Is there anything worse than feeling used and discarded?
Billions of single-use items like straws, cutlery, and styrofoam to-go boxes are used for just a few minutes, then thrown away without a second thought. Every day, 500 million straws are used in America, according to the National Parks Service, and that’s just one of the dozens of convenience items we toss regularly. These materials are made from a material that is designed to last – a material that does not break down easily, a material that ends up littering parking lots, roads, natural areas, waterways, and finally, oceans.
Most single-use plastic items cannot be recycled in single-stream. Their useful life exists for a handful of seconds while a meal is being consumed – then they are thrown away.
Of course, “there is no away,” and these items must go somewhere after they have served their purpose. Some are destined sit in a landfill, where it sits under a cover, protected from light and water, which is part of why it can take hundreds of years to decompose… If we’re lucky.
If we’re not so lucky, these items don’t make it to the landfill. Some are thrown in single-stream recycling bins, jamming up the works and causing chaos in recycling plants, which are designed to handle only certain materials.
Often, plastics are thrown on the ground or carried off the tops of dumpsters and landfills by the wind, eventually traveling into our water streams and eventually making their way the ocean, where sea creatures and migratory birds mistake them for food. According to the NRDC, 80% of ocean litter starts on land. Oceans are a grand depository for our brief encounters with plastic – there is an estimated 4-12 million tons of plastic pieces floating in the sea (the numbers vary wildly because the tiny bits are extremely difficult to measure within the vast expanse of the seas).
What can be done to avoid using these items and throwing them away? Can the average American really avoid using single-use plastic trash?
Yes!
Although situations will arise where using single-use items might be unavoidable, most of the time it is very easy to go without. Try these easy steps to reduce your single-use plastic waste:
- When eating out, specify that you don’t need a straw. The National Park Service is promoting this simple way to make a difference with their Be Straw Free campaign, which serves both to reduce waste and educate the public about plastic consumption
- When getting to-go food, specify that you don’t need cutlery – if you find yourself needing plastic cutlery often, consider purchasing an easy-to-carry set from the GDA! It can be kept in your car or in your bag as a handy alternative to putting unnecessary trash into the environment.
GDA Cutlery comes with the cost of Green Dining Club membership – consider supporting our program while reducing single-use waste!
- Avoid styrofoam completely if you can – it is the most notorious of the single-use items, and tops the list of the GDA’s most-hated list. Eating at GDA certified restaurants will guarantee that you won’t get your leftovers in polystyrene boxes.
- Bring a re-usable bag with when you go pick up a to-go order. Keeping bags in the car is always a great idea – they come in handy all the time, and can dramatically reduce your single-use waste.
Consider your single-use habits, simple steps to reduce your waste can make a huge difference!
