How Can You Assist In Stopping The Serial Killer?

Wandering amongst us, even inside our homes is a serial killer – plastic. We encounter it everywhere. We feed it and give it power to continue to generate destruction. Our seas and lands are full of plastic that isn’t going to decay in the near future, which is responsible for killing many living creatures. In the End it will reach us too because the damage to the ecological balance will be too significant. Luckily for us, in the meantime we still have the opportunity to prevent it. Actually, we have so many things that we can do against its attack. In this case we don’t need to wait for the government to catch it (even though a lot of governments are joining the trend of making it illegal) everything depends on you. Every little change in your lifestyle will bring about a significant achievement.

I will start with the worst of all – disposable tools.

Why is it the worst of all? Because we take a product that will stay on Earth a thousand years, use it once, throw it away and take a new one. The disposable plastic tools are so cheap and available that even at home, people drink from a new disposable cup each time.

The multiple dishes that we have at home are there to be used. They should not sit and wait for special occasions. They exist every day, there is no need to create unnecessary garbage when we are at home. Even if we do not have the strength to do dishes or we are going out for picnics, there are environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic that are biodegradable (though there is no reason not to take multi-time dishes on a picnic). For example, bamboo leaves, banana leaves, palm leaves, cane or hard paper. There are companies that sell these at the same price as plastics. The profit is entirely ours. The tools are beautiful, designed and suitable also for large events.

One-time straws – there are multi-time straws from flexible silicone, resistant metal, smooth glass or natural bamboo (there are also those made from hard paper). Equip yourself with these and stop using single straws at home. Of course it is recommended to take them with you on trips and to restaurants. However, if you don’t want to take them with you to a restaurant, you do not have to drink with straw at all. You can simply ask the waiter not to bring you a straw so the unnecessary garbage is saved.

If we are already discussing requests, we can also ask the pizzeria to give up the small plastic board in our delivery box. In the cinema we can ask for the cup to be without a lid and straw. You can ask for a cone and not a one-time cup for your ice cream, so no spoon will be needed either.

Of course, we should walk around with multi-time bottles or cups and reusable food utensils. That way we can forego disposable plastic tools wherever we go. Also we can drink tap water instead of bottled water or refill the water bottle as many times as we like from the tap.

When we go shopping, we should take multi-time bags with us. There are also smaller multi-time bags suitable for packing fruits and vegetables. In general there is also a multi-time bag that folds up that you can carry in your handbag. It is perfect because you never know when you will need a bag.
What can we do if we are not equipped with a multi-time bag but we have gone shopping –
1. If the purchase is small, we can carry things in our hands.
2. If the purchase is large and we have to take a plastic bag, it is advisable to reuse the bag.
For instance: we could collect our dog’s poop, we could fill it with garbage, put our meals in it or throw it in a recycling bin, but it is better to reuse it because that way we won’t need to use more plastic bags.

At birthday parties, it is best to decorate with colorful posters and streamers instead of balloons. If you have a habit of releasing the balloons at the end of the party I ask you to stop this habit. When the balloons disappear from our eyes they don’t really disappear from Earth. Helium balloons will not be able to pass through the atmosphere and will undoubtedly reach the seas to kill unsuspecting creatures, that’s if they don’t kill innocent animals on land beforehand.

If you like glitter (I certainly love it!), use “twinkles” made from eucalyptus plants, they have natural sparkle.

When you bring gifts, try to give your friends plastic-free gifts that are packed in a multi-time bag. Avoid unnecessary use of envelopes, especially cellophane. 

In the shower you can use solid soap instead of soap from a bottle. Also in the bath there is an exploding solid soap which makes bubbles and foam.

In order to refresh the smell in the room, a solid bar of soap can be placed in a laundry basket instead of spraying with air fresheners.

There are many other small changes that can be made to save unnecessary plastic. For example: make home-made cookies instead of buying them in boxes, save food in glass jars instead of plastic boxes, use multi-time covers instead of plastic wrap, use pencils instead of markers, pack fragile objects in used newspapers instead of plastic bubble when moving and buy pulses in bulk (directly into a jar) instead of shopping in bags. I believe you have understood the principle, so I will carry on.

In addition to reducing our consumption of plastic, it is recommended to re-use plastic and recycle.

Nevertheless, we can be better at recycling.

Currently only 9 percent of the world’s plastic is recycled. Clean and dry the recycled products (if they are left with food residue they will usually end up in a landfill). Screw back the caps on the containers to make sure that the cap will also enter the recycling process. Insert all items separately, not in a bag or in a box. Polystyrene packaging is recommended for recycling at a post office. Take electrical appliances to the designated recycling station.

I will finish with the most important change that everyone can make.

Be more caring. Don’t leave trash on an overflowing garbage can. It is likely that it will fly off in the wind and damage living areas. Don’t leave fishing equipment and fishing lines behind, because they can cause damage to a lot of living creatures. Call people out on their mass and clean after others if they have gone.

When you walk down the street and bump into garbage, stop a second and pick it up and put in the nearest bin. I am sure that on your route you are going to find bins on the way or even a recycling bin. Any trash you see on the floor will probably remain there until it reaches the sea unless you pick it up, so do a small thing that will help us big time and put it in the right place, especially plastic bags that fly easily and cause suffocation to many creatures. It is possible to gather a few friends in order to proactively go to the beach or other natural places and begin cleaning them.

Nature is ours and for us, we need to keep it clean. Beyond the contribution each of us will make when leaving behind a clean area and cleaning up the garbage we encounter, it will also inspire others to act like us.

I’d love to hear what changes you can take on yourself today and bring into your life. Even just one change can make a big contribution. To every person who changes his way of life for the benefit of our environment, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I would be happy if you would share more ways to reduce plastic usage and minimize damage in your comments.

Please share this post with your friends and help us stop the serial-killer.