It was right before the global lockdown we visited Palma Aquarium but still our visit had a big impact on our everyday life.
In the aquarium we had a very confronting encounter with a sea-turtle missing one ‘arm’.
Reason: she was trapped in plastic.
The Palma Aquarium Foundation saved her but she lost a limb. Over the last few months the sea-turtle had the chance to learn how to swim again in a bassin and in the meanwhile she has succesfully been released into the sea again.
Even though we were already paying attention to our use of plastic, seeing what plastic can do made us even more aware of it than ever.
In everyday life it is managable to reduce plastic but as soon as you go on holiday it seems to be more diffcult.
Here our best tips to reduce plastic (when you are away from home):
1. Always have a small foldable shopping bag in your purse or just hang it outside your backpack.
2. When you stay in a big all-in resort that uses plastic cups, buy or bring your own reuseable cup.
3. Make sure every part of your family has a set of bamboo or stainless steel fork-knife-spoon-straw.
Put them in your bag wherever you. Even when you go out for drinks, just ask to leave out the straw.
4. Don’t buy plastic bottles of drinks but cardboxes or even better glass bottles. (say Yes to wine)
5. Always bring your own lunchboxes. If you go for take-out bring them with you so they don’t have to wrap your food in plastic or styrofoam boxes.
You can also put your home-made picknick in there which will save you money.
6. Stop eating gum! It is a synthetic rubber aka PLASTIC. If you have problems with your ears while fying … winegums or other chewy candy work perfect too.
7. Use matches instead of plastic lighters or better: buy a superpretty one in stainless steel that is refillable.
8. Bring your own refillable waterbottle (make sure to empty them before fying) and coffee cup for your daily caffeine fix.
9. Lighter than carrying around sanitary pads is to use a cup. It is cheap and supersmall to put into your purse.
10. Use beewax-wraps instead of plastic foil. It is better for the environment and your food will stay fresh much longer in comparison to plastic.
11. Razors make up a big amount of plastic waste and are very dangerous for animals. Try razors where you just need to change the blade or even a straight razor.
12. I admit, almost everything in the supermarket is wrapped in 10 layers of plastic. But to avoid a plastic overdose you can go to a zero-waste shop, the farmers market or try to buy in bulk.
13. Separate plastic from your other waste so it can be recycled.
If we all make a small effort, the change can be really big.
#palmaaquarium #weloveoceans #fundacionpalmaaquarium
Nice write!
thank you!