Sources

Every number on SproutAtlas traces back to a published source — mostly peer-reviewed studies, plus reports from public bodies. Here they all are, swap by swap. Each swap page lists its own sources too.

Bar soap instead of Liquid soap

• Koehler & Wildbolz (2009), Environmental Science & Technology — life-cycle footprint of bar vs liquid soap

Bamboo toothbrush instead of Plastic toothbrush

• Lyne et al. (2020), British Dental Journal — life-cycle assessment of toothbrush types

Safety razor instead of Disposable razors

• U.S. EPA estimate (1990): ~2 billion disposable razors discarded per year in the US (figure not updated since)

Beeswax wraps instead of Cling film

• Food Additives & Contaminants (1997) — plasticiser (DEHA) migration from PVC cling film into fatty foods

Washable cloths instead of Paper towels

• U.S. EPA, Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts & Figures — paper towels & tissue in municipal waste

Loose leaf tea instead of Plastic tea bags

• Hernandez et al. (2019), Environmental Science & Technology — plastic tea bags release ~11.6B microplastics + 3.1B nanoplastics per cup

Reusable bottle instead of Bottled water

• Qian et al. (2024), PNAS — ~240,000 nano/microplastic particles per litre of bottled water
• Gleick & Cooley (2009), Environmental Research Letters — energy footprint of bottled water vs tap

Reusable cup instead of Disposable cups

• Ranjan et al. (2021), Journal of Hazardous Materials — microplastics released from disposable cups into hot water

Detergent sheets instead of Detergent jug

• Giagnorio et al. (2017), Journal of Cleaner Production — environmental impacts of laundry detergents

Wool dryer balls instead of Dryer sheets

• Steinemann et al. (2013), Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health — dryer-vent emissions from fragranced laundry products (incl. hazardous air pollutants)

Reusable bag instead of Single-use plastic bags

• UN Environment Programme — single-use plastics roadmap (~5 trillion plastic bags used per year)
• UK Environment Agency (2011), Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags — how many reuses a reusable bag needs to come out ahead

Shampoo bar instead of Shampoo bottles

• Koehler & Wildbolz (2009), Environmental Science & Technology — life-cycle footprint of personal-hygiene products (bar vs liquid)

Reusable cloth wipes instead of Wet wipes

• Metcalf et al. (2022), Marine Pollution Bulletin — wet wipes drive ~90% of sewer blockages and persist as beach litter
• Marine Conservation Society — Great British Beach Clean (wet wipes recorded per 100 m of UK shoreline)

Bamboo cotton buds instead of Plastic cotton buds

• EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 — bans plastic cotton-bud sticks, among the most common beach-litter items

Natural sponge or loofah instead of Synthetic sponges

• Su et al. (2024), Environmental Science & Technology — melamine cleaning sponges shed microplastic fibres (≈1 trillion/month globally)

Reusable cutlery instead of Plastic cutlery

• EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 — bans single-use plastic cutlery

Reusable straw instead of Plastic straws

• EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 — bans single-use plastic straws (a top marine-litter item)

Buy better, wear longer instead of Fast fashion

• Niinimäki et al. (2020), Nature Reviews Earth & Environment — the environmental price of fast fashion (water, CO₂, textile waste)
• UN Environment Programme — fashion is ~10% of global emissions; doubling how long clothes are worn sharply cuts their footprint

Peat-free compost instead of Peat compost

• IUCN — Peatlands and climate change: drained/extracted peatlands emit ≈5% of global anthropogenic CO₂
• The Wildlife Trusts — climate impact of horticultural peat use in the UK

Airer or washing line instead of Tumble dryer

• European Commission — tumble dryers use ≈1.4–2.7 kWh per cycle and are among the home’s most energy-hungry appliances
• Lee & Sohn (2025), Resources, Conservation & Recycling — full line drying eliminates the use-phase emissions of clothes drying

Refillable silk floss instead of Plastic floss picks

• Boronow et al. (2019), Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology — PTFE/PFAS-coated floss linked to higher PFAS in the body (via Silent Spring Institute)

A microfibre-catching wash bag instead of Bare synthetic washes

• Napper & Thompson (2016), Marine Pollution Bulletin — a single 6 kg wash can release over 700,000 synthetic microfibres

Reusable food covers instead of Foil & cling film

• The Aluminum Association / International Aluminium Institute — aluminium LCA: primary aluminium is highly energy-intensive (≈4–20 t CO₂ per tonne, depending on the power source)

Reusable food bags instead of Single-use food bags

• UN Environment Programme — single-use plastics roadmap (the case for reusable alternatives to throwaway plastic film and bags)

Reused or returned pots instead of Throwaway plant pots

• Royal Horticultural Society — Circular Plastic by 2030: black plastic pots slip past recycling sorters and mostly reach landfill

Toothpaste tablets instead of Toothpaste tubes

• Toothpaste tubes are multi-layer plastic-and-aluminium laminate that kerbside recycling cannot separate, so most reach landfill (industry estimate ≈1.5 billion tubes/year)

Rechargeable batteries instead of Disposable batteries

• Marinello & Grosso et al. (2016), Int. Journal of Life Cycle Assessment — NiMH rechargeables beat alkaline on nearly all impacts after ~50 charge cycles

Reusable pod or ground coffee instead of Coffee pods

• Earth.org — global coffee-capsule waste ≈576,000 tonnes/year; mixed plastic-and-aluminium pods are hard to recycle
• Cruz et al. (2024), Sustainable Materials and Technologies — small mixed-material capsules evade automatic sorting and end up landfilled or incinerated

Refill tablets and one bottle instead of Bottled sprays

• CNN Underscored (2026) — concentrated refills ship without excess water (most sprays are ~90% water), cutting weight and plastic-bottle waste
• U.S. EPA — containers & packaging are the largest category of plastic waste, and household plastic recycling stays below ~9%

Reusable plates instead of Single-use plates

• EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 — bans single-use plastic plates

The villain comparisons

The playful comparisons (private jets, coal plants…) are grounded in published figures as well:

• Transport & Environment (2021) — some private jets emit two tonnes of CO₂ per flight hour
• Barros & Wilk (2021), Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy — a superyacht emits on the order of 7,000 t CO₂ a year, the largest single item in a billionaire’s footprint
• Global Energy Monitor — a 1 GW coal plant at an 0.8 capacity factor emits ≈6.3 Mt CO₂ a year
• Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science — beef averages ~60 kg CO₂e per kg, the highest-footprint common food
• UK Government GHG conversion factors — long-haul economy ≈0.15 kg CO₂e per passenger-km, so a one-way London–New York seat (~5,600 km) is ≈0.8 t CO₂e
• Saatchi et al. (2007), Global Change Biology — Amazon forest holds ~177 t of above-ground carbon per hectare (≈65 kg CO₂ per m²)
• Euromonitor (2017), via National Geographic — about a million plastic drink bottles are bought every minute worldwide
• Coca-Cola’s 2019 Ellen MacArthur Foundation disclosure — 3 Mt of plastic packaging a year, roughly 200,000 bottles a minute
• WHO (2022), Tobacco: poisoning our planet — roughly 4.5 trillion cigarette filters pollute oceans, rivers, pavements and soil every year
• Napper & Thompson (2016), Marine Pollution Bulletin — a single 6 kg wash of acrylic fabric can release over 700,000 microfibres

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