How are your new year’s resolutions going?

If like most people they didn’t even last until the middle of January, don’t worry – it’s not too late to start again.

In January we took part in the #JustOneBottle campaign, created and promoted by refill shops all over the country to encourage people to think about the plastic bottles they use and refill one rather than sending it to landfill or for recycling, and then going to buy another one.

According to a study by Greenpeace last year, just 12 per cent of the 1.85 billion pieces of plastic we use in homes each week are actually recycled.  

More of our plastic waste (17 per cent) is being sent overseas, rather than being recycled here in the UK.

And almost half our household plastic packaging waste (46 per cent) is likely to be incinerated, while the remaining 25 per cent is buried in landfill.

The Hunts Post: Martin Cooper is urging people to refill plastic bottles rather than just buy new ones.Martin Cooper is urging people to refill plastic bottles rather than just buy new ones. (Image: MARTIN COOPER)

 

 

Significant focus is given to recycling and making plastic recyclable, rather than reducing the plastic in the first place – recycling is good but it’s not the answer to our plastic waste problem.

We see countless laundry liquid bottles on the shelves of our supermarkets, all claiming to be made from a percentage of recycled materials, and we are starting to see ‘refill pouches’ sold to refill the existing bottles – which are also made of plastic and that can’t be recycled in our household recycling – needing to go for specialist recycling at a collection point – which isn’t exactly convenient, let alone good for the planet.  

In January we encouraged everyone to refill just one of their existing bottles – from washing up liquid and fabric conditioner to shampoo and shower gel, to reduce their plastic waste.

The campaign focuses on refilling just one bottle – trying to go all in can be overwhelming and can seem too hard.  

It’s about small steps – start with one and see where it takes you.

Whether it’s refilling or just repurposing, the best thing we can do with our plastic waste is to reuse it as much as we can – rather than recycling it, so why not create a new resolution and start refilling today?