Grasping At Straws To Reduce Plastic Waste

This urgent word from our Creator: "CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF."

Celeste Kennel-Shank, in her column in the last issue of the Mennonite World Review, challenges us to drastically reduce our use of plastic in light of its damaging effects on our planet. We're in danger of doing irreparable harm to our health and to our earth, she warns, if we keep producing more and more of this non-biodegradable material and dumping it into our landfills, rivers and oceans.

Quoting data from the Christian Science Monitor, she writes, "Since the 1950's, humanity has generated some 6 billion tons of plastic waste. Just 9 percent of that has been recycled, 12 percent was incinerated, and the remaining 79 percent ended up in landfills or in litter."

So for a start, could we at least find ways of cutting our plastic waste in half?

Here are a few of my ideas. Feel free to add some of your own.

Reject buying more and more food and other products packaged in plastic containers.
This is where I've noticed the biggest increase in the plastic waste we accumulate at our house. Plastic packaging can be put in recycle bins, but whether they actually get turned into new consumer products isn't necessarily guaranteed. In a market-driven economy, any recyclables that aren't found to be profitable at any given point can and will go straight into our already bloated landfills. So we'll need to avoid bringing over-packaged stuff home as much as possible.

Refuse and reuse plastic bags.
Most of us have hundreds of these, and they can also be recycled in most cases, but many of them can also be cleaned (as needed), stored in the vehicles we use for most of our shopping, then used to put produce in to take to the checkout. They can even be offered to the cashier to put other regular purchases in if we don't have other reusable shopping bags with us. Just as plastic bags virtually last forever in a landfill, they can survive multiple uses when shopping.

Avoid using styrofoam containers.
We could make a practice of simply taking our own washable and reusable take-home containers with us when we eat out instead of asking for styrofoam containers for leftovers, or using styrofoam plates at picnics and carry-ins. We can also avoid convenience food and other venues using this abominable material.

Drastically reduce purchases of other plastic products.
This is anything but easy when so many everyday things from toys to buckets to lawn chairs are made from this convenient, light weight and nearly indestructible material. It's hard to think of doing without it completely, even though most people managed to survive with very little of it early in my own lifetime.

Cut back on the use of plastic straws and eating utensils.
Straws represent a very, very small percentage of the plastic waste stream, but every little effort helps. And someone needs to come up with a simple way of carrying some non-plastic forks, spoons and cups with us when we frequent fast food joints (purses for men, maybe)? Thus we could at least reuse the plastic tableware we already have, or use alternatives.

Don't toss used contact lens down the sink or into the commode.
Even these tiny products can cause serious damage to the ecology of our rivers and oceans.
https://plan.core-apps.com/acsboston18/abstract/28f9ab41-837f-46ef-8655-feb59aa75cb3

Final word: Whenever we "throw away" any of the earth's resources we need to remember that there really isn't any "away". Everything we use and discard stays right here on the good planet God gave us to care for.