
When I first heard of the phrase ‘plastic free’, I thought it meant absolutely.zero.plastic.I realized later on that aiming for that meant setting myself up to fail. It is nearly impossible to be 100% plastic free in our modern world. Plastic has its place in our world (like in healthcare/medicine) and that's fine! It will take time for manufacturers to make radical changes.
Most of us probably agree that an acceptable amount of discomfort to be expected from the inconvenience of living with less plastic. Guess what? it isn’t going to kill us.

Here are 3 things you can do to ‘ease’ into the transition.
Accept the journey. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
I am incredibly impatient when it comes to learning a new skill. When I was young, I was interested in learning the piano. I picked it up fast and then I got interested in the guitar because it looked ‘cooler’ at the time. Later in my adult life, I have not really mastered an instrument. I realized that I didn’t stick to an instrument long enough to enjoy learning and mastering it because I wanted to become good right away. It applies to other things as well, in business or in relationships. We don’t ‘reach’ absolute zero waste. But we can aspire to live with minimal plastic.
Try not to compare yourself with what others are doing.
One thing that encourages people to do more is a strong , positive community to inspire us, not to judge and discourage us. I found that a lot of my friends are intimidated by the plastic free movement especially because a lot of people don’t seem to think small effort count. It can be disheartening and overwhelming to you see tons of plastic related issues and it’s easy to think that your efforts don’t matter. The fact is that they do. Where else should we start?
If every single person refused a straw, then we could save tons of plastic straws from reaching our oceans. Manufacturers will stop producing a product that no one wants.
Lastly, go with your pace, don't be too hard on yourself.
Humans aren’t perfect, there are no exceptions. We can’t be completely plastic free on day one and we probably won’t ever be. I’ve changed my goal to reducing my overall plastic dependency. I make realistic changes in my lifestyle without causing too much discomfort or disruption to my routine. This way, I can make long term gradual changes. Too much discomfort causes us to become frustrated and eventually give up (like starving yourself on a bad diet).
These 3 cardinal rules are simple enough to read through but practicing it is the real challenge!
I celebrate tiny successes and acknowledge and appreciate friends and family who make the effort. I know the challenges of making these changes, appreciating others will go a long way.
Do you have anything to add to the list? We’d love to hear from you, write us at support@nupliving.com.
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For our new years resolution we as a family wanted to use less plastic. I chose the Nup toothbrushes together with my 10 year old daughter and she absolutely loves the designs! Great quality and great design!
Linda Grootberg, Nup Customer
I normally have medium bristles so I was a bit skeptical if this toothbrush would clean my teeth properly. Luckily they do a very good job. Will continue to buy here.
Boris Stein, Nup Customer
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Miranda Cheung, Nup Customer
I bought a couple for my whole family. What's great about it is each pack has 4 different designs so each of us (family of 4) tell who owns which. This month indicator is a great plus.
Faith Manuel, Nup Customer
Happy with it. First of all, I I would choose these toothbrushes even if sustainability was not a factor. I was really wasn't sure if I was going to like these, but wanted to check them out, because I'm step-by-step working on reducing my trash impact on the world in every way I can, small and large. Now I'm happy to report that I love the way these feel in my hand and in my mouth. The contour of the bristles is effective in getting good surface contact, and they are just the right balance between firm and gentle. I'm not sure what the bristles are made of, but at least my plastic trash has been reduced in a great way.
Louise Zimmerman, Nup Customer
These toothbrushes are fabulous! I can't speak highly enough about them. Perfect adult size tooth brush ... not too stiff not too soft. The handle fits nicely in your hands. So much nicer than plastic! I highly recommend
Jordan Rhodes, Nup Customer
Quality is good. I am buying this for our whole family! This is will be a life changing moment for us.
Edwin Alexander, Nup Customer
I was looking for an environmentally friendly toothbrush for a while. Although, I was afraid that the bristles would be too soft (which most of the bamboo toothbrushes are), but this one was great!! It was much more sturdy than I expected and I LOVE it. It comes with four toothbrushes so I gave one to my brother and hopefully I can convince my other family members to make the switch.
Haley Fuller, Nup Customer
I have been making an effort to be better not only to my body (using less chemicals, more organic, more natural) and also to the environment. When I realized even my toothbrushes can stick around far past their use causing more waste, I wanted to try something better. I found these toothbrushes and, with this one single purchase, have not only done something small to save the planet (hey, every little bit counts, right?) but also have toothbrushes for a solid year. These are great because they have these nice designs- and using one brush for three months each gets me through the year. I think all of my family is about to switch to these! They're great and I'm very happy to be doing my small part.
Opal Waters, Nup Customer
My entire family of 4 has been using these for about a month and I haven't had one complaint, and as anyone with kids and a husband knows, that means A LOT! Getting used to a wooden handle versus a plastic one takes a little getting used to, but the bamboo is of a high quality and it is not at all abrasive and over all, it is relatively smooth. It's not like you feel as if you are going to get splinters in your moth or that it is going to eventually break in half! My youngest is a toothbrush chewer abuses all of her toothbrushes horribly and this one held up great! I was also really impressed with the bristles. I was expecting them to be pretty tough but they were just the right texture to feel like they were really getting the job done but not hurting the gums at all.
Krista Reeves, Nup Customer
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