7 Simple Ways to Reduce Packaging

The poor health of our home planet is no longer news to anyone, and our exceptionally warm winter is proof that things are not as they used to be.

Perhaps you've gotten used to thinking that your contribution and changing your habits won't help. But you know what? It does help, and how! Consumers' changed purchasing habits are also forcing producers to develop more environmentally friendly solutions and abandon excessive packaging.

Excessive packaging is bad not only because packaging grows garbage heaps and ends up in oceans and seas, but for several other reasons:

• they waste resources: water, oil and other energy sources;
• their production creates greenhouse gases and pollutes air and water;
• once packaging reaches nature, it harms the environment and us.

Let's look at what each of us can do so that garbage heaps don't grow so quickly and oceans don't fill up with drinking straws and shampoo bottles. And it's not nearly as inconvenient as it might seem at first.

Take your own bag to the store

The chances that you're already doing this are quite good, but we'll still note this recommendation here. This is the simplest way to avoid excessive packaging.

Buy unpackaged items

If it seems inconvenient at first to buy flour and pasta products in bulk, start with fruits and vegetables. We buy these loose, unpacked in plastic bags or paper bags, because at home we wash and/or peel them anyway.

If you still want to put bananas and pears in a bag, take some already used plastic bags or small cloth bags with you. For example, like these. You can probably sew these bags yourself.

Don't buy things that you use only once

At first it seems inconvenient and complicated, but start with simpler things. Don't buy, for example, disposable dishes, to avoid creating pointless garbage in the form of the item itself and its packaging. The ecological footprint of disposable dishes is enormous.

From disposable dishes, you can move on to giving up toothpaste and shower gel or shampoo. No, we're not suggesting you spread bread on your forehead or scrub your teeth with sugar – there are much nicer solutions. Instead of shower gel, use good soap, which is sold with very different scents and compositions, one better than the other.

You can make toothpaste yourself, for example, according to this recipe. Simple and very pleasant. And instead of bottled shampoo, use solid shampoo. Your hair is beautiful and shiny and it's completely waste-free. Check out, for example, these Lush solid shampoos.

Buy fewer things

Owning fewer things is increasingly popular and you could even say it's in fashion. We use this trick: we always think twice before clicking the "Buy" button or putting something in our shopping cart. First, it's the simplest way to reduce unnecessary packaging consumption and second, it saves money.

Buy larger quantities

Many products can be bought in larger quantities, which means you already save a good amount of packaging. Think about it: it's not enough that your small mini yogurts are in plastic containers, they're also packaged multiple times over before they reach store shelves.

Choose products that are more reasonably packaged

If you have a choice, buy a product that has less packaging around it or is made from a more environmentally friendly material. Don't buy, for example, laundry gel in a plastic bottle, but use laundry powder in a cardboard box, whose packaging recycling is cheaper and requires less energy.

Use your own water bottle and coffee cup

Disposable coffee cups and water bottles are a thing of the past. Conscious and modern consumers use their own coffee cup and water bottle. These come in very different designs, so you'll definitely find one that suits you.