Reduce Your Plastic Use, Grow Your Savings

Plastic is everywhere. Wherever you’re reading this from right now, we can guarantee that you’re surrounded by items made of plastic.

Plastic is undoubtedly one of the most versatile materials ever created by mankind. It’s durable and cheap, has applications in every industry, and has helped to facilitate many of the advances in food, medicine, transportation and technology that we take for granted today. However, along with its many amazing qualities comes its major, irrefutable flaw: plastic is not good for our planet. Plastic’s creation contributes to the warming of our atmosphere and when it becomes waste, plastic debris harms countless ecosystems around the world.

Most plastic is created from petroleum by-products, and cannot biodegrade in nature. In fact, plastic can take over 1000 years to decompose on its own. As the kind of plastic we’re most familiar with was only invented in 1907, that means that almost every piece of plastic ever created is still out there somewhere, pending it wasn’t incinerated or burned. It’s tough to wrap your mind around that stat, but every pop bottle, every take-out container and every candy wrapper you’ve ever used is probably still on the planet somewhere. Though you may have recycled your plastic waste, many countries (including Canada) are only able to successfully recycle a small fraction of what is collected due to poor waste management infrastructure.

So, plastic that you used 20 years ago could be sitting in a landfill today. Even worse, it could be in the ocean. Many of the ocean’s iconic species, like whales, dolphins and turtles, ingest plastic debris thinking it’s food and die as a result of hunger or digestive complications. Moreover, while we do see some plastic debris wash up on coastlines around the world, most people don’t see the floating islands of trash that have aggregated far off-shore. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, for example, is found northwest of the Hawaiian Islands; it’s bigger than the state of Texas and still growing. Ultimately, scientists believe there will be more plastic in the world’s oceans than fish by the year 2050.

If this intro makes you uncomfortable, that’s good! It may be time to think about all the ways you use single-use plastic items in your life and find ways to cut down. The best part? You don’t need to be worried about how making greener consumer choices will affect your financial health. In fact, it's likely to have the opposite effect; reducing your plastic use, in many ways, can help you save more money in the long run! Here are a few of our best suggestions to minimize your plastic use while keeping your bottom line in mind.

Reusable Everything
Purchasing reusable versions of the items you use every day is one of the best ways to reduce your single-use plastic use while also making smart financial choices. It’s amazing that carrying a reusable water bottle has become the norm for millions of Canadians, but there are plenty of other every day products also available in reusable versions. By opting for reusable goods, you not only greatly reduce the amount of plastic waste you produce, but you’ll save money by skipping all the repetitive purchases you’d otherwise make to stay stocked up on essentials.

Reassessing how you manage the repetitive routines of your life is a great place to start. For example, before COVID, many of us ate lunch away from home five days a week and purchased at least one coffee per day. Taking your lunch and coffee from home instead of eating out every day will not only save you money, but will greatly reduce the amount of plastic you use (as the food and beverages you consume would otherwise rely on some form of plastic packaging). You can purchase reusable “plastic bags” made of silicone, reusable containers and reusable straws to make taking lunch from home a breeze. You can also throw in your own metal cutlery, take a re-usable bag to carry it all and invest in an insulated mug for coffee runs; it’ll keep your coffee hot for much longer than paper cup would and most places will offer you a small discount for bringing your own mug. Just by doing this even a few days a week, you can make solid progress in minimizing both your expenses and your plastic use.

If the lunch example doesn’t apply to you, think about the other daily routines you engage in and what kind of trash each produces. If you cook from home regularly, you can invest in reusable beeswax wraps to replace plastic wrap in your kitchen. Or, you can purchase reusable, washable cotton pads to replace the single-use variety in your beauty routine, eliminating the waste created by the cotton pads themselves along with the plastic packaging used to hold them. A quick Google search might point you in the direction of a reusable product you need and didn’t know existed. The market for reusable goods is increasing every day, and just about everyone can make improvements to their plastic use by purchasing reusable products.

Admittedly, this strategy requires you to invest at the start to make it work. Though it’ll definitely save you money in the long run, you’ll need to shell out some cash up front to purchase the reusable items the first time. Still, much like the habit of saving money, you can probably still afford to take baby steps if you’re tight on cash. Look to purchase one or two items at a time, and introduce more as you can afford to do so. Chances are, you'll see the benefits created by your investment and see how going reusable will affect positive changes in more ways than one!

Healthy Habits
Reassessing how you purchase and consume produce can have a positive impact on physical health, your financial well-being and your plastic use. If you live in a community that hosts farmers’ markets, take advantage of them! Many towns and cities hold these events throughout the year, not just during the summer – if you’re unsure about your own community, do a quick search, as it may alert you to regular events. You can buy fresh, local produce at prices that are often cheaper than you’ll find at your regular grocery store. Even better, you’ll know you’re supporting local farmers and that the produce didn’t have to travel thousands of kilometres to reach you (greatly reducing its carbon footprint), not to mention that it’ll be free of excessive plastic packaging. So many benefits here!

