25 cheap and easy replacements for plastic in your home and kitchen by Mara Leighton on Aug 9, 2018, 10:18 AM The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. 
If we're upfront about it, our total dependency on plastic makes sense. It’s the kind of material that sounds borderline pie-in-the-sky: durable, versatile, flexible, long-lasting, and cheap. Understandably, we have obliged by including it in nearly every facet of modern life: garbage bags, credit cards, headphones, toothbrushes... the list goes on. But, unfortunately, this miracle material does have a fatal flaw — and it's wreaking havoc on the environment that sustains us. Scientists estimate the ocean will be more plastic than fish in 2050, and images of sea turtles stuck in 6-pack plastic rings are so ubiquitous that we are almost entirely desensitized to the implication. The ecological damages are piling up faster than we can wean ourselves off the material itself. The news regarding climate change is dire. It’s no longer a question of if we will experience repercussions, but simply their severity. If want to make a difference — or take baby steps towards making a difference — you can start with actions like replacing plastics in your own home. The next time you run out of something, replace it with a metal or glass alternative. Knowing you’ll reuse something makes it a better value, and wood and metal alternatives tend to hit within the same price neighborhood as plastics with the secondary benefit of also looking much more high-end in a home. There are habits you can develop to mitigate your impact (cut 6-pack rings with scissors before they go in the trash, drink your cold brew without a straw), but your consumption is what is going to send the largest ripples without asking much of you in terms of convenience or cost. Below are 25 home goods that are replacements for plastics you might otherwise buy. If you want to make the eco-friendly choice, opt for one of these: Washable, mesh produce bags  This set of five reusable produce bags are a big life hack for sustainability. You can bring them to the grocery store to pick up veggies without each fruit having its own individual plastic bag. They're foldable, washable (and you can wash your produce in them, too), and have color-coded tags.
Reusable silicone food bags and steamer bags  Stasher bag is billed as the world's first fully functional, self-sealing, non-plastic bag, and was developed as a healthy alternative to plastic storage bags. It has an air-tight, pinch-press seal for freshness and is made from 100% pure platinum food-grade silicone safe for everything from the freezer to the microwave, dishwasher, and boiling water, which is why you can even use them for sous vide.
Greenlight matches  Rather than plastic lighters, pick up box matches for the dual perks of being eco-friendly and mastering a life skill with street cred. These 300 matches are under $5 and include wood from sustainably managed forests. Plus, they're probably more reliable in an apocalypse than a lighter that needs to be refilled. What more could you want?
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