Reduce plastic waste :: PlasticLess.com

"Restoring Honor" Rally At Lincoln Memorial

Originally uploaded by TDLphoto

I don’t want to make any kind of broad assumption. There may have been a few reusable steel water bottles at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28.

I have a dream of a land where single serving plastic water bottles are socially unacceptable and events such as this provide free potable water straight from a tanker truck.

Rapala X Rap 2

Originally uploaded by coastalangler

A sad fact that defenders of the plastic bag will often use as a comeback is this: The majority of plastic waste in the oceans of the world comes from commercial fishing. I’m not sure what the actual percentages are and I’m guessing that nobody else is either. I did see way too many tangled up nets on the shore in Tunisia.

I spent a lot of my youth trout fishing in the wilderness of Nova Scotia. I remember seeing some plastic waste from recreational fishing as well. Tangles of fishing line, and snagged lures weren’t a surprise. I was pretty judgmental towards the people who tossed the packaging for their fishing gear in and around the lakes and streams and even more so towards the ones who left a pile of garbage from an overnight stay.

Sport-fishing involves some self imposed handicaps and some that are put in place by governments. If you are a fisherman, try to do it without adding to the already disturbing amount of plastic waste in our environment.

Junk Love

Originally uploaded by junkerjane

“In most preschools, you find mainly girls playing with dolls in the houskeeping and dress-up corner, while boys build with blocks and play with trucks. Teachers and parents unconsciously promote these stereotypes.” – Dolls, Trucks, and Identity: Educators help young children grow beyond gender [http://www.4children.org/issues/1997/november_december/dolls_trucks_and_identity/]

I would love to see a study of kids that did not have a ready access to representative dolls in childhood. Does such a group even exist?

Plasticless recently got a mention in the online version of one of India’s biggest environmental magazines. I think that’s pretty cool. There are a lot of others bloggers doing a great job of covering the basics and fighting the battles with regard to plastic waste. One thing that makes my take on things a bit different is that I have been spending several years living in developing and less developed countries. I have lived among people who consume less than the average American. At the same time I have witnessed the degree to which many people aspire to the kind of consumerism that goes on in America and the rest of the developed world. I also got to see a range of attitudes about waste management from citizens and government. The guilt trips and social trends that bloggers in places like California use to try and effect change do not translate well to the developing world. I like to read publications like Down to Earth because they are written from the perspective of people who live and work in the developing world. Regional governments in India have recently been coming out with very strict plastic bag bans. It will be interesting to see how the society adjusts to this.

Plastic Ocean

Originally uploaded by Kevin Krejci

Here we see a typical example of washed up plastic. Something about the density and shape of plastic bottle tops seems to make them one of the most common objects in beach litter. Recycling these tops is less economical than recycling PET plastic bottles. Many municipal recycling schemes do not even accept them. I can’t think of very many ways to reuse them effectively. The best option for consumers is to reduce the number of plastic bottle tops that they ‘consume.’ I try to cut my consumption of bottled soft drinks down to almost nothing. When local lemons are in season, I make lots of lemonade with sugar that comes packaged in paper, lemons that come packaged in lemon peels and water that comes from the tap. Actually, just about any kind of whole fruit can offer the sugar boost that people are craving when they buy a bottled beverage. We generations of effective advertising to thank for the high consumption of bottled soft drinks that seems normal to so many people around the world.

nylon rope

Originally uploaded by *The Cure*

Nylon rope has almost completely replaced natural fiber rope because of its durability. Take a long walk on the beach and you will probably find some pieces of nylon rope.

Rope made from natural fiber like hemp and cotton are better for some purposes and just as good for many others. For any purpose that puts lives on the line, use whatever is recommended by experts. For less important uses, try natural rope first. I even make my own rope from rags. It is pretty easy and it works great. I wouldn’t go mountain climbing or yachting with the stuff, but I’m not doing either of those things anyway.

Plastic Toys

Originally uploaded by tom chandler

I have lived on a Mediterranean Island so long that I can spell Mediterranean right the first time. You know I see more than my share of these cheap plastic toys. I honestly think that taking a field guide to marine life to the beach and spending some time searching for cool stuff with your kids would provide better entertainment. We found a fossilized shark’s tooth a few years ago.