Reducing Your Plastic Consumption

Unless you're living under a rock you'll have heard the fated news that by 2050 the amount of plastic in our seas will equal the number of fish. Clang.

And 14 million of us watched Blue Planet II, quietly weeping as the mother pilot whale swam alongside her calf's dead body for days. Then Sir David Attenborough calmly declared it highly probable that the calf died as a result of plastic waste "It's possible her calf may have been poisoned by her own [plastic] contaminated milk," he says.

At which point we all vowed to do something about this horror...and the next morning we bought a take away coffee on the way to work and forgot all about it. It is estimated that 2.5 billion coffee cups are disposed of in the UK each day, many containing un-recyclable plastic.

Marine wildlife aside, I think we can agree plastic use is the new smoking and, as Scarlett Curtis recently put it so eloquently in The Sunday Times Style, "has become about as socially acceptable as wearing crocs". So what to do? If you care about the baby turtles {if you don't...seriously? What is wrong with you?}, but are not yet ready to go full Natalie Portman and commit to vegan shoes, here are some simple ways you can do your bit and drastically reduce your personal plastic pile.

Use your own bags wherever possible - old news now, and if you're not doing it, shame on you. Stash away in your car, bike basket, gym bag and roll up a roomy fabric tote in your handbag or, when you do forget, just go bareback into your backpack en route home. There really isn't any excuse not to be nailing this one.

I mean who doesn't love a Bella Freud tote bag?

And whilst on bags - are you an ardent fan of the home delivery? Me too. But do you really need the items to arrive bagged? Sainsbury's for one, offer the option to pack items naked {ooh, Matron} into crates, so you can quickly unload in the kitchen as they arrive - takes all of two minutes. Some stores also offer 'green' delivery slots which are cheaper, so may as well look out for these when you can.

Refillable water bottles- surely the biggest question ahead of Love Island's return this summer, was will they still rock the personalised water bottles? The answer is yes, and with an added filter – fancy.

I think we can all agree the water bottles were the only sustainable thing in this relationship

As well as insta-ability of these on fleek bottles there are also the clear health benefits of drinking more water - reported to include increased concentration, clearer skin, improved digestion etc. So clearly refillable bottles are a sound investment: S'well's insulated stainless steel bottles are non-plastic, now even coming in a pretty x Liberty print. And Pret has also jumped on the band wagon, teaming up with the people at Chilly’s – buy one of their £20 water bottles and fill it up for free at Pret stores.

For info the renowned Mayo Clinic recommends 2.7 litres for women and 3.7 litres for men per day, based on a loose average of healthy individuals dwelling in a temperate climate.

Refill yours on the go Further good news comes via The Refill Scheme, reintroducing the humble water fountain to the UK's streets. I have always wondered where homeless men and women get water from? This charitable scheme aims to bring one back to every street in the country, and major brands that have signed up to allow customers to refill their water bottles in store include Leon, Costa and Premier Inn.

Buy glass and cardboard over plastic wherever you get the chance. I have recently returned to trusty glass jars over plastic squeezies for Marmite, Ketchup, Salad Cream and the like - yes, we still use salad cream in our house. Washing powder is still sold in cardboard rather than liquid or capsules, and so much more easily recycled.

Keep your dressings Jamie, salad cream is back on the menu

Get your milk delivered in glass bottles and, as well as enjoying the nostalgia of seeing your empties disappear and fresh milk arrive {along with juice, bread or non-dairy alternatives as you wish} on any given day, you can also rest assured you're not adding plastic to the weekly throw away pile. I also think it tastes better!

Londoners can check out Moreton Dairy or for nationwide delivery check out Milk and More.

Ditch the straws - The Evening Standard recently launched The Last Straw, a campaign highlighting London as the "straw capital of Europe". Yes the paper ones are a bit annoying as they get soggy, but the plastic ones take 200 years to decompose people, so shall we just man up and go without? If you do need them, for disability or dental issues, bamboo and steel alternatives are increasingly available from Amazon, and if you don’t want to get yours mixed up, Not on the High Street is even offering personalization.

The lovely Sky Gyngell has declared that Spring restaurant will be fully plastic-free by the end of 2018 and The New York Post reported back in February that HRH the Queen has already banned plastic straws and bottles across her estates. Just when we thought she couldn't get more heroic...

Bring your own cutlery - Before you cry that this one is too hippy for you, you should know it's estimated that disposable cutlery is used for just 3 minutes before it is discarded - wild! Firstly, no one should be eating a meal that fast, and secondly, with that in mind take a moment to picture the mound of plastic breakfast spoons, lunch knives and forks, and takeaway coffee cups {having admitted theirs were non-recyclable, Waitrose are shortly removing their free cup system} that you alone discard each week.

Grim eh? Never fear, there is a product rescue for the 'Go Eat' range from Joseph which is pleasingly a little less tin-opener chic than the Swiss army or steel camping cutlery options out there. Check it out here.

Lose the clingfilm for leftovers - whatever happened to just using another plate to cover your food? Or brown paper bags for wrapping sandwiches etc - so much more satisfying to unwrap.

Bars of soap - Mark my words people, hand pump soaps are over and it's all about branded bar soap now. Brands will soon be deep embossing their bars instead of selling hand-pump varieties. Claus of Porto have been doing this forever and thanks to a recent Belmond Hotel stay the Banho Citron Verbena is my newest bathroom obsession.

Microbeads in any cosmetics are also a no-no - if unsure why, again see Blue Planet II.

Buy or order bulk items Fruit and vegetable shopping is fine, but when buying cupboard items like pasta, beans, spices etc it is hard to steer clear of single-use un-recyclable plastic. Websites such as Nottingham-based Plastic-free Pantry work with ethical wholesalers and smaller producers to buy in bulk, which is then re-packaged in paper, glass, or Natureflex and sent out to customers. Plastic Free Pantry, and I am hopeful that more brands will be taking up this approach in-store over the coming months.

Plastic in tea! Did you know your humble cuppa likely contains plastic, especially if you are using pyramid bags? Terrifying for us Brits, especially if you are like me and drink around five cups per day. Obviously fresh-brewed loose leaf is the ideal solution, but if that's not an option certified plastic-free brands include Tea Pigs, Pukka {love them but personally find their Earl Grey is weird as f*&k} and We Are Tea.

Obviously we would all like every cup of tea to be served like this

So there you have it. If you manage 6/10 it's a pretty decent start. None of us are perfect but this is about doing your bit, if not for yourself, then for the turtles dude.

Peace out x