Earth Day 2024: Planet Vs. Plastics

Earth Day is on its way, swiftly approaching on April 22nd. Since its first one in 1970, Earth Day has been a day dedicated to the betterment of our planet.

The 2024 Theme: Planet vs. Plastics

The goal: to remove 60% of the plastics by 2040...with the true goal to aim for a plastic-free planet. 

When you think of plastics, it's everywhere--and sometimes it's necessary. Think about its role in the medical field. However, the overuse of single use plastic has got to go. Not only is it a waste of a valuable, non-renewable resource (petroleum), but it is an endocrine disruptor and toxic hazard which can cause cancer. It's everywhere--in our food, in our fast fashion, in our air and water. And it's not recycled like we all wishfully think it is--only 5% is recycled globally. 

For a bounty of ideas, check out the Earth Day Action Toolkit 2024 from EarthDay.org. You can find many of their other Earth Day and beyond toolkits here.

Additionally, here are more resources:

• Maine's Department of Education Earth Day 2024 website of Educator Resources (There's a wealth in here!! Way to go, Maine!)

• EarthDay.org's Plastic Pollution Fact Sheets

• EarthDay.org's "End Plastics" online quizzes (and more!)

• Pedagogue's Earth Day 2024 Teaching Resources--with 8 online resources of what websites specifically to visit.

• Scholastic's Celebrate Earth Day activities

• Teach Starter's Earth Day 2024 Teaching Resources

• Planetpal's Earth Day page of resources

What will you do for Earth Day this year?

HERE

Earth Day PSA video: https://youtu.be/xP-iIilHQsU?si=OMGF2Ja2tIbfY_fr, image from https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/plastic-vs-planet.html and https://www.earthday.org/planet-vs-plastics/, Earth Month Calendar from https://subjecttoclimate.org/blog/2024-earth-day-activity-guide-for-6-8#Lesson%20Plans

Revisiting the Plastic-cyclopedia

After brushing up on our vocabulary a week ago with the Plastic-cyclopedia post, this mockumentary "commercial" post about "plastic soup" felt like the perfect follow up. Especially since it's Plastic Free July.

Yum, who doesn't want a bowl of that! 🙄

I've been doing some digging for an upcoming one day summer class I am teaching with a coworker: "Building Global & Environmental Citizens in Our Classrooms" where we are doing a deep dive into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (more on that in a future post). Along the way with that research and also while I was doing a deep dive into plastic vernacular from my previous post, I landed on this article by Maria Westerbos (Founder & Director of the Plastic Soup Foundation): "How the Sustainable Development Goals Can Help Fight ‘Plastic Soup’-- 3 Actions Key to Curbing Plastic Pollution Around the World. In it, she noted show fighting oceanic plastic hits the following goals indirectly:

• #3: Good health and well-being--Our sea life won't be consuming toxic materials, which creates healthier food for humans.

• #6: Clean water and sanitation--Just take a look at that Plastic Soup video again for verification on this one!

• #11: Sustainable cities and communities--The lack of pollution will help eliminate toxic environments.

• #12: Responsible consumption and production--Eliminating a throw away mindset leads to the betterment of the planet.

• #13: Climate action--Plans for addressing climate change lead to a healthier planet.

• #14: Life below water--Plastic is detrimental to sea life.

• #15: Life on land--Smarter decisions regarding litter and plastic consumption overall will help create a cleaner environment.

Thin plastic (such as bags) could potentially photodegrade in a year in sunlight....but especially in a landfill, it could take upwards of of 500 years or more to decompose. One plastic cup could certainly become a multi-generational problem given those statistics. As I think of my fridge alone, I see plastic everywhere I look: the dreaded individually wrapped cheese (which I hate to buy but sometimes have no other options), milk containers, salad dressing jars, mustard containers, and more.

As Ms. Westerbos recommends in her article, the three things we need to do our best to do is:

• Keep plastic from entering our environment (what I like to call "refuse" -- the 4th of the 3 R's);
• Avoid health risks such as plastic products leaching into foods, beverages, and even the soil;
• Reduce comes before reuse which comes before recycle in the 3 R's.

Some of this starts with better waste management. (Recycling should be too much easier! Each municipality has its own rules based on its own sorting equipment, and often times it's as clear as mud, making me wonder if we are all wishcycling!!!) 

Additionally, in a world where the price of gasoline is downright ridiculous right now, what are we doing using so much petroleum on useless, single-use plastic?!

The Plastic Health Coalition is a good place to turn--companies dedicated to helping fight for the solution to our planetary plastic problem! Research and innovation to help solve the problem is always a good place to start! Likewise, it reminds me of this quote and how we each need to be starting individually--in our homes, places of work, communities, local and national governments!

Video from https://youtu.be/gUCx-j4Gk_k; UN Sustainable Development Goals from https://bthechange.com/how-the-sustainable-development-goals-can-help-fight-plastic-soup-3ce746fc1cba, quote from https://adviceyouneed.net/2012/02/26/lets-change-the-world/

Those Chasing Arrows On Plastic Items

I remember being a newbie to the world of recycling and environmentalism. Seeing those chasing arrows recycling symbols with the numbers in the middles led me to believe all those things that these symbols are on were recyclable. 

