Tag: plastic pollution

Here’s how to cut down on waste in every room of your house

On By Abbey DufoeIn Environmental, Pollution, Recycle2 Comments

I’m back writing about cutting down our collective waste again! I’ll probably never stop because it’s easy to switch out some of the large sources of plastic in your home, and plastic ends up in the ocean where fish mistake it for food, and, I mean, plastic is EVERYWHERE.

So here’s my definitive guide on reducing, reusing, and recycling your way through your plastic and other waste needs in your home, just in time for Earth Day.

I use almost all of the products I mention here, daily! 

Kitchen

stasherbag_hero
Stasher bags

Easy swaps:

  • Switch from plastic wrap to Beeswrap or another beeswax-based wrap. Or just stop using plastic wrap altogether! If you have to use it specifically for baking, try to reuse it where you can!
  • Use silicone baking sheets in place of aluminum foil where you can. I’ve cooked everything on these, and they cook (and wash in the dishwasher!) like a dream. If you have to use aluminum foil, try to wash lightly with soap and reuse.
  • Ditch plastic storage bags and switch to silicone Stasher bags — the best replacements you can get for plastic sandwich/snack bags. For dry food, I love Nordic by Nature bags (but search for your favorites online).
  • Bring your own grocery bags and produce bags to the store with you. And try not to forget them in the car!
  • Buy recycled (or reusable) coffee filters. I know you drink coffee every day, so this is a way to cut down on your waste. Oh, and if you haven’t kicked the K-cup habit already (or gotten reusable K-Cups), you should — the amount of K-Cups that have been trashed in landfills could wrap around the planet 10 times.
  • Swap out your regular paper towels for bamboo paper towels, or switch to “un-paper” towels (here’s how to make them). You could also try European dish cloths — wash them in the dishwasher to disinfect!
  • Opt for cloth napkins over paper ones. The forests will thank you!

If you want a challenge:

  • Be more mindful of what kinds of food you’re buying at the grocery store, in terms of packaging. Maybe you love soda — ditch the plastic bottles for aluminum cans, which are easier to recycle. You may love buying pre-cut veggies, but think about how much plastic you’d save if you bought the vegetable in it’s true form and cut it yourself! Love your daily yogurt? Opt for a larger container and split it up into smaller servings at home — usually, the more convenient the item, the more packaging it has. And shop at a store with a bulk food section that lets you bring your own containers! These small changes in packaging can make a big wave.
  • Start composting! Now that you’re making more food scraps, put them to work with a counter-top composter or, if you have the space, a compost pile in your backyard

Bathroom

Easy swaps:

  • Switch to a bamboo toothbrush to create less plastic waste (they’re biodegradable — and also not plastic).
  • Make the switch to shampoo and conditioner bars. Lush has an entire line of package-free shampoo bars and solid conditioners you can use over and over again without the guilt of a giant shampoo bottle. Zero Waste Store even has a package-free dog shampoo!
  • Ditch your body wash for a bar of soap. Most soap these days comes in cardboard boxes (which can be recycled) or no packaging at all.
  • Change your toilet paper to toilet paper sourced from bamboo, or something that gets an “A” on the NRDC’s toilet paper sustainability scorecard. The forests will thank you!
shampoobars
LUSH shampoo bars

If you want a challenge:

  • Women’s razors are a huge source of plastic waste, so choose one that lasts a long time (or has less plastic) or opt for a safety razor if you really want to take the plunge. They are expensive up front, but are zero-waste, since the blades can be recycled.
  • Go reusable where you can in your makeup routine. Swap wipes for washcloths. Cotton rounds for reusable cotton rounds. Hell, they’re even making reusable Q-tips now.
  • Switch to toothpaste and mouthwash tabs to clear your kitchen counter of tubes and bottles. These new toothpaste tabs from Bite come in a glass jar that can be recycled, and these mouthwash tabs from Lush come in zero-packaging.
  • Change up your deodorant. This suggestion is tough for people because they don’t love to switch up scents or routines, but you could be saving a lot of plastic. This biodegradable deodorant from Hammond Herbs comes in a push-up tube, while Myro deodorant comes in recyclable pods that you switch out into the reusable canister every month (or week — not judging how much deodorant you use!). Some stores even sell deodorant in bars and jars.

