Go Naked!

As I said in my last post, I won't be blogging much anymore unless it's something I really want to write about. Well today I've found that something and I'll be talking about a subject that really worries me - plastic waste. I thought I'd share my views with you guys and go through simple things we can all do to contribute towards a better world!

I'm sure you've all heard about how we're standing in front of the greatest, most unprecedented, plastic waste tide ever faced. An estimated 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste had been generated as of 2015, of which only 9% was recycled. Our planet and oceans are suffering from mountains of plastic packaging left in the nature and it's about time we all start thinking about how we one-handedly could change that.

© Vilde Rolfsen

It's said that if you leave a plastic bottle in a forest today, you could pick it up from the same place in year 2050, how crazy is that? Environmentalists have long denounced plastic as a long-lasting pollutant that does not fully break down, in other terms, is not biodegradable. Still, we wake up in the morning, take a shower using at least 3 different bodycare products all in pretty plastic bottles, continue to our skincare routine using about the same amount of skincare products all beautifully packaged in fancy plastic jars, tie our hair in a plastic invisibobble, grab our coffee in a plastic cup and rush to work. I suppose people don't give it too much of a thought and to be fair, neither do I. Yet I thought that maybe together we can try and consume even a tiny bit more wisely?

I have already subconsciously started to keep my plastic containers so I can reuse them later, I carry my water around in a metal bottle, I bring my fabric bag to a grocery store and I never put my fruit and vegetables in a separate small plastic bags. I think that's something we could all do...

For example, here's 8 single-use swaps and the trash you could save in one year:

1. Instead of 4 plastic toothbrushes, try and use one bamboo-brush.

2. 167 plastic water-bottles could be saved if you invested in a cute metal/glass bottle.

3. Instead of cling-film, buy some beeswax food wrap.

4. Approximately 170 plastic-bags won't end up in nature if you used a fabric bag or an alternative.

5. Remove your make-up with a make-up eraser not to go through millions of cotton pads and make-up wipes.

6. Instead of 7300 paper-towels you could use a washable cloth.

7. Save yourself and the earth from those horrid single-use plastic razors.

8. Buy a solid shampoo/conditioner bar and save 6 plastic shampoo/conditioner bottles.

That doesn't sound too hard, am I right?

It makes me really happy knowing that there are people and companies working on this problem every day. For example I went to LUSH Cosmetics birthday event recently, which actually inspired me to write this post. They are truly doing their best to go 100% plastic free and it's actually pretty cool. They've launched the concept of naked products - products that are manufactured and shipped in minimal cardboard packaging and sold in a reusable scarf or a brown bag. It's really inspiring how this worldwide problem has made them think outside of the box and inspired many new formulas like solid face oil bars, face cleansers and many other innovative alternatives.

Moreover there's quite a few global companies besides LUSH who have gone plastic-conscious or waste-free. For example Burberry and Evian are both pledging to go plastic-free by 2025; brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and GUESS are all releasing eco-friendly collections; RMS Beauty, Zao Organic Make-Up, Tata Harper and many more have really thought about either sustainable or reusable packaging and Ikea has promised to remove single-use plastic globally from its products and its restaurants by 2020.

Now here's the naughty list - in Europe, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé brands were again the top identified polluters, accounting for 45 percent of the plastic pollution found. Thankfully the European Parliament voted for a complete ban against single-use plastics and 250 global brands including those three have signed up, hallelujah!

That's it for the post I suppose, I hope you had a nice read and please let me know in the comments at least one thing you already do or will try and do to reduce plastic waste!

Love,

Helena