Little Wins
This is the place to come for inspiration to make a difference!
What can one person do to make a difference? Our response is always – a lot! Through social media, conversations and letter writing, grassroots mobilisation and setting an example for others to follow, we hear many stories of Little Wins in the fight to reduce plastic usage and wastage.
Help us fill this page with good news actions, stories of problems solved and actions taken to made change happen.
Keep reading and be inspired!
Plastic Windows are going!
Social media comments really do make a difference! The plastic windows always bugged me as being completely unnecessary. In some countries to enable recycling, the plastic must be removed from the cardboard. This is just poor design! Thank you to Barilla for listening to your customers. Let’s all push for all pasta manufacturers now to ditch the plastic! ~ Tracey
New Packaging for 2020
Reusable Mug Cupboard
PFS went to a school to do a waste reduction talk which focuses on the solutions, suggesting simple ways to decrease the amount of single-use disposable plastic we use on a regular basis. After the talk, the teacher invited me for a coffee at the coffee shop. Just before ordering, I realised they didn’t have to-stay mugs, only disposable take-away cups, and I didn’t have my reusable cup. I hesitated, remembering my recent pledge not to use disposable cups, yet not wanting to be disrespectful. What should I do?
I decided to stick to my pledge and respectfully explained the situation. The teacher said she appreciated having this dilemma pointed out to her and gave apologies for not being able to offer me a coffee.
Later that school year we returned to the school. To our delight, the teacher proudly took us to the coffee shop to show us their latest green project – an old cabinet they refurbished and now held donated coffee mugs to be used by people who didn’t have their own.
Kudos to the school – they were presented with a problem and they found a solution!
Dana
Handmade Soap
The team at Computershare engaged in an office project to make soap made from coffee ground as an alternative to cleansing products that contain microbeads.
With the aim of raising awareness on how microbeads affect humans and sea creatures, colleagues could purchase these special gift packs of home-made exfoliating soaps, complete with the recipe so people could learn to make their own coffee grounds soap in the future.
Proceeds were donated to Plastic Free Seas to support the education programs and microbead campaign.
Wing Tung Chan
Computershare Hong Kong Investor Services Limited
Washing Station at a School Fair
We set up a washing station for reusable plates and cutlery at an event at our children’s school last year. It triggered a lot of enthusiasm and interest with like-minded parents, school and cafeteria staff, and it started a conversation on how we could reduce plastic waste in general.
Since then many actions have been taken or are underway at the school cafeteria. One action was to stop giving plastic lids and straws for hot drinks!
These items are still available on demand but it cut down drastically on plastic waste and got another conversation started on what further action could be taken.
A collection of DBIS parents
Inner Bag for Bean Bags
During our first trial run on the PFS Sea Classroom, one of the outdoor bean bags that came with the boat burst due to prolonged sun exposure. Polystyrene beans were flying EVERYWHERE! You can’t imagine how mortified we were that Plastic Free Seas was polluting the sea. We had to do something to rectify this! (Apart from a penitent beach cleanup focusing on polystyrene beans only!)
We noticed that had there been an inner bag the beans would have been contained once the outer fabric had perished. We contacted Sofa Sale and told the management about our unfortunate incident with their product and how the product design had contributed to the plastic pollution of our seas. They immediately set to designing an appropriate inner bag. As a result, more than half of the customers have opted to purchase the inner containment bag with their new bean bags. A ‘Little Win’ for sure, turning a very unfortunate incident into a positive outcome.
Ditching Disposables at Halloween
Halloween can be an awful time for single-use plastic with all the cheap decorations, plastic-wrapped sweets and chocolates, and all the disposable party ware that is used for food and beverages.
But there are opportunities to cut down on the plastic and even as an adult getting in to the Halloween spirit you can do your part.
I was very happy to be able to cut back on plastic cups and enjoy my Halloween beer in a reusable stainless cup! There were a few cups saved that night.
Jeff
Do you have a Little Win to share?
Click on the button to share your story and a photo. We want to be able to inspire more people with everyone’s Little Wins.