11. Use reusables
For this week’s #52climatesolutions, we ask you to avoid single-use packaging and embrace reusables.
Single-use takeaway packaging is insidious. It’s everywhere. And we mean everywhere – some plastics have even been found at the bottom of the deepest ocean trenches. Australians consume millions of single-use straws, bottles, bags and containers each year. This amounts to 130 kg of plastic per person, every year. And global plastic production is expected to double between 2014 and 2034 (and quadruple to 2050) with plastic packaging comprising one quarter of the total. Also, oil and gas consumption for plastics is comparable to the global aviation sector.
Our collective action CAN make a difference. We have control over the packaging of our takeaway food - we can say yes, no or “please put that food in my container,” so let’s use the power we have for good. For this week’s #52climatesolutions, we ask you to embrace reusable culture. Make your own lunch and take it to school or to work, in your own container. Remember, it doesn’t count if you’re unwrapping food from single-use plastic to put into a lunchbox! We recommend using the containers that you already have, rather than buying new, because commodifying action on climate risks negating the benefits. For example, how many reusable cups are in cupboards gathering dust, rather than being used over and over? If you have no containers, try for secondhand before buying new.
For café lovers, eat in or take your own clean container for your order. Support cafes that make effort to reduce plastic packaging behind the scenes. Remember, food at most cafes arrives in single-use packaging, before it is sold to you. Chat with your café’s manager about how they try to avoid waste.
Another easy solution is to carry a reusable drink bottle. You may think reusable bottles have become normalised, but head to a supermarket, airport or servo and see the plethora of drinks in single-use plastic.
Can you live like single-use takeaway packaging doesn’t exist? Which home delivery food could you consume without any single-use plastic? Can you avoid compostable packaging too? Compostable packaging is now common, but there is often a lack of industrial composting facilities needed to compost the material. So, use reusables!
Read on for some great resources, and our favourite recipe for making your own reusable beeswax wraps.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Spiral Garden to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.