While I have made a valiant attempt, it seems the more try to I avoid plastics, the more I see. I continually run into situations that seem impossible, but as always, I remain steadfast. Continue reading “Plastics Everywhere!”
Category: Reduce/Reuse/Recycle/Refuse
Reduce our Carbon Footprint
When we Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, we naturally reduce our carbon footprint. As a side benefit, we use less energy and natural resources to produce products and keep more money in our pocket. As we reduce, we only buy what we need and avoid expensive single-use, disposable and over-packaged products that crowd our store shelves. We reuse items until we don’t need them, and then pass them on to a friend or thrift shop.
When a product has no more value in its current form, we recycle. Additionally, we all benefit from avoiding products that cause harm to the earth such as Styrofoam, herbicides, pesticides, and preservatives. If we don’t buy these products, they will quit producing them. Don’t let anyone convince you our economy depends on mass production and consumption.
Lifestyle tweaks – Besides Reduce Reuse Recyling, consider walking/cycling/carpooling; Turn off lights when not in the room; Conserve water; Use biodegradable, non-toxic cleaning products; Adjust thermostat a bit.
Purchasing tweaks – Buy recycled products and avoid single use/disposable products. With energy intensive bottled water, water is flown to the factory, energy is used to produce its packaging, and then the bottles are transported to the store.
Housing tweaks – Energy and water efficient appliances; Programmable thermostat; Source to heat and/or solar energy sources; Add insulation and weatherize; On-demand water heater; Replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, or better yet LED lights; Rainwater catchment, Plant drought tolerant plants; Second-hand furnishings; Water filtering system.
Food tweaks – Buy local produce; Frequent the Farmer’s Market; Buy in season; Plant a garden; Compost; Eat lower on the food chain.
Invest in our future – Evaluate your investments and banking to assure you aren’t supporting carbon emissions; Invest in green energy and divest from fossil fuel companies; Consider purchasing carbon offsets from accredited companies – they invest in renewable energy products or plant trees; Donate to environmental organizations
Meanwhile, we need to elect leaders who will help us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and increase our use of clean, renewable energy. We need fuel efficient transportation emitting less carbon pollution and better regulated power plants. We need to increase our energy efficiency, and fund reforestation. The EPA needs to more aggressively enforce our Clean Energy Act and we need leaders who will put our interests over the lobbyists. In turn we will create jobs, save money, cut pollution, and increase food and water stability. Win-Win.
Operation Green Fence
There is something satisfying about gathering and sorting our recyclables, then taking them all to our local recycling center where they magically “go away”. But there is no such thing as “away”.
China started importing scrap in 2001, after joining the World Trade Organization. Soon the bulk of the world’s recyclables went to China; materials such as metal, plastics, textiles, rubber and paper. In 2012 recyclables became the US number two export to China, second only to soybeans. According to the International Solid Waste Association, in 2012 China bought 70 percent of the world’s plastic waste exports. Whereas, the United States sent the bulk of all recyclables including 68 percent of all aluminum scrap, 70 percent recovered paper and 58 percent plastic scraps.
Industry preferred China due to their lower wages and minimal environmental standards. Especially prevalent plastics were sorted, cleaned, and broken down into plastic resin used to make everything from cosmetics to laptop cases and shipped back. But with those recyclables came trash, mountains of it. China became the world’s trash dump. The Chinese citizens became outraged over the noxious air and polluted waterways so in 2013, the government implemented Operation Green Fence.
With China’s new standards, when ships contained recyclables with higher than 1.5 percent contamination, non-compliant import licenses were suspended, and the shipment was rejected and sent back. This caused a huge industry upset. Commodity value went down as we accumulated a huge stockpile of recyclables.
Unfortunately, some traders have chosen to continue to sell their lack-luster recyclables to countries with lower standards such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Once there those countries are saddled with extra trash, then likely sort it and ship it on to China. Other recycling facilities have built in a second sorting step and send the recyclables on to China or simply keep those valuable resources here.
With these new standards, we have a real opportunity to become innovative and build a strong domestic recycling market in the United States, embracing the value of recyclables instead of shipping it away. Improved systems will create resources with higher value and keep them away from our landfills. By creating our own sustainable recycling markets, we will save energy, reduce pollution, create jobs and boost our economy.
Here are ways we can help –
Reduce and Reuse First – The thought of empty plastic water bottles traveling all the way to China is mind boggling!
Better Recyclables – Sort your recyclables as requested and don’t drop off soiled containers or trash.
Recycling Dumpsters for Businesses – Support any minimal fees local recycling centers need to charge for the convenience of picking up your recyclables.
Close the Loop – Buy Stuff made out of recycled materials.
Reduce and Reuse in the Kitchen
While recycling is better than sending more trash to the landfills, reducing and reusing first is even better for the environment. Since most trash and recycling revolves around the kitchen, I’ll focus on that area.
Paper products – Inexpensive large bundles of wash cloths can replace most paper towels needs. I use one to clean the counter and perhaps a spill on the floor (in that order!), throw it in the wash, and then grab a new one from the pile. Once stained, they go in the rag box. Use a microwave cover instead of a paper towel. Cloth napkins easily replace paper napkins. And it’s fun – find solids or prints in your favorite colors. If you can’t give up paper products, buy products with a high recycled content.
