How to give up plastic by Will McCallum is a great book to read if you are thinking about what more you can do to stop plastic polluting the oceans. It is full of deeply depressing facts about how bad things have got, but these appear alongside uplifting case studies of how individuals are minimising plastic in their lives, as well as loads of tips of how to reduce the use of single use plastics in the kitchen, bathroom and on the go.

There were some things I had no idea about, like microfibre pollution in the oceans that comes from washing clothes. It had never struck me that polyester = plastic. I have now bought a washing bag that he recommends to wash my clothes in inside the washing machine. It gave me some other great tips too, like getting a set of reusable cutlery to keep in my bag at all times so I’m not tempted to pick up plastic cutlery when buying food on the go. There is also a great alternative to cling film and plastic sandwich bags that I am going to invest in. And I’ve swapped to tooth powder from a glass jar rather than toothpaste, as well as switching from shower gel to soap.

Clearly what is also desperately needed is companies to change their packaging, and McCallum details how you can get involved in campaigning and how you can join the growing movement against single use plastics. But alongside this there is a lot we can all do as individuals to help, and this is a great book to support these changes.