Here are 10 ways to go plastic-free quickly!
Some of these overlap with my “14 Ways to Go Plastic-Free with Food,” but these are the easiest overall switches you can begin with, to give you momentum and make an immediate impact. Once these have become routine, you’ll start thinking about all of the plastic in your life. Especially those single-use disposable plastics!
1. Say no to plastic bags.
Reusable bags are sold everywhere these days, and given out for free at many places, too. However, many of those are made of plastic cloth and don’t last a long time. Look for canvas bags, which last longer and can be mended easily. The best place to buy plain canvas and cloth bags is usually craft stores. You can even decorate them with permanent markers, tie-dye, regular dye, or fabric paint. (Bonus if you use materials you already have in your home or obtained secondhand.)
Pro-tip: Store your bags in your car so that they’re always with you.
Or, go for something easy to travel with, such as ChicoBags, which are packable bags that fold into a small pouch and have a carabiner clip to attach to a keychain, backpack, or purse. I personally own a set of these and really like them.
Worst-case scenario: If you find yourself without your reusable bags, ask the store for paper bags instead of plastic.
Super Pro tip: Avoid plastic produce bags, too, by investing in a set of reusable produce bags.
Or, skip a bag altogether. Bananas, for example, have their own packaging – so they don’t really need a bag! Anything you must peel – onions, oranges, lemons, limes, garlic, avocados – don’t really need a bag!
2. Skip the straw.
You don’t really need a straw for most drinks, especially at sit-down restaurants. Their drinkware is sanitized through a dishwasher with a much hotter temperature than most homes.
If you do need a straw while out and about, or for a child, buy a reusable stainless steel or glass straw. These are relatively inexpensive. You can also buy paper or bamboo straws, which are still disposable, but at least not plastic.
Pro tip: I’ve started saying, “No straw, please” when I first order a beverage now, because restaurants often serve one automatically, out of the wrapper and in the drink. Once that straw is opened, it’s going to the landfill whether you use it or not – so better to request no straw at the onset.
3. Stop buying bottled water.
Most bottled water is often just municipal tap water. The plastic bottles are technically recyclable, but only about 8% or 9% of plastics are ever actually recycled. Further, those bottles can leach toxins into the water you drink.
Invest in a reusable water bottle, preferably made from metal or glass, not plastic. These are available almost everywhere, and you can get them secondhand as long as you sanitize them.
Pro tip: Invest in a water filtration system to remove unhealthy toxins from your water.
4. Invest in a reusable travel coffee mug.
The disposable cups at Starbucks and other coffee shops are lined with plastic and always come with a plastic lid. These cups can leach microplastics into your drink and into your body. Worse, heat makes the problem even worse because it causes more microplastics to leach from the plastic.1
Buy a reusable travel mug designed for hot beverages.. Again, these are available almost everywhere, and you can get them secondhand as long as you sanitize them.
5. Switch to bar soap.
Body wash, shampoo, and even conditioner that come in plastic bottles are more water than cleanser, so why not just pay for the soap only? This reduces shipping costs and reduces emissions too, since only the soap ships, not the water that normally comes in the product.
There are hundreds of soap options available online. I personally like Nourish Savannah soap, since I have sensitive skin. It has generally safe and gentle ingredients and smells lovely. Bonus: it doesn’t ship with plastic packaging.
Pro tip: Switch to shampoo bars (and conditioner bars!).
6. Stop using fabric softener and dryer sheets.
Fabric softener and dryer sheets usually has toxic ingredients: they contain hormone-disrupting phthalates, chemicals that damage the reproductive system, and compounds that trigger asthma. Fabric softener liquid almost always comes in a plastic bottle. Most fabric dryer sheets are made of nonwoven polyester fabric, which does not biodegrade. It’s the same as plastic trash.
There are so many alternatives! Wool dryer balls have been one of my favorite replacements. And nowadays they come in adorable colors and designs!
7. Switch to toilet paper that isn’t wrapped in plastic.
Most toilet paper is shipped and sold in non-recyclable plastic wrap. Worse, toilet paper is made from trees, the very thing we humans need to breathe! About 1 million trees are cut down daily to make traditional toilet paper.2
You can hit two targets with one arrow by buying recycled or bamboo toilet paper from companies like Who Gives A Crap (Bonus: they donate 50% of their profits to ensuring everyone worldwide has access to clean water and toilets).
Pro tip: Buy plastic-free paper towels or switch to something reusable.
Super Pro tip: Switch to reusable cloth wipes, also called family cloths.
8. Limit the number of plastic items you buy.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s actually harder than we initially think. I once needed a new dustpan, but the only ones I could find locally were made of plastic. And those always break and have to be replaced! I found a metal one on Amazon, but of course, it shipped in plastic.
But a dustpan being plastic is something I never thought about until I needed to replace it. And there are dozens of items like this in people’s homes. Plastic pens, storage bins, hairbrushes, toothbrushes, trash cans, soap dispensers, craft paint, clothing hangers, school supplies, purses, shoes, food packaging, dishes, sunglasses, toys, games, ice cube trays…the list is endless.
So, next time you need to replace something, look for a plastic-free alternative!
Pro tip: There are several stores online that sell items that are plastic-free and ship without plastic packaging.
Super Pro-tip: Is there a zero-waste store to shop in your area?
9. Invest in a set of reusable metal or glass food containers.
Use these containers for leftovers, packing lunches, and transporting food for parties. Ball jars or mason jars are perfect for these tasks, too. Don’t buy plastic ones, and especially do not reheat your food in plastic containers because the chemicals in plastics leach into food.
Pro tip: If you already own plastic containers, you can repurpose them to store other items, such as cosmetics, small game pieces, small electronics, or craft supplies.
Super Pro tip: Consider keeping a couple in your car for restaurant leftovers, instead of using the Styrofoam containers restaurants provide.
10. Buy secondhand.
Buy secondhand, anything appropriate for you. Think clothing, purses, household items, books, video games, board games, smartphones, art supplies, and even school supplies. Whenever you buy secondhand, you reduce your overall carbon footprint through reduced production, packaging, and shipping emissions. This includes lowering the amount of plastic used in both the product and its packaging.
Bonus: Secondhand items cost less, saving you money to spend on other things (like a fun trip!).
“Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. The same is true for your plastic-free home. It’s going to take some time to transition but with patience and persistence you can easily weed plastic out of your home and create a new lifestyle that’s dramatically leaner when it comes to plastic usage.” -Sandra Ann Harris, founder of ECOlunchbox3
Footnotes:
- Article, “Release of microplastics from disposable cups in daily use,” by Huier Chen et. al., Science of the Total Environment, Volume 854, January 1, 2023. ↩︎
- Page, “Are 1 million trees really cut down each day to make toilet paper?” Impact & Sustainability Info, whogviesacrap.com, updated February 10, 2025. ↩︎
- Book, Say Goodbye to Plastic: A Survival Guide for Plastic-Free Living, by Sandra Ann Harris, Hatherleigh Press, 2020. ↩︎