While it is easier to find substitutes for many products in our lives, for others it seems impossible. It depends on you how strict you are, you either avoid all plastic or you limit it to single-use plastic. I for myself have decided: it is okay to make an exception from time to time and to not deprive myself of the goods I really love but are sold in plastic. Without further ado let’s talk about the things it is harder to find alternatives for.

Toilet paper

In many countries it is common to use toilet paper quite frequently. While there are shops you can buy toilet paper packaged in paper at, these shops are still very rare and traditionally it is still sold in plastic. Since it is very inconvenient to commute somewhere for more than an hour (in my case) to purchase this good it is one of the things, I still buy with plastic packaging.

Crisps & Crackers

At most parties one of the snacks you can always find are Crisps or any kind of crackers. Unfortunately, I haven’t found them wrapped in paper or unpackaged yet. Since I love crisps personally, they are definitely something I buy from time to time despite the plastic. But I try not to buy them to often or make my own crackers if possible.

Menstrual hygiene articles

Girls can decide between using disposable or reusable sanitary products. Most commonly used are probably the sanitary napkins and Tampons.

More environmentally friendly solutions are the menstrual cup, cloth menstrual pad, period panties, and the menstrual sponge. I don’t have any experience with them personally, so I can’t tell you a lot about them, but one of my friends uses the menstrual cup and she is very pleased so far.

Since I have only become more aware of the plastic-free movement, I haven’t yet figured out which of the reusable products suits me best. For now, I stick with the way I have always done it.

Rubbish bags

We tend to constantly use them, often not even thinking about them, they help us to cleanly dispose and collect our waste without the bin getting all soggy or dirty. Garbage bags – which are usually made out of plastic.

There are different things you can do. For all your dry waste like paper, glass, and tin it is not necessary to put a garbage bag in the container, you just have to figure out a way for taking it outside. For disposing your organic waste, you could either put a paper bag in the bin or don’t use a bag at all. If you decide to not use a bag for your organic waste, you might have to commit to taking it out more frequently.

If you know substitutes for any of these products, please let me know.

Remember, it doesn’t take much to make a positive impact in the world!