Blue Planet 2 has left everyone talking about our impact on the planet. There were some startling and terrifying revelations – the plastics that we throw away make it into the oceans but they don’t just float around. They break down into micro-plastics that are then eaten by plankton, then by small fish, then by tuna, then by dolphins, whales and…us. So much so that scientists now think that consuming plastics has the potential to alter our DNA.

What David didn’t tell us is what we can do about it on a day-to-day basis, on the walk to work, at lunch, and shopping for dinner. It’s often hard to know what the right thing to do is, so here are some simple ideas we’ve found that you can use daily. Many of us do these things already – some don’t - it’s worth a read in case there’s an idea in here that helps.

Every time we buy a bottle of water we recycle the bottle so that’s fine, right? Not really. The recycling process uses a lot of energy, and sometimes recyclable rubbish is sold to other countries for them to process – it has a large carbon footprint by the time it returns as a new plastic bottle.

So why recycle when we can reuse? It’s such a simple idea that it seems almost unimportant, but by carrying a water bottle we can really reduce our personal impact. Pret a Manger are introducing refillable water stations to help this idea along, and the sooner people make the change the sooner it’ll be the norm.

We’ve all been too long meetings where there’s loads of food leftover and everyone gets a bottle after bottle of water. Most of this stuff ends up in the waste paper bin in the corner of the room, not being recycled.

Food waste is a massive problem in its own right, often ending up in landfill where it releases gasses that contribute to global warming. But just by making sure your company replaces bottled water with glasses and old fashioned normal water, it could have a massive impact over the course of a year. And those single use foam coffee cups at the machine that no-one knows whether they’re recyclable or not – they could be a thing of the past too!

What we eat comes wrapped in all sorts of plastics and paper. It’s forced upon us at breakfast, lunch and when we shop for dinner. Every time we go into Pret they offer us a bag, plastic fork and napkins to put maybe two things in; most people just accept it out of habit.

By refusing a bag and fork on a day to day basis, imagine the number of bags and forks over the course of a year, or 5 years! And when shopping for dinner, look at the packaging. Try not to buy the broccoli in the plastic box (often with unrecyclable black plastic included), buy the loose one, like mother nature intended!