Less plastic!

• The online purchase of food for daily consumption and ordering from delivery services such as Deliveroo not only causes a lot of packaging waste, but it also unnecessarily consumes energy and CO2 is blown into the environment by delivery by car / truck. It can hardly get any worse!

 

• Drink tap water instead of mineral water or soft drinks, which firstly saves towing heavy drinks crates and secondly reduces the flood of disposable plastic bottles. At least you should rather choose drinks that are filled in refillable glass or PET returnable bottles.

 

• Coffee to STAY instead of Coffee to GO: Do it like the Italians in their espresso bar: 5 minutes for a relaxing coffee break with fresh coffee from a porcelain cup instead of lukewarm dishwater from the paper cup should actually always be possible. Alternatively, bring your own returnable coffee mug, there are chic, lightweight and absolutely leak-proof models that also keep the coffee warm.

• For to-GO drinks in the fast-food restaurant or when it really needs to be a coffee-to-go, at least avoid plastic lids and the plastic straw.

 

• Glass instead of plastic in the supermarket: yoghurt, milk, sauces / ketchup, cream, oil, vinegar, mustard – for all those goods where there are alternatives, use glass rather than plastic.

 

• When shopping, buy products with little or no packaging at all: open fruit and vegetables instead of shrink-wrapped goods. Avoid the thin plastic bags, because fruits and vegetables are sufficiently protected by their skin, so you can lay it loose on the cash desk. You wash them before eating anyway. But there are also reusable and washable bags from old PET bottles, in which one can pack your goods.

 

• Better buy large packs instead of single packs, you should completely refuse multiple packaged goods.

 

• Use reusable cloth bags, baskets or backpacks instead of plastic bags for shopping. If you always have such a shopping bag in your pocket, then even the spontaneous shopping tour without plastic bags is no problem.

 

• Barbecue season and garden party: do not use plastic dishes, plastic cups or straws. A disposable grill is an environmental sowing, too!

 

• Ice cream parlor: Order ice cream in the waffle instead of in a coated or plastic cup. If you do not like ice cream waffles, you should better throw away the waffle rather than produce unnecessary plastic waste.

 

• Hopefully they will soon be banned anyway: use swabs made of cotton and paper instead of plastic ones, they are available in every drugstore.

 

• Instead of handkerchiefs in individual packages, better buy handkerchiefs in a cardboard dispenser

 

• Either use glass or metal drinking bottles on the way, or wash, refill and take plastic bottles from at home with you.

 

• Pack your snacks or fruit in reusable food storage boxes instead of plastic bags / cling film

 

• Instead of using the liquid soap from the disposable plastic dispenser, you should use a soap bar

 

• Refill instead of buying new: Cleaning supplies and drugstore items are usually also available in refill packs that cause less waste.

• Plastic bags can be reused many times and, in the end, can be used as garbage bags.

• In principle one should inform oneself about alternative shopping places in his environment: Weekly markets, farm shops, organic supermarkets or “unpacked” shops offer the goods usually unpacked, one can put them directly into the cloth bag or a jar brought along.

 

• One should reduce his consumption of plastic as much as possible, because many items migrate after a single use in the trash. This is especially true for the quick snack during the lunch break, but also the non sensical trend of drinks to-go.

• Plogging – always wear a bag and a glove while jogging / walking and pick up plastic garbage / debris on the way. It’s even more fun in the group! Perhaps there are like-minded people in your place of residence or a plogging group that you can join. In Munich, for example the Münchner Plogging Mob, where OEOO is co-organizer.

 

• Try to animate two friends and establish an environment club together – put an invitation notice on the bulletin board at work, in the sports club or the fitness club, call on neighborhood forums like nebenan.de, search for like-minded and just start.

 

• When shopping in the supermarket, demonstratively leave packaging and plastic in the store – the food trade has to realize that consumers do not like useless plastic packaging.

 

• Get active yourself: Change your own daily routines, activities, start inquiries at the manufacturer or in the store (“Why can’t it be packaged differently/environment friendly?”), support regional initiatives or projects.

 

• Inform your circle of acquaintances about your ideas and encourage others to live with reduced use of plastic, too.