Sustainable living? It's hard to know where to start, so we present you with 5 simple ways you can begin reducing plastic today.
When anyone talks about the environment or sustainability, it is easy for eyes to glaze over; let’s face it, the topic seems too large for most of us to fathom and the question of ‘where to begin’ is often daunting.
This is exactly why we have launched ‘Total Eco Croatia’, not only so we can shine a spotlight on the positive actions and initiatives and make all environmental information more accessible, but also to provide practical tips to living a more sustainable life. We all agree Croatia is beautiful, so let’s keep it that way.
Here are 5 simple tips that can be implemented immediately to reduce plastic waste and start living a more sustainable life.
1. Give up bottled water
Croatia has some of the cleanest drinking water in Europe, consistently ranked in the top 5 in Europe and sitting around no.42 in the world according to UNESCO’s World Water Development Report.
Out & about? Easy solution, buy a glass bottle or a reusable water bottle, there are even options to refill in fountains throughout many cities around Croatia – including Onofrio’s fountain in Dubrovnik which has had clean drinking water since the 15th Century!
Everyone likes a bargain, what if we told you that buying bottled water is in essence paying 2000x more for it than you need to?... Seems a little ridiculous, doesn’t it?
‘What about sparkling water for our gemist?’ I hear you say, Choose sparkling water from glass bottles, Jamnica does this; better yet invest in a sodastream and drink sparkling water to your heart’s content.
2. Get yourself some reusable bags
The world uses 5 Trillion plastic bags a year!! That’s around 700 plastic bags per person and less than 1% of these are recycled. Plastic bags take centuries to degrade, they end up in landfills or worse, in our seas.
In Croatia, most supermarkets charge around 1 kuna per bag. Now let’s do the maths – if every person uses roughly 700 plastic bags per year, that’s 700 kuna per year on throwaway items!!
Do yourself a favour invest in reusable bags – there are plenty of shops and local stores that sell them or there is an incredible range of reusable bags online. You will save your bank account AND the planet – everybody wins.
3. Choose fresh produce
Croatia has some of the best produce in the world and you can find local fresh fruit & vegetable markets in most every town, so why buy plastic-wrapped produce from the supermarket? And, remember to take your own reusable bags with you!
4. Say no to plastic packaging when there is an option
Everyday as consumers we are presented with choices, so wherever possible, choose the plastic-free option; i.e. ask for your drink to be served without a straw, choose a cone over the plastic cup when getting an ice cream, take your own packaging to the butchers and markets...
5. Take your own cutlery
The #1 reason to avoid plastic cutlery is that the vast majority of plastic cutlery, can’t and won’t be recycled – it is viewed as a throwaway item, so this is how it is treated and the plastic itself is made from a form of Polystyrene which is almost impossible to recycle.
So, heading outdoors for a picnic or plan on getting takeaway? If you can organise a picnic or takeaway food, having the forethought to take your own cutlery is the next logical step.
Being served plastic teaspoons at cafes in Croatia is a massive issue, request real cutlery or choose a café that serves real or biodegradable cutlery. The next step is of course, putting pressure on businesses and organisations to ban disposable cutlery, but we’ll get to that – malo pomalo!
See? We told you this was going to be easy. These 5 tips may seem like no-brainers, but the majority of us still choose convenience over social conscience.
We, the consumer have so much more power than we realise, commit to making these simple changes and start making a difference today. You can also join us in the “No bottled water challenge” this year, we would love to hear if you do or if you have any of your own simple tips to sustainable living.
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