Reduce plastic waste :: PlasticLess.com

I have seen plastic footwear washed up on the beaches of three continents. Most inexpensive flip flops are made from Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA).

The most enviro-friendly choice for summer footwear is bare feet. That being said, going barefoot is not for everyone and it poses some risks. There is a lot of gross stuff on the ground and also some sharp objects.

Ethletics makes all natural rubber flip flops that are Fair Trade. I love the business model employed by FairDeal Trading, but I am too cheap to buy their $60 sneakers. If you are a shoe fetishist AND an ethical greeny, you need to get a pair of green low tops. The flip flops are affordable and when you kick them off at a pool party, the Ethletic label will let people know that you care.

We often have to choose between plastic and leather when we are shopping for footwear. I am hesitant to recommend leather because of the host of environmental negative involved in its creation. Canvas and natural rubber seem like better choices. Sticking the words ‘vegan shoes’ in your search query is the best way to avoid leather.

I recently saw an eye catching photo of a sculpture that was created using lost and discarded plastic hubcaps. My first thought was that it was a really creative (and profitable) way to recycle.

My second thought was that hubcaps are an absolutely pointless car accessory.

I am too lazy to do proper research tonight, so I am simply assuming that the vast majority of hubcaps on new cars are plastic. If I am wrong, please tell me.

In these hard economic times, the concept of the ‘base model’ car should be revisited. The new cars that are languishing in dealer lots have a lot of extras that have been deemed as ‘standard equipment’ over the last few decades. I haven’t been new car shopping for years. The 18 year old Skoda that I owned in Malta didn’t have hubcaps or power steering. I don’t have a car here in Tunisia and the public transport is reliable and cheap enough that I have no plans on buying one.

I remember car shopping in 2003. I wanted to lease the cheapest, most basic car possible. The bottom line on a Toyota ad pulled me in. It turned out that power brakes and color-matched bumpers were extras and that there were no cars on the lot without these extras. I didn’t buy a Toyota.

When I was a kid, I lived in a farming community. Farmers at the time got tax breaks on their new trucks but they had to buy them without certain options. The auto dealers in town were aware of the situation and they were ready to supply the truly basic trucks. Wouldn’t it be cool if consumers started asking for cars without unnecessary plastic junk like hubcaps?

If you were in traffic recently and you thought you saw a redneck truck with a set of plastic testicles bolted to the rear bumper and then quickly decided that you had to be mistaken, I have news for you. You did see a redneck truck with a set of plastic testicles bolted to the rear bumper.

I have a very simple alternative to putting plastic testicles one your vee-hickle… DON’T.