Plastic is made from petroleum. Petroleum is produced very slowly and we use a lot of it. So one day we may no longer have oil in stock. Then we can no longer make plastic. Plastic is strong. It takes years for a piece of plastic to be digested or broken down by nature. It ends up in nature, on the street, in the sea, in the stomachs of animals… There are plenty of reasons to recycle plastic for the benefit of the environment. Like that’s that easy? Yes, reusing plastic is easy. Start with our plastic bags…
The world environmental problem
You’re right, yes. You can’t solve that. Me neither, by the way. That makes you despondent. Of course, I understand that. Me too. That’s why I sometimes chop problems into pieces. In pieces that I can handle. Can you help prevent waste from being created? No? Then the piece is still too big. Can you help prevent plastic waste from being created? No? Then the piece is still too big. Then I suggest that you and I try to prevent plastic bags from ending up as waste in the environment after one use. A solvable problem!
Reusing plastic bags… Tip 1:
A tip that is almost too easy for words. You use the plastic bag you brought your groceries in again as a plastic shopping bag. And the next time you say in the store: No, thank you, I don’t need a bag. I have another one. Tatatata: and there you take the plastic bag out of your jacket pocket. In this way you have already helped prevent an unnecessary number of plastic bags from coming into circulation.
Use your plastic bag differently… Tip 2:
You use your plastic bag, provided it is large enough as a waste bag in your pedal bin. This immediately saves you money. You no longer have to buy pedal bin bags! And you only throw away your plastic bag after two uses.
Pass on your petroleum-made bag…Tip 3:
Unfortunately, this is not possible everywhere, but in some public places, such as libraries, there are plastic balls in which you can deposit your bag. Someone else can take it out again and use it to take home the books they just borrowed in a dry and environmentally friendly manner. Two good deeds in one! You can also often make thrift stores or stores such as Terre des Hommes happy with your plastic bags. They give these to customers if they do not have a bag with them.
Using your disposable bag as packing material…Tip 4:
Some plastic bags are so nice that they can be used as wrapping paper. You can easily slide your gift in. Pass one or more gift ribbons (from presents you once received and kept) through the holes in the handles and tie them with a bow.
Are you getting a taste for it yet? Then read on for more ways of (creative) reuse.
Cutting and knitting with plastic strips… Tip 5:
If you have a nice pile of plastic bags lying around, you can cut strips from them, which you can then use to knit. Yes really. If necessary, you can knit new plastic bags from it! Take a look at this site of Knutselidee. Ever thought that plastic could be used so creatively?
Make a parachute from your disposable bag… Tip 6: If you have children or grandchildren or neighbor children or you are a teacher of a class full of students, you can enjoy doing crafts with the children. With them you can easily make a parachute from plastic bags. You can read how to do this on the Leuk voor kids website.
Your plastic bag as a souvenir… Tip 7:
Sometimes you get a very special bag to take home. For example, when visiting a museum. You buy something in the museum shop and as packaging you receive a plastic bag with an image of a painting from that museum printed on it. Or you buy a book at Bruna, for example, and you receive it in a plastic bag with a picture from a nice children’s book, for example with a Frog on it from a book by Max Velthuis. Such a bag is essentially a free souvenir. You could hang it up or cut out the image and place the print as a kind of poster in a picture frame that you hang up in your home. Especially nice if it was after a museum visit in your holiday country.
Sorting waste…Tip 8: take it to the plastic bin!
If, after applying all these tips, you still have plastic bags left, you can now dispose of your plastic waste in most municipalities in the waste bins specifically intended for this purpose. Next to the paper and the glass. And before you do that, of course, fill that plastic bag with other leftover plastic waste from your household.
It is only waste if you think it is waste
read more
- Crafts with plastic bottle caps: free, simple, creative and eco!
- Christmas decorations from old CDs: cheap, simple, fast and eco
- Washing dishes without a dishwasher, in a tub, is good for the environment!
- Buying a refrigerator or refrigerator or cooling in an environmentally friendly way?
- Cool your refrigerator/refrigerator energy-efficiently and cost-effectively