MASECO’s Weekly Top Tips and Astonishing Facts as we Champion to Refuse Single-use Plastic this July

Written by Henry Findlater

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

One hundred and twenty million people are choosing to be plastic-free this July[1] and at MASECO we are encouraging you to join us and the rest of the community in doing our bit to support this important cause.

This week we share our top five tips in order to reduce plastic, as well as some astonishing facts that really got us thinking about just how important this campaign is.

1. Carry a reusable coffee cup and reduce plastic. Each year 300 billion single-use cups are manufactured, out of which 99% never get recycled.  In using one reusable coffee cup in place of a disposable one for a year, you can save 126 trees from being chopped down.[2]
2. Ditch cling film. Try alternatives such as beeswax wraps or a cover mate. More than 1.2 billion metres, equating to 745,000 miles of cling film, is used by households every year – that is enough to go around the circumference of the world 30 times over![3]
3. Ditch plastic water bottles. Each year in the UK around 13 billion plastic bottles are used, and only 7.5 billion are recycled. Over 60% of household plastic packaging comes from plastic bottles, such as drinks bottles, milk bottles, and toiletries. On a daily basis that equates to roughly 700,000 plastic bottles.[4]
4. Say ‘no’ to plastic cutlery. Each year 40,000,000,000 plastic forks, spoons, and knives are used and thrown away.[5] That figure is a statement alone. 
5. Remember a reusable bag or cloth bag and go plastic bag free. 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second! 5 trillion plastic bags are produced yearly. Side by side, they can encircle the world 7 times. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating landfill of garbage in the Pacific twice the size of Texas, is mainly composed of plastic.[6]
    

[1] Plastic Free July – Be Part of the Solution
[2] 7 Fascinating Facts about Eco-friendly Reusable Coffee Cups (chilligogreen.com.au)
[3] What is the problem with cling film? – BeeBee Wraps – BeeBee & Leaf
[4] Top 10 plastic bottles facts you need to know – RAW Bottles (raw-bottles.org)
[5] Plastic Straws & Cutlery | Habits of Waste
[6] Interesting Facts About Plastic Bags (theworldcounts.com)