Eliminating plastic from our homes
and lives is no easy task. It is everywhere you look, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. We have broken the process of getting rid of plastic into manageable phases, starting with the easiest things to cut out, and moving to items that are increasingly hard to replace. Will you take the challenge to cut down or eliminate your consumption of plastic? Try one stage at a time, and give yourself time to adjust. Check out this inspirational video to the right.
In each of the phases we have provided ideas for substituting the items on the list, as well as tips for making the transitions easier and links for places to find more information. What we have found is that it is a process of breaking old habits and making new ones. For example, in the first phase, one of the items you try to eliminate is plastic shopping bags. You may have the best of intentions, but if you keep forgetting to bring the bags with you when you go shopping you will get frustrated. Leave a set of bags in your car at all times, or keep a silk bag (which scrunches up really small) folded up in your bag or pocket for those unexpected stops! The challenge is empowering, and in many, many cases you will find that the alternatives are very easy to get used to. Because they are healthier, you feel good using them! It's a great way to make real, positive changes in the world and your life!
Five Strategies to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Plastics
1. Reduce the use
Source reduction Retailers and consumers can select products that use little or no packaging. Select packaging materials that are recycled into new packaging - such as glass and paper. If people refuse plastic as a packaging material, the industry will decrease production for that purpose, and the associated problems such as energy use, pollution, and adverse health effects will diminish.
2. Reuse containers
Since refillable plastic containers can be reused about 25 times, container reuse can lead to a substantial reduction in the demand for disposable plastic, and reduced use of materials and energy, with the consequent reduced environmental impacts. Container designers will take into account the fate of the container beyond the point of sale and consider the service the container provides. "Design for service" differs sharply from "design for disposal".
3. Require producers to take back resins
Get plastic manufacturers directly involved with plastic disposal and closing the material loop, which can stimulate them to consider the product’s life cycle from cradle to grave. Make reprocessing easier by limiting the number of container types and shapes, using only one type of resin in each container, making collapsible containers, eliminating pigments, using water-dispersible adhesives for labels, and phasing out associated metals such as aluminum seals. Container and resin makers can help develop the reprocessing infrastructure by taking back plastic from consumers.
4. Legislatively require recycled content
Requiring that all containers be composed of a percentage of post-consumer material reduces the amount of virgin material consumed.
5. Standardize labeling and inform the public
The chasing arrows symbol on plastics is an example of an ambiguous and misleading label. Significantly different standardized labels for "recycled," "recyclable," and "made of plastic type X" must be developed.
Planning an event? Events can often involve a tremendous amount of 'disposable' plastic. Check out our handy tip sheet for making yours a Zero Waste Event!
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