Just 9% of all plastic ever made since the 1950’s has been recycled. The rest?  

Carelessly tossed away into landfill. This may seem like an irreversible dept we’ve given ourselves, but it’s estimated we have around 10 years left to turn this ship around. So we better get cracking.

The most feasible long term solution for plastic pollution and waste is to make all plastics recyclable. Now this is all well and good, but something we’re missing is teaching people how to recycle, and making this as easy as possible for everyone to participate in.

Actions you can take as a parent

School teachers and professors will probably have given many a lesson over their careers on recycling, whether you’re a Geography, History, Economics teacher or anything in between. Plastic waste pops up in nearly every subject.

But it’s not just in education that children can learn about being sustainable. Not a teacher? Just a parent? These DIY crafts, tools and ideas are perfect boredom busters for the upcoming summer holidays, or at school - help your little ones learn while having fun.

1. Create a bird feeder out of a cardboard toilet paper roll

2. Try an online recycling game

3. Pack a waste free school lunch with these ideas.

These 3 fascinating ideas can still be used directly in the classroom. They will open young inquisitive minds to the scale of our use of plastics, and educate them on the alternatives. Our kids are our future, and to educating them about sustainable living should take a heavy priority in inspiring the minds of tomorrow’s leaders.

Shop smart: Food and supermarkets with recycled packaging

Here in 2019, we have a growing opportunity to shop goods that are recyclable, even in supermarkets.

One of the main players, Tesco, has recently provided a public statement that they are working towards making all of their packaging 100% recyclable by 2025. With the current stat standing at 83%, they are over three quarters of the way there. Tesco have also released exciting news that they will be trialling plastic free fruit and veg isles in stores this year.

Zero waste shops near me:

As we are based in the South East we’ve devised 3 zero waste shopping alternatives which totally support recycled packaging:

• Brighton based company Waste Not.

• The Eco Pantry in Kent.

• And Suffolk’s own Organic Whole Foods shop.

   

In places like this you are encouraged to bring your own refillable containers to take the goods home with you in. A lot of organic fruit and veg can be picked up here without any packaging and you will find products like our all natural toothpaste ranges among many other amazing brands doing just the same.

The affects recycling will have on the planet

There are 500x more pieces of microplastic in our oceans than there are stars in our galaxy and by 2050 it is estimated there will be more plastic in the sea than fish. By recycling we can reduce the need to extract new raw materials, which conserves the environment they would have been taken from; the sea for example. Recycling also reduces the amount of energy needed to remove raw materials, and the pollution that would have been generated by the extraction and transportation processes.

Below is a great video on recycling different items around your home. Items that you usually wouldn’t think to recycle and also covers some amazing facts about how much recycling matters in society in terms of reducing our carbon footprint and our planet.