Challenge 6 -- We just want to say one word...

This week we just want to say one word to you — just one word — “Plastics.”

But while the businessman who spoke (something like) this immortal line in the 1967 film The Graduate viewed plastics as the key to the future, and fortune, our aim this week is to put them in their proper place.

Plastics are not Satan in shiny disguise. They have many important functions. They’re not so benign, though, when produced at great environmental expense, used briefly, then, tossed away to pile up in landfills or go through an energy-intensive collection, sorting and recycling process.

The Challenge: Eschew all major plastic items this week. in particular — no plastic bags, disposable plastic cups and bottles (that includes styrofoam), and plastic wrapping.

Motivation: Every year, Canadians use about 10 billion plastic shopping bags and 8 billion disposable cups. Each requires just a tiny amount of resources and energy to produce, but the total is huge. This is not only a waste. Production of plastics — mostly from petroleum — emits greenhouse gases. Recycling, when it happens, consumes ever more. It's also sporadic and difficult. Plastics last virtually forever in landfills, and emit toxic fumes if not burned hot enough. Bags create a mess in the environment. Birds and animals can get entangled in, or choke on, carelessly discarded plastic bags. Huge rafts of plastic float in the Pacific Ocean: After the sun breaks them down into their molecular bits, they’re swallowed by jellyfish and other creatures and begin a poisonous trek up the food chain.

Process: The challenge involves five simple steps: Use cloth or other reusable bags for groceries and most other shopping. Keep produce loose instead of bagging it. Get a permanent coffee cup for work. Use a refillable, preferably metal, water bottle. Don’t buy anything in a blister pack or one of those plastic shells that require a chainsaw to open.

The key to this – since reusables require more resources and energy to make — is to keep using them over and over. There is plenty of controversy over whether styrofoam cups are better than ceramic or metal on this score. A 1994 study from the University of Victoria concluded that when you take manufacture and washing into account, you’d need to use a cup 1,006 times until it’s energy consumption got down to that of foam cups. But that analysis is criticized for its assumptions about water use and the fact it ignored the impacts of disposing of all those cups. A more recent study concludes that a ceramic cup beats styrofoam after 46 uses. Unless you’re prone to toss cups at your boss, that’s an easy figure to hit. I’ve used the same favourite coffee cup almost every morning for 10 years.

Of course, since you likely already have an extra cup or mug at home, simply use it and you'll use zero resources and produce zero emissions.

Since we don’t like to make the challenges overwhelming, we’ve proposed just a few steps. But there are many more ways to cut your consumption of plastic. For a start try Living Plastic Free. If you'd like to go further, try Life Without Plastic.

Cost: Not a big deal. A few dollars, perhaps, for reusable grocery carriers and a couple more for a cup — or just bring one from home. A good water bottle might set you back $10. If you’re worried about bpa, then, fork out around $25 for a metal water bottle.

Savings: Again, it’s a minor factor. Some stores charge a few cents for each bag; others take a penny or two off your bill if you bring your own. Starbucks and some other coffee outlets reduce the cost by 10 cents if you use your own mug.

--- Peter Gorrie

Comments

[dave]

i just got my new recycling bin along with instructions. I HAVE TO RINSE MY GARBAGE BEFORE I THROW IT OUT. It's garbage. garbage. garbage. Life is short enough. Now I have to spend time cleaning my garbarge. it's garbage. garbage. Every Canadian works half the day for the government. Is that not enough? They should handle my garbage. NOT ME. IT'S GARBAGE.

[Garbage in garbage out]

Not until the gov limits the use of plastic, will this problem go away. What surprises me is that beer is not sold in plastic bottles (although I haven't bought any recently). Remember milk in glass bottles?

[kitty]

On one point you are correct. It is YOUR garbage. Therefore, YOUR raccoon, rat, seagull, crow, etc that dumps your garbage to get at the can or bottle you are too time-challenged to rinse. After a few times of picking up YOUR garbage (because the sanitation workers won't!), maybe you'll find it not so inconvenient to rinse.

