Five ways to reduce plastic in 2025

 

GOSHEN, Ind. -- As 2025 gets underway, ABC57 is sharing some ways folks can reduce plastic in their daily lives.

"Plastic has its benefits, and I think we all know that," said Ashley Anglemyer. "But, it has a lot of detrimental effects both to the environment and our health."

Anglemyer is a fanatic for a repurposing craft, opening The Green Bee in Goshen with her sister in 2022, spreading awareness and accessibility to all things zero-waste, and what we're focusing on, plastic-free.

Tip number one: refill liquid products.

"Laundry soap, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion," Anglemyer said.

Special shops or "refilleries" and brands may offer this, but it may not be accessible to all, so there's more we can do!

Tip number two: switch to solid products. After all, bars don't require bottles!

Tip number three: switch to loose-leaf tea.

"What a lot of people don't realize is the tea you get at the store is in that little tea bag, but there's plastic in that tea bag," Anglemyer said, "and so it actually releases microplastics into your tea, especially when you expose it to hot water."

Tip number four: ditch dryer sheets and instead use wool dryer balls.

"Dryer sheets are coated in toxic chemicals and also made with plastic, that's what binds it together," Anglemyer said.

And finally, tip number five: ditch your regular sponges. These are typically made with nylons and polyesters, a.k.a. Plastics, and can be replaced with plant fiber sponges or natural loofahs.

"Once I started looking into the world of zero waste and looking into how much is in plastic and understanding how long plastic stays around, it didn't make sense not to be eco-conscious," said Sydney Perez-Miller, an employee at The Green Bee. "Once I understood, like, I'm going to have to live with this. If I have kids, they're going to have to live with this."

These small swaps can make your life less toxic, and spots like The Green Bee can help spread awareness.

"I think that it is very trendy to care about the environment right now, which I am excited about," Perez-Miller said, "because that means it's on the shelves, it's right up in your face, and that's where we need it in order for things to make a difference."

"We have generations ahead of us that are going to have to live with all of this waste that we've created that's never going to go away, essentially," Anglemyer said.