Friday, October 4, 2024

10 unique ways to reduce your plastic consumption in Victoria

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With the recent study released by Environment and Climate Change Canada stating that Canada is warming up at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the world, you may be asking yourself what you can do at an individual level to reduce your carbon footprint.

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So we’re here to make things easier for you with a list of 10 ways to reduce your plastic consumption, along with local recommendations for where to get your new eco-friendly products!

1. Bamboo toothbrushes

One simple replacement for an everyday plastic product is a Bamboo toothbrush. Switch out your toothbrush for this eco-friendly one at West Coast Refill – a zero-waste lifestyle market, aimed at helping Victorians live a waste-free life.

2. Reusable food wraps

Avoid using copious amounts of plastic wrap by switching to reusable food wrap. Local entrepreneur and ocean lover Amy Hall combined her passions and created an artistic way to reduce plastic consumption – then she built a company, Goldilocks Wraps, around that idea right here in Victoria!

3. Fashionable reusable shopping bags

Moving away from the plastic bag has become the new norm. Here’s a way to add your own flair to it! Conveniently enough, these reusable shopping bags are located at multiple stores around Victoria.

Flavour, a locally operated clothing boutique, sells them at both of their locations – Uptown Mall and Lower Johnston.

4. Reusable diapers

Happy Island Diapers is a local business that offers an alternative to disposable diapers. They also wash them weekly and return you clean ones, so you don’t have to worry about finding the time to do it yourself!

Visit their website to learn more about switching from disposable diapers to reusable ones.

5. Green cleaning products

As we all know, Victoria doesn’t have the greatest sewage system (yet). Spare our oceans while cleaning your home, and pick out some greener cleaning products next time!

Victoria Soap Exchange sells a collection of natural, eco-friendly cleaning products.

6. Sustainable self-care

From candles, to body wash, to makeup – Green Kiss, located at Uptown Mall, offers vegan beauty products for the socially responsible makeup guru.

Avoid the chemicals in body wash, and skip the plastic for all your self care needs!

7. Metal straws

Ditch your plastic straw and pick up a reusable one. If you’re unsure of where to start, Habit coffee on lower Pandora is one of the many places around town currently selling reusable straws, along with pipe cleaners to keep them clean!

8. Glass bottles of milk

Skip the carton next time you pick up milk, and grab a bottle instead. Glass is much easier to recycle than milk cartons!

The 100+ year old Vancouver based company, Avalon Dairy, commits itself to producing organic and avoiding big corporations and politics in order to stick to its green goals.

9. Reusable mugs

Help cut out single use products in our city, and carry your own reusable mug.

You can get a reusable travel mug almost anywhere, but if you want to support local, check out Murchies Tea & Coffee’s collection!

10. Shampoo bars

We’ve cheated a bit on this one! While LUSH may not be a local company, (or even a Canadian one) we do have two locations in Victoria that have recently come out with a new way to reduce your plastic consumption.

Enter: the Lush Shampoo bar! Wash your locks while skipping the plastic bottles they come in. Check out the product on their website.

 

Have ideas of your own? Comment below to share them with us!

Abby Neufeld
Abby Neufeld
Freelance writer for Victoria Buzz.

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