Breaking the Plastic Habit - how to be part of the plastic free movement

This month, we're supporting Plastic Free July - a global movement which urges individuals and companies to understand the graveness of plastic pollution and start changing their habits. At ASL we are committed to reducing our own use of plastic, and to encouraging our customers & suppliers to do the same.

In this blog, we offer ideas on how to go plastic-free, based on some of the initiatives we are working on within ASL Global in order to reduce our plastic consumption, both as a business, and as individuals:

In the workplace

1. Ban single use plastic items:

Take an inventory of all single use plastic items and identify alternatives. We would suggest starting from the workplace kitchen.

The impact

• Reduce hundreds or even thousands of single-use plastic items by making simple switches.
• Reduce pressure on recycling systems.
• Reduce unnecessary waste and save precious resources.

2. Bin Audit:

It doesn't sound very glamorous, but a bin audit is a great way to take stock of what waste you could be avoiding, and improve your composting and recycling habits. This will help you discover all the ‘waste’ that could be avoided, recycled or composted.

The impact

• Reduce waste that needs collecting and reduce transport pollution.
• Knowledge leads to behaviour change.

3. Engage co-workers

Broaden your impact and encourage the people you work with to choose to refuse single-use plastic with you. ASL's CSR Champions are working with their colleagues to make a difference in this area.

The impact

• Your co-workers will bring these new skills home, helping create positive impact beyond the office.
• Once the first step is taken and a commitment made, people start looking at alternatives for the items the organisation buys for itself, and its customers.

As a business

1. Packaging

Getting rid of plastics from your business’ everyday practices can make a huge impact. There are lots of practical alternatives now; it might be easier than you think to make a big impact with some small changes.

The impact

• Typically, for every one bin-full of packaging waste generated, 70 bin-fulls was generated upstream in making it. Good purchasing practices & proactive supply chain management can help to reduce upstream waste.
• Moving to a more sustainable alternative, such as biodegradable bags or paper wrapping can help reduce or completely eradicate plastic packaging waste.

2. Sustainability Signage

Using signage around your business can be an incredibly effective way of sharing the plastic free message with customers & staff, helping empower them to do the right thing.

The impact

• Keeps the 'plastic free message' front of mind for your team in key areas of your offices.
• With the right signage and communications, businesses can significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use.

In communities

1. Beach/park clean up

You can make an immediate and real difference to the environment by cleaning up a local park or beach. At ASL, we fully support our people taking time out of their working day to attend community events. As COVID19 lock-downs start to ease, our CSR champions are already working on ideas for their next local charity team day.

The impact

• Community events are a great way of bringing people together around common goals and values.
• Being involved in taking positive action feels good and is often more motivating than dwelling on the problem of plastic waste.
• It’s proven that people are much less likely to continue to litter in an area that’s clean and free from visible waste.

2. Local council actions

By expressing your interest in building a plastic free community to your local council and by gathering support from neighbours and local businesses, you can set up information sessions that will help the message spread and will create small hubs that will move the initiative forward.

The impact

• More people will become aware of the cause and hopefully they will contribute to it.
• Helping your local council establish something like a group of volunteers will help a more organised move towards reducing plastic and facilitate the change towards a better community waste management system.

Working With Our Partners

As part of the One World strategy, ASL Global is constantly exploring sustainable alternatives to plastic. We research various materials that can replace plastic in the products we develop, produce and deliver for our clients.

For example, this year we have started to use a biodegradable alternative for the plastic polybags used to package most promotional products. Wherever possible, we are now using this biodegradable option, with a target of moving 100% over to a sustainable alternative for all our products. We are working collaboratively with suppliers and our customers to make this aspiration a reality as soon as possible.

ASL Global is committed to conducting our business in a responsible & sustainable way. Acting with passion and integrity, our people work with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders to make a positive contribution to social responsibility and environmental sustainability in communities around the world.

Discover more about our ONE WORLD initiative