If one of your New Year resolutions is reducing plastic consumption and helping the environment, you could take inspiration from these Dubai residents who have reduced their plastic consumption with some innovative and easy changes to their lifestyle.

While one doesn’t have a dustbin at home, the other doesn’t buy quilts (since they have polyester mixed with cotton as the filling) and the third doesn’t use plastic toothbrushes! Gulf News visited these residents to see how they have reduced plastic dependence.

Jodie, who has been a resident of Sustainable City for more than two years now, says she decided plastic cannot be a part of her house after her youngest son was born nearly two years ago. “The kid’s room, the store room and the kitchen were filled with plastic — from toys to boxes to spoons and cups. I told myself I need to get rid of all this and I’m glad we’ve been able to achieve it sooner than I thought,” said the mum of two. During a visit to her house, Gulf News couldn’t help but notice that everything from tables, chairs, storage containers, water bottles and even toothbrushes — everything was either made of glass, fabric or wood. “I don’t buy plastic toys for my kids. We carry our cloth bags to the supermarkets and carry our paper straws with us when we head out for dinner.”

At Irene’s one-bedroom apartment, there is absolutely no plastic in sight. “We don’t buy juices or milk if they are sold in plastic,” said Irene who lives in Sustainable City with her husband. The couple even has a ‘sparkling water-making’ machine at home that helps convert tap water into soda. “I try to collect the waste water in a small steel tub while I shower and I use the same to water my plants,” she added. However, that’s not all because Irene doesn’t even have a dustbin at home! “All my vegetables/fruit/egg wastes go in this muslin bag that I keep in the freezer and throw it every day when I go for walks. My soda cans (aluminium) and other glass bottles are stored in a drawer, that is emptied once a week,” she said.

Jen, who stays at a villa in Sustainable City, is still trying her best to avoid plastics from entering her home. “One of the things I’m proud of is a quilt I stitched out of old fabric, discarded cotton fabric lying around the house. To cover it up, I used my husband’s old rugby T-shirts,” she said. “We’ve never bought new toys for our kids. We just pick them from our neighbours, friends or extended family and pass them on once our kids have outgrown them. This is how we do our little recycling,” added the mother of two.

SOURCE : GULFNEWS