19 Steps To Reduce Single Use Plastic

19 Steps To Reduce Single Use Plastic

Plastic is found in virtually everything these days. Your food and hygiene products are packaged in it. Your car, phone and computer are made from it. And you might even chew on it daily in the form of gum. While most plastics are touted as recyclable, the reality is that they're “downcycled.” A plastic milk carton can never be recycled into another carton — it can be made into a lower-quality item like plastic lumber, which can’t be recycled.

How big is our plastic problem? Of the 33 million tons of plastic waste generated in the U.S. each year, only 7 percent is recycled. This plastic waste ends up in landfills, beaches, rivers and oceans and contributes to such devastating problems as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex of garbage the size of a continent where plastic outnumbers plankton. Plus, most plastic is made from oil.

19 Steps To Reduce Single Use Plastic

Luckily, there are simple steps you can take that will dramatically decrease the amount of plastic waste you generate.

You wake up this morning and go to brush your teeth. You then go get dressed and take a shirt and a pair of pants off your hangers in your closet. Before leaving for work, you pack your lunch for the day and put your sandwich in a Ziplock bag, pack a to-go fork and knife packet, grab a water bottle, and use a grocery bag to hold your items.

In just the 30 minutes it took you to get ready for the day, you used 7 plastic items, which could easily be replaced with more sustainable products, that will most likely find their way into the ocean where it will turn into a threat for marine life.

19 Steps To Reduce Single Use Plastic