How to Give up Plastic - Will McCallum - Part 3 of 4

2020 Reading Challenge - Day 207

July 27, 2020

Book 57 - How to Give Up Plastic
Will McCallum
 Part 3 - pages 44-159

Reading Time - 60 minutes

Ahhh... grocery shopping, so much fun... and such a huge source of plastic. Apparently some people say that plastic packaging actually reduces food waste but... when they have done studies, they've found that as plastic packaging goes up... so does food waste. The problem is that we are now buying things in bigger containers (with more packaging) and even going whole hog with BOGO offers which also leads to more waste.

Some options for reducing waste in the kitchen, and its associated grocery store run are:

• make a list and stick to it
• ditch the plastic bags - over 1 million plastic bags are used every minute... surely we can find a better solution - like reusable shopping bags
• go to local markets, delis and butchers - ask your local store to reduce its use of plastic
• pick loose veggies over plastic wrapped ones
• avoid non-recyclable plastic - like styrofoam and polystyrene - and avoid black stryofoam like the plague - it is cheaper for the store to buy but... its black colour means the machines can't sort it in the recycling stream (because the black colour blends with the black conveyor belts)
• take-away food is a huge culprit - talk to your favourite take-away about other options (one of ours still uses styrofoam) - we can make a difference... remember when burgers used to come in styrofoam shells?
• use bee's wax wrappers instead of plastic wrap (we do this now!)
• use dish and floor cloths that can be reused rather than paper towels... and stay away from microfibre cloths (darn... we have a bunch of these!)

There's a bit of overlap between the different chapters because the same culprits keep showing up again and again. So the next chapter was on Giving up Plastic on the Go... Here are some top tips:

• bring your own water bottle (try metal) - plastic bottles are horrible... 20,000 sold every second
• if you need a disposable drink - aim for a glass bottle, can or cardboard container - pick a brand with more recycled (cloudy) plastic - dispose of it responsibly
• bring your own reusable coffee cup
• carry your own cutlery (I do this!)
• make your own lunch rather than buying a pre-packaged sandwich or salad

Another big area of plastic use is in the nursery or kids' rooms... and the biggest culprit is disposable diapers. In the US alone, 27.4 billion nappies are used every year and 90% of those end up in the landfill where they take over 500 years to break down. Try going for reusable nappies or biodegradable ones. Some other tips:

• buy pacifiers made of natural rubber
  
• avoid glitter like the plague... all it is is tiny bits of plastic...
• for parties - try to go for plastic-free decor and use non-glossy wrapping paper (cause it is coated with plastic)
  
• for toys - look for quality hand-made, sustainable toys... or go for second-hand toys

If you are at work... McCallum recommends encouraging colleagues to give up the top five: plastic bags, plastic bottles, coffee cups, plastic straws and single-use plastic cutlery