11 Easy Plastic Swaps You Might Not Have Thought of…
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We all know to avoid plastic water bottles, bags, straws and other single use plastic items that - until recently - were an everyday part of most people’s lives.
But what about some less obvious swaps? Here are eleven plastic items that can be swapped for a more environmentally sound alternative. Most are easy, and all are do-able.
As ever, no feeling guilty if some are beyond your time, energy or budget. We don’t have to do everything all at once. But if we each do a little, the many small changes will add up to one big humungous change - which is what our planet desperately needs right now!
1
Tea
A lot of teabags contain a plastic component in the bag. Manufacturers often use polypropylene to seal the bag so it doesn’t open in the hot water. Some even use plastic in the bag itself. We can certainly replace plasticised products with plastic free paper tea bags. However, in the sustainability spirit of reducing what we use, going for loose leaves is even better. With tea leaves, a good, old fashioned metal tea strainer is needed (unless, like my grandmother, you want to read them and don’t mind swigging the occasional mouthful of leaf!) Alternatively, try experimenting with reusable bags.
Online eco store Big Green Smile sells organic cotton tea bags (aff link) that can be reused indefinitely. And as an added plus, the long strings make them suitable for both mugs and tea pots. Once you have finished with your tea leaves, get further mileage out of them in the garden. For the lowdown on using nitrogen-rich tea leaves for plants (including which plants like tea and which don’t) check out this info from Homes & Gardens.
If you prefer to stick to regular tea bags, plastic-free products are fortunately becoming more common. This Country Living article gives a list of brands that were plastic-free in 2022.
2
Seedling Pots
No need to invest in plastic seedling pots if you save up your breakfast egg shells. Eggshell pots are the perfect size for starting off seedlings, and they are natural and biodegradable to boot. All you need to do is wash the shells, pierce a hole in the bottom
with a sharp needle and you’re good to go. Fill the shells with seed compost, plant your seeds, store in egg boxes and mist with water every few days.
Once your seedlings are ready to go outside, gently crush the shell and plant the whole thing. The shell will biodegrade and give the plant a dose of healthy nutrients. Eggshells are very high in calcium, which is also great for moderating soil acidity.
3
Bag Clips
Bag clips are useful to keep in your kitchen for sealing bags of food. Unfortunately they are also made from plastic. Although bag clips are not single use items, there will come a time when they end up in landfill - and add to the global problem of plastic pollution.
Traditional wood and metal clothes pegs make a much more sustainable and inexpensive alternative. Searching for sustainably sourced pegs makes this swap even more green. Try these eco friendly pegs by Wild &Stone. Made from FSC certified bamboo with plastic free recyclable packaging, they are also compostable if you remove the metal spring.
Why does chewing gum appear in a blog post on plastic swaps? Because plastic is a key ingredient in most chewing gums 😳. If the ingredient ‘gum base’ is listed on a chewing gum pack, it probably contains plastic. This turns regular chewing gum into a single use plastic - and to make matters worse, it’s often spat out onto pavements. Apart from being hard to remove, some of the gum washes into the drainage system and ends up in our oceans as microplastic pollution.
If you don’t want to add to plastic waste (or chew on plastic), check out plastic-free gums such as Chewsy. Chewsy comes in peppermint or spearmint flavours and is also free of palm oil, sugar and artificial flavours, colours and preservatives. You can find it on eco store Natural Collection (aff link).
5
Wet Wipes
Wet wipes contain hidden plastic. Because of this, they’ve had a lot of bad press lately and some companies have now removed the plastic from their wet wipe products. This is good news - although wet wipes are still usually packed in plastic. They also add up to a lot of additional single use waste.
If you are wedded to wet wipes for added cleanliness after using the loo, consider switching to Wype gel. Wype is designed to be used on regular toilet paper. It’s hypoallergenic, scent free, biodegradable, water soluble and made from natural, organic ingredients. It’s also safe for septic tanks. The gel is formulated to sit on top of the loo paper without causing it to disintegrate. This makes it very user friendly (if you get our meaning!) We can attest to the fact that Wype leaves you feeling fresh and moisturised. For additional eco friendliness, the gel comes in aluminium bottles. Refills are also available so you don’t have to keep replacing the plastic pump. Get your Wype gel here. Give it a go - we predict you’ll quickly become converted!
And if you want a sustainable, reusable, plastic free wipe to replace wet wipes for little ones, try these from Cheeky Wipes. Available in organic cotton or bamboo, the rainbow set is particularly fun. We can also attest to their being tough and versatile, having used them ourselves for years.
6
Make Up Wipes
Like wet wipes, single use make up wipes are a scourge for the environment. They waste the planet’s resources, and the polyester they contain breaks down into microplastics when they are discarded. Fortunately, switching to washable fabric wipes is an easy swap. And once you have your storage and washing routines established, they are nearly as convenient as single use throwaway pads.
RAPPU sells everything you need to switch over to fabric wipes - including drawstring bags and organic cotton mesh laundry bags. Both wipes and bags are sustainably made from reclaimed and organic cotton fabrics, organic cotton thread and organic cotton tape. They make a great sustainable gift - for yourself, as well as eco minded friends and family.
