Humanity is reaching the point of no return regarding ecology. Planting trees is a great solution, but it isn’t a one-size-fits-all deal given the immense complexity of the environmental issues we as a species face.
Plastic continues to be a huge problem. Not only does it take energy and other resources to produce, but also much of it ends up as waste in the various natural habitats around the globe. Bored Panda has already covered a perfect example of how much it affects our oceans with this diver’s first-hand experience with plastic waste in our oceans.
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A photo of this cleaning product refiller has recently surfaced & went viral on Reddit
Image credits: Lord-AG on Reddit
Dozens upon dozens of initiatives are already in place to reduce plastic use, including a washing machine product dispenser to encourage the reuse of plastic bottles. One such machine has been going viral recently.
A Reddit user by the name of Lord-AG has posted a photo of a machine found at a local drug store in the Czech Republic that is used to refill empty laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid bottles. Store patrons can simply use the machine to refill their clean empty product bottles instead of buying a new bottle every time they need one.
Image credits: Místo Prodeje
The drug store in question is Rossman, a chain of German pharmacies. They have partnered up with Henkel, a German chemical and consumer goods company, to fight the problem with disposable plastic packaging. The sign above the machine reads “Beauty is Saving the Nature Together.”
Considering that annual plastic production tonnage is in the millions in the US alone—300 million to be precise—reusing a plastic container just once would diminish the effects of the plastic problem by half.
Croatia’s port city Rijeka is also home to such a machine, except it dispenses food products
Image credits: TheMayor.EU
Fun fact, the inventor of the plastic bag said that his invention is an eco-friendly response to using paper and cotton, as discussed in this Bored Panda article. However, many people got lazy and nearly all bags are therefore being reused less than the recommended 131 times.
By making plastic bottle reusability as accessible as just going to the store—which you will be going to anyway—will not only save you money but will also save the environment. And other establishments are getting on board with this idea.
Such machines have been around since 2010 with Martin Gagne’s laundry detergent machine being one of the first
Image credits: CBC
Croatia’s largest port city, Rijeka, is now home to its first plastic-free vending machine that offers anything from cooking oil, vinegar, cleaning supplies, and hygiene products.
Refilling machines have been around as early as 2010. One of the more famous examples coming from Montreal, Quebec, was Martin Gagne’s laundry detergent refilling machine featured on CBC’s Dragon’s Den. It was available in 36 locations within the first 12 weeks.
You can even make your own shampoo refilling machine—there’s a tutorial for that
Image credits: Log GC
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The idea is so good that there’s even a step-by-step guide on how to build your own shampoo dispenser using a Raspberry Pi 3 and a handful of building materials. A user by the name of Log GC has made one available to the general public on his Instructables account.
Many businesses are also taking initiative by offering the same service, except going even more eco-friendly by not even having a vending machine on their premises. Lush, a cult cosmetics store, encourages its patrons to return used-up containers in exchange for free beauty products. The Soap Refill Station in Springfield, Missouri, encourages people to bring their own containers, whatever they may be, and have them filled up with the store’s own eco-friendly hygiene and beauty products.
The people of the internet are in full support of this initiative…
Source: boredpanda.com