03/14/2024
I'll be honest, I think about garbage pretty often. I often spend hours worrying about how to properly dispose of something that I've been forced to take responsibility for. This is especially true of plastics. I don't understand why everything needs to arrive encased in not only one layer of shrink-wrapped plastic, but often multiple layers of plastic only to be in a plastic baggie, then wrapped in an outer layer of plastic packaging. You can't even recycle most of it - not to mention that recycling the bit that can be recycled doesn't even make much impact.
So, the solution for me has been to cut back on the amount of plastic we use, where we can. Single use plastics are rarely used and if something we need comes in another form of packaging, that's preferable. It's frustrating because somehow, plastic still is a huge form of waste in our home. I drive our recycling to the local recycling place, but again, that's not the majority of plastic waste we have. It's plastic in the form of wrapping and packaging products, or the plastic that coats paper to create that glossy sheen. It's the containers and baggies and labels. With the vast majority of it, I end up cutting up anything that hasn't touched food and fill bottles with it, creating my own personal stash of eco-bricks for a project I don't actually have planned out yet.
But micro plastics have been on my mind again lately because biodegradable and compostable aren't necessarily as straightforward as you would think. I recently found out that the eco-friendly, plant-based dish detergent pods aren't actually 100% plastic free. They just dissolve into plastic that we can't see. So I'm frustrated and disappointed, and am looking for new brands to buy. Meanwhile, I've been creating some art related to these "plant-based" plastic products.
I also wanted to share that I''ve taken to using the EWG guide and the ethical consumer website to vet literally everything that I purchase. I'm sure I'm still putting plastics and other harmful materials into the environment and I'm sure these companies have other questionable practices that others and/or myself don't know about yet. what other resources do you all use?