Plastic Pollution
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT PLASTIC POLLUTION
Plastic bags and bottles, like all forms of plastic, create significant environmental and economic burdens. They consume growing amounts of energy and other natural resources, degrading the environment in numerous ways. In addition to using up fossil fuels and other resources, plastic products create litter, hurt marine life, and threaten the basis of life on earth. We are producing over 25 million tons of plastics per year in the United States, a trivial fraction of which is getting recycled. Here are some steps that you can take to reverse the tide of toxic, non-biodegradable pollution so that it will not overtake our planet. PERSONAL STEPS Take no plastic bags from the grocer’s shelf. Refuse plastic bags at the check-out counter. Comments Put produce in paper, canvas, and other healthy-fiber bags. If a clerk throws your box of soap into a plastic bag, ask him or her to replace it in one of your bags. Give the clerk a copy of “Why I Don’t Use Plastic Bags.” Our experience has been that they appreciate this information. Don’t buy plastic sandwich Use wax paper bags, cloth napkins, or re-useable bags. sandwich boxes (e.g., tiffins, described below). Buy beverages in sustainable Use only glass bottles or cans. containers. Don’t open another plastic Bottled water costs over 1000 times more per liter than water bottle. Take drinking water from your tap. Buying our most essential nutrient, water from the tap. water, from corporations represents an abdication of community control of the commons. If you have concerns about water safety, investigate a filter system such as Multi-Pure. Better yet, work with your water district to develop stricter standards for water purity. Buy fresh produce in Mother Pre-bagged produce not only uses wasteful packaging, but Nature’s wrappers (shell, also tends to come from farther away, consuming more of rind, husk, etc.). our dwindling oil supplies in transport. Give up Tupper Ware and Tiffins
Plastic bags and bottles, like all forms of plastic, create significant environmental and economic burdens. They consume growing amounts of energy and other natural resources, degrading the environment in numerous ways. In addition to using up fossil fuels and other resources, plastic products create litter, hurt marine life, and threaten the basis of life on earth. We are producing over 25 million tons of plastics per year in the United States, a trivial fraction of which is getting recycled. Here are some steps that you can take to reverse the tide of toxic, non-biodegradable pollution so that it will not overtake our planet. PERSONAL STEPS Take no plastic bags from the grocer’s shelf. Refuse plastic bags at the check-out counter. Comments Put produce in paper, canvas, and other healthy-fiber bags. If a clerk throws your box of soap into a plastic bag, ask him or her to replace it in one of your bags. Give the clerk a copy of “Why I Don’t Use Plastic Bags.” Our experience has been that they appreciate this information. Don’t buy plastic sandwich Use wax paper bags, cloth napkins, or re-useable bags. sandwich boxes (e.g., tiffins, described below). Buy beverages in sustainable Use only glass bottles or cans. containers. Don’t open another plastic Bottled water costs over 1000 times more per liter than water bottle. Take drinking water from your tap. Buying our most essential nutrient, water from the tap. water, from corporations represents an abdication of community control of the commons. If you have concerns about water safety, investigate a filter system such as Multi-Pure. Better yet, work with your water district to develop stricter standards for water purity. Buy fresh produce in Mother Pre-bagged produce not only uses wasteful packaging, but Nature’s wrappers (shell, also tends to come from farther away, consuming more of rind, husk, etc.). our dwindling oil supplies in transport. Give up Tupper Ware and Tiffins