Living Room

Easy swaps:

  • If you’re constantly opening a new lint roller for actual lint or to get rid of pet hair on you and your furniture, try a washable lint roller or self-cleaning lint-roller — you’ll save time AND money (and the Earth, but that’s a given).
  • Swiffer dusters may seem convenient, but you’re making waste every time you dust! Opt for a machine-washable duster like this one from Grove Collaborative, or just make a dust rag out of your old shirts like my mom used to do. And do the same for your actual Swiffer — use an old shirt, towel, or sock to mop up that mess, and then just wash it when you’re done and reuse it again!

If you want a challenge:

Laundry

Easy swaps:

  • Swap out your dryer sheets for wool dryer balls. No more throwing away a pile of trash with your laundry every cycle, and you can customize their scent with essential oils.
dryerball.jpg
Friendsheep dryer balls (penguin style!!)

If you want a challenge:

  • Cut out bulky plastic containers of detergent and make your own. Google a recipe that suits you, or try this one from DIY Natural.
  • Line dry your clothes as a bonus (when you can, if you can!). This saves electricity ($$$) but also cuts down on carbon emissions.

Traveling

Easy swaps:

  • Carry your own straw if you need one! FinalStraw (shameless plug, I’m an ambassador!) has a collapsable, dishwasher-safe straw that you can take anywhere, even through airport security. Use my code “ABBEYD” for 10% off your order (they have them in rainbow!).

 

  • Bring your own water bottle. Do I have to explain this one again???? Ok, phew. If you’re worried about finding water on your travels, just fill up your bottle at any restaurant with a soda machine. If you’re still worried, check out FindTap — an app and map with free water stations all over the country (growing every day!).

If you want a challenge:

  • Carry reusable bamboo utensils with you, but remove the knife — it may cause problems for you in the airport security line.
  • Bring a reusable bag with you on your travels too. Chances are you’re going to need it, and refusing a few plastic bags is great!
  • Add a jar or collapsable Tupperware container to this new bag of reusable utensils you’re now carrying around! You can use it to take leftovers from restaurants (or carry snacks!).

Overall, try and limit your plastic packaging when you’re buying anything. If buying in bulk, become more aware of things like paper towels being individually wrapped, or dishwasher detergent coming in plastic wrappers. It takes all of us making a little less waste — REDUCING — to make a huge difference. Happy Earth Day!

This is why sea life eats plastic (this, and other revelations from the New England Aquarium)

On By Abbey DufoeIn Environmental, Pollution, Water Problems, WildlifeLeave a comment

I’m going to assume you’ve seen that video of a straw being pulled out of a sea turtle’s nose (if you haven’t, and you for some reason want to, here it is).

You’ve probably also seen images of plastic trash floating in the ocean (the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is growing), waves of waste pummeling our shores, and seabirds caught in garbage… I could go on.

But what you probably haven’t seen is a sea turtle munching down on its lunch.

Myrtle the Sea Turtle

Last month I visited the New England Aquarium for the first time. After climbing the spiral ramp to the top, I was greeted by Myrtle the sea turtle — a majestic (about) 90-year-old female turtle who had been collected from the wild and transferred from an aquarium in Rhode Island.

myrtle4

Aptly dubbed Queen of the Ocean Tank, the friendly 550 pound turtle peeped in and out of the dozens of viewing holes around the Aquarium’s spiral tank, so that everyone can see her. Luckily, I was there for feeding time.

I watched as the volunteers started throwing lettuce into the top of the tank, and Myrtle swam right toward it, not even stopping to think what she was putting in her mouth.

And then this horrible thought occurred to me — the lettuce looks exactly like a plastic bag, and it’s no wonder so many marine animals mistake plastic for food.

Watch as she goes straight for this lettuce:

Sure, she’s in captivity and she knows it’s her food (and that it’s feeding time). But think about starving marine animals who don’t know the difference between plastic and food in the wild! It’s no wonder so many animals end up with plastic in their stomachs.

While she eats a plethora of things (from veggies like brussels sprouts to marine animals like squid), I couldn’t get the image of a sea turtle chomping down on lettuce out of my head.

