Forgot Password?
Home arrow GreeniacsGuides arrow Reduce Plastic
Written by Natalya Stanko   
Share |
Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Reduce Plastic
Plastic shopping bags and disposable water bottles are so 2008. Chances are, you've already given them up in favor of cloth bags and a stainless steel water bottle—if you haven't, what are you waiting for?! But, if your home looks anything like mine, you have a good deal of plastic products lying around. I brush my teeth with a plastic toothbrush, eat granola out of a plastic bag, and type on a plastic keyboard.

BENEFITS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: The trouble with plastic is that it's made of petroleum and takes thousands of years to decompose. Recycling plastic reduces the amount that ends up in the landfill, although sometimes it does more harm than good.


myplasticfreelife.com


Time and Effort: Environmentalists agree that we should reduce our plastic consumption, but how do we do that? Plastic is everywhere! Since we have to start somewhere, I'd like to begin by committing to lifestyle changes that aren't a drag. You might not yet be ready to swear off plastic toothbrushes, nylon sleeping bags, and spandex shorts forever, but I bet you'll be able to follow these seven ways to reduce plastic:
  1. In warm weather spots, the beach, fairs, and amusement parks, ask the ice cream man or lady for a cone, not a plastic bowl and spoon. I recommend a waffle cone with chocolate drizzle and walnuts… crunch down on that sweet goodness ☺ Did you know that Americans throw out enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons each year to circle the equator 300 times?1 You did not contribute to that long chain of plastic and for that, my friend, you deserve an extra scoop!

  2. Americans also throw out 500 million disposable straws every day. Because of that, some environmentalists say you should forgo straws altogether. Maybe you should, but I won't agree to that. I like my lemonade with crushed ice and my mojitos with fresh mint, and I like to sip both languidly in a linen dress on a warm summer evening. That simple pleasure requires a straw more elegant and guilt-free than the ubiquitous plastic straw. That's why I recommend this glass straw!

  3. Ready for another big number? On top of all that plastic-ware, we throw out two billion shaving razors annually.2 Purchase a steel safety razor and never invest in a plastic razor (or any other razor for that matter) again. Get the razor second-hand, and you'll spend all of $10. A pack of 100 blades will set you back another $25 at most. Beth Terry (from the blog My Plastic-Free Life) writes that each blade lasts more than a month.3 Men: complete the shave set with a bristle brush and organic shave soap scented with Bay Rum. Now you're as classy as a Humphrey Bogart in a barbershop—leather chair and cigar smoke are optional☺

  4. Stop chewing gum. “The ancient Greeks chewed mastiche - a gum made from the resin of the mastic tree; the Mayans chewed chicle which is the sap from the sapodilla tree; North American Indians chewed the sap from spruce trees and passed the habit along to the settlers,” writes Pat Thomas of The Ecologist.4 In contrast, today we Americans do not chew on gum made of natural rubber. We chew on synthetic rubber, which contains a great deal of toxic stuff like polyvinyl acetate, which is a type of plastic. That's right, we chew on a plastic that has been shown to cause tumors in lab rats. Not only is gum packaged in plastic, it is plastic!5 For those of you who like to chew while longing for a cigarette or simply ruminating, chew on licorice root instead. It'll calm your mind and build stamina.6 Some say licorice even helps prevent baldness. Sounds like exchanging gum for licorice is like trading in a Superfund site for a fountain of youth!

  5. Don't buy air fresheners in canisters or plug-in plastic-based containers. Let's be real – they always smell more like a punch of chemicals than an “enticing scent of pomegranate” or a “crisp, light citrus” or even a “breath of fresh air.” You want fresh air? Open up a window! When it's cold outside, light a soy or beeswax candle, or some incense. A flickering flame always has a way of setting the right mood. I love this affordable organic beeswax candle, or you can make your own at home!

