How to reduce your plastic use at home

Oct 09, 2023

Plastic is everywhere, and in some ways, that's not a bad thing. Its use in stents and intravenous bags make surgeries less invasive and more sterile, and plastic sheeting, gloves, masks and water bottles aid disaster recovery.

But there's an obvious downside as well. Some plastic includes endocrine-disrupting chemicals. And it doesn't biodegrade, so it's piling up in landfills and — even worse — in rivers and oceans. There are about 170 trillion pieces of plastic and microplastics in the ocean, according to a recent study conducted by a team of international researchers led by Marcus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute.

It's also everywhere in our homes. Not just in the bags and containers we use in the kitchen, or laundry detergent dispensers, but also in unexpected places such as clothing.

"It's pretty much impossible to avoid having plastic in your home, because it's in the air now. It's in the dust," said Deborah DiMare, an interior designer in Florida who prioritizes nontoxic and cruelty-free design.

From national parks to the deep sea, plastic pollution is showing up wherever scientists look

If you’re wondering what you can do, you’re not alone. In 2012, Beth Terry, a plastic-free lifestyle pioneer, published "Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too." Terry offered hundreds of tips on how to shrink your personal plastic footprint, but says her mind-set has grown to include "the bigger picture." She says we need action from higher-level agencies to effect real change.

"Everybody has the responsibility to be as ethical of a consumer as they can be … but don't just stop there and think that's the only thing that's important to do … and don't get overwhelmed and think that you have to do everything," Terry said. "Because you can't. The system's not set up for success, which is why we need to change the system."

The climate-friendly way to furnish your home

Here are some ways to minimize your plastic use at home. And it's worth pointing out that going plastic-free doesn't mean making one big trip to the landfill to dump all of your plastic and start fresh; that defeats the purpose of minimizing waste. Instead, make changes gradually, when you need to replace items.

Ellie Jackson, who lives with her family in Cornwall, Britain, has been working to reduce her plastic use for six years. When her daughter, now 13, was 4, she became concerned about turtles starving after ingesting plastic (it makes them buoyant and unable to dive for food). That inspired Jackson to write a children's book series focusing on ocean plastics and climate change. She also cut their consumption at home.

"We’ve condensed it down from three bags of rubbish per week," she said of the plastic trash volume for her family of six, "to probably two-thirds of one bag."

Reducing your plastic footprint is not an all-or-nothing approach, Jackson says. If you falter, don't beat yourself up. "You can dip in and out of it," she said. "You can come back to it. The principles don't disappear."

She suggests starting with the bathroom.

Trade your bottled shampoo and conditioner for bar versions. Ditto liquid soaps and body washes. Try using toothpaste tablets and replace plastic toothbrushes with bamboo versions. Jackson buys deodorant from Wild. It comes with an aluminum case and they send plastic-free refills. And she swapped out plastic razors for safety razors.

To replace plastic-wrapped toilet paper, opt for a bidet, Jackson says. Cloth wipes (sometimes called family cloth) are a zero-waste solution for drying afterward. Or she recommends trying Who Gives A Crap, a plastic-free brand of toilet paper.

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Refilleries are a good option too, for both the bathroom and the pantry. "You bring your own vessels and fill up, say, shampoo or cleaning products that they either make, or buy in bulk, so that you’re not contributing to plastic packaging," said Danielle Ferrari, owner of Valhalla, a clothing rental shop with locations in Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla. Shopping refilleries has helped Ferrari eliminate a lot of plastic packaging at home. No refillery nearby? Jackson suggests buying the largest available size of a product so you’re bringing home fewer containers over time.

Plastic also lurks in your closet. Ferrari says around 60 percent of our clothes include plastic. "It's cheap and it's versatile and it adds stretch," she said. "From a manufacturer standpoint, when you put stretch in an item, it makes it a lot easier to sell to different body types."

Clothing made of natural fibers including wool, linen, hemp, cotton and cashmere are great plastic-free alternatives, but "If we all switch to cotton tomorrow," said Ferrari, "it would be a problem," with land- and water-use implications that aren't sustainable at scale.

Alternatives to buying new clothes made with plastics include shopping secondhand or renting clothes. At Ferrari's shops, members pay a monthly fee to borrow unlimited items (three at a time with the basic membership) and return them to Ferrari to launder. She uses secondhand clothes and says renting is "a way to satisfy that need we’ve created with fast fashion that we want to wear something new [to us], but also, sneakily, it's green."

"The share economy can really change how we consume," Ferrari said, "which therefore can change our world."

For laundry, Jackson uses the Eco Egg. Yes, the case is made of plastic, but it's guaranteed for 10 years so it's not going straight to the landfill. The inside contains a combination of mineral pellets that clean your fabrics. Jackson says she can go half a year without refilling her egg, and replacement pellets are relatively inexpensive.

There's also the matter of clothes shedding plastics in the laundry, something Ferrari runs into at Valhalla. "A lot of people have no idea that their clothes are shedding microplastics," she said, "because it's something you can't see happening."

She added a Filtrol, an aftermarket filter that attaches to her washer's drain pipe, and says it was easy to install. Think of it as your washer's version of a dryer lint filter, only it's capturing wet items. Instead of the microplastics going down the drain and into local waterways, the filter collects them and you can toss them in the trash.

Furniture is also a source of hidden plastic in the home. DiMare recommends looking for furniture that has achieved certain certifications, "because then you’ll know there's no plastic," she said.

Take a sofa, for example. DiMare says that if it's GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified, the fabric is plastic-free. If it's GOLS (Global Organic latex Standard) certified, the cushion fill, or latex, will be organic, sourced from rubber trees. DiMare says to opt for metal or wooden feet; if they’re wood, look for an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification that shows it comes from responsibly managed forests and is less toxic.

Jerica Pender is a freelance writer in Olympia, Wash.