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October 2019

SINGLE USE PLASTIC - PAYING THE PRICE By: Claire de Ruiter, Lavender Hill Holidays

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We are paying for plastic in more ways than we know. We pay extra for our grocery items in packaging but the costs are more than financial. Every minute we use 2 million plastic bags globally. Each one of these bags is in use for an average of only 12 minutes yet it can take up to 500 years for it to degrade in a landfill and then it will never go away. It breaks down to tiny little micro plastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment and wildlife. Read more about the "It's Raining Plastic" phenomenon here .

The world we live in is being severely damaged by our "throw away" culture. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is estimated to be somewhere between the size of Texas to more than twice the size of continental United States and growing. It's time to join the challenge and reduce your plastic waste! By making small changes it is not as demanding as you may think. After all, people have lived for hundreds of years without plastic so it isn't impossible. T he easiest way to start this adventure is to remove one "single use" plastic item from your life. Here are a few easy suggestions to get you going and reduce your plastic footprint.

1. SKIP THE LID : If you get a To Go coffee every day, saying NO to a lid could save up to 20 bits of plastic in a month! Better yet, use your own bottle or mug and ask for fill ups. 2. STOP THE STRAWS : Refuse straws, even in restaurants. You can purchase a reusable stainless straw and take it with you. 3. USE REUSABLE PRODUCE BAGS : I keep a folded shopping bag in my purse and a stash of them in a cubby section of my car. I also carry a half a dozen light weight (mesh) vegetable bags for produce in my purse.   4. BUY BULK : purchase food like cereal, pasta, rice, flour from bulk stores. Take your own containers. 5. AVOID PACKAGING : Ask your butcher or fishmonger if you can use your own containers for purchasing meat or fish. Buy bread from bakeries instead of plastic wrapped from shelves. Frozen food is always packed in plastic.  Try to buy food items from your grocery store that is not in a plastic container. Alternately, start removing the produce from clam-shells or plastic bags into your mesh bags, leaving the plastic containers at the grocery store. Your grocer will soon get the idea if enough people do this. (You need to take the plastic container to the check out for it to be scanned, leave it with the cashier).

6. SHOP FARMERS MARKETS : and take your own bags for produce, your own containers for food purchases. 7. RESTAURANTS : take your own containers for "doggy bags" as most restaurants use Styrofoam.  8. BUY BOXED, NOT BOTTLED: Many products like laundry detergent come in boxes that are easier to recycle than plastic. Buy a bar of soap instead of liquid. 9. USE MATCHES : instead of disposable lighters 10. USE A RAZOR : with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors. 11. USE BEESWAX WRAPS : instead of plastic wrap or sandwich bags. They can be purchased at many stores, on line, or you can make your own DIY Beeswax wraps.

12: SOMETHING BIG : Starting a plastic ban in your community isn't out of reach. I belong to a "Plastic Ban Group" in our community and we have managed to change things in our little town in a few short months. (Yes it is easier in small towns, but you can start off in your local neighborhood.) Our group started in June this year with a handful of neighbors and it grows weekly. The group communicates by social media (Facebook) and sets up meetings in our homes or coffee shops. In August our township voted unanimously to pass our motion supporting a voluntary ban on single use plastic in our municipality going into effect January 1, 2020. By July 2020 it will be mandatory. Getting together with your friends and neighbors for such a good cause is fun and rewarding. Right now we are collecting all single use plastics and having local artists in our group make a sculpture from it. We will be unveiling it during an annual fall art exhibition to bring awareness. I'll let you know how it goes!! If you are interested in starting your own Plastic Ban group this link, HOW TO START A PLASTIC BAN IN YOUR TOWN will help.

‌ ‌  Do YOU Have Green News to Share? Contact Going Green Co-Chairs: Jeanette Bunn Claire de Ruiter