Ways you can minimize your plastic usage

Every day I see a new article about the population's plastic usage and every day it fills me with the same dread and sadness for what we are doing to our planet. We know we're clogging up our magnificent oceans with plastic waste. We know we're harming marine wildlife. Animals easily mistake small pieces of plastic for food, and are easily tangled up in it too. There's no doubt that we need to desperately consider our daily choices to help the environment. We need to stop using and disposing so much single-use plastic. The statistics regarding the plastic usage in the world are devastating, I don't need to tell you, you probably know.

It is not always easy to completely stop using it, it can be expensive to find suitable alternatives but there are a few things we can do.  

1. Re-use your shopping bags or start using tote bags. Don't keep buying plastic bags in supermarkets and shops it's unnecessary when you most likely have a bag of bags at home (We all know the bag of bags). Not only are you adding to the plastic consumption you are spending money on each new bag so why don't you save yourself some pennies and take your own bag? I often keep a plastic bag in my backpack at all times for this very reason. 
2. Buy a reusable drinks bottle instead of using a plastic one. It isn't always safe to continuously reuse a plastic water bottle for months on end anyway. I'm unfortunately guilty of this and am going to invest in a long use bottle. You can find these reusable bottles in most places now, most supermarkets, basically anywhere that sells bottles. You don't need to spend a small fortune but even if you do, the bottle will last longer than a silly flimsy plastic one. 38.5 million plastic bottles are used in the UK daily with just over a half being recycled. 
3. Stop using straws. We find a straw in almost any drink we order, and why? Why do I need a straw? I can adequately drink without one. It frustrates me endlessly to witness pubs and bars hand out drinks with plastic straws. Stop it!!! Businesses are beginning to stop using them or handing out paper alternatives instead, like Wetherspoons for example. Thank you Spoons for providing me with cheap alcohol and helping the environment. Millennials? We got this. 
4. Avoid the excessive packaging on food products. It's hard to avoid this one, especially when you walk around a supermarket and notice practically everything is contained in plastic. When you are buying fresh fruit and vegetables avoid the plastic bags, with most fruit and veg you simply do not need a bag. You can take your own bags again, invest in a long term use cloth bag for this purpose. 
5. Take a reusable cup to your coffee shop. Those takeaway cups cannot be recycled. Can you imagine how many of them are thrown into the bin on a daily basis? Almost all of your favourite coffee shops don't mind you bringing your own cup, in fact they encourage it. They'll even give you a little bit of money off your coffee, so not only again are you saving the environment but you're also saving money. Starbucks are introducing in some London branches a small charge on takeaway coffees to encourage you to stop purchasing disposable cups.

There are SO many more ways to reduce plastic use. The best thing you can do is start by being mindful about what plastic you are using. Take note of what you buy that is wrapped in plastic and can it realistically be avoided? Make sure you are recycling. Recycle EVERYTHING that can possibly be recycled.