You can make a difference
MATERIALS
Here are some really amazing product ideas to help you cut down on your plastic intake. All of the items shown can be found on Amazon. For the pledge consider just cutting single-use plastics, but if you want to go the extra step in your plastic free lifestyle these are just the products for you! More materials may be added in the future.
REUSABLE WATER BOTTLES/CONTAINERS
Approximately 50 billion plastic water bottles are bought in America each year. That averages out to every person in the U.S. using 13 bottles per month. If a singular person didn't use plastic water bottles for one year then 156 water bottles wouldn't be used. If a family of four didn't use a single plastic bottle for one year then 624 water bottles wouldn't be used.
BAMBOO UTENSILS
Approximately 40 billion plastic utensils are used in the U.S. each year. That averages to about 10 plastic utensils per person a month. If one person in the U.S. didn't use plastic utensils for an entire year than 122 plastic utensils would be saved. If a family of four in the U.S. didn't use plastic utensils for a year that would save 488 plastic utensils.
REUSABLE STRAWS
Approximately half a million straws are used per day worldwide. That means that the human race collectively uses 1820000000 straws per year. That averages to about 3 straws per person per year. If a 300 student school pledged to not use plastic straws for one year then an average of 900 straws would be saved.
REUSABLE BAGS
Approximately 4 trillion plastic bags are used annually worldwide. That averages to about 500 plastic bags per person annually. That is 41 bags per month. If the average family of four didn't use plastic bags for a year that would save 2,000 plastic bags.
BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSHES
About one billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown away annually in the U.S. alone. That averages out to 3 toothbrushes per person in the U.S. each year. If a school of 300 pledged not to use plastic toothbrushes for one year then that would save 900 plastic toothbrushes.
PLASTIC FREE TOOTHPASTE
Approximately 400 million toothpaste tubes end up in landfills in the U.S. annually. That averages to about 1 tube per person in the U.S. If a school of 300 pledged not to use toothpaste tubes for one year then 300 tubes would be saved. There are several alternatives for tubed toothpaste. There are toothpaste pills from companies such as Bite, there is toothpaste in a jar, or you can make your own toothpaste. You can check out the review page of my blog to get a link to the ingredients and instructions.
SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER
Approximately 552 million shampoo/conditioner are thrown into U.S. landfills annually. That is about 2 bottles per person in the U.S. per year. If a school of 300 didn't use shampoo bottles for a year, they would save 600 plastic shampoo bottles. There are alternatives to bottled shampoo such as bar shampoo and homemade shampoo. Bar shampoo is just as it sounds and can be bought online or in some stores. You can check out a homemade shampoo recipe on my blog. There will also be a link to instructions.
FACE WASH
Face scrubs are loaded with microbeads. These are tiny beads made out of plastic. A bottle of face scrub can have up to 330,000 microbeads, not to mention a bunch of chemicals. 8 trillion microbeads end up in the ocean every day from the U.S. alone. That's about 24,464 microbeads per person in the U.S. daily. A better alternative is a homemade face wash. Check out my blog for reviews and ingredients.