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You are probably using way more single-use plastic than you realize – I know I was!

Plastic bags are just the beginning, and you have to consider not only your grocery bags, but Ziploc bags and produce bags, too. Then there are your coffee cups and eating utensils, plastic wrap, plastic bottles, and plastic packaging.

Even most tea bags contain plastic. Roughly half of the plastic produced each year is used for single-use products.

In the United States less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled each year. Most plastic ends up in a landfill, or in the ocean. In landfills, plastic can take 500 years or more to break down. But even once broken down, microplastics remain which are still toxic.

Plastic in oceans pollute the water for marine life, and lots of birds, fish, and marine animals are dying from ingesting plastic waste. It’s estimated that by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish! And recent studies point to increasing amounts of plastic in the seafood we eat.

One of the best ways to reduce plastic waste, is to stop using as many single-use plastic products as possible in your own life!

Just a heads up: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. That means if you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are entirely my own. Thanks for supporting me!

18 Ways to Reduce Single-Use Plastic Waste

1. Stop Using Plastic Bags

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, plastic bags are wreaking some serious havoc on the environment. Check out these plastic bag stats:

• Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which uses 12 million barrels of oil to make
• The average American family takes home 1,500 plastic bags a year.
• On average, Americans only recycle about 1% of their plastic bags. The rest end up in landfills, and take 500+ years to degrade down into microplastics which are pollutants and toxins.
• 100,000 marine animals are killed because of plastic bag pollution each year.

Reusable Grocery Bags

Swapping out plastic grocery bags for reusable ones takes a little bit of intentionality, but minimal effort. You can buy a few reusable grocery bags one time, which are sturdier and hold more than plastic bags anyway, and continue to use them for years.

As soon as I unload my groceries from my reusable bags, I immediately put them back in my car so that I won’t forget them on my next grocery run.

You can buy these Insulated Reusable Grocery Bags on Amazon. They’re insulated to keep cold items cold (or hot items hot if you’re transporting something like pizza), and they close with a zipper.

2. Switch Out Your Plastic Wrap

Plastic wrap is another single-use plastic that is easy to replace with a biodegradable alternative. Pictured above is a product called Bee’s Wrap. This sustainable alternative to plastic wrap molds to whatever you are covering with the heat of your hands, and as it cools it creates a seal. It’s an Amazon best-seller with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars!

Bee’s Wrap is a totally sustainable alternative to plastic wrap, made with organic cotton, sustainably harvested beeswax, organic jojoba oil, and tree resin. Plus, their packaging is made from 100% recycled paper and biodegradable cellulose.

This Bee’s Wrap can be washed in cool water with soap, and will last about a year if used multiple times a week. At the end of its life, it is entirely compostable.

3. Use Reusable Cutlery

While plastic cutlery that you use once and throw away is convenient, it creates a lot of unnecessary plastic waste. It’s really easy to reduce single-use plastic waste by committing to only using reusable spoons, forks, and knives.

There are a lot of portable cutlery options that are light-weight and easy to wash. I like these Bamboo Travel Utensils, because they are easy to take with you in the pouch they come in.

They will last a long time as you use, wash, and reuse them. Then when you do throw them away, they are completely biodegradable.

I recommend keeping some reusable cutlery, or a few pouches of them, in your car. That way you can use them whenever you find yourself ordering quick food to-go while traveling. These are also excellent for keeping in your lunch box.

4. Reduce Plastic Packaging

There are a few things you can do to specifically request less plastic packaging, and less excess packing materials in general, from Amazon. Shannon from Mama Eco outlines three practical and easy steps you can take to ask Amazon to send you less excess packaging when you order from them.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to choose to purchase items that come with “Frustration-Free Packaging.” Head over to Mama Eco to learn more!

5. Make Your Own Cleaning Products with Reusable Bottles

Making your own cleaning products in reusable spray bottles is an excellent way to save money, and create less plastic waste! Wellness Mama has an extremely helpful collection of homemade cleaner recipes and tips that I highly recommend.

I personally use the amber glass reusable spray bottles pictured above. If you use essential oils in your cleaning products at all, the amber glass protects them from breaking down by UV rays.