Turns out they're not, and I learned that early in my environmental pursuit. 

Not all plastics are created equally...nor do they all recycle easily (and some, at all.) Plastics fall in the following categories, and usually the number inside those chasing arrows has a lot of meaning (as the infographic below shows):

♻️1-- polyethylene terephthalate (PETE)

♻️2 -- high-density polyethylene (HDPE)

♻️3 -- polyvinyl chloride (PVC)

♻️4 -- low-density polyethylene (LDPE)

♻️5 -- polypropylene (PP)

♻️6 -- polystyrene (PS) [What I like to refer as "evil styrofoam."]

♻️7 -- other (which can include polycarbonate resins, acrylic, polyactic fibers, nylon, fiberglass, etc.)

The ♻️1 and ♻️2 are more widely recyclable....after that it has always gotten fuzzy when it comes to recycling. [Another good infographic on this is here.]

At one point here in my local municipality, they were keen on you erring on the side of overly optimistic. If you weren't sure, put it in and they'd decide. They must have had a bad case of "be careful what you ask for," because they've since changed their tune and that went away. 

It's all so freaking confusing. Some could even argue misleading!

Well...that may change. I ran across the following article on Grist.org entitled "California Wants to Ban Misleading Recycling Labels. Plastic Companies Don’t." California Senate Bill 343 passed the CA State Assembly September 8, 2021 and the State Senate on September 9, 2021 and was enrolled and presented to CA Governor Gavin Newsom on September 17th. This Bill bans companies from putting that recycling symbol on items that aren't routinely recycled in California and turned into a new item. It's a demand for "truth in advertising." The senators who promoted the bills are strong proponents in the concept that "labels should mean something." 

According to the article, one 9% of plastic waste has ever gotten recycled. We may be all "wishcycling" like happy little eco club members, yet it winds up floating on the wind, landing in waterways or the side of the road, or deposited in dumps and landfills. Things aren't as recyclable as we think, which in turn messes up the whole process, sometimes landing a lot of items that could be recycled into the dump because we have contaminated them by over-including non-recyclables. 

Why does this happen? Companies have greenwashed us into having more faith in the recycling system than it can handle. Back to that truth in advertising that is tied up in those chasing arrows.

The Plastics Industry Association likes to point out that the chasing arrows were not supposed to be a message about an item's recyclability, but instead they are more an indication of what the item is made of. A grading system, if you will. Yet, that message certainly has gotten muddied over all the years we've seen those li'l number-filled ♻️.

California's bill will go into effect January 2024, which is all well and good, but companies will have to deal with California's restrictions and requirements AND the national ones (which still allow and accept the numbered ♻️ stamps in a less restrictive way. Clearly some bumps are ahead. Hopefully California can be a state leader for America. But, as we've seen the last few years, our country tends to wrestle when it comes to state versus national issues. 

Maine and Oregon have are passed laws for making producers more responsible for their own waste. New York State has also presented labeling laws similar to California's.

For our more visual friends, here's a great CBS video news segment on this.

Maybe this will serve as role model legislation, moving us more toward sustainability and labels we can trust. Fingers crossed. 

Infographic from https://www.brownrecycling.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/plastic-recycling-code-infographic-877x1024.jpg, "What Do They Mean" image created at canva.com

Are You In the "Loop?"

This morning, as I was washing my hair, I came to the last drop of conditioner. It happens. The bottle's empty and into the recycle bin it goes. (Where hopefully, I'm not just wishcycling, and it actually ends up getting recycled... which is especially important after reading this highly disturbing article from The Atlantic (3/3/19) "Is This the End of Recycling?")

But what if there was another way? A way to replenish my conditioner without making waste!!

That way may indeed be "on the way!"

Tom Szaky, Terracycle's CEO & founder, is taking the idea of "eliminating waste" one step further with the creation of The Loop.

What is the Loop? It's a circular versus linear way of doing things--meaning the packaging goes back to the company to be refilled. The idea of waste is truly eliminated. These two videos showcase it better than words!



From their press release on January 24, 2019 at the World Economic Forum, there's a lot of corporate buy in! Here are the companies involved:

The idea for Loop was founded at the World Economic Forum by TerraCycle and consumer product companies Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever, Mars Petcare, The Clorox Company, The Body Shop, Coca-ColaEuropean Partners, Mondelēz International, Danone, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, Lesieur, BIC, Beiersdorf, RB,People Against Dirty, Nature’s Path, Thousand Fell, Greenhouse, Grilliance, Burlap & Barrel Single OriginSpices, Reinberger Nut Butter, CoZie and Preserve. 

Pilot programs are starting this spring in both New York City metro area and Paris. This could certainly turn shopping and packaging into a whole new ball game! To learn more, be sure to read GreenBiz's article "Loop’s Launch Brings Reusable Packaging to the World’s Biggest Brands"

Szaky also has a new book out: The Future of Packaging: From Linear to Circular. Mine should arrive tomorrow!

