Quitting Plastic

How to reduce plastic in your everyday life, starting with changes that are small and easy to make, and working up to bigger changes to your daily routine.

Where do you start if you want to reduce the plastic in your life? Especially when most of us are wearing it, eating and drinking from it, sitting on it, walking on it, and probably even ingesting it. Anywhere you go, plastic is within easy reach - even in Antarctica and the North Pole.

We didn't quit plastic overnight. In fact, it's still a work in progress. But along the way, we have learnt a lot by researching the issue from the grass roots up, speaking to people, and finding out what works and what doesn't. We answer the tricky questions, like 'How will I wash my hair?', 'Do I have to give up crackers?', 'What about my bin liner?' and 'Is this going to be expensive?'

As we continue to remove throw-away plastics from our daily lives, we've discovered we're friendlier with our local communities, we're eating healthier food, and de-cluttering happens by itself. It feels great!

About the Authors

Clara Williams Roldanis a young policy and legislative advisor in NSW Parliament. Witnessing parliament at work has convinced Clara that lots of individual actions which may seem small at the time can drive important changes in our lives.

Clara is writing with her mother, Louise Williams, a Walkley-award winning journalist and writer with a lifelong interest in environmental protection. Louise has served on the Waste and Recovery Strategic Reference Group of the Northern Beaches Council in Sydney and is co-founder of the Baringa Bush Community Garden. She is the author of A True Story of the Great Escape.