Volume 06

REDUCING PLASTIC
Written by Anaiah Lupton
The difference between man and animal is the act of
adaptation. Animals adapt to their surroundings and adjust
to circumstance, where as humans change the world
around them to fit their needs and adapt to the circumstances
that they have created. Change is a requirement
for human development and evolution, however we
have created a society based off of instant gratification
and we have blinded ourselves to consequences. One of
our largest issues in this country is our instinct to say
yes to products that promote ease, haste, quantity, and
pre-packaging. In my last article I wrote about how I am
spending this year transitioning to free trade clothing,
and saying no to sweat shops. This act of consciousness
began as a struggle and I felt like I was missing out on
cute clothing. After a few months, I began to feel like I
could breathe easier and I no longer felt like I was missing
out on anything. This experience has inspired me to
be conscious in other aspects of my life, specifically with
trash. I am taking on the task to reduce my trash and
say no to plastic. Although I do not plan on quitting
cold turkey I plan on making subtle changes each day
towards leaving a smaller plastic footprint.
“Approximately 55% of 220 million tons of waste
generated each year in the United States ends up in one
of the over 3,500 landfills.”-Duke University, Center for
Sustainability and Commerce. The plastic we accumulate
everyday is typically disassociated and easily forgotten
due to the trendy grab and go life style. This lack of
consciousness perpetuates until we see it first hand, for
instance when one finds more trash on the beach than
seashells. As I have made the transition from buying
sweat shop clothing to free trade clothing I have found
that my fashion choices have shifted and I have found
myself gravitating towards better forms of cotton and
quality fabrics over the items I used to have. It has also
changed my perspective on what I need. Rather than
buying in quantity I am more focused on what use the
item will have in over a year from now, “how long will
I find this fashionable?” or “How long will this style be
‘in’?”. These same questions can be asked when buying
simple things like plastic containers, plastic utensils, and
plastic food packaging-How long will I need/use? What
happens to it when I am done with it? I hope that with
this next transition of living minimally and reducing
waste I will become more passionate about the things
that I can buy over the things that I cannot buy.
Part of this transition will include using more glass
products such as Mason Jars. Thanks to my mom, she
is helping me with this process by collecting jars for me
at home to transport food, and water. These jars can
be used as I make some of my own necessities such as
toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and other day-to-day
products. I have also saved some of the clothes I have
outgrown to sew together bags, and napkins to reduce
paper towel usage.
Part of this life style will include buying products
in bulk rather than buying pre-packaged items. Whole
foods offers many products in bulk but they offer plastic
bags and containers for transportation. Part of this
mindset will involve being more conscious about providing
my own bags and jars in order to retrieve groceries
and house hold items.
I reflected on my waste trail and realized that it is
the day to day that weighs me down the most, whether
it is a coffee to go, the plastic wrap around my sandwich,
the straw I used in my drink, my plastic toothbrush
or the packaging in my cabinets, I discovered my
garbage is ubiquitous.
In order to compensate for this new life style I will have
to be diligent on being concenceous before going out
by providing my own Tupperware, drinking glasses, and
napkins. As apart of this culture I will have the most
difficulty saying “no” for the times when I did not plan
ahead, for instance, If I forget my drinking glass, I will