Food – Certainly growing your own food is best or buying from the local farmer’s market. Composting food scraps is a great boost for the soil and environment. I’m not a big fan of garbage disposables but that’s better than putting food scraps in the garbage. Buy wonderful free-range eggs from local producers and return the egg cartons for reuse.
Plastics – When shopping, use cloth grocery bags. If you are getting just a few items, carry them without a bag. Several sources say the US goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually and the average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. It’s time to break that cycle. I use the few plastic grocery bags I accumulate for picking up litter and encourage you to do the same!! If there are still bags crowding your drawer, take them to the local Food Bank for food distribution. Our local recycling facility, Boonslick Industries, currently only recycles #1 and #2 plastics, so I give my #5 plastic tubs (e.g. yogurt, cottage cheese, margarine) to youth groups for art projects or recycle them in Columbia. Avoid single-use bottled water. According to “Ban the Bottle”, Americans used 50 billion plastic bottles in 2014 – that’s 167 per American! Not good.
Food Storage – To minimize using aluminum foil and plastic wrap, store left-overs and waste-free lunches in Pyrex reusable containers or PBA-free reusable plastic containers. I store my aluminum foil, plastic wrap and plastic zip-locks in an inconvenient drawer so I think before I grab. When items store better in zip-locks use them, but wash and reuse them if they still look fairly new. When leaving food in the bowl, cover leftovers with a plastic bowl cover or “new” shower cap.
Shopping – Shop locally and frequent stores with bulk bins. If possible, avoid products that are over packaged or packaged in disposable containers. Single-serve bottled water is expensive, wasteful & bad for the environment. Instead use a filter pitcher, install a faucet filter to remove trace chemicals and bacteria, or use a bottle with a built-in filter. I avoid produce packaged in Styrofoam trays and Styrofoam products in general, including “doggie bags”. While Styrofoam products may appear cheaper than paper products, it’s at the environment’s expense. The EPA established Styrofoam as the fifth largest source of hazardous waste in 1986 and by volume it now takes up to 25-30% of our landfills and takes over 500 years to decompose. But I digress – more on that later! Buy a few cloth bags and remember to use them!! The Earth Policy Institute reports about 2 million plastic bags are used every minute around the world! Keep cloth bags stashed in your car. Keep a well stocked kitchen to minimize trips to the grocery store.
Recycling – We have two large tubs designated for our recyclables – one for aluminum/bottles/tin cans and one for our paper products. When the tubs are full, we take to the local recycling center. We also collect other random plastic not recycled locally, although its a bit less well organized.
Other environmentally friendly kitchen ideas – Energy saving appliances, on-demand water heater and water-filter under the sink, “green” cleaning supplies and turn lights off after leaving a room.
Upcycle – With an expansive Google search, you can find ways to reuse just about everything. I have a wonderful artistic friend, Holly Hughes, who someway manages to combine all kinds of “trash” into art, so I have a box in the pantry where I collect random items for her.
Last Resort – Trash – Before throwing anything away, I ask myself – can I reuse this in some way, can someone else use it, can it be upcycled, is it recyclable? If every answer is no, it goes in the trash. Then come trash day, every other week, we only have one small bag of trash on our curbside – A job well done.
Imagine Zero Waste
Seems we are always encouraged to consume. Things wear out quicker, styles constantly change and single use and disposable items are heavily marketed. As I see our population increase and hungrily consume at such a rapid pace, I wonder what will be left for future generations. Capitalism is based on consumption, so how can we keep consuming without running out of resources? How about consuming waste? We have plenty of that! Imagine Zero Waste.
Zero waste isn’t a new concept. The movement gained momentum 1998-2002. Visionaries are busy researching how to put theory into action. This concept is thoroughly explored by William McDonough & Michael Braungart in “Cradle to Cradle” and “The Upcycle”. They say “waste is simply poor design”.
While Industry has improved our lives making it cleaner and more convenient, its infrastructure is linear – they make the product, get it to us as quickly & cheaply as possible, rely on an endless supply of resources, rely on us consuming; then waste pollutes our environment, goes into landfills and their potential is lost.
When we are “eco-efficient”, we consume less and recycle. While these strategies save our natural resources, the mindset is based on scarcity and guilt with the environment and industry pitted against each other. With an “eco-effective” model, industry and the environment work together and eliminate waste by design. We become a world of abundance!
For this to work, first we need to eliminate some synthetics that are too toxic to reuse. Then we can use and reuse biological and technical products. Biological – Imagine if packaging (50% of our solid waste) was designed as a nutrient that enhanced the soil and factory water byproducts were clean enough to drink. Technical cycle – Imagine instead of buying products, we purchased the service of a product. When finished, the manufacturer would replace it, and reuse the material from the old product. We can indulge guilt-free, industry saves money by reusing valuable materials and uses less raw materials. These same concepts can be applied to urban planning, buildings, food production, energy and transportation systems.
The authors see the first critical steps as rebuilding our soil, converting to renewable energy, and to stop introducing unknown chemicals and materials. We have the technology and intellectual capacity to accomplish this! With visionaries like these, ecological and economic sustainability is possible. That’s encouraging! But for now, we’ll Reduce, Reuse & Recycle!
The Earth and You 