6. Try Silk Dental Floss

On the topic of sustainable dental products, switching to silk dental floss is another important step in reducing single-use plastic waste. Traditional dental floss is made from plastic, and is coated with synthetic wax made from petroleum.

And I know that some of that wax comes off in the mouth while flossing, so that means we basically eat petroleum when we floss. Cool.

Thankfully, there’s a great alternative option! This “Dental Lace” is made with silk and mostly plastic-free packaging. You can actually buy refills for the glass container it comes in, as well.

7. Bring Your Own Produce Bags

Ok, so if you’re getting in the habit of bringing your own reusable grocery shopping bags, it only makes sense to bring your own produce bags and stop using the single-use plastic ones, as well!

These mesh Reusable Produce Bags are sturdy and machine washable (just let them air dry). They come in a pack of 5 and have a drawstring closure.

8. Use a Reusable Water Bottle

Forbes shares some pretty alarming plastic water bottle stats: “Globally humans buy a million plastic bottles per minute… 91% of all plastic is not recycled.” Yikes.

I get it. Plastic water bottles are convenient, and sometimes you don’t realize you’re going to be thirsty until you’re out somewhere, and so you buy a bottle. But a simple change in habits can take your need for plastic water bottles down to zero.

Get a reusable water bottle, and get in the habit of bringing it with you wherever you go! It’s becoming more and more common to see people carrying reusable water bottles with them – to coffee shops, while shopping, to appointments, etc. I’ve tried to form a habit of grabbing it with my purse whenever I’m about to go out.

Get whatever reusable water bottle you want, but my favorite is the Healthy Human Stainless Steel Water Bottle. It has double-walled insulation that keeps cold drinks cold for up to 24 hours and hot drinks hot for up to 12 hours.

Plus, I can vouch for it that it does not leak or sweat at all, and your drink never touches plastic, which I also love. It comes with a carabiner hook which makes it easy to latch it onto your bag while traveling or on-the-go.

Last thing: a lot of water bottles leave the part you drink off of exposed, so it can touch a lot of stuff, then you touch your mouth to it. Yuck. But with this one the lid covers the part you drink from, so it’s much more hygienic.

9. Ditch the Ziploc Bags and Use Reusable Ones

Here’s yet another type of plastic bag to replace. Plastic sandwich and snack bags that seal are so darn convenient. It’s really hard to give them up (at least for me)!

There are a lot of different brands trying to make alternatives, and a lot of them seem to be good. But I had a hard time finding one product that really filled all the gaps for what I would miss in traditional Ziplocs.

I haven’t purchased these yet, but they had some of the highest recommendations of all the ones I researched. If you have a favorite, I would really love to hear what it is!

Rezip Reusable Storage Bags have a seal like Ziploc bags and seem to be quite leakproof from reviews. They’re a heavier-weight material that you can wash with soap and water and air dry.

The ChicoBags on the right are made with almost 80% recycled materials and have a velcro seal. They’re made with a machine-washable material and have a food-safe, water, and stain-resistant liner. They work well for sandwiches or snacks on-the-go.

10. Choose Teas that Don’t Contain Plastic

Unfortunately, despite popular belief, most tea bags are not fully compostable, because most tea bags contain polypropylene. Polypropylene is a plastic that is often used to seal tea bags.

Many tea bags also contain plastic in the string attached to the bag, and in the tag. Numi Teas, pictured above, are one brand of tea bags that do not contain any plastic.

Check out my full post on How to Avoid Plastic in Tea Bags for more info and three more plastic-free tea options!

11. Choose Plastic-Free Wrapping Paper

Wrapping paper is another really common form of single-use plastic waste that most people don’t think about. Many wrapping papers have plastic coatings or plastic in the printed design.

To reduce single-use plastic waste, consider opting for paper wrapping, like this Brown Kraft Paper, or you could use a paper grocery bag or some cloth, as well.

Check out my post for more Minimalist Gift Wrapping ideas and supplies!

12. Buy Toilet Paper Not Wrapped in Plastic

Of course, toilet paper itself is plastic-free and so is the cardboard roll. But usually toilet paper comes in plastic wrapping. To reduce single-use plastic, you can buy toilet paper that is wrapped individually with paper.

