Shopping Green

Adhering to the plans for this part of the Plastic Monster Project, last time I went shopping, I made extra sure to only purchase products packaged in non-plastic materials. Although I couldn't avoid plastic altogether, I managed to cut down on my consumption quite a bit. Here are a few pointers for anyone inclined to follow in my footsteps, and reduce their eco-footprint:

1. You can find most cooking ingredients in cans. It isn't all that hard to find beans, soup, and vegetables in metal cans. Cans may pose some health hazards, for instance, their linings may contain BPA. But in terms of staying green by reducing plastic garbage, cans are the much better option.

 2. It usually isn't that hard to find alternative, eco-friendly packaging for beverages, like juice and milk. Although buying liquids in cartons usually isn't that much more expensive than buying them in plastic, and exception is made with milk: Milk, bought in bags, is quite a bit cheaper than milk bought in a carton.

 3. Buying in bulk is always the best option when it comes to the environment. Buying in bulk uses hardly any packaging, as long as the store lets you bring in your own reusable bags to fill, and it's a lot less expensive than most food. You can find basically anything in bulk - from rice, to nuts, to snack foods.

End Week One!

Yesterday marked the final day of week one of the Plastic Monster Project! We collected a LOT OF PLASTIC. Over the week, we filled a bin to the point of overflowing. It's a bit terrifying how much plastic a single family of four produces in one week. If this is how much plastic the average four people produce in one week, imagine this times a billion. No wonder plastic is causing wreaking so much havoc on the environment - with piles upon piles of waste being produced every week across the world.

The majority of the box was filled with food wrappers - things like chips, crackers, and other snacks. In this coming week, I will do my best to only food packaged in non-plastic materials, like glass, metal, and especially paper, which are safer, easier to recycle, and will eventually biodegrade.

So, as proven by this week's project, we produce a LOT of garbage. Next week, I'll figure out whether or not this can be helped. Until next time!

The Dangers of Plastic

Since starting up this blog, I've done a bit more research into the effects of plastic pollution. There is definitely a lot of information out there about the plastic threat, and it's nice to see so many people taking initiative to shed light on this topic. Over the course of my web-searching for information on the pollutant, I have noticed three main, recurring reasons why plastic is such a huge environmental threat. In this post, I'm going to overview these three main reasons. Enjoy!

1. Plastic takes an incredibly long time to biodegrade. In fact, it will never really biodegrade - just break down into smaller and smaller pieces. Biodegradation depends on tiny bacteria eating materials, thus breaking down the materials into compounds that ecosystems can then use. But bacteria don't eat plastic, so any disposable water bottle, plastic straw, or shopping bag you throw out will stay out there forever.

2. Some types of plastic contain dangerous toxins. These chemicals, including, to name a few, BPA, phthalates, and dioxin, can cause cause cancer later in life (especially breast cancer) and affect your health in many ways. These chemicals can be released by heating or reusing certain plastics, and when these products are thrown out, they leach into ecosystems, poisoning organisms and water sources.

3. Plastic pollution affects all living things. What with air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution, no animal, plant or any other living creature is safe. Ocean wildlife get tangled up and die in discarded fishing nets. Plants absorb toxins through their roots. Animals die from drinking poisoned water. And it affects us, too - we end up eating those plants, drawing water from the same water sources, and finding our fishing grounds diminished by the effects of plastic.

The truth is, plastic pollution affects us all. It is up to us to take responsibility for our actions and help face this world-wide threat.

Sources:
howstuffworks.com
breastcancerfund.org
conserve-energy-future.com
plasicpollutioncoalition.org
homeguides.com

First Post!

Today marks the beginning of this two-week-long project. All the plastic waste that has been accumulated is put in a specific bin, separate from the the rest of our waste. The bin is filling up pretty fast already. It's quite surprising how much waste you can produce, without even realizing it. Candy wrappers, yogurt containers, receipts... producing this much plastic garbage seems inevitable in a society where plastic is a key part of our everyday lives. But although it may seem daunting, I think that I'll be able to reduce at least some of it.

Since this is my first post, I will go over the plan for the Plastic Monster project. I have set up this project in the hopes of being able to shrink my ecological footprint by reducing the amount of plastic- packaged products I buy. The project will take two weeks: over the course of the first, I will collect all the plastic garbage from the household that would otherwise have been thrown out, and keep it in a separate bin. This way, I can determine how much plastic waste is produced by a family, on average, over a single week. Then, over a second week, I will take all possible measures to ensure that the least possible amount of plastic is thrown out. Then, I'll compare the plastic consumption for both weeks.

I've set up this blog as a way to record and share the Plastic Monster project. Hopefully, this project might encourage others to pursue a more eco-friendly lifestyle... or at least prove that helping the environment isn't that hard.