1) Bring your own bags
This tip is easy but also easy to forget. Bring your own bags when you shop, whether you’re going to the grocery store, a bookstore, or anything in between.
“I keep a basket of reusable bags in the same area I keep my keys,” said Maggie Brim, a sustainability manager in Greenville, South Carolina. “I also try to put reusable bags in the car so I always have them on hand!”
2) Reuse clothing
The reduce, reuse, recycle principle is gaining momentum in the textile industry.
“At Eastman we talk about material-to-material recycling all the time with our molecular recycling technologies, but we also care about the previous step—reuse,” said Claudia de Witte, who works in marketing and sustainability in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “It’s what I like to call people-to-people recycling, where the life of the garment is extended and creates value for other members of the community.”
3) Shop at a farmers market
Ricardo Pacheco buys most of his family’s meat and vegetables from a neighborhood farmers market in Mexico City. It’s within walking distance, though he takes a bus home so he doesn’t have to carry everything back.
“At the farmers market there’s a sense of closeness and you can see directly who benefits when you buy from them,” said Pacheco, the Brand Team’s design lead. “They know you and you have a relationship with them. Plus the prices are incredible!”
4) Don’t forget to pack a water bottle
Remember to take a reusable water bottle when you travel.
“If you bring your empty water bottle you can use it over and over again,” said Nicole Selden, who works in marketing communications in our plastics division and is based in Mountain Home, Arkansas. “You can refill it anywhere. I’ll put a clip on the outside of my backpack so it doesn’t take up space. That way we’re eliminating single-use plastic when traveling because you don’t have to buy bottled water.”
5) Do a litter walk around your neighborhood
In Antwerp, Belgium, Rosa Quarato’s neighborhood has a spring and fall street cleanup that usually ends with a social gathering.
“City hall supplies chairs and tables and on some occasions croissants for breakfast,” said Quarato, a sustainability manager. “It’s a fun way to connect and know your neighbors, while keeping your street clean.”
The city also supplies bags, gloves and tools to pick up litter if you want to do a cleanup with family and friends any time of the year. They even pick up the litter bags afterwards!
