My name is Renee Koval-Huenuqueo. I am the Rise Above Plastics (RAP) Coordinator for the Gray’s Harbor Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. I was born, raised, educated, I worked, raised a family and retired here, in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve long been worried about the welfare of our planet, and I am happy to have found the Surfrider Foundation which provides a way I can participate in taking care of our environment.
By now most of us are aware of the threat our society’s uncontrolled use of plastic poses not only to our environment, but also to our health. As I watch mountains of plastic trash grow, I despair that these plastics don’t decompose and disappear. All it does is to break down into smaller and smaller bits of microplastics that make their way into every nook and cranny of our environment; in the food we eat, the water we drink, babies’ breastmilk; indeed in our own bodies. We are beginning to discover that these microplastics have profound effects on our health. Yet millions of tons of plastics are being produced daily for us to use only once and toss away, where they sit in our environment for decades, breaking down until they make their way into our oceans, and ultimately back into the bodies that produced them in the first place. Isn’t this an insane cycle of self destruction?
I don’t choose to be part of this cycle. But I feel powerless to break away from it. When you walk into a grocery store, everything is bagged, wrapped, and at times double-wrapped in plastic. Everything! You can’t walk out of a grocery store without something wrapped in plastic! Additionally, our recycling efforts are being put to question; is that bottle really going to be remade into another product, or is it just going to end up in a landfill because my neighbor tossed trash into their recycling bin? And is plastic recycling even effective? It seems we have no choice but to be unwilling participants in our destruction. After all, what can one person, one little voice do to fight against the behemoth that pulls us into this cycle? Fortunately, I have come to realize that I’m not alone. There are a lot of you out there who are just as worried as I am about the plastics problem and what it means for the future of our planet. If only all of our voices could come together and demand to be heard.
That is the reason that I joined, and am volunteering for the Surfrider Foundation. The Surfrider Foundation provides a platform for our voices, and a means to effect a positive change. Many of you have seen Surfrider volunteers spear-heading beach clean ups. But we are doing more than that. We are working toward keeping trash from arriving at the beach in the first place. The Surfrider Foundation is implementing programs to encourage Ocean Friendly Restaurants and Ocean Friendly Hotels. These programs ask such businesses to adhere to a list of criteria that exclude the use of single-use plastics. There are already several such restaurants in Tacoma, and a couple in Long Beach Surfrider OFR But on a larger scale, the Surfrider Foundation is also involved in encouraging policies at the local, statewide and national levels to promote laws that control the unnecessary use of plastics. But until businesses and the government can take on this important task, we, as individuals, will have to do what we can in our own ways. We can start by simply saying “no” to single-use plastics.
And this is what I want to do. I don’t want to be so dependent on plastics to wrap my food. Think of what we used only a few years ago, before plastic wrapping became so ubiquitous. There are alternatives, but nowadays they are hard to find. Most likely, such alternatives mean that we’ll have to sacrifice convenience and, unfortunately, spend a little more from our pocketbooks. I intend to seek out these alternatives and live without such a dependence on plastics. But can I, in all reality, do so? What are the alternatives, and what things that I’ve gotten quite used to will I have to live without? What will my home look like?
These blogs are an attempt to document my journey to a plastics free life. Along the way, I’ll take side-trips into issues such as where one can recycle plastic bags, are compostable bags really compostable, or if silicone is a reasonable alternative to zip-lock bags. I know that I’m bound to get lost, and I’ll have to stop to ask for directions. I hope that some of you will be able to guide me onto paths I haven’t discovered by offering ideas that have worked well for you. When beginning such a journey, many people are armed with an itinerary, one such as a list of “7 things you can do right now to replace plastic”, as the one suggested by Surfrider. I didn’t pick up one of these itineraries until well after my journey was underway, and such lists have subjects I’ll discuss at a later date. However, you see, my own personal journey to a plastics free life started with a tub of yogurt……. (until next time!)