I've always been a fan of Terracycle...and they may just have outdone themselves with their newest venture, Loop. Can't wait to see it come to life!

Video from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RU3JffV4LM&feature=youtu.be; List of companies involved & "How It Works" piece from The Loop's January 24, 2019 press release: https://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-global-prod/download_resources/us/downloads/5113/Loop_Announcement.pdf; The Loop logo from https://www.greenbiz.com/article/loops-launch-brings-reusable-packaging-worlds-biggest-brands

Living in the World of Over-Packaging

This was the scene on my kitchen floor the other morning, upon tidying up my pantry and fridge. Near-empty boxes that got emptied, items rearranged where they lived on the shelves, and nicely organized. Of course, this is a mere fraction of the food items that live in my pantry. But this is a lot of grocery store, consumer waste.

I've said it before: I'm NOT a fan of packaging. Over-packing, more like it. (My particular pet peeve are plastic wrapped fruit... if only they came in their own natural packaging.  Oh wait, they do!)

I've been writing about over-packaging (and other environmental issues) for almost 10 years now.  And my last post was on how plastic that ends up in the ocean is one of my biggest pet peeves. Yet, we're still here. *Sigh.* There's a frustration that comes with that for me personally.

There's also a false sense of security that we all grasp hold of: "At least I'm recycling all of that over-packaging." Yes... but, it is indeed false. The mantra: "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" is in that order for a reason. Recycling is purposely last--but, we hang our hat on that as though we are Superman, saving our planet. I've written about "wishcycling"before, which certainly falls in the same department.

So what can we do, aside from pulling our hair out and taking yet another bag of Costco-aftermath to the recycle bin??

I think the biggest, most important place to start is at the "Rethink" stage. By starting there, and framing everything else around that, we can begin to make the changes.

Additionally, we vote everyday with our shopping dollars. Like my friend did when she bought me the 4Ocean bracelet. Her hard earned dollars were going for the eco good! By rethinking how we spend our hard-earned money, we will make a difference over time. That can start with us turning our focus toward buying items that are packed in post-consumer waste and boxes made of recycled materials. Likewise, it can also help to offset some of the ways we have created the problems in the first place, like 4Ocean does.

Plus, we can always go forward as eco-activists, bringing our bags and cups, containers, stainless steel straws, and more.

Of equal importance: we can be educating our youth (and the not-so-young), on ways to follow suit. With a growing population of common and shared knowledge toward being sustainability-focused, we can do it... even if it takes 10+ more years to make it happen!


Packaging image from my camera; Rethink images from https://sustainableskaneateles.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/recycle-refuse-reduce-re-use-repair-re-gift-recover/ and https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/c5/95/a7/c595a727d34a8792f1266b75a9244dee--the-product-recycling.jpg

Watch Out for "Wishcycling"

 Wishcycling... This isn't "when you wish upon a star" tied up with a bike trip.

(Actually, I'm getting an image of ET from the 1982 movie air-bike through my mind... Yikes!!! That just dated me at 35 years ago!!!)

Are you a hopeful recycler?
Do you think, given what your eco-side knows, that things should be recycled... even if the reality of your community's recycling facilities might not truly have that capability?

If so, you might be a wishcycler.

In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where I live, they often announce that when in doubt, throw it out... IN the recycle bin, and they will figure it out. So tend I "err on the side of heavy."
[For awhile we were composting a most of our food waste... until we had a short-lived, backyard episode of "Ratatoille" & critters using our french drain like the Parisian sewers. So, we are sadly only composting yard waste these days...but, I digress!]

But maybe I've really been lulled into the seduction of being a wishcycler. Paper towels gunk up the gears of recycle center machinery?! Oh man! Have I created that? Have I been an over-hopeful recycler, inadvertently loading up the landfill by "my fault" vs "default" recycling? And I'm the one who knows a lot about the environmental lot! My short term fix... to make this infographic:

So the bottom line and the best line of defense is: get specific to your municipality. Investigate and act accordingly. A classic example is pizza boxes. Many places won't recycle greasy cardboard boxes. But my Arundel County will (see their flyer below). Different communities have different parameters. Therefore, study up, plan with your purchasing dollar, be both well-intentioned and well-informed. And when in doubt, go "real" when choosing items in order to "reduce" and "reuse" (and eliminate the need to "recycle" due to those other two R's)... even during BBQ/picnic season ahead with all those seemingly-recyclable-but-not-always-recyclable-Red-Solo-cups!

Images from: ET movie poster from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/; definition from https://twitter.com/misslindsayh/status/640274325501689856/photo/1; http://www.recyclemoreoften.com/documents/new_item.pdf; infographic created using canva.com (https://www.canva.com/design/DACU4TD-p8I/VJmEm-7626xwE5oJKOX61A/view?utm_content=DACU4TD-p8I&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton)