4 Ways To Trick Yourself Into Using Less Plastic

Tom Szaky is a leading force in the sustainability world. The founder of TerraCycle, a company that finds ways to recycle hard-to-recycle items (think everything from snack wrappers to backpacks to sponges), Szaky made headlines most recently for, Loop, his new initiative that gives companies the option to sell their products in reusable packaging that can be collected, cleaned, and reused multiple times. So far, Unilever, Procter & Gamble Company, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo, among others, have signed onto it. The combined reach of these corporations is obviously huge, so this innovation could prove game-changing when it pilots this spring.

We've become so accustomed to the convenience of single-use plastics that sometimes it's hard to see how they're actually making our lives harder in some ways. For example, snacks wrapped in plastic are easy to eat on-the-go—but they also make us less likely to cook for ourselves, which is often the healthier choice.

Time for a little history lesson: Post-WWII, companies started to run with ways they could replace durable items with things that consumers could buy again and again. One way they sold this new culture of consumerism was by saying the ability to dispose of a product after one use was not only more convenient but also more sanitary. This had huge implications for food, personal care, and beauty industries.

Again, it's all about perspective. There are often viable alternatives that provide the same functions as single-use plastic with way less waste. Take your reusable water bottle: It replaces the need for bottled water, as all you really want is portable water. Why can't this be true of your soda, beer, or kombucha? Bottle returns are still alive and well in some states, and many premium health retailers like Whole Foods Market and Mom's Organic Market are bringing them back.

Establishments, such as restaurants, can offer authentic hospitality while taking responsibility for the disposal of single-use plastics with recycling solutions.