Here we are in August (wth?!) and at another end of Plastic Free July. It was great to see how many people got involved this year both on and off the internet, the movement is growing and that is hopeful.
Naysayers and negative posts may still get you down, so I wanted to list some positive changes that have happened this year both in my life and the world:
-both my mom and sister got reusable produce bags, helping reduce the amount of plastic bags in the world
-with the start of the soft plastic recycling in BC, a ton of my friends are bringing in their soft plastic and at least for me and a few others it’s a been a huge eye opener as to how much plastic we’ve been using. A few people I know have started working to reuse their soft plastic as well-the firmer plastic bags with the Ziploc that frozen fruit and stuff comes in are great for reusing, just give them a rinse and you can use them for leftovers or fruit you freeze yourself or whatever (just try and keep track or label them-my dad is getting increasingly frustrating at finding pasta sauce and chicken instead of frozen blueberries in the mornings! ?
-more and more friends are refusing straws, using reusable mugs and looking for alternatives to single use plastic in their everyday lives. Being aware of what is around you is the first step.
-tons of restaurants, grocery stores and countries are working on single use plastic bans like straws, plastic bags and more. I wanted to add some actual numbers to the blog but as I was searching and writing this more bans were announced; I can’t keep up and that is great!
-the randomest but maybe my favourite fact: the hot dog stand that we’ve been going to during the Celebration of Light for ten years (it’s a long story!) has switched to selling boxed water instead of bottled! No need for a straw, 75% of the container is paper and you can fit more in a cooler when selling it.
When it all comes down to it you can only do what you can. Everyone has a situation that needs plastic. This month my optometrist told me I had to use single packaged eye drops and I did. Because my doctor told me I had to. But my heart twinged a little at the waste- it would have regardless of the time of year, the fact that it was smack dab in the middle of Plastic Free July just made it ironic.
There will always be plastic in our lives, that is just a fact. Don’t let anyone shame you for using what you need to use and remember that you can’t fail at using less plastic as long as you try. Less plastic is less plastic-you got this.