How to live a plastic-free life

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - A woman who now lives a life free of plastic shared her experience and tips at UNCW Monday night.

Beth Terry is the author of Plastic Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too. She started out small five years ago by using reusable shopping bags and water bottles. She also kept track of how much she used over a year's time.

Terry is now down to a single plastic bag full of plastic used per year.

She says in order for the environment to actually change, legislation will have to change, "Things like no smoking on Wrightsville Beach are steps in the right direction because cigarette butts contain plastic."

Terry started reducing her plastic use when she saw a picture of a dead chick that died because it thought the plastic it was eating was actually food.

She says the problem is that large pieces of plastic end up in the ocean and break into smaller pieces which looks like food to animals. They eat it, and then we eat the animals, causing humans to have small amounts of plastic in our diets.

Terry encourages everyone to follow the 4 R's: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink.

That includes shopping from bulk bins and using reusable bags, as well as stainless steel water bottles.

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