How to reduce single-use plastic in our daily lives

Reducing plastic use is a hard task since we are encountered and sometimes obliged to use plastic in 90% of cases. For example, in grocery stores almost everything, from food to household materials, is sold with plastic or nylon packaging.

However, plastic use CAN be reduced, thanks to proactive and preventative measures taken from an individual perspective.

In this post I will share with you some of my suggestions about reducing plastic use, that don't need a lot of effort and are actually better not only for the environment, but also for oneself. You can also find recommendations on products and places.

Water bottles

Using water bottles is one of the basics to reducing plastic in our daily lives. As you know, water on the go is massively available in plastic bottles which are produced with plastic PET 1. This plastic can only be used once, because if  used multiple times it affects the water's quality and can even run toxic materials in the water.

In the end, having a reusable watter bottle is better for the environment, but also for one's health.

Water bottles are becoming more and more popular or even fashionable (they come in various designs, if you're interested check these). But if you're not willing to waste a lot of money on fancy bottles, even the cheapest ones can do. These can be found in Jumbo stores for example.

Even more practical are filter water bottles, which you can fill on the go with tap water. The one I have is Brita: they take space but are very useful, especially for going to the gym or for any kind of sports when you need to be more hydrated than usual. For Bulgarian readers, you can be find such bottles in shops on gas stations OMV (oh, the irony).

Coffee cups

Lately, coffee shops have recognized that people avoid taking coffee on the go, because of the non-recyclable coffee cups. Environment-friendly practices have been introduced in different coffee shops in Sofia, that propose $ savings if you bring your own reusable cup.

For example in Tre P and Ciccione, my two preferred coffee shops near the office, offer the 8th coffee drink free of charge when bought in reusable cups. Initiated by Plastic Free Coffee Lovers, a friendly Facebook group where environment-friendly practices are shared on a daily basis.

Another coffee shop practicing a similar strategy is the famous Starbucks, which is not my favorite coffee brand, but preferred from the majority of people. After all, faith in humanity is restored, since Starbucks touches the mass population of coffee drinkers.

Plastic straws are offered on demand. Coffee is 15 cents (30 stotinki) cheaper when you bring your own thermos or reusable cup.

Where can we find reusable coffee cups?

Personally, I don't have one for the moment, as I prefer drinking my coffee at home, or either using my regular, not portable cup in the office. Nevertheless, there are a lot of offerings lately in the market for bamboo cups. Bamboo cups by Balev Bio are most popular in Sofia, since they are not expensive and do a good job. But what I find a bit irritating is that the designs are too feminine, thus not universal. After all, reducing plastic use is not solely supported by women.

For that reason, I also recommend Keep cup, which are more universal and with a clean design. They can be ordered and are more expensive, but more original and can be found in plastic or in glass, as well as in different shapes.

Reusable Containers

Spotted in a supermarket in UK

Disappointingly, in Sofia, when buying food for take-away, even nice places, such as Lime, prepare your food in single-use plastic containers. I'm not even mentioning supermarkets or canteens, which do that constantly.

Ironically, places you would presume that practice environment-friendly alternatives, such as Green deli are even worse since salads, sandwiches, desserts and now even soups are pre-packaged in single-use plastic and thus people can't even bring their own containers for take-aways. I highly recommend people to avoid this place until the chain changes their name to "Single-use Plastic deli".

Unfortunately, bringing your own reusable container for take-away (where possible) is still not often practiced in Sofia. Yet, this doesn't bring a lot of additional effort. Just remembering to take a multiple-use container from home. For example, I keep mine in the office, which by the way is from an ice cream box, so that I can always have one when needed. Yes, you don't even need to pay for a special reusable container - just use one from something you already bought.

Multiple-use Straws

Even the simple act of refusing a straw in the bars or restaurants is one step further to changing the mass attitude.

There are a lot of alternatives to single-use plastic straws, but still a the majority of people seem not to understand the polluting effects of something so little and often unnecessary.

Stainless Steel Straws

One of them is stainless steel straws, which can be bought on Amazon, with their mini brushes.

Pasta Straws

Another alternative is a specific type of pasta, which is durable enough and doesn't affect the taste of the beverage. Fortunately, in Bulgaria a lot of bars have introduced a policy of non-plastic straws for cocktails, apart from their exceptional taste, for example The Cocktail bar, Jasmine Gastro bar, Public bar and a lot of others in the capital city, but also on the seaside. So it's a full environment-friendly cocktail experience!

Bar Botanik, @ Chervenka beach, Chernomorets

I haven't seen pasta straws anywhere to be bought in stores, but you can find them in Amazon.

Edible Straws 

Or Lolistraw, made of seaweed and can be composted.. or eaten. More about that in this video.

Finally, whatever the alternative, always remember to refuse single-use plastic straws when ordering beverages in restaurants or bars! It's that simple and sufficient to mark a change.

I hope you find my suggestions useful. I'll update this list with other eco-friendly alternatives.

Thanks for reading and if you enjoy my posts or have any other recommendations, feel free to comment or subscribe to receive newest publications :)