My name is Renee Koval. 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.
This month has been internationally designated as Plastic Free July. Plastic-Free July is a global movement, begun in Western Australia in 2011. Their mission, described in the video below, is to reduce plastic waste by encouraging us all to refuse single-use plastic during the month of July, and hopefully, to extend this refusal beyond. It’s a month for us all to consider the damage that the pervasiveness of single use plastic has brought to not only to the world we inhabit but also to our very existence, and what we can do to stop it. Plastic Free July
The suggestions in the video are to focus on and eliminate one item packaged in single-use plastic; during the month try to eliminate, for example, the use of grocery store-provided plastic produce bags. What seems to naturally follow is that once we have adjusted to this change, another will follow. This has been my experience. Once I realized that I was tossing so many yogurt containers into the garbage bin, I set myself up to make my own yogurt, thus reducing my contribution to the landfill by, gosh by now it must be over 200 tubs. But my plastic reduction didn’t stop there. I am ever looking around and finding more and more changes I could make.
However, sometimes making just one change is easier said than done. Going plastic-free takes some planning. After all, you have to find replacements for easy to grab single-use plastic. If you refuse to use the store-provided produce bags, for example, you need to get your own supply of reusable bags, and then remember to bring them when you go shopping. Obviously, it took some time and planning for me to switch from store-bought to homemade yogurt; I had to learn how to make yogurt and get glass jars to put it in. Another change required some investigative work. When I wanted to buy applesauce, my regular store, Ocean Shores’ IGA, sold it only in plastic jars. I decided to go without. But later I found that it was available in glass at the Grocery Outlet in Aberdeen. In addition to the suggestions offered in the video, I would like to add a couple of my own.
1. When shopping for groceries, look in your cart and see what is packaged in plastic. Ask yourself if there are alternatives in the store. For example, can you buy a complete cantaloupe instead of the one pre-cut and packaged in a clamshell? Does your mayonnaise come in a plastic or glass jar? Can you buy carrots in bulk instead of neatly packaged ones?
2. Inventory your use of plastic. You can do this in two ways: First, look around your home, most importantly the kitchen, and see how you use plastic. Ask yourself if there are alternatives. A second way to inventory your plastic use is to put aside plastic as you use it instead of putting it into the trash or recycling bins. This way you can see what your personal use of plastic is. How much plastic wrap do you use? If you buy a lot of plastic-packaged rice, can you buy it in bulk?
3. Going plastic free requires preparation. Take this month to make the preparations. For example, get a collection of mason jars, glass bowls or tin containers to store food in or find cotton or mesh bags for produce shopping so you don’t need the store supplied plastic ones.
4. If you forget your shopping bags, pack your groceries into your car unbagged. Maybe the inconvenience will act as a reminder not to forget them again.
5. Refuse to buy anything in a plastic bottle. You may have to change brands, or try out different stores for more availability, or you may even have to pay a little more for a “gourmet” brand. It might make it easier to think that drinks in plastic bottles are all contaminated with micro- and nano- plastics as well as leached toxic chemicals.
6. And by all means, if you’re not doing so already, please use a refillable steel or aluminum water bottle.
Even though it might be a late start to Plastic Free July, there is still some time to begin. My personal plan, which I admit I’m late to start, is to put together a plastic-free travel bag. To those of you who decide to take this month to embark on a journey, or even make a quick road trip, to a plastic-free home, I wish you a bon voyage!