History 101 - Plastics is on YouTube for free, and wow…even though we have seen the stats and know the historical timeline, this puts it into a 19-minute bite-sized format with great graphics and information.
Prior to 1907, plastic as we know it did not exist. While we are fighting the barrage of single-use plastic in our lives today, there are some things that wouldn't have progressed as well for us without plastic. I am not advocating for the big oil companies and their deception of recycling, but I am acknowledging the need for the use of plastics in technology, transportation, and the medical field.
We have a lot of these conversations in the shop about how there's a place for plastic, but not as a throw-away & recycle item. Mrs. Meyer's makes a really great plastic squeeze dish soap bottle that seems to last folks for years when refilling and reusing (also not advocating buying this, but rather reuse if you have one). The thing here is we need to reuse as many of these well-made plastic items as possible until we need to send them off to be recycled. I'll leave the need for good ingredients and makers taking responsibility for the end of the life of their packaging for another soapbox. =)
The graphics showing we have produced 7.8 billion tons of plastic waste just from 1955-2015, which could fill every NY skyscraper 23 times over, is pretty staggering. And every piece of it still exists on the planet in one form or another.
I won't go through all of the details, but I do encourage you to watch this when you have a moment. It isn't meant to scare but rather to help us all realize what is happening globally. We live in a beautiful bubble here in Sonoma County, where a lot of people are doing the right thing and reusing. We are so lucky!
If you don't have time to watch the video, here's your reminder that the plastics industry has given speeches at their industry conferences saying they can make more money selling single-use bottles than selling a bottle that gets reused. Money over people and the planet is what they do, we put people and planet over money.
Reducing our plastic consumption isn't easy, we are in a broken system, and there is no step-by-step guide or one-size-fits-all.
It looks different for everyone. Some of us will simply reuse everything and bring our reusables wherever we go. Some of us will refill. Some of us will switch to solid shampoo, conditioner, bar soaps, and bar dish soaps.
Each one of us has a part to play to help save the planet. Reducing what goes into the waste stream, even just one item a week, matters. Refilling one bottle instead of buying new still keeps plastic out of the landfill. Choosing reusable over disposable still reduces consumption. Progress adds up.
However you show up, counts! And thank you for showing up to refill and reuse!
However you show up, counts! And thank you for showing up to refill and reuse!