No Plastic Here

The New England Aquarium is a plastic free facility, and this gives me hope for many more museums, zoos, and facilities like it.

They don’t sell plastic water bottles — instead, they provide water in aluminum cans (completely recyclable!) called Open Water, and have refillable bottle stations throughout the aquarium. They also only provide straws and lids on request which is a practice more businesses should take into consideration — less plastic waste going into the waste stream!

A Climate Change Education Mecca

The information boards across the countless exhibits at the New England Aquarium also provided amazing information about HOW people can help fight climate change personally, which was an amazing contrast to the usual rhetoric of “we can’t do anything unless it’s enormous change across the entire planet.”

Here are some ways the aquarium suggests you can help fight climate change, which in turn helps conserve the ocean:

  • Choose ocean-friendly seafood
  • Walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation
  • Use fuel-efficient vehicles and energy efficient appliances
  • Support policies that reduce carbon emissions

If you’re looking for ways to help Myrtle and other sea turtles, you can donate to the Ocean Conservancy or the New England Aquarium’s Center for Ocean Life.

You can also take every day actions like reducing your use of plastic, using reusable water bottles when you can, and reducing your carbon emissions! We only have one Earth (and ocean!).

*Update: After tweeting this at the aquarium, they pointed me to this resource, where you can pledge to lower your plastic use! Check it out: https://pledge.ourhands.org/

Please, PLEASE, cut down on your plastic use

On By Abbey DufoeIn Environmental, Pollution, Recycle, Water Problems, Wildlife2 Comments

I am BEGGING YOU. This isn’t a drill anymore — plastic is EVERYWHERE. And it’s a huge problem.

From the National Geographic June 2018 issue:

Because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a staggering 6.3 billion tons never made it to a recycling bin—a figure that stunned the scientists who crunched the numbers in 2017.

No one knows how much unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean, Earth’s last sink. In 2015, Jenna Jambeck, a University of Georgia engineering professor, caught everyone’s attention with a rough estimate: between 5.3 million and 14 million tons each year just from coastal regions. Most of it isn’t thrown off ships, she and her colleagues say, but is dumped carelessly on land or in rivers, mostly in Asia. It’s then blown or washed into the sea. Imagine five plastic grocery bags stuffed with plastic trash, Jambeck says, sitting on every foot of coastline around the world—that would correspond to about 8.8 million tons, her middle-of-the-road estimate of what the ocean gets from us annually. It’s unclear how long it will take for that plastic to completely biodegrade into its constituent molecules. Estimates range from 450 years to never.

I want to point this specific part out to you: “It’s unclear how long it will take for that plastic to completely biodegrade into its constituent molecules. Estimates range from 450 years to never.”

We can only do so much to clean up what’s out there. So here’s what you can do to slow it down:

1. Stop using single use items

We all do it. Even me (hey, I never claimed to be perfect). But we can be better about this. One of most impactful things we can do is STOP USING STRAWS. There’s a great replacement coming to market soon for a traveling, collapsible straw, but in the meantime, just buy straws and take them with you if you have to — or just stop using them. K-Cups are just as bad, if not worse (they could wrap around the planet 10 TIMES). If you have to use them, make your own reusable ones. Buy compostable ones (though, those aren’t that great either). Cut down on your deliverable meal plan boxes, or at least choose one that doesn’t have as much single use plastic. I’ve found that Hello Fresh does the best with this (Blue Apron’s packaging is TERRIBLE for the Earth), so just be aware of what you’re contributing).

Globally, 18 percent of plastic is recycled, up from nearly zero in 1980. Plastic bottles are one of the most widely recycled products. But other items, such as drinking straws, are harder to recycle and often discarded.

I could go on for days about single use plastic bottles and bags, but I’ll spare you. So just don’t use them. Use reusable bags — keep them in your car, in your desk, in your spouses’s car… wherever it takes for you to remember to bring them in the store. Buy reusable produce bags to take with you. And FOR THE LOVE OF THE EARTH, stop buying plastic water bottles.

Meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly—strangled by abandoned fishing nets or discarded six-pack rings. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from zooplankton to whales, now eat microplastics, the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across.

