90% of plastic never gonna be recycled

and just gonna end up on the landfill

for some plastic items like plastic bags

it takes about 20 to 40 years to decompose

for some items like plastic bottles, it’s

gonna take 500 years to decompose

the amount of plastic you consume every year grows

that’s why we should really think of

of avoiding the single-use plastic

and minimizing those quantities as much as we could

so let me share with you my

steps how to deal with the single-use

step #1: when buying

something or just receiving a plastic item

ask yourself how many times you’re

gonna use this item

if it’s only gonna be used once try to avoid it

say no to those items

if you have absolutely no chance not to get this single-use item

don’t beat yourself about it just think

in the future how you can avoid not

getting this item

the items that I would suggest to avoid at almost any cost are

PET plastic water bottles, plastic cups (coffee or any other beverages)

plastic plates and plastic cutlery and also plastic bags

those items can be easily

replaceable by reusable eco-friendly alternatives

get yourself a reusable

water bottle, get yourself a coffee mug or a tumbler for other drinks

not only these alternatives sometimes save you money

for example the water bottle

will definitely save you money

just use your tap water or filtered

water from home

reusable coffee mugs also might save you money because

some coffee shops offer a slight discount when you bring your own mug

sometimes it

can save you money because if you forgot your coffee mug

you might think: I don’t want to get a single-use so maybe I just not buy this drink

I’m not talking about

the situation when you’re really thirsty but

in those situation when you don’t really

need it and it was more like emotional purchase

those items are easy to buy and

if you’re somewhere here in u.s.

especially in California just go to the

stores like Ross and Marshalls

they have very cheap discounted water bottles and

coffee tumblers and so on

if you’re financially restrained you can always just use a glass bottle

let’s say you buy some combucha

whatever you buy in the glass bottle and

just wash this bottle and reuse it

compared to plastic glass can be reused for many times and it’s not toxic and not dangerous

the same with the tumblers

you probably have seen it already that lots

of guys just use some jam jars like

like mason jars as tumblers

it looks cool it looks pretty and it’s zero waste

if you have finances to slightly invest

into your coffee mug or the water bottle

invest in a good quality one

when you’re buying look if these companies are B Corp

or if this

company has a sustainable business

that would support our environment

as well

and also investing in the quality items gives you like a special benefits

for example, there are some

water bottles they’re a little bit

expensive but

but you buy it once and it lasts you almost

forever

those water bottles they can keep your water cool for 24 hours

and if you put something cold in there let’s say some tea or coffee

they’re gonna keep it for six hours hot

I can’t thank myself for investing once into a very good water bottle

so many times I left my bottle in the sun in my car

and you usually know h ow tepid (luke warm) and disgusting the water gets

those bottles saved me because the water was still cool and really pleasant

Some of the single-use items that you come across don’t even need alternatives

they just have to be discarded for good

I talk about things like plastic

straws

especially here in USA most restaurants

would just give you a straw

unless you ask them specifically not to do so

for example for me I don’t really

need a straw to drink most of my drinks

and I guess 50 years ago people somehow managed to drink everything without the straw

so now I just developed the habit

being really where when I’m in the restaurant

to ask the waiter please

don’t bring any straw

or in case they already bring and not ye put in my glass

let’s say it is in this paper wrapper

I just ask them to ta ke it away so they don’t throw uitit

it away accidentally without me even

using it

if you host a party just wash the dishes

or in case you decide to go with some

plastic alternatives let’s say you need

plastic plates and cutlery for the

picnic look into eco-friendly

alternatives

it can be bamboo plates that

can be reused several times let’s say if

you are the one who takes food from home

to the office silicone is not plastic

it’s much more eco-friendly and it can

last long so it’s great alternative

can

be easily washed even in the dishwasher

and it can be reused several times

you

take some snacks make fruits nuts and you probably use some zip bags

there are

reusable alternates

there are silicone bags

they can be used to take

some snacks with you

they can be used for the fridge or the freezer even

I

like brands like stasher

because they are really convenient to use

they really high-quality

or there are some cheaper alternatives

I will give you some links

to the stores (at least here in the US)

