can avoid using plastic in your workplace.

What is single use plastic?

Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are use only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These items are things like plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soft drinks and water bottles and most food packaging.

We produce roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year and half of this is disposable! World-wide only 10-13% of plastic items are recycled. The nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle and they have to add new materials and chemicals to it to do so. Additionally, there are a limited number of items that can be made from this type of recycled plastic.

Petroleum based plastic is not biodegradable and usually goes into a landfill where it is buried, or it gets into the water and finds its way into the ocean. Although plastic will not biodegrade (decompose into natural substances like soil) it will degrade (break down) into tiny particles after many years. In the process of breaking down it releases toxic chemicals (additives that were used to shape and harden the plastic) which make their way into our food and water supply.

We produce hundreds of millions of tons of plastic every year, most of which cannot be recycled. It’s obvious that we need to use less plastic, move towards environmentally sustainable products and services and come up with technology that recycles plastic more efficiently.

There are some extreme solutions and some that are much more manageable. Some people believe that the best solution is to only use single-use plastic when necessary and other to not use it at all.  Here are a few suggestions from us to help you out:

Stop buying plastic water bottles

There are a few ways in which you are able to do this. You could either purchase a metal drinking bottle or maybe even a glass bottle. Both materials are infinitely recyclable and have a large robust market.

Bring what you need with you

If you are planning on ordering food and would need plastic cutlery, you can eliminate the need for this by bringing along your own cutlery and reducing the amount of “to go” containers that you are using. Keeping a clean bag with cutlery with you is a great habit to have. At first this may be awkward, but it is a great way to look after the environment.

Buy in bulk

Packaging is a major source of disposable plastic so bring your own containers and bags (canvas and tote bags are best). If your supermarket doesn’t sell food in bulk, make the request or possibly find an alternative supermarket.

Cook food at home

Most home-cooked food is more nutritious and delicious, plus it is made with love. Pack your lunch and you will not only protect the environment, but you’ll save a lot of money. As well as the money, you’ll be saving the environment by reducing the amount of disposable plastic that you are using.

How can this be adopted in marketing strategies?

There are a few simple steps that can be taken to allow for you to reduce the amount of single-use within your marketing strategies. For example, when you are purchasing products for the office or for the promotion of your brand, you should purchase your items for the whole year at once. This will reduce the number of times that you will be receiving smaller parcels with more disposable plastic within them.

Also, when promoting your brand, you should be using products that are not going to generate lots of waste plastic. A good example of a product to use would be printed tote bags. They are a great alternative to a plastic carrier bag and are perfect for encouraging your customers to reuse bags that they already own rather than purchasing a new one each time they purchase something. Our best seller is the Horizon 5oz Cotton Tote Bag.

Our Promotional Americano Mugs are a great way of encouraging people to move away from using single-use plastic and paper takeaway cups. Paper takeaway cups are very hard to recycle due to them being coated in a plastic to make them water resistant. However, the Americano removes the need for your customers to use these cups allowing for less single-use cups to be used.For more information about promotional products, don’t hesitate to contact our dedicated sales team on  0113 3221010 or drop us and email at sales@promoparrot.com.