There is a famous line from the 1968 film “The Graduate” where Mr. McGuire gives Ben (played by Dustin Hoffman) one word advice about the future: “Plastics”. Plastic packaging and consumption has certainly grown over the last fifty years. The milkman doesn’t deliver milk in glass bottles and kids don’t collect pop bottles for candy money anymore (although garbage pickers still check for plastic bottles that have a deposit).
The Summer 2021 issue of Yes! magazine is The Solving Plastics Issue and it discusses steps individuals can do to move towards zero waste. The size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is mind-blowing and much of it is microplastics, which are creating environmental havoc.
What can consumers do? Avoid beverages in plastic bottles is a small step. I enjoy ice tea in plastic bottles, so one step I can take is to make ice tea in a pitcher. And there are a couple of dairies that sell milk in glass bottles, but I would have to drive a few extra miles in my Prius to buy it.
If you have a baby at home, you can choose a cloth diaper service instead of using disposables. We used one when my daughter was little and it feels good to give your baby cotton diapers.
I’m pretty religious about putting empty plastic containers in the blue recycling box. But the problem is, do they get recycled? Without a buyer for recycled plastic, plastic waste ends up in the landfill.
But to prevent plastics from ending up in landfills, on beaches, and in the oceans, it’s going to take more than individual effort. The onus needs to be on manufacturers. While it true that some items still need to be made from plastic, consumer choice can play a role which means things will be a little more expensive.
Annie Leonard, the founder of the Story of Stuff project reminds us that there is no such place called Away. You won’t be able to find it on a map. But it’s there. In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and other patches created by ocean gyres.
Equity - Environment - Economic Justice 