  6. Be like a grandfather and get a handkerchief. Disposable tissues use up trees and are wrapped in plastic. Purchasing or making some hankies is an excellent opportunity to reflect on your personal style. Will you choose a plain white hanky, a lacy hanky, a monogrammed hanky, a rag with fraying edges, or a hanky with swallows on a line? No pressure, but this is the hanky your grandchildren will remember you by!

  7. Even if you and I make a pledge right now to never buy a single thing made of plastic ever again, the streams that wind around our towns will still be sprinkled with fast-food wrappers and plastic bags. What a shame. Someone should really clean all that up. Of course, that someone can be you and me. You can organize a community-wide clean-up effort, though I admit that I never plan to do that. It sounds like way too much paperwork, and I hate paperwork. Here's a simpler solution: next time you go on a hike, bring a pair of rubber gloves and make it a goal to pick up, say, 12 pieces of plastic trash. To get the kids and kids-at-heart involved, turn the clean-up into a scavenger hunt. Whoever finds 12 pieces first gets a prize, maybe even an ice cream cone!
Browse all Greeniacs Guides Browse all Greeniacs Guides        Browse all Greeniacs Articles
_______________________________________________________________________________

1 http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
2 http://fashioningchange.com/eco-tips/2billion_razors_each_year
3 http://myplasticfreelife.com/2007/08/plastic-free-shaving-part-1/
4 http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label
/396637/behind_the_label_chewing_gum.html
5 http://myplasticfreelife.com/2010/01/chewing-on-plastic-yum/
6 http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/licorice.html




Add your comment
RSS comments

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Click here to Register.  Click here to login.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 November 2011 )

SEARCH GREENIACS.COM

Green Facts

  • Current sea ice levels are at least 47% lower than they were in 1979.

  • One recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours.

  • Shaving 10 miles off of your weekly driving pattern can eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

  • You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.

  • Less than 1% of electricity in the United States is generated from solar power.

  • A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by about 70%.

  • Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than equivalent stands of trees.

  • Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.

  • For every 38,000 bills consumers pay online instead of by mail, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved.

  • Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch.

  • A tree that provides a home with shade from the sun can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.

  • If every U.S. household turned the thermostat down by 10 degrees for seven hours each night during the cold months, and seven hours each weekday, it would prevent nearly gas emissions.

  • Glass can be recycled over and over again without ever wearing down.

  • It takes 6,000,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for the world.

  • You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that you replace with a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), over the life of the bulb.

  • The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million people die prematurely worldwide every year due to air pollution.

  • An aluminum can that is thrown away instead of recycled will still be a can 500 years from now!

  • In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and you'll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel.

  • Washing your clothes in cold or warm instead of hot water saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, and drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds.

  • Due to tiger poaching, habitat destruction, and other human-tiger conflicts, tigers now number around 3,200—a decrease in population by about 70% from 100 years ago.

  • Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save as much as 10 gallons a day per person.

  • Americans throw away more than 120 million cell phones each year, which contribute 60,000 tons of waste to landfills annually.

  • Recycling 1 million laptop computers can save the amount of energy used by 3,657 homes in the U.S. over the course of a year.

  • A laptop consumes five times less electricity than a desktop computer.

  • 77% of people who commute to work by car drive alone.

  • Refrigerators built in 1975 used 4 times more energy than current models.

  • Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct.

  • You will save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive if you always keep your car’s tires fully inflated.

  • Nudge your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter to prevent 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

  • Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.

  • 82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from burning fossil fuels.

  • American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting through rush hour traffic. This adds up to 23 billion gallons of gas wasted in traffic each year.

  • In California homes, about 10% of energy usage is related to TVs, DVRs, cable and satellite boxes, and DVD players.

  • Recycling 100 million cell phones can save enough energy to power 18,500 homes in the U.S. for a year.

  • Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.

  • A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

  • States with bottle deposit laws have 35-40% less litter by volume.

  • Recycling for one year at Stanford University saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.

  • Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months