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This year, Earth Day will bear the mark of plastics. They will not be praised, but quite on the contrary. Celebrations will begin activities that aim to reduce plastic pollution on our planet.

Would you like to join these activities too but you don´t know where to start? In this article, we'll give you 10 tips that will minimize your daily plastic waste disposal.

Let's first talk about how the Earth Day idea actually came into being.

Earth Day as a response to the political situation

The idea to set up Earth Day celebrations came from Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1969 after witnessing an environmental disaster - a massive oil spill in vicinity of California's Santa Barbara.

At that time massive student protests were held to end the war in Vietnam. Nelson took advantage of the situation of "waving" public awareness and together with his team announced the celebrations of the First Day of the Earth on April 22, 1970.

Date 22 April determined by the organizers to be the most appropriate because it was in the middle
between springholidays and student exam periods.

Approximately 20 million people and students were protesting against factories, power plants, toxic waste and pesticides polluting American nature and cities.

Celebrations were successful and eventually predetermined the formation of the United States Agency for the Protection of the Environment.

Earth Day became global in 1990when 200 million people from over 140 countries of the world took part.

Each year, Earth Day focuses on another topic that concerns the protection of the planet. For example, 2018 is marked by plastics which pollute our planet to a great extent. How to make some possitive action?

Comply with 5 basic waste rules

The strategy of five waste rules - refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and remove is applied all around the world as one of the most effective. Especially when you want to start with reducing your home and personal waste and you do not know where to start.

Come and check out these rules with us:

First: refuse - learn to say no

Say no to the boutique vendor who wants to wrap your new clothes in a plastic bag. No to a friend who wants to wrap your cake in a cellophane film. Not for your partner who wants to buy in the food packaged vegetables.

Instead take your own textile bag, where you can easily pack your evening shopping along the way from work. Weigh the vegetables freely. The salesperson still needs only the resulting price tag that you can stick to your hand for example. For visits where you are expecting to be givena piece of cake for later, bring your own food container.

Second: reduce - open your wardrobe

Things you did not wear forat least one year are probably not going to worn in the future, so get rid of them. Similarly, follow this rule in every room of your apartment.

It is very easy to buy what you don´t need, but at the moment you like it. So try to buy reasonably and do not be subject to a momentary impulse.

Third: reuse -give thingsa second chance for life

Things that you have identified as unnecessary in your apartment divide into those that could be fixed or used in a different way. Certainly many of them will be suitable for a second chance, in a slightly different form.

Other donate to charity or sell to your neighborsusing internet flee markets.

Fourth: recycle

Make sure you recycle your waste properly. If you don´t know how, this table will help you.

Fifth: remove

Join an interest group and clean your environment from plastic waste.

In addition to having a great sense of self-worth, you will meet a crowd of new people tuned to your wavelength.

That's how you can start today

In addition to the above-mentioned rules, we have also selected 10 simple tips for you to reduce your plastic consumption virtually instantly:

1. Straws

It is really useless plastic waste, if you do not drink a drink full of ice. Well, in this case, we have a solution as well.

Buy and carry with you your own metal or bamboo straw. It is hygienic and more comfortable to drink through it.

2. Plastic cups

Do you like to have coffee or tea from your favorite café? Finish using plastic cups and buy your own portable mug.

Some cafes even reward visitors with their own mugs by charging less for their favorite drink.

3. Plastic bottles

Items that most probably floods our planet in a worst way. Almost one million plastic bottles are sold every minute. Most of them end up in the landfill or as waste in our neighborhood.

Therefore, if you are a type of person who regularly adds water to the body, obtain a bottle of light and unbreakable glass. You will always have the water and reduce your waste from the many used plastic bottles to a minimum.

4. Razors

Disposable plastic razors are really tough to be recycled. If you have the option, invest in those with a replaceable head that will hold sharpness much longer than the disposable ones.

For those more courageous, the solution is by depilation with wax or machine. The effect is almost the same and lasts for weeks.

5. Plastic nets and bags

As we have already mentioned, it's a good idea to wear your own textile bag in your handbag or car trunk. If you buy vegetables and fruit per kilos, you can easily replace the plastic bags with mesh bags. For example like these.

6. Food in the package

Try to avoid packed food and groceries. We know, sometimes it's really hard, but there are now shops offering groceries without packaging.

Package-free retail shops are a common part of the western world and are slowly coming to us as well. In Bratislava, for example, there is a store named „ at Dobrožrút“ where you can buy everything that a big family needs.

Source: facebook.com/udobrozruta

7. Tea bags

You may not have realized it, but disposable tea bags are most often made from food nylon or PET.

You don´t need to give up tea, of course, but change it for the loose, which is definitely better quality and tastier than the one in tea bags.

8. Toothbrushes

A toothbrush is also a big problem concerning plastic contamination. Fortunately, there are special bamboo brushes that are easily decomposed in nature.

9. Sweets and food with a toy

Weapons that please and remain forgotten within a few hours.

As we have already mentioned, do not let yourself be driven by impulsive shopping. If you want to make your child happy, buy something  to be enjoyed for a long time.

10. Baby diapers and hygiene devices

Disposable baby diapers and female hygiene goods are also a big problem. Only baby diapers will generate cumulatively around 3,5 million tonnes of waste per year worldwide.

Find solutions in the use of cloth diapers and sanitary pads. They are comfortable with a pleasant design and don´t harm the environment with unnecessary waste. What do you say, would you try them out? :)

The way you start, that's of course your decision. Do not wait for too long. The situation with plastic waste is already critical. If there won´t be action taken in the near future, it is estimated that by 2034 the volume of plastic waste will double.

Find an activity created around you to celebrate Earth Day or create it yourself. Join the community of people around the world who celebrate this day. :)