Our Plastic Free July – 2 stories from the US, 1 from Australia
• Early days in July . . . - in Sydney
Two interns working with Sustainable House, Ailis O’Sullivan and Brianne Kendall, join me as we tell our three Plastic Free July stories. I found the stories and the different and sometimes similar policies, practices and mores fascinating – thank you, Ailis and Brianne. (The US and Australian spelling differences reflect the authors’ countries of origin.)
Ailis O’Sullivan, US
I would like to think I am a relatively plastic-conscious person. I was always a little embarrassed as a seven year old in the lunch room at school taking out my carrots and hummus in a reused glass jar while my friends had single serving packages of cookies and pretzels, but now as an adult, I have come to realize that the environmental savings of not regularly using single-use plastics likely out-weighed my twenty minutes of foolish embarrassment.
Here is an image of my month’s plastic—very densely packed into one grocery bag.
• Ailis’s month of plastic in a bag
The biggest plastic contributor this month is clear: the infamous Amazon Prime envelope. I had done so good over the month, not ordering a thing online but it slipped my mind when I went to order food for my snails (of all things!) and so alas, I took a fall for that one.
This new era-of online shopping is so tragic for plastic pollution. While I was disciplined this month in my purchases, in reality, I just don’t know if I could fully swear off online shopping. I have been trying to shop at more sustainable brands when I can’t find (or make!) things I need—I have found Thrive Market to be great for some cooking essentials that I can’t always locate—they’re carbon neutral!
My favorite store to shop at for food is Trader Joes, in the United States it’s a pretty well-known chain for relatively healthy options at reasonable prices. All that is great in my books but the plastic in that place is rather ridiculous. The image below is the produce aisle.
• When too much plastic is barely enough
Everything is wrapped in plastic. Thankfully, its summer here which means plenty of farmers markets. I still have a few plastic bags from trader joes, but had it been winter where local vegetables aren’t quite as plentiful, I would likely be a bit heavier with the Trader Joes plastic.
For those of you doing this challenge on the side of the world that is cold right now, good on you! I owe most of my plastic saving to my farm share and local farmers markets. I would like to try this challenge again in January—when everything here is completely snowed over and see how I can control my plastic with limited ways to supplement my standard grocery shop.
The pandemic has brought many extra hours to my days and similar to many people, I have definitely filled much of that time with snacking, as evident below. However, I have also been cooking and baking up a storm which has allowed me to replace some plastic chip bags with paper flour and sugar bags that I then turned into tasty plastic-free treats.
• Does ‘carbon neutral’ count?
I tried to justify my chip consumption with this little Carbon Neutral tag on the Keogh’s bag but this is a very small amount of my full months plastic.
• . . . hmmm, probably not
There was certainly room for improvement in the hard-plastic container category as well. It is a hot summer here, so limiting my iced coffee intake (particularly as I can’t take in a reusable mug in with COVID) was no easy feat, I believe one or two cups may have not made it home with me—but I will still call three coffee in a month a success, especially because I tend to fill them up with water and continue to use the cup for a few days after, which may be gross but it makes me happy, and feel a little less guilty. Eligible containers will be going into our recycling later this week but still—plastic is plastic.
• Plastic is plastic
I am sure there was a number of things over the past month that I threw out without thinking twice. The pile pictured below in actuality; I imagine is much bigger.
• Did I mention plastic?
This challenge encouraged me to spend more time thinking about what I am buying. Even though I do try to buy things in glass jars, there is still a plastic seal around the top, and often times the labels themselves around the are plastic and un-recyclable. There is so much plastic I consume on a daily basis that I don’t even think about.
• Where does it all come from?
Above is more just random plastic—most of which I couldn’t even tell you where it came from.
I just can’t avoid plastic. It is everywhere. I am lucky I was caught in a good month to control my intake—but life is going to pick back up again, my energy will drain, and I will once again only shop and get take-out food in plastic containers. In my perfect world I am a plastic free climate change warrior, but in my realistic world, I am a university student with a packed schedule trying to balance time, finances, and things that bring me joy.
Small purchases like a reusable toothbrush, a mega pack of glass containers, and sturdy pots and pans that I am excited to cook with are some ways that I have figured out to reduce my plastic that work in my lifestyle. I encourage everyone to choose one aspect of your life or room and your house and spend some time thinking about how to reduce the waste in it.
For some, maybe that is looking into beauty product that require less packaging (check out ethique or Loli) for the avid workers, maybe this means brewing your coffee at home and investing in some refillable pens and pencils, and for others this may just mean buying more thing in bulk. Any reduction is good reduction.
Plastic is here for the foreseeable future whether we like it or not. It is imperative that we not only do our part to reduce our consumption but encourage others to do so as well. While it may have taken me some time to realize, it is totally more cool to eat your carrots out of a re-used glass jar than a plastic bag.
