a pile of plastic bottles

Why we're attempting to go single use plastic free

Cassie

Here at So Energy, we’re always trying to do the right thing by our planet. Starting this March, we’ve decided to take small steps to change our thinking that will have a big impact on our planet. So, how exactly are we going to do this?

We’re attempting to go Single Use Plastic FREE in our office.


So what exactly is single use plastic?

Single use is an interesting concept, we’re making products that are designed to last millions of years, yet we are using them once and then throwing them away. Single use plastic items include all things plastic that are used for a short period of time. They include things like plastic straws, plastic bottles, disposable coffee cups, and take away food packets.


Why is single use plastic so bad?

The environmental consequences for our planet from single use plastic are massive. Roughly, 8 million tonnes of plastic enters our ocean from land, EVERY SINGLE YEAR (that’s the equivalent of 632,411 London Buses). This plastic eventually breaks down into tiny toxic particles, which are eaten by fish and eventually enter our food chain.

The 8 million tonnes of plastic entering our food chain is making a BIG impact and it’s been predicted that by 2025 there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish and by 2050 we will see more plastic in our oceans than fish. This is a shocking prediction.


How much plastic do we use?

The short answer: A LOT.

Every year adults in the UK use nearly 7.7 billion single use plastic water bottles, that’s around 150 plastic bottles per person per year. Imagine the impact we could make if every person used just one or two single use plastic bottles a year.


What can we do to help?

Sometimes it can feel like we’re just one person on a very big planet. But by taking small steps to change how we think about waste, we can all make a difference. Here’s a few small changes that you can make every day that we make an impact for our planet:

  • Bring your own shopping bag

  • Carry a reusable water bottle

  • Say no to disposable straws and cutlery

  • Skip (if possible) single use plastic bags

  • Pack your lunch in reusable containers

You can also pledge to go single use plastic free at onelessbottle.org, read more here: https://www.onelessbottle.org/pledge/

You can also read more about plastic and its impact here.


What are we doing at So Energy to reduce our plastic use?

We've just started our challenge in March, and will be continuing it until June. Each of our team members are monitoring their plastic usage across five categories - single use water bottles, plastic bags, plastic straws, take away containers and coffee cups, and other.

We hope that by monitoring our daily usage we will be able to identify when and where we use the most plastic and, ultimately, cut down on our usage.

We'll be giving you all an update in the middle of our challenge to let you know how much we have cut our plastic usage by and how we've managed to do it.

We're all super excited about our challenge because when it comes to plastic, less is always more.

And remember – we’re all doing what we can, we’re bound to mess up every once in a while, but by thinking about our impact and by making conscious choices, we can all make a difference.