The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental nonprofit resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Sheda Morshed.
With everything else we’re juggling these days, a recent development has made it crucial for Americans to also rethink our plastic habits. We are, after all, the largest consumers of plastics.
Global markets from China to Cambodia and the Philippines are rejecting and returning shipping containers full of American plastics back to us (the ones we diligently put in our blue bins and send abroad to downcycle into other products).
It’s an inconvenient truth that the U.S. recycling industry has no demand for these plastics—only about 10% of plastics are actually recycled. So with nowhere to go, plastics are ending up in our shrinking landfills.
This is bad news. From our soda and shampoo bottles to our laundry detergent and glass cleaner bottles, once created, our plastics never really go away. From plastic-manufacturing “nurdles” that fly into our waterways to end-of-life disposals, plastics persist in our environment at unconscionable levels, harming their way up the food chain and onto our plates, according to a report by As You Sow.
Google “microplastic pollution” and you’ll see that humans are now consuming a credit card-worth of plastic every week. You read that right: One credit card per week.
Clearly, our plastic habit has simplified our complex lives (and enriched the petroleum industry), but it has come at the cost of turning us into breathing, plastic receptacles. (Fun fact: The foods with the highest plastic levels are shellfish, beer and salt, according to ABC News.)
Here’s the good news. Luckily, almost all of our everyday products are now available as plastic-free options. If you can’t find a plastic-free option at your local store, speak with the manager or write a letter. By asserting your buying power with these affordable plastic-free solutions, you’re shaping the marketplace for other companies to follow suit.
Here are some examples of plastic-free alternatives, including info on where to recycle any impossible-to-avoid plastic bags:
- Bulk bins using reusable cloth bags.
- All cosmetics, from shampoos, conditioners and lotion bars to sunscreens and lipsticks.
- Laundry: Use laundry powder or laundry sheets in lieu of liquid (most powders are now formulated with natural cold-water activated enzymes).
- Toothpaste tablets, plant-based dental floss and toothbrushes.
- Plant-based hair ties.
- Silicone bags and containers for snacks, frozen foods and to-go.
- Plant-based dish sponges (vs. plastic-based “yellow and green” sponge).
- Tiny-packaged, concentrated dish soaps, floor cleaners and other cleaning products, designed to add water at home, e.g., RefilleryLA.com, PackageFreeShop.com and TheEarthlingCo.com.
- Wood or 100% recycled plastic toys, e.g., Green Toys.
- When plastic is a must, buy as close to 100% Post-Consumer Waste (PCW) plastics as possible, e.g., Grove 100% recycled kitchen bags.
- Support Resilient Palisades’ Cut Out Cutlery campaign by supporting participating Palisades restaurants.
- Following approval by the Health Department, our local Starbucks now accepts reusable mugs; ask other local shops to do so, too.
- To recycle plastic bags, including from Amazon, visit PlasticFilmRecycling.org.
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