Plasticity, USA

Ziploc bags and water bottles by themselves don’t seem like threats to the environment. But if you saved every one you threw away for a month, multiplied that number by twelve and then multiplied that number by all the residences in your hometown, you’d have a gynormous pile over the course of a year. And that’s only in one town.

Let’s start with the bags. If every weekday, you make three lunches with three bags in each, that’s nine bags a day, 45 bags a week, or well over 2,000 bags a year. And that doesn’t include weekends, holidays, or other bag uses. Try washable storage containers for snacks and sandwiches instead. You’ll feel good knowing how much plastic you’re keeping out of a landfill somewhere.

The same goes for water bottles. Recycling is a start, but using glassware at home and reusable bottles on the go are even better solutions. They create no waste at all.