How to Reduce Plastic Waste in Your Daily Life

Feb 12, 2024

“Just choose one or two items to tackle,” recommends plastic-reduction advocate Rebecca Prince-Ruiz.

A display of plastic-wrapped fruit at a Whole Foods in Evanston, Illinois.

As soon as Carolyn Armstrong started looking for plastic in her life, she realized it was absolutely everywhere.

There are the plastic water bottles and straws, of course, but also makeup, clothing, laundry detergent, food wrappers and packaging. “Everything that we use is encased in plastic,” Armstrong says. “Sometimes, I go to the grocery store and take pictures of the fruit that is behind the plastic and I email the store and say: ‘Please stop doing that!’”