where you can buy those alternatives I

will also give links to some Amazon size

I’m not endorsing by any means Amazon

but since I know that most of people

in the US actually do shop on Amazon

and

that’s probably going to be easier for them

if they don’t have a local Eco

Store to buy those items

so I would list those alternatives there

another item that should be also

considered

when you go plastic free and

zero waste it’s a shopping bag

it’s a carrier bag or a grocery bag

I saw the stats that in US every person

per day there is one plastic bag used

and that is crazy

for example I haven’t

used plastic bags for a while so

somebody is using my plastic bag

and you probably didn’t use a plastic bag for a

while and definitely don’t show up every

day

so who are those people who are

actually using my plastic bags

anyway

let’s get back to reality

so get a reusable shopping bag

if you have something to repurpose just repurpose it

I didn’t even buy a grocery bag or a tote

bag

I just repurposed two bags that we

somehow had in our household and they

last us already for almost two years

to make it easier for you to not forget your grocery bags

have a grocery bag everywhere with you

so if you have a

backpack and usually like go around your

day with the backpack just keep a small

small collapsible grocery shopping bag

and your backpack if you go by car just

make sure you always have some tote bags

in your car

one important thing about

reusable straw oem (https://tizi.eleoem.com/) tote bags make sure they

are really reused by you

the worst thing you

can do to buy a cotton tote bag use it

for a couple of weeks and then feel like

oh I just want another one this one

looks dirty this one doesn’t look good

and then buy another one

so every time

you buy another tote bag you actually

make it even worse for the environment

I’m gonna make a special video talking about

this problem that in some situation

having a let’s say organic cotton tote

bag and only using it for a short period

of time and discarding it is actually

worse than using plastic bags

I’m not gonna go into details about this right now

but if you want to hear about it

don’t forget to subscribe you know the drill

soon I’m gonna make this

video and tell you what do I mean by that

at this point just remember that

whatever you get as your grocery bag

make sure you don’t get too many of them

like don’t get a ridiculous amount just

the amount you actually need

and also keep reusing them for years not just use

it for a couple of months and then

discard it

and here is important to

invest in a good high-quality like

sturdy strong

bags they’re not gonna rip after one

purchase

or they gonna rip after one laundry

if you by accident grabbed some plastic bags or

paper bags those can be reused the next

day you go to work and you walk to your

car just grab those bags and throw them

in the trunk

one thing that really

disturbs me is a banana wrapped in

plastic

it’s hard for me to understand

who came up with this idea

why people feeling it needs it

I understand when your wrap

in plastic something that you don’t

want people to touch using their hands or

but banana you’re gonna peel

it

the same as any other fruits they don’t

need to be wrapped in plastic bag

they don’t need to be put in the plastic box

but seriously if I buy apples why do

they need to be in a plastic bag

let me just grab the amount of apples I want

just put them in my grocery but without

any packaging

nothing gonna happen to them

just wash it at home and eat

I still need to wash them anyways

some plastic free alternatives actually don’t require you

to buy something additional

like a water bottle

they actually require you to be

more mindful when you shop and let’s say

if you go to the store I know not all

the supermarkets are eco-friendly bulk stores

where you can actually do your groceries and avoid a

lot of plastic but if you have an option

to avoid it avoid let’s say you are in

the store you see bananas in plastic and

bananas not in plastic

you know what to choose

the same with veggies

my solution right now is that I don’t do my

groceries in one store I have maybe four

or five different stores in mind

let’s say some stores are just cheaper and

that fits better my budget some stores

have better produce and so on

so I try to go to those stores so I know like

okay if I need to buy some fruits and

veggies I better go either to the

farmers market or to this particular

store let’s say like sprouts because

they don’t pack everything in plastic

if I need to buy let’s say meats or like

fish I would go to some other like let’s

say like Filipino store because there

you can ask the butcher to cut it for

you

or I wo uld go to the fancy butcher

which is even better but here we have to

understand that not everyone can afford

going to the some fancy artisan

butchers and so on

so being mindful when

you shop doesn’t require money

from you

sometimes does but most time is not

it’s just getting of that

convenience II remember I talked in my

previous video that the problem is

plastic pollution is that we are too

comfortable in our lives we don’t want

to sacrifice this convenience and

comfort for the planet but migh t be in

30 years we would regret that

I guess that’s it for today

I’m sure I forgot some of

the great alternatives please share with

me in the comments if I forgot something

or if you have a better alternatives

also if I made a mistake

or if you just dislike my videos and you have your reasons to do so

please share with me in

the comments

I don’t claim I’m perfect

I’m learning and trying to become better

on this a conscious and

environmental-friendly journey

so I would love to learn things from you

so let’s stay positive

let’s stay eco-friendly and let’s help

each other to learn more

I am not living it there….

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