September 26, 2013 | SharkAdmin Plastic is EVERYWHERE! It is found in virtually everything that is manufactured and sold for our consumption. You may be okay with consuming these products because their packaging is touted as “recyclable;” however, the reality is that they’re “downcycled” which means they are made into a lower-quality item. A plastic milk carton, for example, would not be recycled into another plastic milk carton but instead it would be downcycled into plastic lumber which itself cannot then be recycled. Plastic waste (if we don’t recycle it, or at the end of its downcycled state) ends up in landfills, beaches, rivers and oceans contributing to such devastating problems as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a vortex of garbage the size of a continent where plastic outnumbers plankton. Recycling plastics IS better than just throwing them away where they will end up in a landfill, but recycling alone will not solve the plastic problem. Only by reducing the amount of plastics we consume, therefore reducing the need to manufacture them, are we going to even begin to tackle our “plastics problem.” At this point, you may be thinking, “okay, well everything has plastic on it, or in it, so how am I, as a consumer, supposed to be able to make a difference? After all, I need the products I buy and I can’t help it if they are packaged in plastic.” Well actually, you do have a choice and you can affect change, one little step at a time. Here are five simple things you can do to get started: Give up straws: Simply inform your waiter or waitress that you don’t want a straw with your beverage, and you can specify this when ordering at a drive thru too. Give up the plastic produce bags at grocery stores. If you are already bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, then you’re already making a difference, but if you are still using plastic produce bags it’s time to make a change. Purchase some reusable produce bags and help keep more plastic out of the landfills. If you can, avoid produce bags made from nylon or polyester because they’re also made of plastic; opt for cotton ones instead. Give up gum. Okay, this one change may be hard to swallow for some of you, but here is something to consider. Gum was originally made from tree sap called chicle, a natural rubber, but when scientists created synthetic rubber, polyethylene and polyvinyl acetate began to replace the natural rubber in most gum. Yuck! So not only could you be chewing on plastic, but you may be chewing on plastic that has also been shown to be toxic and cause tumors. Buy boxes not bottles. Buy your detergents in boxes instead of plastic bottles. Cardboard is more easily recycled and made into more products than plastics. Better yet, skip purchasing them altogether and make your own detergents and cleaners; its more environmentally friendly and less expensive! Skip the frozen food section. Frozen foods are convenient, but there is usually quite a bit of plastic involved in their packaging. Even the eco-friendly packaging made from cardboard is coated with a thin layer of plastic. Giving up frozen food is difficult, but besides helping out the environment, you may also be helping yourself: you’ll be eating less processed foods. If you make these five simple changes, you will be reducing the amount of plastic waste you generate. It may not seem like these small changes would make much difference in a big world, but when more than 30 million tons of plastic waste are generated in the U.S. alone each year, everyone making small changes to reduce our need for plastics can add up. Big change starts with each of us making small adjustments in our daily lives! Good environmental choices X people = big change in the world! Now, that is math that even I can understand! By NVC employee Sabrina Carey
