We certainly cannot do without plastic in everyday life. However, there are environmentally friendly alternatives for many plastic items. Everyone can avoid disposable items and elaborate gift packaging. Plastic packaging and disposable items account for a significant portion of plastic waste, so reducing their use can help lower plastic pollution. While some alternatives to plastic exist, they are not always better for the environment either, as other materials also require energy and resources to produce. Overall reducing disposable plastic use helps, but a life completely without plastic may not be practical or better for the environment either.

1. We certainly cannot do without plastic in everyday life. However, there
are environmentally friendly alternatives for many plastic items. Everyone
can avoid disposable items and elaborate gift packaging.
Plastic cutlery and wooden sticks in a wooden box
Photo: Kristina Rütten / Fotolia
The most important thing in a nutshell:
We certainly cannot do without plastic in everyday life.
However, there are environmentally friendly alternatives for many plastic
items.
Many plastic disposable packaging avoid unwrapped or reusable
packaging.
Anyone can avoid elaborate gift wrapping.
Packaging made from other materials is not necessarily better for the
environment. Paper, glass or metal also consume a lot of energy and
raw materials in production.
Table of Contents
Can a layman distinguish the different plastics?
How can the use of plastic be avoided?
Are alternatives always better ecologically?
Video: Everything about microplastics
Can a layman distinguish the different plastics?
Recycling symbolPlastics all look very similar and feel similar. That’s why
a layman can hardly tell them apart. On many products, and especially
on packaging, the triangular recycling symbol or the letter abbreviation
for the specific plastic is noted. However, this labelling is voluntary and
does not appear on all packaging and products.
How can the use of plastic be avoided?
Since short-lived plastic packaging accounts for a third of plastics
consumption in Germany, everyone can do a lot to reduce these
quantities significantly. Examples of a low-plastic everyday life:
Buy fresh, unpackaged food.
Use reusable systems made of glass or plastic, such as yoghurt in
reusable glass or drinks in reusable bottles – bottled regionally.
Disposable plastic cutlery has been banned since 3 July 2021. This also
applies to products made of so-called bioplastics. Since then, only
residual stocks may be sold. However, disposable alternatives made of

2. bagasse, palm leaves or wood are no better from an ecological point of
view. These products may also be contaminated with harmful
substances. Party or picnic tableware can, however, be made of
reusable plastic. Pay attention to PE or PP, because these plastics do
not contain harmful plasticizers.
For coffee on the go, but now also for take-away food, there are reusable
systems in he catering. Or ask if your reusable cup or container can be
refilled.
Drink water from the tap instead of disposable plastic bottles. This not
only saves plastic waste, it also saves a lot of money. A litre of drinking
water usually costs only 0. 2 cents. Very cheap mineral water is available
for about 20 cents, so water from the pipe is at least 100 times cheaper
than mineral water from plastic bottles.
Many products are over-packaged. It is advisable to avoid them as well
as the often offered elaborate gift wrappings, which often cost even
more. Motto: Buy more product than packaging. Write to the
manufacturer if you are dissatisfied with excessive packaging.
Water in the product leads to unnecessary packaging waste. For
example, if you use soap instead of liquid soap or shower gel or washing
powder concentrate instead of liquid detergents, you save waste.
Plastic household goods or desk utensils can often be replaced by
equally durable products made of metal, wood, porcelain or glass.
To prevent even more microplastics from entering the environment, a
grip on certified natural cosmetics or a careful reading of the ingredients
helps.
Are alternatives always better ecologically?
Unfortunately, there is not an ecologically better or convenient alternative
for every application. Simply replacing plastic with paper increases our
still high paper consumption and thus the pressure on forests around the
world. In addition, dirty paper to-go packaging is difficult to recycle.
Conventional cotton textiles pollute the environment with pesticides and
enormous water consumption. The many plastic components in cars
have contributed to the cars becoming lighter and thus consuming less
fuel.

3. A life without plastic is not a solution, but everyone can avoid the many
disposable items and disposable packaging made of plastic.
Video: Everything about microplastics https://uii. io/wPd4JN7
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