No More Plastic – What I’ve Taken From The Book

I’ve recently rediscovered my love for book shops. Having owned a Kindle for several years now, I read 90% of my books on there, but when visiting Southwold we popped into their book shop and spent ages flicking through the shelves.

I ended up walking away with ‘No. More. Plastic.’ by Martin Dorey: a simple read, designed to help the everyday person understand why we need to cut down on plastic and how to do it. It’s written in a way that’s very easy to digest and I finished it that same day. What I found most uplifting were some of the statistics in there; I realised that when people come together, change does happen.
Martin actually started the hashtag #2minutebeachclean which is pretty self-explanatory, but this has evolved into #2minutesolution in his book. Starting off with beach cleans – something I’ve been guilty of is thinking that I can’t help with this due to not living near a big, sandy beach that’s frequented by tourists. But actually, beaches surround us. Especially in the UK – it’s a pretty tiny country and you’re never far from the coast. Even if your nearest beach isn’t famous or a tourist hot spot, I can guarantee there’ll be plenty of litter that needs picking up by someone. Maybe by you, if you feel up to it! Beach cleans aren’t just for big beaches abroad, they’re for the ones outside your door and down the road.
Back to #2minutesolution – when efforts feel futile, I take to Instagram and just scroll through all the little things people are doing to make a difference. When I feel down about the world sometimes, Olly (a self-professed Lord of the Rings nerd) reminds me of this quote from Gandalf:
“I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.”

…and this has never been so true. Everyone has the power to make a difference, no matter how big or small. Some of these little changes you can make are:

  1. Picking up a plastic bottle on the street when you see it – this stops 1000 pieces of micro plastic from floating around in the ocean
  2. Pulling plastic items out of your cupboard and checking to see whether they’re recyclable – lots aren’t. Then maybe think up alternatives you could buy in stead
  3. Take up ‘slow fashion’! Buy from charity shops and second hand online, car boot sales… you get the idea
  4. Put a fork from your kitchen into your work/school bag and use that in stead of plastic, single-use cutlery
  5. Send an email to your local supermarket asking them to stop using unnecessary plastic for their fruit and vegetables

…the list goes on, and each of these things makes a real difference. So, explore those hashtags and get inspired. I promise you will be. Maybe even do some posts yourself – and remember to use the hashtags to spread the word!

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