Swap single use for sustainable

Did you know that Australia is one of the highest per capita producers of waste in the world? Every year we burn through 18 million tonnes of waste, which affects our birds, seals, whales, turtles and all other marine wildlife.

We’re living in a world of convenience often opting for the quick, easy option rather than the sustainable one. What are we talking about? Single use plastics.

Following the Surf Coast Shire’s Plastic Wise Program, the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee staff have devised a list of simple measures to help us all reduce plastic consumption. Here are our top plastic savers!

1. Bring a Keep Cup – Did you know that more than 50,000 disposable coffee cups are dumped in landfill every 30 minutes in Australia? Ditch the easy option and bring your own coffee cup.
2. Ditch the pods – Australians use more than 3 million single use coffee pods every day which equates to a massive influx of aluminum into landfill. Start using plunger coffee as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option for your caffeine fix.
3. BYO enviro bag – Australians use enough plastic bags to stretch around the world 24 times. Our marine wildlife often confuses these bags as jellyfish and accidentally eat them. Remember to bring your environmental/ reusable bags with you next time you go shopping to help reduce the impact.
4. Buy plastic free – Supermarkets are guilty of packaging everything we consume in plastic. Our fruit and vegetables now come wrapped in single serve portions. Opt to buy fresh, local and plastic free wherever possible and cut down your plastic footprint.
5. BYO H2O –  Water is an essential part of our daily lives and is readily available Australia wide. Ditch the Mount Franklin, Pump, or Fiji water and opt for a reusable drink bottle, there’s so many cool options out there!
6. Use containers – Glad wrap is fiddly and frustrating at the best of time, but it’s also unnecessary. Ditch the morning struggle and put your lunch into containers. You can get mega packs perfect for all your food storage needs at Kmart, Target and supermarkets to ensure you have the right container for every occasion.
7. Invest in other lunch wraps – Bees wax wraps are a great way to keep your food fresh in a more environmentally friendly way. Feeling a little crafty? You can even make your own with a few simple items details here.
8. Buy in bulk to reduce plastic – Avoid buying the single packets of chips, or individually wrapped biscuits. Take note of how your food is packaged and opt for the one with the least amount of waste.

These are our favourite tips to help reduce plastic consumption and waste. Share yours in the comments below!