4 Innovative Plastic-free Products You Can Definitely Afford
Replace your plastic with these sustainable products!
Plastic is our collective addiction. It’s in every corner and in every household. Our food is wrapped in it, our drinks are bottled in it, and who hasn’t put their fruits in a plastic bag at the grocery store?
With the #NoPlasticJuly movement underway, many people are beginning to realize just how much plastic they use in their day-to-day. They’re also realizing how hard it is to avoid it altogether.
Like with any addiction, it’s easier to wean off it if you set yourself up with a healthier alternative. So here are six practical products that are readily available so you can start to filter out the worst pollutant in your life.
Plastic-free food wrap
Etee is a company founded by a drummer who found his inspiration the second his regular kayaking river became choked up with plastic trash.
That day he went home and dove into endless research about how plastic is toxic to our health and even infiltrates our bloodstream. So he decided to do his part and help out, starting with a way to replace the highly-contaminating plastic wrap.
After a few fires in the basement, Etee created a reusable food wrap using all natural ingredients (bees wax, essential oils, cotton) that you can replace your usual plastic wrap with.
They’re colourful, affordable, easily washed, and have up to 200 uses each. They also have a money-back guarantee. What’s not to like?
Here’s their website if you’re interested. (No, I don’t get paid for these links.)
Bamboo toothbrush
Fun fact: Over 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes that will never biodegrade are dumped in landfills and oceans worldwide every year.
This eye-opening bit of trivia has spurred a few companies to create toothbrushes out of more sustainable materials, like bamboo.
Brush with Bamboo is one of these companies. It was founded by the Kumar family in Southern California, whom in 2008 began shifting to a zero-waste lifestyle.
Aside from growing organic food and harvesting organic food for families, they created the bamboo toothbrush. From bristles to packaging, everything is made from plant-based materials that can be recycled.
Bamboo toothbrushes have the same life-span as regular toothbrushes, with the exception that they won’t end up in landfills (or inside a bird’s stomach).
Here’s the Brush with Bamboo website for more info.
Reusable coffee cup
Billions of disposable coffees cups end up in landfills each year. Even paper cups which you’d think are more eco-friendly are actually lined with plastic.
KeepCup is a Melbourne-based company started by a brother and sister who became concerned with the incredible waste caused by disposable cups after they opened their own café.
To help lessen the coffee-cup impact, they spent four years of arduous design and research and finally emerged with the perfect reusable cup. Now they have entire collections of snazzy cups to choose from, including Storm Trooper cups and a design-it-yourself option.
KeepCups are now sold in 65 countries around the world and 100% of profits are donated to Sea Shepherd during Plastic Free July, so make sure to check out their stuff here!
Compostable tableware
Ever heard of plastic-free parties? Neither have I. With dozens of plastic cups and cutlery to make clean-up easier, parties are less than eco-friendly.
Luckily, Susty Party is a Brooklyn company that creates plastic-free, non-toxic tableware and home goods. From plates to garbage bags, you can get biodegradable products that you can send to the compost pile instead of a landfill.
A bonus point for this company is they partner up with non-profit factories who employ people with disabilities or support charitable causes.
You can browse Susty Party’s website here.
Want to shout out any eco-friendly companies?
This is in no way a comprehensive list of all the great companies helping to create a more sustainable future. It’s just my way of shedding light on some really cool alternatives to our usual plastic products in the hopes someone will join me in using them.
If you’ve discovered a particularly amazing product this Plastic Free July that you want to share, or know of a company that deserves more attention, tell me in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!
