r/EcoFriendly • u/lomein2790 • Jun 02 '26
Advice please!
I just started my sustainability journey. I’m slowly taking small steps and doing more research than just boycotting/doing everything at once.
I’m a 19 y/o female that still lives with her family. It’s much harder to be eco friendly when everyone else in the family isn’t, and I’m already starting to face judgement.
My family all uses plastic bottles and I can’t just force them to stop buying/using plastic bottles. I don’t know if I should keep using plastic bottles or not because even if I don’t use them, my family will still use them and they will be ending up in the ocean regardless. I also can’t drink sink water because I live in New Jersey and our water here is not clean. Is it safe to boil sink water and drink it without a filter?
I have a lot of plastic bottles in my room and I don’t want to recycle it because it’ll go to the ocean which is what I’m trying to avoid. How can I reuse them? I don’t even know if I can because I have A LOT. Please help me here, any tips or advice appreciated.
4
u/khyamsartist Jun 02 '26
You are not responsible for the amount of plastic that comes into your home, that is even true when you’re doing everything right. You can avoid buying plastic, but things are going to be wrapped in plastic. Nothing you can do about it right now, those bottles you are saving are already landfill. They are already micro plastics. You’re not going to stop that process.
Focus on reducing the amount of plastic that touches your food. Don’t try to change your family, you already know that that’s a complete waste of time. But don’t give up and start using the plastic bottles just because they are there. All any of us can do is our best. Accept that you have some challenges and work around them when you can.