2. RECYCLE EVERYTHING

And if you can’t when you’re out and about, take it home and do it. Make sure you actually can in your recycling bin — check out this list to see if you’re recycling correctly, or your items right to a recycling plant. Also pay attention to HOW to recycle in your town. Do your recyclables need to be washed? If so, rise them (but save water while doing it, ok?). Do your paper products need to be tied with twine? (Mine do, which is strange, but whatever, buy some twine and get it done).

3. Be more conscious about your purchases

Are you about to buy those brussels sprouts already chopped up, sitting in styrofoam, wrapped in plastic? Don’t. That tiny package will have a way bigger impact on our planet than it’s manufactuer ever intended (see that little blurb from NatGeo above), so just think twice before buying unnecessary waste.

If you can disrupt the cycle by not buying plastic at the source, hopefully we can slow down the amount being put back onto the planet.

From National Geographic:

“This isn’t a problem where we don’t know what the solution is,” says Ted Siegler, a Vermont resource economist who has spent more than 25 years working with developing nations on garbage. “We know how to pick up garbage. Anyone can do it. We know how to dispose of it. We know how to recycle.” It’s a matter of building the necessary institutions and systems, he says—ideally before the ocean turns, irretrievably and for centuries to come, into a thin soup of plastic.

There are things we can do to help this global problem. So let’s do them.

 

Earth Week 2015: how are the oceans doing, anyway?

On By Abbey DufoeIn Environmental, Environmental Change, Environmental Holidays, Pollution, Recycle, Water ProblemsLeave a comment

Welcome to my annual Earth Week series! I believe that protecting the Earth deserves more than one day, so I’ve given it a week. Check back every day from April 20-24 to learn about a new environmental issue (or solution!) each day.

Sometimes we forget about the oceans, despite the fact that they take up 70% of the Earth’s surface. Or, more specifically, we forget to think about what ends up there.

A study in the journal Science found that we deposit between 5.3 and 14 million tons of plastic in the oceans every year. I mean sure, that’s a huge range. But to make it more fathomable, OnEarth made analogies for plastic totaling 9 million tons. 9 million tons of plastic is 136 billion plastic jugs, which, if stacked, would “reach more than halfway to Mars.” 9 million tons of plastic is “also the equivalent of piling five grocery bags full of plastic on every foot of coastline in the world.”

So, in other words, that’s a lot of plastic. And however you quantify it, a lot of it is going into the oceans.

garbagepatch

If you don’t know, there is a huge pile of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The patch is actually a group of trash piles that collect between the west coast of the US and the East Coast of Asia. The trash “vortex” collects in a convergence zone in the ocean – where warm water from the the southern hemisphere meets with cold water from the Arctic. You can see the different trash piles below:

The plastic converges here because a lot of it isn’t biodegradable, considering it’s plastic. That, paired with the fact that we produce 620% more plastic than we did as a society in 1975, is causing problems for marine life as well as the health of the ocean. Mashable reports that when plastic is jostled in the ocean, it is sometimes broken up into tiny shreds, small enough to be ingested my animals and avoid nets of those trying to clean up the sea.

Garbage washed up in Hawaii

So what can you do to help? Here are some ideas:

  • Use less plastic: we only recycle 14% of plastic we use in the US, and that’s pretty bad. If you live in an area where recycling is easily accessible, please just recycle. Just put that plastic bottle in your recycling bin!
  • Stop using products with plastic micro-beads in them: okay, so ICYMI, your facial cleanser probably has tiny pieces of plastic in it. Do you have exfoliating beads? Bingo. Simple solution – don’t use these! Find other products . If you’re inclined to take a stand, find out more here.
  • Reuse the plastic you do use: use extra plastic jars to house snacks instead of using plastic snack/sandwich bags. You can also reuse the tupperware from lunch meat to take your sandwiches to work. There are endless possibilities!
  • Don’t use plastic bottles: if you read my blog, you know plastic bottles are horrible, not just for the environment because of plastic pollution, but because of water extraction too. The bottles are made of fossil fuels, too, which doesn’t help the Earth much.

It’s easy to make change – just pick what works for you and stick to it! A little goes a long way. Thanks for joining me for this Earth Week series!

This post concludes my Earth Week posts for 2015. Click here for more!