Earth’s Natural Alternative Toilet Paper is one option that is entirely plastic-free, and it’s made from premium bamboo fiber and sugar cane fiber, which are both rapidly renewable resources.

13. Say No to Straws, or Use Reusable Straws

Most plastic straws are not recyclable (and even when they are, they usually end up in landfills anyway). Yet around 500 million of them are used daily in the U.S. alone! I just watched an extremely saddening video of a plastic straw being pulled out of a sea turtle’s nose that makes me even more determined to stop using them.

There’s a sustainable alternative to every time a plastic straw is used. When you’re at a restaurant and they bring a wrapped plastic straw with your drink, simply don’t use it. Or, let them know you don’t want a straw before they bring your drink. And drink straight out the glass like you do at home.

Or, if you’re really attached to using straws, you can make a habit of bringing a reusable straw with you. At home you can purchase reusable straws that you can buy with brushes that make them easy to clean.

14. Buy Bulk Using Reusable Containers

Many stores and health food stores have bulk containers and bins that allow you to purchase things like nuts, seeds, flours, etc. for lower prices. Shopping from the bulk sections is a really good way to save money, but it’s also a great way to create a lot of excessive single-use plastic waste! Most people go to the bulk section and grab a separate plastic bag (provided for free by the store) to fill for each item they’re purchasing.

There’s a really easy way around this to reduce single-use plastic waste: bring your own reusable containers or bags to use when buying bulk. The only tricky thing about bringing your own container is that bulk items are usually paid for based on weight.

So if you are bringing your own container, you need to weigh just the container before adding anything to it so you can subtract its weight from the total weight when you go to check out. Check out this great post on How to Shop the Bulk Aisle if you need more help!

15. Bring Your Own Thermos

Rather than using plastic, styrofoam, or paper cups once and throwing them away, you can get in the habit of bringing a thermos with you. If you’re going to a coffee shop, you might even get a discount on your drink for bringing your own cup! You can do this if you drink coffee at work too, and over time you will save a lot of single-use plastic waste.

I’ll mention the Healthy Human Stainless Steel bottle again, because it works both as a water bottle or as a thermos. I especially love it for hot drinks because your drink will never touch plastic. It can keep your drink hot for up to 12 hours!

16. Bring Your Own Take-Out Container to Restaurants

Rather than using single-use plastic take-out containers provided by restaurants, consider bringing your own reusable containers. You can keep them in your car so that you have them when you end up needing them.

This Stainless Steel Container has three compartments, and is dishwasher-safe.

17. Don’t Buy Plastic Toothbrushes

Ok, so toothbrushes aren’t exactly single-use plastics, but they’re another contributor to plastic waste that is easy to switch out for a sustainable alternative.

I definitely don’t switch out my toothbrush often enough. I just looked up how often you’re supposed to, and according to the American Dental Association, we should be getting out a new toothbrush every 3-4 months. That means throwing away 3-4 plastic toothbrushes a year, which adds up to 300+ in a lifetime.

These Natural Bamboo Toothbrushes come in a pack of 4 for a great price. Bamboo will never splinter and is resistant to water. Plus, the packaging for these toothbrushes is entirely plastic-free.

However, the bristles are made from nylon, which is not entirely biodegradable. I could only find one toothbrush that was not made with plastic bristles… they were made with pig hair. That grossed me out, personally, so I think I’ll stick with these bamboo toothbrushes, which are still a huge improvement to entirely plastic ones!

18. Use a Safety Razor

The ultimate way to go zero waste when it comes to shaving is to stop shaving altogether and go all natural! But if you’re like me and you’re just not into that idea, consider switching from disposable razors to safety razors to create less plastic waste.

I haven’t made the switch yet because I know there’s a learning curve for using a safety razor, but I have read that other bloggers say they can become just as fast with a safety razor as they were with a disposable one. But it takes a lot of practice to get there.

Jane from Jane and Simple Living has written a very helpful post all about switching to a safety razor that you might want to check out. The Merkur Long Handled Safety Razor pictured above comes extremely highly recommended with the Astra Safety Razor Blades.

What are your favorite reusable products that help you make less plastic waste? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

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