That being said, we know you may not have a regular farmer’s market to attend. If you’re buying your produce at the grocery store, it won’t reduce your costs, but you can minimize your plastic use by skipping the thin plastic bags that are often used to hold produce items or any pre-packaged produce. With the exception of fresh herbs and soft fruits, none of the produce you buy needs its own plastic bag. You should be washing your fruit and veggies well anyways, so placing them in a cart or basket for a short period of time is fine. Particularly for fruits with thick outer skins that we don’t use, like bananas or avocados, this is a no-brainer!

Shop Smart
There are plenty of ways you can train yourself to make smart choices as a consumer that are kind to both the planet and your wallet. The market for goods that are either plastic-free or that work to reduce consumer dependence on plastic is growing every day. For example, you can purchase laundry detergent that comes in pre-measured paper strips, eliminating the need for the huge plastic bottles that usually hold it. You can also buy effective shampoo and conditioner in bar form, similar to a bar of soap, that’ll last you for over a hundred uses and gets rid of the need to purchase a new plastic bottle of each every few weeks. There are also an increasing number of no-waste grocery stores popping up in Canada, and many bulk food stores (like Bulk Barn) will allow you to bring your own containers to stock up on pantry staples.

With that said, though it’s not impossible to completely eliminate your plastic usage, it’s not an easy feat. So, when you’re faced with purchasing goods that only come in plastic containers, try to buy in bulk wherever possible and select the largest size available. Yes, you’re still buying a plastic container, but you’re getting way more of the actual product at a cheaper overall cost from only one container. Depending on the product in question, you may even be able to keep the container once the product is done, wash it and find a use for it around your home (ex. holding pens, keeping kids’ art supplies organized). You should also look to buy products that can be refilled instead of ones that you’ll need to buy all over again after one use. For example, most cleaning supplies come in refill bottles; by purchasing refills, you’ll save a bit of money in the long run and also avoid purchasing a new bottle with extra plastic parts like a spray nozzle.

However, there are some products that are arguably worth quitting altogether; the best example of this is any drink that comes in a plastic bottle. Millions of bottles of water, fruit juice, iced tea and soda (among others) are sold in Canada everyday, and almost every one of those bottles is thrown away instantly once the drink is done. If you tried to count up all the plastic bottles you’ve had a drink from in 2020 alone, you’d probably be shocked! So, try to stop purchasing drinks sold in plastic bottles; at the very least, save it to be a special treat instead of an every day thing. Though most bottled drinks only cost a few dollars, you’ll save that extra cash while reducing the amount of waste you create. Moreover, many of the most popular beverages on the market are extremely high in sugar. Skipping them entirely will help you better manage your health in addition to your wallet and your carbon footprint. Instead, brew yourself iced tea from home, buy juice powder crystals to make your own batch or invest in a juicer to make fresh-squeezed versions of your favourites.

Re-usable PPE
Though this is another regular routine you can reassess (as mentioned above), we figured this was worth a special note. While COVID has given the environment a break in many ways, it has put us in a position where we’ve doubled down on our plastic use. Masks, gloves and other forms of PPE have become household items overnight, as millions of people are now expected to wear, at minimum, a mask at all times in public places.

Given that masks are not going anywhere soon, consider investing in reusable masks and minimizing your use of gloves where possible. Of course, your health and safety are the first priority; if you need single-use plastic PPE to keep yourself safe, you need to use it. However, don’t forget that we’re going to face a massive new wave of plastic waste in the form of used PPE, and there’s been plenty that’s already made it’s way into the ocean; a tanker full of PPE on it’s way to Australia from China tipped and spilled all of its contents, sending tens of thousands of single-use masks into the Pacific. Using reusable masks (now available from hundreds of different retailers in cool designs) and relying on regular hand-washing/hand sanitizer instead of gloves can help to minimize waste while also keeping you and your family safe over the coming months.

We live in a world where most people have used (and thrown away) plastic without much thought for their entire lives. The problem is, we’re seeing the clear effects of decades of mindless plastic use, and it’s irrefutable that it's harming our planet in some pretty serious ways. However, as more people make the thoughtful choice to minimize their plastic use, the influx of new plastic-free products and collective consumer knowledge make it not only affordable, but financially smart to skip plastic where you can. A plastic-free lifestyle is not out of reach, and is something you can make huge steps towards without breaking the bank. Ultimately, of all the ways to save money, we can think of few that are more worthy than going green.

Check back to Money Talks every Monday for a new post featuring more tips and tricks on how to reach your saving goals.
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