Breaking Up with Plastic – Brianne Kendall, US
To be honest, I went into the Plastic-Free July challenge having already made some pretty significant plastic-free swaps and thinking I was going to breeze through the challenge. I envisioned having only a mason jar filled with fruit labels and small pieces of trash to show for at the end of the challenge. Instead, I had this.
• Brianne’s bag of plastic
A trash bag full of soda, shampoo and conditioner, almond milk, takeaway containers – all made of plastic. As an environmental science student, and an overall eco-conscience citizen, I was rather disappointed with myself. As I took my family’s plastic collection to the recycle center, I felt defeated, knowing that these items would take decades and centuries to break down. And even then, they would just become micro-plastics, arguably more dangerous to the environment than the original item they derived from.
But then I thought about what is happening in our world. Pandemic. Illness. Suffering. This is a strange time we are living in, one where plastic is more in demand than reusable alternatives. Some people feel safer wearing single-use masks and gloves instead of homemade cloth masks. Restaurants are only delivering in plastic or Styrofoam takeout trays. Amazon and online retailers are seeing an uptick in sales, and subsequently plastic packaging. We are constantly disinfecting with cleaning wipes and those small bottles of hand sanitizer. These suddenly seem like very necessary aspects of our daily lives.
We cannot beat ourselves up for the way our lives are right now, we can only do our best. That being said, there is still a great need to get rid of plastics and move towards a sustainable waste-free planet. While it can seem impossible right now, it is important to take baby steps and make change where you can. It is honestly kind of addicting – helping the planet. The minute you make one change and you see how easy it can be, you want to make more. And suddenly, you are on your way to a beautiful sustainable life.
Whether you took the plastic-free challenge or not, you cannot deny that there is entirely too much plastic in the world. So many things could be manufactures in reusable packaging, but we have to make a demand for it! Stop buying plastic straws, and opt for metal ones instead. Or loose the straw altogether and take a big swig of your favorite drink. Ask your local restaurants to use carboard or recycled paper for their takeaway containers. Bring reusable cloth bags to the grocery store. Make your own face masks that are unique and beautiful.
And continue to educate yourself. It is a lot easier to quit plastic when you really understand the effect it has on the planet. We throw out 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic annually. Of that, nearly 8 million tonnes ends up in our oceans, entangling and killing 700 marine species. If you think that’s a lot of plastic, maybe don’t think about the fact that scientists say this amount could triple by 2040. People have used plastic to make airbags, medical supplies, and other live saving items, but we have also used plastic to overproduce single-use items that will flood our landfills and oceans. The plastic left behind can take upwards of 400 years to break down, and even then, it just turns into microplastics. Plastic cannot actually decompose via microorganisms, because it is not a natural substance. Not to mention they are such an eyesore, sitting in heaps and lapping in waves. Continue to research and understand the impact of plastic pollution. I promise you will never look at a plastic item the same.
Please, be aware of the plastic problem but do not despair. We can only make sufficient change if we are hopeful and active. Do the best you can with the resources, finances, and time available to you. Here are some simple swaps to start your plastic-free journey!
• From plastic to cloth
• From veggies in plastic to veggies in bags
• From single use to re-use
• Container solutions
Michael Mobbs, Sydney, Australia
My first heading for this blog was, “From Plastic to Fantastic”.
Now, it’s more, “How I disappointed myself, and moved on” or, more realistically, “Plastic is winning, hugely’.
I’m writing this in café where I’m having lemon grass and ginger tea with pickled cucumber and cream cheese on a bagel; my plastic use, of course, includes foods and materials for which I rarely see their packaging. Perhaps what I quantify here is the visible island of the huge plastic iceberg that mostly is out of my sight?
The Plastic Free July site says, however:
“In July 2019 alone, an estimated 250 million people across the globe took part in the challenge from 177 countries. An IPSOS survey - link will open in a new window revealed that 29% of people surveyed worldwide were aware of the Plastic Free July challenge and almost half of those chose to take part in 2018.”.
• My box of plastics about mid July - the Who Gives a Crap toilet paper has no plastic packaging.
By the end of July my box of plastics was overflowing.
While I garden in the street I pick up plastic there in our road gardens, and there’s a daily ‘harvest' there which I bring home.
May I finish up on some encouraging examples which show imagination and initiative in industry?
Thai grocery chain replaces plastic packaging with banana leaves.
The coffee bag which is compostable, including the zip lock, the other bits which look like plastic and which is filled with coffee beans made with solar power.
• All of this food grade package is compostable; it takes about 6 weeks to break down in my compost
And the dental floss made from glass, paper in compostable packaging
Perhaps the end of plastic is lurking in inventors’ minds just like Google, the electric light bulb, the Watt steam engine and so many inventions that were unexpected through our industrial history - and they’ll burst truly plastic free upon our world soon.
I hope so and this thought makes me smile: it’s predicted no oil guzzling cars will be manufactured after 2024 due to the electric vehicle. If that huge change can happen soon, so, too, can the elimination of plastic.