Green Thought Thursdays: Disposable Utensils

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet.

This week the green thought is about disposable, plastic utensils!

Plastic utensils can often degrade into components that are harmful to animals including humans. Photo: Cap Radio.

Single use plastic items are definitely bad for the environment. Once discarded, plastic degrades in the environment releasing toxins and breaking down into microplastics that clog the digestive and respiratory systems of animals who ingest or inhale them. An plastic utensils are no exception to this. An estimated 40,000,000,000 plastic utensils (forks, knives, and spoons) are discarded every year around the world. That is a lot of plastic that only gets used once and then is thrown away!

A solution is to to stop using plastic utensils. When we get a meal from a restaurant or café, we should all think about if we really need any plastic utensils. Many food items can be enjoyed with the use of utensils at all. And if a meal really does need a utensil to eat it, we can all carry reusable utensils. There are some great ones out there that come in sets with a knife, fork, spoon, and even chopsticks. And they often have their own carrying bag. By reducing the plastic utensils we all use, we can all help reduce the amount of plastic that is produced and the amount of plastic that gets into the environment! So, we can all start saying “no thanks” when a server asks if us if we would like any plastic utensils with our food.

What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any other solution ideas?

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Green Thought Thursdays: Mylar Balloons

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet. Last week we talked about washing with cold water.

This week the green thought is about mylar balloons.

Mylar balloons pose serious threats to wildlife, soils, and oceans of the world. Photo: Washington Post.

Balloons are fun! They symbolize celebration and happiness! But they are not a celebration for the planet. Mylar is plastic. Balloons frequently escape from parties and drift away. Even when they are placed in the trash, they often escape from landfills. These escaped mylar balloons end up in the water and that is where the problems begin. Many marine animals ingest mylar balloons. Some of them eat balloons intentionally such as sea turtles that eat balloons likely mistaking them for jellyfish. Some of them eat balloons accidently such as baleen whales that swallow balloons along with the krill that they capture in the hundred of gallons of seawater that they take in each mouthful. Even if the mylar balloons are not eaten directly, they break down into microplastics that cause a myriad of problems from polluting soil and water to poisoning microbes to getting into the food that humans eat. Definitely not good!

The solution is: don’t buy mylar balloons. If we all stop buying mylar balloons, fewer and fewer will be produced. This is a great example of how we can all use our wallets to influence industries and push towards the world we want.

What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any other solution ideas?

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Green Thought Thursdays: Reusable Coffee Cups

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet. Last week we talked about voting.

This week the green thought is about reusable coffee cups.

This is not news. We, as a society, use a lot of coffee cups. The disposable coffee cups that we all get when we visit a café or coffee shop are a classic one-use-item. We drink our beverage, and then throw away the cup. Maybe we recycle it. Either way, the USA alone uses, and disposes of, about 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups a year! That is about 5,000 cups a minute! And that is just one country! That is a lot of waste!

A variety of reusable coffee cups. Photo: Bon Appetit

One solution, which is is not innovative or revolutionary, is that we can all bring our reusable coffee mugs with us when we are going out for coffee! Reusable coffee cups are pretty! They are easy to use, and easy to clean. And they could greatly reduce the amount of trash we produce. We just need to remember them when we leave the house.

What do you think of these thoughts and the solution? Is this a step you will take? Do you have any other solution ideas?

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Green Thought Thursdays: The 30-Wears Rule

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet. Last week we talked about Low-VOC Paints.

This week the green thought is about the 30-Wears Rule.

When buying clothing, ask if an will be used 30+ times. Photo: Ecobnb

Clothing uses a lot of resources to make and transport. And that is not where the issues with clothing ends because once purchased, those clothing items are often not used all that much! On average, an article of clothing is worn seven times before being discarded. That results in over 16 million tons of fabric being thrown away around the world every year. That is a huge environmental impact!

One solution is to follow the 30-wear rule. Before purchasing an item of clothing, we can all ask ourselves if we will wear the item 30 times or more. If the answer is 100% yes, that item might be a good buy. But if the answer is anything less than 100% yes, we should all choose to not buy the item. And when we do decide to buy something, we all then have the responsibility to follow through and actually wear the item 30 or more times. This will help reduce waste, and also tend to slow clothing production which both will help the environment.

What do you think of these thoughts and the solution? Is this a step you will take? Do you have any other solution ideas?

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Green Thought Thursdays: Shopping Bags

A variety of reusable shopping bags. Photo: Sapphirevn

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet.

Last week we talked about giving to charities.

This week the green thought is about shopping bags. Single use plastic items are definitely bad for the environment. Once discarded, plastic degrades in the environment releasing toxins and breaking down into microplastics that clog the digestive and respiratory systems of animals who ingest or inhale them. Plastic shopping bags are one of the items that contribute to microplastics in the environment. Additionally, plastic bags also pose risks to sea turtles because when they are suspended and floating in water, they resemble the jellyfish that sea turtles eat. They also pose a risk to whales because plastic bags can easily be swallowed by a whale unintentionally and then become lodged in their digestive tract killing them.

