5 Ways To Reduce Microplastics In Your Home

4 March 2026

Toby Patrick

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The topic of microplastics is bigger than ever. Microplastics are plastic particles that gradually release from plastic as it degrades, and there has been an urgent call for increased research over fears for the impact it can have on human biology. Aside from benefitting your overall health and gut health, reducing microplastics in your home can also help the environment, reducing single use items and in many cases, also helping you to save money.

Three glass containers with colorful salads, featuring corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, greens, and lentils on a light textured surface.

Microplastics are all over our home, so we’re here with 5 simple swaps you can make to reduce them, support the health of your family and help the environment.

Swap plastic tupperware for glass

Glass tupperware may require an upfront investment, but it is so worth it. Plastic containers can release microplastics during heating or storage, not to mention they don’t last very long and they also can absorb food odours and colours. Instead, if you make a simple swap to glass containers, you will keep them for years, they’re more food safe, they don’t hold smell and it keeps food fresher. When buying, check they’re safe for the microwave and oven, then you’re good to go! You can also make use of glass jars from cooking as storage for things like fruit and homemade sauces in the fridge, so you can get rid of smaller plastic tupperware, too.

Get milk in glass bottles delivered

The milkman is making a comeback, and a great way to reduce microplastics and single use plastic in your home is to get milk in glass bottles delivered! Family companies like McQueens Dairies deliver fresh, local milk straight to your door, with the option to get your milk delivered in glass bottles. It will be dropped outside your front door before 7am (also making mornings easier!). Then when you’re done, simply rinse and put outside your door again. It’ll be collected by the milkman on their next round, washed, sterilized and then re-used up to 25 times! You’re helping the environment, reducing microplastics and you can enjoy fresh milk. They also offer milk alternatives like oat milk in glass bottles if anyone in your house is dairy-free.

Choose stainless steel reusable water bottles

Next up, you should swap out single use plastic bottles, or reusable plastic bottles, for stainless steel versions. Not only will it keep your water colder for much longer (many options for up to 12 hours), but there is no risk of microplastics, they’re more durable and there is no risk of chemical leaching. When you’re out and about, if you pop into any cafe, they’ll more than likely fill your bottle up for you, so you don’t need to worry about buying an extra plastic bottle whilst you’re out. Next Christmas, make this a stocking filler for your whole family and it can make a huge difference!

Swap non-stick pans for cast iron

Swapping your pans that have non-stick coating out for cast iron removes toxic coatings that can release chemicals and microplastics into food. Cast iron pans can last forever when seasoned properly, so are absolutely worth the investment. They’re also so handy for cooking one pot meals, as you can place the entire thing in your oven (of course, making sure to remove very carefully with oven gloves, and being careful after as they’re very good at retaining heat). You won’t look back after making this simple swap!

Switch to bars of soap and shampoo bars

Lastly, get rid of your bottled soaps and shampoos and swap out for bars. Not only can the containers release microplastics, but often the contents of the bottles themselves are full of different chemicals. However, when you choose bars of soap, shampoo and conditioner instead, the ingredients are much more simple and do just as good of a job, if not better as they’re kinder on your skin and hair. You can get bars of soap really easily, more so now than in recent years as more people are making the swap. You’ll save money here too which is an added bonus!

Even one small swap can make a positive impact to our health and the environment, so over the next few months, perhaps budget for one change per month and you can transform your home in as little as 5 months. This is such an exciting project to get started on, and one that will benefit you massively.

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UK Election 2024: Why Voting is Crucial for Britain's Future

Connor Banks
Jun 26, 2024
3 min read

The general election is coming up on the 4th of July. And this is the most important election in the history of our nation. Britain currently sits at a turning point in its history, between whether we can continue to be one of the strongest economies in the world or are about to fall into a spiral of irrelevancy.

It’s no secret that the UK for the last 14 years has been on a long and steady decline. A decline that has been purposefully managed by the Conservative party to extract as much wealth from the nation to their donors and the rich of this country. It’s this government which has overseen and caused some of the greatest crises our country has faced since the Second World War. It was through David Cameron’s arrogance that we got the Brexit vote and decision, it was then through Theresa May’s incompetence that we mismanaged negotiations with our closest trading partners and led to economic uncertainty as businesses fled the country, and then it was through Boris Johnson that we brute forced a no deal which resulted in us having no negotiations with the EU in terms of trade and the problems from that only became more exacerbated by the next crisis that was completely mismanaged. Covid. It was through covid that we saw what the Tory party really cared about. Whilst our family members were dying in hospital beds, alone. They were partying and laughing about the restrictions they themselves put in place. Whilst we lost our jobs, they were giving their friends multibillion-pound contracts for masks that didn’t work, for a track and trace system that didn’t work, and for fraudulent manufacturing companies that had only come into existence purely so the Conservatives could funnel public funds through them.

But that wasn’t the worst of it, Boris Johnson resigned and his replacement was Liz Truss whose term in parliament was outlasted by a rotting lettuce. But don’t worry her impact was just as big as she single-handedly crashed the economy purely based on what she said she was going to do. Her plan was to create £45billion worth of tax cuts resulting in our financial markets crashing overnight. She’s since claimed that anyone who disagrees with this is either stupid or malevolent (her own words claiming it was because of a “deep state” against her https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/celebrity/liz-truss-the-people-who-claim-i-crashed-the-economy-are-either-very-stupid-or-very-malevolent/ar-BB1lFq0h) despite her move being something that any first-year economist would be able to explain is a bad idea. But I guess we’re all just part of the deep state against her.

She was then replaced by Rishi Sunak, our beloved prime minister who has suffered so many tragedies throughout life. A man who had to go without just like many of us. Parents across the country have had to choose between feeding themselves and their children, paying for energy and heat, paying rent, or making mortgage payments. But don’t worry he knows what it’s like to go without because he didn’t grow up with Sky TV. Whilst Sunak has been an improvement on Liz Truss since he’s not yet crashed the economy, he’s still overseen a government that is more obsessed with a BS culture war over trans people’s existence than anything that would benefit the nation. He’s allowed water companies to dump millions of hours worth of sewage into our rivers making it so that in some parts of the country they’re being advised to no longer drink the tap water.

We’re the 6th largest economy in the world, and yet our citizens are having to choose between eating today or tomorrow or drinking contaminated water. All the while the Tories have overseen the greatest transfer in wealth this country has had in years. Except that transfer has gone upwards. As the multi-millionaires become multibillionaires our junior doctors can’t afford to live and our nurses are overworked and can’t feed their families. But don’t worry, it's not the Tory’s fault they claim. No, it’s anyone but their fault.

So Britain, as we approach UK Election 2024, we currently sit on the edge. Do we choose to have more of the same? More corruption? More inequality between the classes? Or do we choose to finally make a change and get rid of a party that is hellbent on selling the country out for a profit for them and their friends?