[janice]

"they should handle my garbage"???? Really Dave? I'm afraid not... YOU should handle your garbage, and you should start by creating less of it. The whole idea of making people (finally) at least somewhat responsible for their garbage is to make you think twice before you buy more overpackaged stuff, and disposable crap you don't need. If managing your garbage is such a burden, then you can simply choose to consume less, therefore creating less garbage, making less work for you in the end. Get it? Simple, easy, logical, and less work for you in the end. Not convinced? Check out http://www.storyofstuff.com/

[George Ryken]

"they should handle my garbage"Ok Dave your partially right. The government is us, we all need to work together to accomplish a goal, which is to lessen the amount of garbage we create. We can easily collect or groceries and other small supplies in a reusable cotton bag or basket, and would do so if the government simply prohibit the hideous use of plastics in the stores as a convenience item which has a tremendous cost to society and hurt all of us.

[T.M]

I realize I am probably beating my head against a wall here but someone has to keep trying. I do not understand how it is that all these experts on the enviroment, who claim to be passionately concerned, never discuss the true issues that affect the enviroment. The issue is always skirted. Global financial corporations who now, more than ever, own and control most of the entire world are responsible for the vast majority of our enviromental problems, if not all. And given their track record of doing what they want, when they want, all for the almighty dollar and to heck with the consequences, how could any enviromental discussion exclude this fact? thanks for listening!

[Pat]

Dave, I happen to live in a rural municipality, where I pay taxes and those taxes give me the privilege of taking my own garbage to the dump! I pay exactly the same federal and provincial taxes as you so please don't whine about having to rinse your garbage. BTW I, also at my own expense, take my recycling 22 km. to a drop off point rather than see it fill up my local dump.

[Cathy Loyst]

I do recycle but I do agree with the comment about cleaning the object I recycle. I then have to pay for the water-incoming and outgoing and it is a waste of good water. I wonder what they do in Australia - water ban and all.

[Nathan Ho]

I would like to see more take out places utilize or offer (even with a few cent surcharge to offset the additional cost) biodegradable containers. A few places that I go to sometimes (Camros, Fresh, and Whole Foods) at least uses biodegradable containersa and Camros even goes all the way to use biodegradable cups and cutlery. I would also like to see bagging something as a request instead of standard practice done by the cashier. This annoys me for single to two item purchases and drives me up the wall when I clearly have space available in an existing bag.

One downside that I see for using reusable bags to go shopping, at least grocery shopping, would be what to use to throw out garbage? I live in a condo and make an effort to recycle but I doubt I could bring myself to buy bags to hold garbage.

[rk]

I've been trying to convice my daughter's school council to stop providing bottled water at school events.
See www.greenstudents.ca -- for alternatives for school fundraising.

[luciek]

Juste out of curiosity, you mention today that "Three-quarters of Canadians drive alone to work." Is it that 75% of all Canadians (who have a driver's license) drive alone to work? Or is it that 75% of all Canadians who drive to work do so alone? Either way, it is a sad state of affairs. However, if it's the first case, we are in huge trouble!

[Cuzineed2]

In my life I try to look back at my grandparents' era for some of our answers. The first thing I ask myself is, how did they do it before they had... in this case 'plastic'. Life definitely was different then but there is a certain wisdom in the past we can pull from. I find a lot of it actually works quite well! I now use cloth grocery bags and I really like them. I am finding that they are making the plastic ones so thin now that they arrive home all holey and they're useless for any other purpose. I can't reuse them so in the land fill they go! Not good.
So... I Googled 'Life Without Plastic' and ... amazingly enough, there are some websites out there. Check out www.lifewithoutplastic.com. They're Canadian and they have some excellent information about the toxic effects of plastic. I had been looking for a non-breakable alternative to plastic water bottles and food containers. Voila! Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel bottles and Zebra lunch boxes! I now use these when I go into the office or am on the move. My next challenge... to find an earth and health friendly alternative to plastic food storage bags. Maybe wax paper bags?