One solution is to stop using plastic bags. Taking reusable shopping bags with us when we head to a store is a small step that each of us can do that will have major benefits to animals and the environment. Bags are available made of all kinds of materials such as cotton, coconut fibers, bamboo, and even recycled plastics. They can also be homemade! Reusable bags are easy to carry, easy to wash (if necessary), and easy to use. Plus, they will save a bit of money as more and more stores charge for single use bags. All we need to do is remember to grab those reusable bags on our way out the door. While this may not be a habitat we currently have, it is certainly one we can all start practicing to learn.

What do you think of these thoughts and the solution? Is this a step you will take? Do you have any other solution ideas?

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Green Thought Thursdays: Plastic Straws

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to help reduce waste, use less materials and energy, help conserve species or habitats, and/or generally work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet.

This week the green thought is about plastic straws. Single use plastic items are definitely bad for the environment. Once discarded, plastic degrades in the environment releasing toxins and breaking down into microplastics that clog the digestive and respiratory systems of animals who ingest or inhale them. Of the many many different plastic items that we humans make, plastic straws are particularly prone to get into waterways and pollute the natural environment. And they are so widely used that they make a big impact with approximately 2,000 tons of plastic straws entering the worlds oceans every year. Plastic straws are one of the top ten items picked up in beach cleanups every year.

A variety of reusable straws are available as alternatives to plastic straws. Photo: The Wire Cutter.

One solution is to stop using plastic straws. When we get a drink for a restaurant or café, we should all think about if we really need a straw at all. Many drinks can be enjoyed simply by sipping from the edge of the cup. And if a drink really does need a straw, we can all carry reusable straws. There are some great ones made of silicone or metal that work great, are easy to carry, and are easy to clean. By reducing the straws we all use, we can all help reduce the amount of plastic in getting into the environment!

What do you think of these thoughts and the solution? Is this a step you will take? Do you have any other solution ideas?

Thank you for visiting my blog! Please check back in next week for another Green Thought Thursday!

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Green Thought Thursdays: Plastic Water Bottles

Once a week, I am offering up a tip or action or idea that we can all engage with to help reduce waste, use less materials and energy, help conserve species or habitats, and/or generally work towards living in ways that allow for more health and wellbeing for all aspects of the planet.

Plastic water bottle floating in a wetland (photo courtesy of Resource Magazine).

So, this week the green thought is about plastic water bottles. Plastic water bottles require a large amount of resources to create (including quite a bit of water), they are generally only used once, and then many of them end up in landfills or in waterways where they break down into microplastics and cause a whole suite of issues for animals, plants, water pollution, and more. They are a huge waste from start to finish!

A solution is a reusable water bottle! Get a nice one! Decorate it! Remember to bring it with you when you leave home! Most stores, shops, cafes, etc. are happy to use a bottle that you provide. So, lets all stop using disposable water bottles and reduce the amount of plastic waste we humans create!

Thank you for visiting my blog! Please check back in next week for another Green Thought Thursday!

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United Nations Plastic Waste Pact

The United Nations (UN) announced last Friday, the 10th of May, 2019, that almost every country on earth has agreed to a legally binding plastic waste pact. This agreement will mean that several thousand different types of plastic waste will be tracked. This means that countries will have to monitor and keep track of plastic waste within and beyond their boarders.

This agreement sends a strong message to governments, industries, and consumers that the issue of plastic waste cannot be ignored. This is a good thing since plastics in the environment have become a huge problem. There are gigantic rafts of plastics floating in the oceans of the world (at least one is the size of the state of Texas). There is plastic scattered along every road, in every river, on every beach. A recent dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench (the deepest dive by a submarine ever) even found some pieces of either metal or plastic trash as the sub scanned to bottom.

We humans need to stop flinging our trash all over the world. The wide-spread agreement on this need as evidenced by the wide-spread by-in to the plastic waste pact is encouraging. Unfortunately, one of the few countries that did not agree to the pact was the USA. I very much hope that my country will turn around on this stance.

 

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Creek Week

You Are Invited to Help Save the Delta!

A pile of garbage illegally dumped along a roadway in the Delta

Trash in the world’s waterways and oceans has been making a lot of news lately. A recent report from the World Economic Forum estimates that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans of the world, by weight, than fish. The report further calculates that amount of trash flowing into the oceans is equal to about one large dump truck load being dropped every minute. All this garbage has far reaching effects such as the beached whales around the world that are frequently found with 20-30 lbs or more of plastic in their stomachs and the 1 million or more seabirds that die from plastic ingestion every year.

It has been estimated that about 70% of all this trash originates on land…from humans…we are the problem!

Want to be a part of the solution?

The Delta Conservancy is hosting Delta Waterways Cleanups as part of Creek Week, an event organized by the Sacramento Area Creeks Council, to help stem the flood of trash to the waterways and the ocean. On April 9^th we will be organizing two sites in the Delta. One site is located along the shore of Sherman Island. The other site is in the Sacramento Bufferlands along Lower Morrison Creek. Join with hundreds of other volunteers and come spend the morning with us pulling all manner of trash out of the waterways of the delicate ecosystems of the Delta. If you do, you will be helping to keep our waterways, our planet, clean and healthy.

Online Registration is at: http://www.creekweek.net/vdelta.html and additional information on the sites and detail for the day can be found at: http://deltaconservancy.ca.gov/waterway-cleanups-0/

Please feel free to share this invitation widely with anyone who may wish to join us.

If you have questions, contact me at: aaron.haiman@deltaconservancy.ca.gov

I hope to see you there!

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