NHS Trusts consume plastic in many different ways, but the canteen is one place where the culprits are easy to spot, and even easier to remove. If you work in the canteen or if you just pop in for your lunch, keep an eye out for these eight environmentally unfriendly offenders and do your best to run them out of town.
Single-use plastic cups
7 million coffee cups are thrown away in the UK each day but less than 1% of them are actually recyclable. Invest in a reusable cup and most outlets will happily fill it for you.
Single-use bottles
Regardless of what you drink, you should be drinking it from a bottle that you can wash and reuse multiple times. Plastic bottles are among the top items found on beaches across the world.
Plastic cutlery
The average canteen-goer uses 466 items of plastic cutlery per year. Each piece is used for around 3 minutes, but takes 200 years to decompose. Bring your own cutlery, or better yet, opt for finger food!
Straws
Plastic straws and take just as long as cutlery to decompose. Aim to use paper straws instead, or ditch the straw altogether and sip your drinks the old-fashioned way!
Cling film
Aluminium foil may seem like a luxury product to some, but foil can be recycled. Cling-film however cannot, so while it may look like the easy choice, foil is your real friend.
Teabags
Don’t let their innocent expressions fool you. Most teabags are sealed with plastic, and break down into microplastic when disposed of. Where possible, use a strainer and loose leaf tea.
Milk cartons
Apart from the nostalgia value the milkman brings, he also brings the milk in reusable, recyclable glass bottles. Nowadays he even manages your milk round through an app!
Stirrers
It may feel satisfying to stir your drink, but bear in mind that stirrer will take two centuries to decay and ask yourself if you really do need to rattle your ice cubes quite so much!
Find out more about quick wins for sustainability, and the winning mindset you need to reduce your Trust’s carbon footprint, by following us on LinkedIn or Twitter, or sign up to our quarterly newsletter. There you’ll find more information on our sustainable solutions, handy hints and tips, plus news about our upcoming sustainability webinar.
