Opinion: By: Eleanor Mobley The Myriad News
Eleanor Mobley explains the global effort to limit plastic use, as well as her own experience with helping the environment through sustainable purchases.
Our ecosystems are suffering due to plastic waste
Right now, ecosystems are inundated with single-use plastics such as straws, water bottles, shopping bags, packaging and so much more. Countries are starting to recognize how harmful an unsustainable this lifestyle is. The are one million bird deaths and more than 100,000 sea mammals deaths due to plastic waste in their ecosystem.
The United Kingdom works to ban certain plastic items
The U.K., along with many other countries, are taking steps to reduce plastic waste by placing bans on certain items like plastic straws, plastic stirrers and cotton buds. Banning these three products is a small step, but impactful to our ecosystem.
While banning these three items may seem like a small step, it will have quite a significant impact. A study conducted in England found there are 4.7 billion disposable plastic straws used yearly.
The U.K. announced they are committing 61.4 million euros to research ways of preventing plastic waste from entering ecosystems globally. Also, the U.K. government has a 20 million (euros) Plastic Research and Innovation Fund.
The fund supports companies and researchers find a creative way to use less plastic. The fund is also in the process of discovering a significant breakthrough that would ultimately make our world a cleaner place.
Norway plans to ban plastic items by next summer
Norway is also trying to limit the amount of plastic waste they produce. In a public statement, the Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment said there “is no need for these items to be plastic. Therefore, we try to get a ban on it before next summer”.
The goal was to ban all single-use plastic by summer 2020; however, the unforeseen pandemic has challenged this initiative. By publicly declaring their changes, Norway has inspired the EU, India, and Costa Rica to limit single-use plastic.
Plastic reduction in the United States has been difficult
Additionally, the United States is trying to limit single-use plastic, but this has been hard. California enacted legislation in 2014 being the first state to stop large retailers from putting products in single-use plastic bags. In addition, a new bag tax was included charging customers 10 cents for paper bags. The legislation, however, was very controversial and was put on the ballot in the 2016 election. Thankfully, the bill passed.
However, the 10 cent charge fee was going to an environmental fund but was shot down. Current update is grocery stores in California are allowed to use thicker plastic and call them ‘reusable.’ Eight states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon, New York and Vermont—banned single-use plastic bags.
During quarantine, my family of four (located in the U.S.) noticed how much single-use plastic we were using and wanted to make some changes. My mom and I browsed on Amazon to see if there were any ways we could make our purchases more sustainable. We started small and ordered three products: a silicone q-tip, toothpaste tablets and washable bamboo pads.
Q-tip
The first product was a reusable, silicone q-tip, which was $8.99 (USD). The one I purchased came with two, one with bumps to help remove ear-wax and a smooth one to help with skincare or makeup.
Globally, there are around 25.5 billion q-tips sold per year. Q-tips comprise much of the human waste found in oceans. While some Q-tips are paper in the middle, more are made with plastic connecting the two sides. On Walmart.com, you can purchase a two-pack of Q-Tips for $10.67 (USD), which is already more expensive than a reusable Q-tip.
Toothpaste tablets
The second product we tried was toothpaste tablets in compostable packaging. This illuminates the plastic tube and top that come with typical toothpaste. The brand I purchased was Dent Tabs, which markets for every one bag is two tubes of toothpaste.
This purchase was more on the costly side for toothpaste and was $10.39 (USD) with $1.35 (USD) shipping. In comparison, a six-pack of toothpaste by Colgate is $7.92 (USD). I was unaware that there were alternatives to tubed toothpaste. There are tablet toothpastes for sale at Target in a metal container by the brand Hello for $7.99 (USD).
Also, there is this brand called Bite which has different flavors and flavors for kids. They also package the tablets in metal. One bottle costs $12.00 (USD). I would rate Dent Tabs a 7/10 – the tabs are tiny and need a lot of spit or water in your mouth. However, they have fluoride in them and taste good. I have also tried Hello and would rate them an 8/10 – the tabs are large, you do not need a lot of spit or water and taste really good, but they do not have fluoride.
Washable bamboo pads
The third product was washable bamboo pads, which cost $9.99 (USD) for 16 pads and a washing bag. Before this product, I went to Costco and bought a large pack of Swisspers Premium Hypoallergenic Cotton Rounds, which was $15.99 (USD) for 900. The biggest issue with this was how they were packaged in plastic bags. When I made this change, I never looked back. This swap was an 11/10 for me. I was concerned about having to wash them and running out, but since I have had them, I have never run out and throw the washable bag in with my whites load.
After my family did these swaps and saw the significant impact it has on lowering our waste, we wanted to make more swaps.
Our next exchange was biodegradable trash bags. We got 100 bags for $9.99 USD. These worked very well and were made from corn starch. There are many different sizes, and the ones linked above are on the smaller size but perfect for bathrooms and bedrooms. In my experience of using them in the kitchen, the bags rip often and are not as hardy as traditional plastic bags.
This may seem very overwhelming, but that is okay. Start with making small changes and grow to bigger changes in your daily routine. Any change you make to limit your use of single use is appreciated and is making an impact.