Enter to win a plastic free LIQUID Dish soap kit! Just answer this question in the comments below:
How do you get "stubborn" family members on the Plastic-Free Train?
The prize includes 3 Plastic-Free Liquid Dish Soap pods, etee's original 'LOOFIE' Scouring sponge (the fibrous loofah sewn onto a cellulose dish sponge) and a cellulose dish cloth. We'll select 1 lucky winner from the entries.
Make sure to include your name and email address so we can contact you if you win. Only your name is visible with your comment / entry. Your email address will not be visible.
Hurry! Contest closes on Monday, October 7th at 9 am ET.
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Congratulations to the winner Michelle Seal, with her award winning comment!
I collected all our single use plastics for 3 months and revealed them at once to show the impact we could make by switching out just a few reusable things for plastic in the kitchen and bathrooms. I also calculate the yearly monthly savings for each swap we make, which keeps the most frugal family member on board. We continue to add one or two impactful switches every month and we shop and live more consciously. We monitor each others habits to be sure we stay on track, and as a family we are always on lookout for other sustainable changes we can make like our new worm compost bin! Little things lead to big things.
Here are some honourable mentions!
To get “stubborn” family members on the Plastic-Free Train it is important to present them with information about the affects on our environment (there is tons and the pictures can be motivating) from plastic and plastic free options for helping our environment, and to educate them on the affects on our health from using plastic. This can easily be done on Facebook which will affect more than family. Plastic free options are a great gift to get others to try them. Also it is helpful for family and friends to visit and see the ease of living plastic free. Cost could be an issue but in many cases there is a cost savings. I am grateful for companies like etee that continue to offer plastic free options and looking forward to a plastic free dish soap option which I had not found yet.
Janet Grace
Well, it’s too late for the contest. However, I’m slowly getting several friends, neighbors, clients and one husband to switch out of plastic.
1) I give alternatives as gifts – easy with friends, neighbors, clients.
2) I seek to change one habit at a time. When that habit sticks, I’m onto the changing another.
3) I remind my husband he’s going to the dump FAR less frequently now and am making a bit of a contest out of this. I’m husband’s second wife. With his first wife and his daughter, he used to have to take smelly trash to the dump 1x/week. I started him composting. I’ve started towards the zero waste movement. Now, he takes a trip to the dump, recycling included, 1x/6 weeks! And, that’s not even a full load.
Mye Lane
The best way is to lead by example. I live on the Jersey shore and the effects of plastic pollution killing our fish and marine wildlife at an ever increasing pace. By teaching our grandchildren a cleaner, greener way to live to start, they can see the impact it has. For example, no plastic bags, straws, or food wrap in our trash not only makes less trash, but less stinky trash with less chance of animals or birds getting into it and being harmed.
Donna M Lofdahl-Wac
Admittedly, it has taken some time to convince our hardest compadres: our mothers. But through sheer force (yes force – we will rummage through their garbage for items to recycle) REPEATEDLY, adding comments into conversations about the health of the Earth (especially for their beloved GRANDCHILDREN-yes, hit ‘em where it hurts), acting as we hope to change/show others (recyclable bags & containers, own straws, cloth towels instead of paper, etc., etc.), we have made a difference in our tiny, tiny circle of the world. Also, explaining more to our township board, creating a “Green Team” at the kids’ school; swathing soccer fields after games for rubbish; and explaining (in brief) that what ONE does in his/her everyday actions CAN make a difference… gotta walk the talk!
Lieca
I have some of the MOST stubborn family members. Some are on board with sustainability, but some are not, primarily because it’s ‘too much trouble’ and wave their hands saying they have no time to remember or sort it out. I tell them, one step at a time until you have changed an old habit for a new one. Start with re-useable bags for your grocery shopping. I promise that after a month or so, you won’t have so many instances of not remembering your bags. And not too long after you’ll wonder why you ever thought it was so hard. Then try NOT BUYING plastic wrap or sandwich bags. If it isn’t in your house, you can’t use it and will be pressed to find another way to store your food. There, that is two steps, and a good start. [Then I will recommend ‘etee’ products.]
Catherine
Make it easier for them by investing in reusable products and seeking out plastic-free alternatives to their favourite products. (Easier said than done, but it’s a process :-)