Research has found humans are ingesting 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic each week on average. That is the equivalent to a teaspoon or a credit card!
While plastic may be cheap, the environmental, health and economic effects are costly.
So, for the sake of your health and the planet, choose alternatives to plastic produce bags, bin liners, dog waste bags and carry bags.
If you forget your produce bags…
A trial by a council in Adelaide found offering customers compostable produce bags in supermarkets increased the amount of food waste diverted from landfill to compost by 117 per cent – the equivalent of 0.48kg more per household per week.
BioBag World Australia director Scott Morton says it makes sense to replace single use plastic produce bags with Australian made, compostable alternatives that can be recycled along with food waste.
“Compostable produce bags can be used to buy and store fresh produce, collect food scraps and go into green bins or compost bins, unlike plastic produce bags that create more plastic waste,” Morton says.
If you want to line your bin without plastic…
Many people want to line their bins, but it’s hard to find alternatives to plastic bin liners in most supermarkets.
“Compostable bin liners have a lower carbon footprint than traditional plastics and biodegrade anywhere oxygen and microorganisms exist, without leaving microplastics behind,” says Morton.
If you don’t want to put dog waste in a plastic bag…
There’s over four million dogs in Australia. If every owner picked up after their dog with a bag once a day, that would equal over 1.5 billion bags a year!
“It doesn’t make sense to put organic waste into a plastic bag that takes hundreds of years to break down,” Morton says.
“A compostable dog waste bag breaks down into organic matter at the same rate as the contents so it can be returned to the earth with no microplastics or toxic residues.”
If you forget your reusable carry bags…
We’ve all found ourselves out and about without our reusable bags. A great alternative is a compostable carry bag because it has a dual purpose – it can be used to carry shopping and then to collect food waste to return carbon to the soil.
Compostable carry bags make much more sense than thicker plastic shopping bags and demand is growing amongst retailers.
How to reduce your plastic use
Morton offers the following 9 easy ways on how to reduce your plastic use. These practical tips and strategies will help curb your plastic consumption.
