New Year Resolutions: How to Reduce Plastic in 2025

Aah, who doesn’t know the drill? The new year has barely kicked off and we are already overwhelmed with the many plans we’ve made.

Becoming morning people, hitting the gym, or learning to play the Ukulele. We start off rocking January like it’s nothing. February? Yeah, not so much. March?  Let’s start thinking about the plans for next year.

But what if I told you there’s a resolution that’s easy, doable, and makes a real difference in your life and the planet? (Spoiler alert: It’s cutting down on plastic in 2025!)

You don’t need to become a full-fledged zero-waste warrior who fits a year's worth of trash into a mason jar. I’m talking about baby steps that are easy to follow and have a big impact.

Let’s break this journey down into a few tips that will save substantial plastic and, as a bonus, may even save you some cash.

Tip 1: Become a Reuse Starlet

Americans use more than 60 million plastic bottles, 300 million disposable coffee cups, and 270 million plastic bags every single day.

Guess what: Not You! Those are some of the best items to replace with reusable versions easily. Why not use the spirit of the new year to slowly replace single-use plastics?

• Water bottles: Invest in a cute and durable reusable bottle. Bonus points for many metal bottles that keep your drink cold (or warm) for hours and hours.
• Coffee cups: Love your morning coffee? You’re not alone! In 2025, bring a reusable cup. Many coffee shops offer a small discount for this simple swap (Who doesn’t like Savings?!). If you’re ambitious, you could save even more money by brewing your coffee at home now that you have an insulated coffee cup that keeps your black gold hot.
• Shopping bags: Keep a foldable tote bag in your bag, car, or pocket. Pro tip: Keep one bag close to the door so you don’t forget it when you go grocery shopping.

Already overwhelmed? Don’t worry about making all those swaps at once. Just pick the one that seems easiest and wait until it becomes a habit. Then move on to the next one and sooner or later, you won’t even notice it anymore and packing reusables is part of your routine.

To make your new year’s resolution a breeze, we have created a guide to ocean-friendly restaurants and hotels that cut out wasteful single-use plastic.

Tip 2: Plastic-free FoodieYou already mastered taking your reusable tote bag for grocery shopping. It should not be much more effort to pack a few produce bags to ensure you can carry the loose produce to

If you’ve mastered your reusable items, you’re ready to move to stage two: Gearing up for a sustainable kitchen. Again, there are many things you can do. Just pick the ones that feel right and wait until they stick, before you move to the net one (Yes, there’s a pattern here).

• Loose is lucky: You already mastered taking your reusable tote bag for grocery shopping. It should not be much more effort to pack a few produce bags to ensure you can carry the loose produce to the grocery store. Keep in mind that even though some grocery stores are replacing their produce bags with bioplastic, bioplastic is still plastic and most of it is only compostable in industrial facilities.
• Ditch the plastic wrap: Each year, Americans buy enough plastic wrap to cover the state of Texas. Luckily, there are fantastic alternatives like beeswax wraps or simply lunch boxes that protect your food and are reusable.
• Bulk it up: In a similar vein, you can check out bulk stores or stores with bulk sections. Dried goods like pasta, rice, beans, or spices are available in bulk and significantly reduce packaging waste.
• Plan ahead: did you ever “wake up” in a grocery store, wondering how you got here? Then without any clue what to get for the week you just go for whatever looks good and in a few minutes your shopping cart is full of convenient, unhealthy, plastic-packaged instant meals. I feel you! Try to plan a little bit. Get inspired online and think about at least one meal you want to prep for the week. You’ll see that it quickly becomes a routine and it’ll become fun again to go grocery shopping. The bonus: you will use a lot less plastic if you buy fresh ingredients in your awesome produce bags.

Remember: No one is judging you if you crave some sweet sensation and go for the plastic-wrapped chocolate bar instead of the loose apple. Progress always beats perfection.

Tip 3: Rethink Your Bathroom Routine

The bathroom is one of the biggest areas for plastic waste in the household. From body care to dental care to shaving, almost everything in the average bathroom comes in plastic. As you will know by now, our motto for this New Year guide is taking it step by step, without overwhelming ourselves. True to this motto, there is no need to replace your whole bathroom shelf with eco-friendly products. Why don’t you take a step back and look for an eco-friendly alternative whenever your next product is empty? Here are some easy-to-find alternatives:

• Shampoo Bars & Soap Bars: These solid alternatives work just as well and come without the plastic bottle drama.
• Bamboo Toothbrushes: Replace that plastic toothbrush with a biodegradable bamboo one. (Your dentist will approve.)
• Safety Razors: Those fancy-looking metal razors not only look good on your shelf. They also save you money on razor blades and you’ll be surprised about the smoothness of the shave.

Tip 4: Become a Reuse Rockstar

We already talked about reusables. But as always, you can take it to many different levels. There is one area where single-use plastics still thrive as ever. Takeout!

While there are many ways to rethink your foodware, these three tips will be easy to implement in the new year.

If you want to bring your reusables game to the next level, check out these tips:

• Straws and cutlery: Keep a set of reusable utensils and a metal or bamboo straw with you. They’re small, lightweight, and ready to use for your next smoothie run.
• Takeout containers: If you are like me, the eyes are sometimes bigger than the belly. For those occasions, you can have your own container ready to take the leftovers.
• Use the “order notes”: a very easy way to save plastic with virtually no effort is by using the order notes in your takeout app. If you’re ordering at home and will anyways use your cutlery, just add a small note that says, “No plastic utensils please”.

Tip 5: Celebrate Your Awesomeness - Sustainably:

The new year will have plenty of reasons to celebrate. If you’re hosting a party, keep the fun high and the waste low.

• Skip the single-use plates and cups: Did you know there are reusable part cups, multi-use party plates, and even dedicated reusable beer-pong sets? You’ll be all set for the next party!
• Straws that don’t suck: just like we mentioned above, there are great plastic-free alternatives for plastic straws, like paper or bamboo. If you don’t have anything handy, who needs a straw anyway?
• DIY and sustainable décor: much of the décor that we use for parties is single-use plastic and microplastic (Yep, glitter is just shiny microplastic). Check out sustainable alternatives that are biodegradable or reusable

Tip 6: Think Twice, Before You Hit the Buy Button

Finally, we’ll close with a more generic tip that will save you heaps of money and likely also heaps of trash.

We live in a world that loves to consume. We are bombarded every day with new items that are supposed to transform our lives and make us happy. Especially in times of Temu, Shein, and the like, it has never been easier to overconsume.

Before you give in and hit “Add to Cart”, take a step back and ask yourself if you truly need the item. Will it still make you happy tomorrow, a month from now, or next year, or if it’s just an impulse buy?

Slowing down your shopping decisions can help curb overconsumption—and save you money!

2025 Belongs to You!

There you have it. Simple small swaps that save plastic without turning your life upside down. You’ll quickly realize that as soon as these small changes become a habit, they have the potential to make your life simpler and more deliberate.

You’ll save plastic, save money, and maybe even inspire a few others to hop on the low-plastic train. Every step you take is a step in the right direction.

Along the way, celebrate the small wins: Reducing plastic isn’t all or nothing. Every tiny change you make adds up. So, whether you remembered your reusable bag this week or switched to shampoo bars, celebrate the progress!

2025 is yours to conquer.

Happy New Year, you plastic-thrashing superstar!

Author Bio: Lars Jansen is the co-owner of SWOP – Shop Without Plastic, a zero-waste online marketplace and blog. He is passionate about protecting the environment and educating about plastic pollution.