Episode 22: Just Say No (To Plastic)

What this episode covers

The goal isn’t necessarily to go completely plastic free for the month, but to be aware of how much plastic you’re using and to try to reduce your single-use plastic consumption specifically. I wanted to talk about it this month so you (and our listeners) have time to come up with some goals for yourself and think about how you can implement them. When you sign up, you can challenge yourself to go completely plastic free, focus on single-use items, or focus on the big four takeout items (bags, straws, coffee cups and bottles). You also don’t have to commit to the whole month, but can choose to take the challenge for a week, or even for one day. I took the challenge last year for the first time with the goal to not use single-use plastics for the month. I was traveling to the big GIS conference in San Diego so I thought it might be harder, but a few strategies I had were to bring my own refillable water bottle and coffee travel mug. I also brought my own canvas shopping bags, because I typically come home with at least some cool map books. Esri helped me out by changing some of their practices. They gave everyone a reusable stainless steel water bottle at the beginning of the conference and had water refill stations set up around the conference center. One place it was difficult while traveling was when eating. I ate at restaurants a lot, but when I needed to grab food to take along, such as at breakfast, I really had to think about options without plastic. I definitely failed at times, but I was very aware of everywhere I was coming into contact with plastic. Some of these practices are becoming more difficult to implement during the pandemic, because grocery stores aren’t letting customers bring their own reusable bags (although where I shop they’re using paper instead of plastic), and coffee shops aren’t letting customers bring their own reusable mugs. I’m just making my own coffee at home to get around that. Some things I’ll be thinking about this year while I’ll likely be staying at home include food packaging. I’ll need to spend more time planning meals and thinking through all of the packaging involved in my groceries. Are there substitutions I can make that will reduce my plastic use? Can I buy in bulk vs buying several small packages? One large package contains less plastic than several smaller packages. Fresh food is even better than packaged food. I may need to get creative, but I’m committed! It did make me more aware of how much plastic I use, and since the challenge I have made a few changes. I no longer buy bottled shampoo, conditioner, face wash, or hand soap, and instead use bars for all of these. I bring my own reusable water bottle everywhere. I also bought beeswax food covers and use those instead of plastic cling wrap, and I am transitioning my storage containers to glass little by little. There are a lot more changes I can make, but start where you can! The whole idea is to become more aware and start making small changes where you can. You can go to the plasticfreejuly.org website (link in our shownotes) to sign up and to get ideas. They send out a weekly newsletter during the challenge with more tips and stories from the community. Amy, are you going to take the challenge? Follow along with us on our social media channels in July to see how we’re doing. Good luck!

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