Reduce plastic waste :: PlasticLess.com

I have to confess that I have never thrown a party for dozens of people. I am an introvert. If I were to wake up as an entirely different person and decide to have a big bash for all of the acquaintances that I would call my friends, I would try to figure out an alternative to the disposable plastic beer glass.

Disposable plastic beer glasses are recommended by many authorities on serving alcohol at large parties…

…You need to invest in some plastic beer cups. The investment is relatively cheap. You can get a large stack of plastic beer cups for about the same price you are going to pay for a bottle of dish detergent to clean all those glasses.

The savings in time is astronomically higher. Instead of washing and drying all those glasses, just pull out a black plastic bag, sweep them all into it, and you’re done.

I think the most obvious alternative to plastic beer glasses is to have your guests drink straight from returnable glass bottles. The only drawback that I can see with this is the safety issue. I attended an Agricultural College in Canada. I saw a lot of beer drinking at pubs and events. Most of these events did not involve disposable cups and I can only remember a handful of bottle related injuries. One or two of them were very memorable.

A slightly more inventive alternative would be to ask your guests to bring their own drinking vessel. Those wacky medieval recreationists do that all the time.

Serving beer from plastic laundry detergent jugs is a step in the wrong direction. Don’t do it.

If your party is commemorating something important, you could shell out for keepsake glassware. If you bring home a beer glass or champagne flute from someone’s special day, don’t have it sitting on your windowsill filled with plant cuttings that you are trying to root when they visit you after the divorce. I’m just sayin’.

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Virtual alternatives are greener than the real deal in most cases. I am satisfied the the calculator that came with my computer operating system. I don’t need to go out and buy another handful of plastic and heavy metal to help me balance my checkbook (like I’m the one who actually does that, lol).

I don’t need to buy bubble wrap or a Rubik’s Cube to occupy my idle hands either. There are free virtual versions of those plastic things.

I’m the one who made the stickers all green. You can get a regular one at RyanHeise.com.

Note: The Rubik’s Cube is embeddable on your own blog or website, but it seems to have some buggy javascript, or else my server/Wordpress install just can’t work with it.

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I grew up with Tonka toys. They were mostly hand-me-downs from older cousins. Back when I was a kid they were steel with some plastic parts. They were durable. I wouldn’t call them indestructible. My dad drove a real dump truck and we occasionally left our toys on the lane.

Tonka started out as a company that made steel rails. They got the toy idea from a neighboring business that failed. Tonka was a huge success. I am writing about Tonka on a blog that is all about reducing plastic waste because Tonka toys are increasingly being made out of plastic. The company was bought by Hasbro (the people who make Mister PlasticHead) in 1991. Hasbro has discontinued many of the metal toys. I can’t be bothered to do the research, but I assume there was a concurrent shift away from domestic manufacturing. My observations lead me to believe that plastic Tonka toys are less durable than metal. Hasbro has a ‘Classic’ line of Tonka toys with steel parts, but many of the toys that I grew up with are discontinued.

Playing with toy trucks in the dirt seems to be something that kids thrive on. I think buying used toys that have proven durability is a wise decision. Some kids are just as happy to play with kid sized garden tools.

If you and your kids don’t have access to an outdoor imagination excavation, wooden trucks make great indoor toys.

Vintage Tonka photo credit: Steve-Photos, Others: fair use from Toys(backwards R)Us and Hasbro.

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First off, a hearty congratulations are in order for To-Go Ware. Their cause and their products got the most important endorsement in the Universe. Oprah likes their stuff.

The Earth Day edition of the Oprah Winfrey Show put a spotlight on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and gave some valuable advice to her viewers on how to reduce plastic waste.

I hope that Oprah will remember the issue of plastic waste for more than just one episode. Hopefully future installments of her Favorite things won’t include stuff like melamine bowls.

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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.

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If you were to ask anyone to come up with a few things that they associate with St. Patrick’s Day, silly plastic hats might be the second thing mentioned after alcohol. Many of these cheap plastic hats end up strewn around the vicinity of the bars and parade routes where people celebrate this special day, along with a few beer glasses (not beer goggles, people take those home with them). Please consider buying a non-plastic green hat that will last for years and can even be worn on non-Irish days. This one is very green and slightly amusing.

