Ditch the Disposable: Life Beyond Plastic
Up to 5 trillion (5,000,000,000,000) plastic bags are used each year, according to the United Nations.
Our one step this week is Plastic 101: Avoiding Single-Use Plastic. Like other effective practices for sustainability (including Walking 101: Short Trips by Foot), this is deceptively easy to understand but fiendishly difficult to accomplish since it requires giving up convenience and changing daily habits. Making a plan and then measuring results, such as the amount of plastic you create each week, can help you achieve your goals with this practice.
Two That Matter Most
To know how well you are avoiding single-use plastic, these two indicators matter most:
How much plastic waste you put in your recycling.
How much plastic waste you put in your garbage.
Sustainable Practice: Plastic 101
Avoiding Single-Use Plastic
Avoid using disposable plastic items such as plastic beverage bottles and cups, thin-film plastic shopping bags, and plastic cutlery.
Equipment and Materials
Reusable shopping bags [Optional]
Mesh fruit and vegetable bags [Optional]
Metal or glass reusable water bottles. [Optional]
Washable travel utensil set. [Optional]
Steps
Evaluate your use of disposable plastic items like bottles, cups, utensils, and bags to understand when and why you use these items.
Commit to using fewer or no disposable plastic items.
Set a specific, measurable goal that you can achieve, such as buying less than one plastic disposable item per day for the next year.
Plan how to achieve your goal, such as bringing a water bottle every day with you to work or school so you’re not tempted to buy bottled drinks.
Execute your plan.
Measure how many disposable plastic items you buy.
Discussion
This practice, like Walking 101, is simple in concept but difficult in action because it requires planning ahead and changing habits. The constant convenience offered by disposable plastic items can be hard to resist.
Some jurisdictions, like New Zealand, have banned single-use plastic utensils and use disposable wooden cutlery instead. But in areas where plastic bans are not in effect, the decision of whether to buy single-use plastic is up to individual households and organizations.
Sophisticated lobbying and public relations efforts funded by plastic producers encourage the consumption of disposable plastic and cast doubt on the environmental benefit of reducing plastic consumption. Websites like “Bag the Ban” and “Alliance to End Plastic Waste'' spread the marketing message that plastic waste can be managed through greater recycling efforts. A careful analysis shows that reducing plastic consumption is, in fact, more environmentally beneficial than increasing plastic recycling.
Although research is underway to make plastic a more sustainable material, disposable plastic is currently an unsustainable way to meet our need for goods and supplies. More than 99% of plastics are produced from our limited fossil reserves of petroleum and methane. Half of all plastic produced is designed for single-use purposes. Plastic waste can persist for centuries and breaks down into small pieces called microplastics. As a result, according to the United Nations, “our planet is choking on plastic.”
Common ways to avoid buying disposable plastic include using reusable shopping bags, mesh fruit and vegetable bags, metal or glass water bottles, and sets of washable travel utensils. Buying products like powdered laundry detergent in cardboard boxes avoids the purchase of single-use plastic laundry jugs.
Avoiding the use of disposable plastic provides the most environmental benefit in conjunction with other sustainable practices:
Shopping or dining at businesses that do not use disposable plastic.
Purchasing products in bulk that come in fully compostable or recyclable paper, cardboard, metal, or glass packaging.
Composting disposable products made from paper or wood.
Washing reusable bags in cold water using sustainable detergents and enzymes.
Washing water bottles and utensils using sustainable dish soap.
Heating water for washing dishes without burning any fossil fuel by using a heat pump water heater powered by solar electricity.
Choosing durable, reusable goods, such as shopping bags, that can last for hundreds or thousands of uses and can be fully composted or recycled.
Definitions
Disposable: products that are designed to be used only once and then thrown in the garbage
Microplastics: small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long.
Plastic: a large group of materials, synthesized from polymers, that are cheap and durable, posing significant environmental challenges due to their pervasive persistence and potential to release harmful substances
Troubleshooting
You wonder whether reusable products really are more sustainable than disposable plastic products:
As a rough estimate, compare the weight per use of the reusable versus disposable option. For example, if a shopping bag can be reused 1,000 times, divide its weight by 1,000 and compare that to the weight of a disposable option.
Consider whether the reusable product is made from fully compostable or recyclable material such as paper, wood, metal, or glass.
You enjoy the convenience of disposable plastic products:
Find joy and purpose in protecting our environment.
Reward yourself for making the choice to avoid disposable plastic, such as by keeping a “fun jar” and putting a dollar in it every time you succeed in avoiding single-use plastic.
You need to use disposable plastic products for health and safety reasons:
Review the science to ensure that the minimal amount of single-use plastic is being used to achieve health and safety outcomes.
Explore other ways to prevent the spread of pathogens besides purchasing single-use plastic.
You can’t afford reusable alternatives to disposable plastic items:
Shop at second-hand stores.
Participate in Freecycle and other “free stuff” organizations.
Strategies and Goals
Water
Protect Water Quality
Prevent microplastic pollution
Goods
Buy Less
Buy less plastic
Manage Waste Well
Save the environmental costs of managing plastic waste
Community
Demonstrate Best Practices
Inspire people in your community to avoid plastic
Milestones
Decrease how many disposable plastic items you buy
Measure: How many disposable plastic items you buy
Method: Logbook
Time Period: Week
Decrease liters of plastic sent to recycle
Measure: Plastic waste sent to recycle
Method: Logbook
Time Period: Week
Decrease liters of garbage sent to incinerate or landfill
Measure: Solid waste sent to incinerate or landfill
Method: Logbook
Time Period: Week
Increase people avoiding plastic in your community
Measure: Community members avoiding plastic
Method: Logbook
Time Period: Year
Limitations
Hospitals and health clinics require the use of disposable plastic items.
Disposable cups, plates, and utensils are more convenient for food service in places where it is difficult to collect and wash reusable tableware.
Opportunities
Cleaning 101 - Using Safer Solutions
Ingredients for home-made cleaning solutions are often sold in cardboard packaging, avoiding the purchase of plastic containers
One reusable glass spray bottle can eliminate the purchase of thousands of plastic bottles
Drinking 101 - More Tap Water, Fewer Bottle Beverages
Drinking water from refillable water bottles can eliminate the purchase of thousands of plastic beverage bottles
References
Anti-Plastic Websites
Pro-Plastic Websites
Government Websites
Scientific Books and Articles
Keywords
waste, plastic, microplastics, garbage, incinerate, landfill, pollution prevention, recycling, source reduction