How to Go Plastic Free: Eco Tips for Busy People

by Caroline Jones

From consuming zero plastic to producing our own weight in plastic every year, the last 100 years have seen global plastic usage reach epic proportions. The devastating impact this has had on our planet is clear, and so is the solution: to go plastic free. But with a plastic habit this bad, how can we give it up?


Packed with simple and practical ways to start reducing the amount of plastic you use, How to Go Plastic Free will show you how to eliminate plastic from your life, one step at a time. with 100 easy-to-follow tips championing the plastic-free cause, this is the stress-free, guilt-free guide to:


* Getting started simply
* Plastic-free eating and drinking
* Maintaining the lifestyle you love, without plastic
* Shopping responsibly and resourcefully
* Creative ways to phase plastic out of your life

Genres: Nonfiction, Environment

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Caroline Jones was named Health Journalist of the Year in 2014 by the HMFA and was formerly Woman's Editor of the Daily Mirror.
Caroline lives in London with her husband Colin, daughter Mia, and dog Rufus.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eco tips for busy people? Hardly.

Subtitle should be: eco tips for privileged people who live in England and have lots of time on their hands or personal assistants

Sure, some of the easy tips are accessible to anyone: don't use plastic straws, bring a tote bag

But some of the tips require more capital than many people can afford, not to mention that being able to acquire some of these eco products might require using mail order, which is one of the no-no's of the book

I'm going to try to find a better book of this type because I want to make better efforts at reducing my use of plastic

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have borrowed this from my local library, and ironically it has one of their plastic book-protector-things over the front and back covers. ANYWAY... I highly suggest EVERYONE to read this book as it not only gives helpful hints and tips that we already know, but more ideas that we may have never thought about in the first place to reduce and potentially illuminate plastic from our lives.

[Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although alot of tips in the book may not be accessible to everyone, it's a short, easy read that really highlights the amount of plastic we come into contact with 24/7. It's a good starting point for changing the mindset around plastic consumption on a personal level.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tips in an easy-to-digest format

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of tips for those who is interested in being more eco friendly. While some information was only relevant for the UK readers I found quite a few good tips how to reduce plastic use in every day life. I really liked that the recycling part of the book was put in a very easy and understandable way, so basically anyone can understand it. Short, sharp and useful book that everyone should read.

[Lauren Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

With one of my NY resolutions being to make at least 1 change each month that has a positive impact on the environment I found this book extremely helpful in giving me ideas of changes I can make to reduce my plastic intake. Such an easy read too - everyone should give this a read and make some positive changes also!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was on Page 32—where Coca-Cola is called out for being a good corporate citizen—that my skepticism really kicked in while reading this book. There would be plenty more places throughout when I'd raise an eyebrow and say "well DUH," or know some further detail on a glossed-over bit that made me lose faith in this book. In the "upcycling" section, readers are casually instructed to sand the smooth edges of a cut plastic bottle (um, thereby fast-tracking to microplastics?) and another project has readers reusing styrofoam plates for bunting when of course the better choice would be to not even have them on hand in the first place.

I'm probably not the target audience for this book. I've already got my Mooncup (Page 68), make many of my own household cleaners (Page 77), own a CoraBall to filter out microfleece in water (Page 82) and oh-so-many of the other suggestions contained among these 100 or so hot tips. (The book is like a print version of a clickbait article, tackling a hot topic by distilling it down to a listicle!) The book was written for a British audience, and despite knowing a fair amount of British slang, there were some references that I didn't know or statements about logistical matters that I suspect are handled far differently in the US. It looks like a US edition is forthcoming, and if that is the case I hope the author has a chance to do a serious rework.

It's not all poor content though—a segment about plastics by number, which includes names, uses, recyclability, and reuses for each—was fairly educational. The bits about making your own beauty products or household cleaners were topics that one could dive into a lot deeper. (One of my favorites is Clean House Clean Planet.) There are plenty of good recommendations here although I think the importance of many recommendations is about so much more than just eliminating plastic use.

Another topic alluded to more (Page 36) than said stated outright: the onus here is on the consumer to eliminate plastics from their life instead of businesses changing their defaults. If milk by and large came in glass bottles, consumers would by and large use glass. Requiring a consumer to go out of their way to find out if there's a local milkman (Page 23) means very few people are going to go for that option. People without a local milkman (most of us) won't have that option. Would I rather my milk come in a glass container? YES. But milk in plastic does not eliminate my need for milk as a grocery. Yet so much of our plastic-elimination talk as a society is about individual choices rather than the industries who are the drivers of these problems.

In short I thought this book was well-meaning, but fell short for me personally. There probably are people out there who don't already think to have reusable grocery bags on them at pretty much all times, who may not already have their own water bottle for drinking tap water (why were these two different list items in this book?). As the environmental cause becomes more of a mass movement, one needs to meet the people where they are, and not everyone has been walking the talk for 25+ years.

[Ella (book.monkey) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there was a lot i already knew in this book, there was just as much as i didn't
I have added a few notes to my copy though, due to changes in time and companies that now do more non-plastic packaging or have their own recycling systems for their boxes/packaging.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I was pretty good but this book had some extra tips I hadn't thought of. Would be a really helpful introduction to anyone new to the topic.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really good and helpful tips in here. I wouldn't say they're for busy people, more people who have a tonne of time to shop around for alternatives. But, I would still say it's worth the read.

[Isobel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read with straight to the point, useful tips. Not all tips are accessible though

[Julie Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read and some good tips.
It’s unbelievable that all crisp packets are unable to be recycled . I’m going to try making my own crisps!
Def going to restrict single use plastic wrappers more. Ditched fabric conditioner years ago and laundry liquids ,only use powder in a cardboard box now.. stopped pet food pouches and only buy tins. I’ve reduced juice to one bottle a week - glass.
This book gave me more things to think about and easy swaps.

[Adam O’Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Practical tips to reduce or eliminate your plastic use, sometimes plastic can be hiding in places that you don’t even think of. I’ll leave the plastic up cycling projects though, they could’ve benefitted from pictures of what the finished products would look like, but I get the impression that they’d be plastic items that I wouldn’t particularly want around my house.

[Tina Ambury · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as helpful as I hoped.
Mind you, I was reassured by how much anti-plastic stuff we already do.
The one thing I didn't know was the numbers used for grades of plastic so I can be more savvy in my recycling

[Indira · Rating 2 out of 5]

not going to lie, i skimmed this a bit - it's more of a coffee table book to reference at but also some of the information is a bit tired even for 2018. probably would be good for people who know nothing about recycling

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and full of great tips to fight the war on plastic.

[Aoife Chew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful

[Alan Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable guide offering alternatives to ubiquitous plastic products.

[John Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice small book. Has some good simple eco-tips, good suggestions on how to reduce plastic consumption.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and implement with good ideas. Worth reading annually, just to make sure that more and more ideas can be incorporated into your lifestyle.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good starter tips for anyone w who want to get into this

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good ideas

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice quick read. I like that the author puts emphasis on not doing everything at once in order to build habits that will stick.
I only wish that the author maybe had divided the sections into tips for beginners, those with some experience, and experts.
I think this is a great start for people like me who maybe don’t know where to start and maybe want to improve the quality of our lives!

[Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for literally every person on this planet - such easy tips (most of which result in way cooler stuff) to follow to save the Earth one decision at a time.