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Photo Credit: Amanky

I am a bit lazy today. I am not going to search all over the internet looking for statistics related to the use of bandaids. I have first hand anecdotal evidence that the majority of adhesive bandages are applied unnecessarily. The symbolic act makes the injured and the caregiver feel better. My kids are past the age where they need to have ceremonial attention for every boo-boo. There is a page on the Bandaid corporate website that encourages parents to supply kids with bandaids to put on their stuffed animals. If you are a new or prospective parent, try to develop some kind of triage routine that does not involve the pointless application of plastic bandaids.

Actually, one of the best ways to accomplish this is for parents to be properly trained in first aid and to have a carefully thought out and well stocked first aid kit. If you rush to your kid’s aid with a box with a big red cross on it, they feel like you are taking care of them. If you can confidently tell them that the proper treatment involves something less drastic than a bandaid with their favorite cartoon character on it, they might accept your expert diagnosis. If they are in a situation that requires more than just a bandaid, you will be glad that you are prepared.

I was going to provide a link to a ready-made first aid kit, but they all seem to come in plastic cases these days. You might be able to find one in a metal case at your local pharmacy. The Red Cross has a great list of essentials if you want to build your own first aid kit. Don’t leave yourself under-supplied while you look for plastic free alternatives.

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Dear Joe Six-Pack,

Please do not carelessly discard
those plastic six-pack rings
that hold your beer cans together.
The story about ducks getting
tangled up and dying is not
an urban (or rural) legend. I saw
a carcass with my own eyes.
I smelled it with my own
nose, too. It was gross.
The dead duck was right here.

I’m not asking you to change
your beer purchasing choices
or your lifestyle. All I am asking
is that you cut the plastic rings
when you have finished your
beer. Use a really cool knife
so the kindness feels less effeminate.

Photo credits: Top – Marc Moss,
Bottom – Jason Hogle (Blog, Photos)

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The best plasticless option for watching movies is to LEGALLY download them onto your computer. The most convenient way to watch movies is to buy or rent DVDs. If you have a collection of DVDs, a cheap and environmentally friendly way to watch some fresh content is to join LendAround. Here are the basic facts as presented on LendAround.com:

The average household has over 10 DVDs.
The average web user has 25 friends.
If you share, that’s free movies for five years.*

LendAround has lots of typical social media components and it is linked up to Facebook. I think the site will appeal to people who like showing off their refined eclectic taste in movies and it will appeal to people who like to virtually nose around in other people’s stuff. The frugal aspect is icing on the cake. If I lived in a less obscure place, I would enjoy participating. If I was participating, I would bemoan the fact that I sold or gave away all of my DVDs before I moved. The kids still have a few cherished ones, like Harry Potter. I suspect that almost everyone who wanted to watch that movie has a copy of their own.

I didn’t find the perfect picture to accompany this post, but browsing through flickr opened my eyes to just how huge some people’s DVD collections can get. This is a LOT of plastic. I really wish the industry would change to a minimal packaging standard, preferably one without plastic.

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I’m going to make this post short and sweet. Human beings are fully equipped with everything that they require for satisfying sexual activity. I recently visited Italy and happened to go into a store that sold kinky stuff (it was predominately a clothing store, ok?) and much of it was made of plastic. It all seemed kind of silly to me.

Some people treat sex like it was golf. When they start out as novices, they are embarrassingly bad at it, but they have a good excuse. The majority of us will get better at it quite quickly after some practice but inevitably hit a plateau. Like golfers we have three choices. We can quit. We can devote ourselves to improving our technique. Or we can buy a bunch of fancy equipment that is supposed to improve our game.

Sex is not golf. The plastic items at your local sex shop will often have for novelty purposes only written on them. If you are married with children, there is one type of novelty that I highly recommend, which is some absolutely private time to yourselves.

The best way to make a poor sex life good or a good one better is to work on improving communication.

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