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I've started, to the greatest extent possible and practical, eliminating single-use plastics from my life. If something comes in either a metal can and and a p
by kilo_bravo_3 7y ago
I've started, to the greatest extent possible and practical, eliminating single-use plastics from my life.
If something comes in either a metal can and and a plastic pouch, even if it is more expensive I'll buy the metal can version.
A glass jar can be recycled or will break down into sand, a metal can can be recycled or turn into rust, a paper or cardboard container may be recyclable and will break down into mush.
A plastic bag or jar is unlikely to be recycled and the polymer chains that it is made up of will remain on earth for a human-scale definition of "forever" slowly breaking down into microscopic pieces that get into the water and are carried by slight breezes.
Hopefully, one day, soon, single-use plastics will be seen as a colossal mistake on par with lead in gasoline, radium clocks, asbestos tiles, and dumping industrial waste into waterways.
Small changes add up. I have a container of yogurt nearly every day. That's ~350 plastic cups into the fake "recycling" stream every year. Last year I started weaning myself off plastics and now make my own yogurt in an Instant Pot. It takes minutes of effort spread over 9 hours. The milk I get comes in a glass jar from a local CSA that reuses the jars when I return them for more milk and then I put the yogurt in mason jars.
20 years from now those mason jars will still be usable and 7,000 plastic cups will have not been consumed, "recycled", shipped to Asia, and burned in open pits.
Please just spend a couple of minutes and think of how you can lower your plastic use.
- mrnobody_67 7y agoWish I could upvote this more than once. Been trying to do this for quite a while, especially since my city has pretty limited garbage service (one can every two weeks). Online ordering and the plastic air-bubbles (and occasional foam peanuts) are absolutely brutal. Recently saw BetterPackaging.com which is interesting - hopefully more of that in the future. https://loopstore.com https://loopstore.com also seems to hold some promise
- Clubber 7y agoAn easy first step is to stop buying bottled water. It just comes from a tap anyway and last time I checked, it was around a 1600% markup. I use a metal, insulated tumbler with a lid and my ice lasts 12 hours. When I require the portability of bottled water, I just reuse plastic gatorade bottles; they are pretty durable. It's a really easy change.