Your Guide To Green

After 25+ years of studying and living a “green” lifestyle (not exactly common back then) you can imagine my excitement as people around the world are now enthusiastically embracing awareness of our environment and how it relates to our personal health.

However, I know it can seem overwhelming with theories and choices ranging from heightened recycling efforts and the use of compact fluorescent bulbs, to green construction and developing community gardens.

So, how about doing just one thing that will make a major impact? Simply begin by eliminating one-time-use plastic bottles and bags from your life.  I don’t usually do this but there are some startling statistics around plastic that I want to share.

Consider this:

• 1267 - The number of plastic bags used in the United States per person, per year.  Think about how many plastic bags you use and if you are anything like me you don’t use many.  That means there are people out there using many more than that.  This number was derived from the amount of plastic bags purchased divided by the number of people in the U.S.  Hey when was the last time you saw throw away plastic in nature?
• It is estimated that we each throw away about 185 pounds of plastic per year in the form of garbage sacks, disposable water bottles and various one-time-use goods. And even if we are avid recyclers, only a percentage of it is easily recyclable. Simply put—plastic doesn’t disappear, it accumulates… 
• The Environmental Literacy Council notes that one of the most significant environmental problems associated with plastics is improper disposal. Although paper accounts for most of the trash in landfills by volume, plastics account for nearly 25% of all waste in landfills when buried.  Then there is the significant amount of plastic that never gets to the landfill, but rather makes its way into the environment. Where the bad news is most plastics don’t biodegrade and those that do, break down into smaller plastic parts that significantly pollute our environment.  PLASTIC is FOREVER.
• Add to these environmental issues, such health concerns as those stated in August 2007 article titled, “You May be Swilling More than Water.” Author Dr. Edward Geehr said, “All of us carry at least some bisphenol A in our bodies, a consequence of being exposed to a variety of plastics. The question is whether such amounts constitute a health risk. Better known as BPA, this component of polycarbonate – a tough kind of plastic – can leach from plastic containers like sports drink bottles, baby bottles, pacifiers, and microwave dishes into our food. That’s not exactly the marinade most cooks – or moms – are after.
• A panel of 12 scientific advisors appointed by an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently concluded that such leaching could pose various health risks. The findings fall somewhere between those of the chemical industry – which claims that BPA poses no threat – and environmentalists who say that BPA harms health.”
• According to a 2005 study, Plastic Grocery Bags: The Ecological Footprint, presented by the Environmental Literacy Council, “If a small country such as Ireland, with approximately 1.23 million shoppers, switched 50 percent of plastic bag users to cloth bags, 15,100 tons of CO2 emissions would never enter the atmosphere. This is equivalent to one person driving around the world 1,800 times (Simmons, 2005). The Ireland study illustrates the immense environmental impacts to be made through a cultural shift to more ecologically responsible choices.”
• Then there is the countless tons of plastic trash that makes its way to the coastal ecosystems and the ocean, presenting a danger to marine and bird life. Plastic debris can be found in many coastal areas (as well as inland); however, one of the greatest concentrations of plastic trash is a Texas-sized floating island of plastic debris in the north Pacific gyre, a collection of trash that has been swept together by ocean currents. 
• Plastic bags pose a threat to marine life, because, if ingested, the bags can block the stomach and cause starvation. Sea turtles, for example, mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. In 2002 a minke whale that washed up on a beach at Normandy was found to have 800 grams of plastic and other packaging in its stomach.
• Stray plastic bags can also clog sewer pipes, leading to stagnant, standing water and associated health hazards. In 2002, Bangladesh banned plastic bags after drains blocked by bags contributed to widespread monsoon flooding in 1988 and 1998. Ireland has decreased plastic bag consumption by placing a consumer tax on plastic bags. Perhaps the most strict plastic bag regulations are found in the Indian province of Himachal Pradesh, where people caught with plastic bags are fined $2000. To see how many plastic bags your household uses in a week, download Environment Australia's Household Plastic Bag Survey (.pdf).

So just what can you do?  Follow my lead and go cold turkey…NO More Plastic Bags or Bottles.  This can be done my purchasing cloth grocery and produce bags and replacing your plastic one use water bottles with stainless steel bottles.  Then make an agreement with yourself to NOT use any of the plastic items. 

One of the biggest agreements I made with myself was that if I made it to the grocery store without my cloth bags I would NOT take any bags and just load the groceries back into the cart and put them in my front seat.  THAT only happened twice.

Plastic Caveats

1. Up to 95% of all plastic bottles are never recycled.  Why?  Where do we drink from plastic bottles at?  Out in public where there are not typically recycle bins.
2. If you do use a plastic bottle - never refill it.  Plastic bottles are made for one use - the older they get the more they leach plastic in our drinking water.
3. Both freezing and heating plastic has the effect of breaking down the chemicals and releasing them into our water.  So sorry guys and gals don’t freeze your water bottles and if you ever leave your bottle in the hot car - don’t drink the water.  Recycle the bottle.
4. And NEVER put plastic or Styrofoam in the microwave.  We all have seen the edges of them starting to bubble as they come out of the microwave.  That is the material breaking down in our food.

So what can you do?

1. Purchase cloth grocery bags.
2. Put your cloth grocery bags in the car when you are done unloading them.  That way they are never more than a few steps from the grocery line.
3. Stop drinking out of plastic bottles and purchase stainless steel bottles.  Plastic is bad for your health, expensive and hard on the environment.

To help you in the process we have created our Billion Bag, Bottle & Bulb Challenge that can be found at www.YourGuideToGreen.com/campaign.  Sign up for the challenge, contribute your ideas, tell your friends, be the example you wish for others to emulate.  Your choices do make a difference in the world, especially when we put all of ours together.  You may be as surprised as I was to learn what a great contribution you can make!

Click here to browse our Stainless Steel and Plastic Guide, for more information on steel, aluminum, and plastic bottles, plus environmental and health issues involving plastic.