Plastic is one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. With these tips, you can do without the material step by step.

With more than twelve million tons, Germany consumes and produces more plastic every year than any other country in Europe. Plastic is one of the biggest environmental problems of our time, but as an integral part of our everyday life, it is difficult to do without it. The zero-waste movement, which aims to produce as little waste as possible in everyday life, shows that it is still possible. If you want to ban plastic from your life step by step, you will find helpful and simple tips to get you started here.

Cloth bags and cotton bags when shopping

2.5 billion plastic bags are used in Germany every year – and then usually end up in the garbage immediately. Plastic bags are among the things that are easiest to replace with a sustainable alternative: Whether it’s tote bags for shopping or fabric bags for fruit and vegetables. It’s best to keep these in several places so you always have one handy: one at work, one in your purse, one in the car, one by the front door, and so on.

In addition, when shopping, you should consciously pay attention to whether there are plastic-free alternatives to certain packaging, such as milk in a glass bottle instead of Tetra Pak or yoghurt in a glass container instead of plastic cups.

Drinking bottle and to-go cup

Coffee to go is part of everyday life for many people. Around 320,000 disposable cups for hot drinks are used every hour in Germany – that’s around 2.8 billion to-go cups per year. This can be avoided: With your own thermal mug, not only can you avoid a lot of waste, the coffee also tastes much better.

The same applies to water or other thirst quenchers: If you have your own drinking bottle, you can get good quality tap water from the tap almost anywhere in Germany. This not only saves a lot of plastic waste, but is also good for the wallet.

Establish soap, shampoo and more in the bathroom

A particularly large amount of plastic waste can be avoided in the bathroom with simple steps. You can start with the soap, for example, by replacing the disposable plastic dispenser with liquid soap with a bar of solid soap. This is not only more sustainable, but usually lasts much longer. The same applies to shampoo, conditioner and shower gel: these are now available in almost every drugstore. Conventional toothpaste in plastic tubes has become superfluous thanks to toothbrush tablets.

When buying cosmetic products, it is also worth taking a look at the content: numerous cosmetic and household products still contain microplastics.

Another simple step is to replace disposable cotton facial cleansing pads with washable cloth cosmetic pads. These serve their purpose just as well and can simply be washed in the washing machine with towels and then reused.

(This article was first published on Saturday, January 14, 2023.)