Although sponge scourers are handy for cleaning, they are also made from plastic. The sponge part is usually a foamed polymer, while the scourer layer is made from hard polyethylene mesh. Although sponge scourers aren’t single use, they do count as throwaway items. Changing your sponge scourer every week (which is recommended for hygiene) adds up to 52 discarded sponges per year. If a million households do likewise, that’s 52 million sponge scourers left languishing in UK landfill every year. If those households use sponge scourers in the bathroom as well as the kitchen, the numbers immediately double.
Switching from a plastic to a plant-based sponge scourer is an easy but effective swap to make. We love the Seep Eco Sponge Scourer (aff link). The sponge is made from cellulose and the scourer layer is loofah. At the end of its life, the Seep Eco Sponge Scourer can be cut up and home composted or added to your food waste. You can also freshen it up in the dishwasher or washing machine with a clear conscience. No nasty microplastics to be shed into the water system when it is washed or used.
8
Phone Cases
If (like us) you are forever dropping your mobile, a protective phone case is essential. Unfortunately the vast majority of cases are made from fossil fuel based-plastic. With phones constantly being updated, and each one a different size, perfectly usable cases are being discarded at a rate of knots. Zero Wasted estimate that 1.5 billion plastic phone cases are ditched globally each year (check out their article on making your overall phone use more sustainable here).
As we become more aware of the horrors of plastic pollution, eco alternatives to the plastic phone case are growing in popularity. One of the best on offer is the Wave Case. Made from wheat straw and fully biodegradable, it comes in a range of colours, patterns and sizes. Once you have finished with your case, return it to Wave. They will dispose of it sustainably and give you a 20% discount on your next purchase. And, by buying from Wave, you will be helping them to support environmental charities such as 1% for the Planet and Surfers Against Sewage.
Check out Wave’s phone cases, accessories and other plastic free products here (aff link).
9
Electric Toothbrush Heads
Bamboo toothbrushes as an alternative to plastic have been around for a while. But what about the replaceable heads on electric toothbrushes? In 2020, an estimated 24 million people in the UK used electric toothbrushes. With customers advised to change the head every three months, this means 96 million electric toothbrush heads heading for UK landfill each year. And in a market that is growing year-on-year, these numbers will only increase.
Genuinely eco friendly alternatives have been hard to find. That is until sustainable dental care company Truthbrush came up with an innovative replaceable bamboo head for the popular Philips Sonicare range. There are other bamboo heads around, but they usually have a plastic core. Recyclable heads are also available, but they can only go through one recycling cycle before the plastic becomes unusable. Because they are made from solid bamboo, Truthbrush’s heads are different. Instead of having to go in the rubbish bin, they can be safely added to your food waste or home compost heap.
Truthbrush give advice in the FAQ section of their website on how to first remove the bristles, as these are not compostable. They also explain their frustrating search for an eco friendly bristle, the compromise they have had to make and their commitment to continuing the search. This kind of transparency signifies that a company is truly trustworthy in its eco credentials. Check out their bamboo electric toothbrush heads (aff link), including a list of models the heads will fit.
10
Sticky Tape
Regular tape, whether parcel tape or clear all-purpose sticky tape, is made from plastic. The adhesive is usually acrylic, another form of plastic. These tapes are not recyclable and have to be put in the waste bin - which means landfill or incineration. They can also render card and paper packaging unrecyclable if they are not removed. It’s always frustrating to receive a parcel through the post packaged in recycled card, padded with eco friendly corn packing peanuts - and secured with plastic tape!
Fortunately, switching to eco friendly paper tape is an easy swap to go for. Eco tapes are usually made from recycled paper and have natural, rubber-based adhesives. Online eco store &Keep carry a really good selection of different widths and designs. Their recyclable plain paper tape is available in brown or white, with a choice of 24mm or 48mm width. They also have some stylish brown paper tapes printed with white motifs such as polka dots, hearts and flowers. If you fancy a bit of colour, it’s worth checking out their washi tape. This is a traditional Japanese tape made from plant fibres and rubber-based glue. Although it isn’t as strong as regular tape, it’s great for crafting and ‘gentle’ sticking tasks.
And last, but not at all least as far as we are concerned … gift wrap and greetings cards! Strictly speaking, they are both made from paper rather than plastic. However, much gift wrap and many cards contain plastic in the form of glitter, foiling, ribbons and embellishments. Then there’s the entirely plastic metallic-effect gift wrap that you can’t crumple up. Add in conventional clear sticky tape, gift bows and gift ribbons, and you end up with a lot of waste plastic!
Switching to recycled and recyclable wrapping paper is a good step. But wrapping with reusable fabric furoshiki is even better. If you follow the sustainability ladder (refuse/reduce/reuse/recycle), reusing is always a better choice than recycling. And with a RAPPU furoshiki, you have a doubly sustainable product. Not only is it endlessly reusable, it’s also 100% plastic free and made entirely from reclaimed fabric and responsibly sourced organic cotton thread. Check out the RAPPU range of reusable fabric gift wrap here.
As part of our quest to end single use gifting accessories, we also offer a unique range of reusable handmade greetings cards. On top of being reusable, they too are crafted from reclaimed materials - which makes them doubly sustainable. We think of them as ‘the cards that keep on greeting’. See what we have available at our website and Not on the High Street.
Happy plastic swapping!
What more unusual plastic swaps have you introduced?
Let us know in the comments below.