Jumat, 17 Juni 2016
simple ways to reduce plastic waste
Plastic is found in
virtually everything these days. Your food and hygiene products area unit
packaged in it. Your car, phone and computer area unit created from it. And you
might even chew thereon daily within the sort of gum. While most plastics area
unit touted as reclaimable, the reality is that they are “downcycled.” A
plastic milk carton will ne'er be recycled into another carton — it can be
created into a lower-quality item like plastic lumber, which can’t be recycled.
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How massive is our
plastic problem? Of the thirty million tons of plastic waste generated within
the U.S. in 2009, only seven p.c was recovered for utilization. This plastic
waste ends up in landfills, beaches, rivers and oceans and contributes to such
devastating problems as the nice Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex
of garbage the size of a continent wherever plastic outnumbers organism. Plus,
most plastic is created from oil.
Luckily, there are easy
steps you will take that may dramatically decrease the number of plastic waste
you generate.
Just
say no to straws
One of the best ways to
stay plastic out of the lowland is to refuse plastic straws. Simply inform your
waiter or server that you do not would like one, and make positive to specify
this once ordering at a drive-thru. Can't fathom giving up the convenience of
straws? Purchase a reusable stainless-steel or glass tubing. Restaurants are
less possible to bring you a plastic one if they see that you have brought your
own.
Use
reusable produce luggage
About one million plastic
luggage area unit used each minute, and a single bag can take one,000 years to
degrade. If you're already transferral reusable luggage to the grocery store,
you're on the right track, but if you are still mistreatment plastic turn out
luggage, it's time to form a change. Purchase some reusable produce luggage and
facilitate keep even additional plastic out of the lowland. However, avoid
those bags made of nylon or polyester as a result of they are additionally
created from plastic. Opt for cotton ones instead.
Give
up gum
Gum was originally made
from tree sap referred to as gum, a natural rubber, but once scientists created
artificial rubber, polyethylene and polyvinyl acetate began to switch the
natural rubber in most gum. Not only area unit you change of state on plastic,
but you might even be change of state on venomous plastic — PVA is factory-made
mistreatment vinyl acetate, a chemical shown to cause tumors in lab rats. While
it is doable to recycle your gum, it may be best to skip it — and its plastic
packaging — altogether.
Buy
boxes, not bottles
Buy laundry detergent and
dish soap in boxes rather than plastic bottles. Cardboard can be additional
simply recycled and created into additional product than plastic.
Buy
from bulk bins
Many stores, such as
Whole Foods, sell bulk food like rice, pasta, beans, nuts, cereal and granola,
and opting to fill a reusable bag or container with these things can save each
cash and uncalled-for packaging. Stores have various strategies for deducting
the instrumentality weight therefore merely check with client service before
filling your instrumentality. Also, many cotton luggage have their weights
written on their tags therefore they will merely be subtracted at the checkout.
Reuse
glass containers
You can purchase a spread
of ready foods in glass jars rather than plastic ones, including alimentary
paste sauce, peanut butter, salsa and applesauce, just to name a number of.
Instead of throwing these away or recycling them, reuse the jars to store food
or take them with you once you’re shopping for bulk foods. If you have plastic
containers leftover from yogurt, butter or other food, don’t throw them out.
Simply wash them and use them to store food.
Use
reusable bottles and cups
Bottled water produces
1.5 million tons of plastic waste p.a., and these bottles require forty seven
millions gallons of oil to turn out, according to Food & Water Watch. By
simply filling a reusable bottle, you’ll prevent some of these plastic bottles
from ending up in landfills and oceans — however don’t stop there. Bring a
reusable cup to coffee outlets and raise the barista to fill it up, and keep a
mug at your desk instead of mistreatment plastic, paper or Styrofoam cups. The
average American workplace employee uses regarding five hundred disposable cups
a year therefore you’ll be preventing plenty of uncalled-for waste.
Bring
your own container
Whether you are selecting
up takeout or transferral home your edifice leftovers, be prepared with your
own reusable containers. When you place your order, ask if you will get the
food placed in your own instrumentality. Most restaurants will have no drawback
with it.
Use
matches
If you need to
light-weight a candle, build a campfire or begin a fireplace for the other
reason, opt for matches over disposable plastic lighters. These cheap plastic
devices sit in landfills for years and have even been found in dead birds'
stomachs. If you can't bear to give up your lighter, pick up a refillable metal
one to assist impede on waste.
Skip
the frozen foods section
Frozen foods offer each
convenience and lots of plastic packaging — even those eco-friendly packaged
things made of cardboard are literally coated during a skinny layer of plastic.
While giving up frozen foods may be tough, there are edges besides the obvious
environmental ones: you will be uptake fewer processed foods and avoiding the
chemicals in their plastic packaging.
Don't
use plasticware
Say goodbye to disposable
chopsticks, knives, spoons, forks and even sporks. If you often forget to pack
tableware in your lunch, or if you know your favorite edifice solely has
plasticware, start keeping a set of utensils. It's sure to scale back your
carbon forkprint.
Return reusable
containers
If you buy berries or
cherry tomatoes at the farmers market, simply bring the plastic containers to
the market once you would like a refill. You can even raise your native
merchandiser to require the containers back and reprocess them.
Use
cloth diapers
According to the EPA, 7.6
billion pounds of disposable diapers area unit discarded in the U.S. each year.
Plus, it takes about eighty,000 pounds of plastic and more than two hundred,000
trees a year to manufacture disposable diapers for American babies alone. By
simply switch to artifact diapers, you'll not solely scale back your baby's
carbon footprint, you'll additionally save cash.
Don't
purchase juice
Instead of buying juice
in plastic bottles, make your own contemporary-squeezed juice or merely eat fresh
fruit. Not only will this cut down on plastic waste, but it's additionally
higher for you as a result of you will be obtaining additional vitamins and
antioxidants and fewer high levulose syrup.
Clean
green
There's no would like for
multiple plastic bottles of tile cleaner, toilet cleaner and window cleaner if
you've got a number of basics available like hydrogen carbonate and vinegar. So
free up some area, save some cash, and avoid those toxic chemicals by creating
your own cleanup product.
If your lunchbox is full
of disposable plastic containers and sandwich bags, it's time to form a change.
Instead of packing snacks and sandwiches in bags, put them in reusable
containers you have reception, or try lunch accessories like reusable snack
luggage. You can additionally prefer contemporary fruit rather than
single-serving fruit cups, and buy things like dairy product and pudding in
bulk and merely place a little during a reusable dish for lunch.
sources : http://goo.gl/7xC8vG
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