Tag: consumption

4 Ways To Eliminate Plastic From Your Life

 

According to a National Geographic article, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been created since manufacturing of the material began six decades ago. The article also estimates that 91% of all plastic consumed around the world is not recycled.

As you may have seen on social media,  many people have attempted to avoid using plastic products completely for the month of July, as a part of Plastic-Free July. Although July is coming to an end, that does not mean that we should abandon the effort to reduce our plastic consumption.

Here are just a few small changes you can make to reduce your consumption of plastic on a daily basis:

Ditch Bottled Beverages and Disposable Cups:

According to a 2017 article, “a million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute.”  That comes down to around 20,000 plastic bottles every second! Not only is using a reusable mug or water bottle a great way to reduce plastic consumption, it may also save you some money. Many coffee shops and other stores offer discounts to those who bring their own bottles and mugs.

Bring Your Own Bag

As with reusable mugs and bottles, bringing your own reusable bag to grocery stores often gets you a discount. To take a step further, you can also purchase reusable mesh bags for produce instead of using the plastic bags available in the produce section of grocery stores.

Buy In Bulk

Buying in bulk is not always feasible if you do not have many mouths to feed in your home. As an alternative, many grocery stores have bulk sections where you can purchase items like grains, nuts, spices and dried fruits from bulk bins in the exact quantities that you need. Bringing your own container and measuring out the exact amount of an item you need is a great way to eliminate both packaging waste and food waste – because are you really going to use up that large container of cardamom you bought to make curry that one time?

Use Reusable Utensils

Whenever possible, try bringing your own utensils and plates to events and meetings where food may be served. For packed lunches, you could invest in a reusable sandwich or snack bag to replace single-use plastic bags. You could even try out beeswax wrap, an alternative to plastic wrap!

Oct 10: Free EPA Webinar Series “Materials Management through Sustainable Consumption”

Sign up now: Free EPA Webinar Series “Materials Management through Sustainable Consumption” – Starts Wednesday, October 10, 9:30am. PT, 12:30 ET

Did you know that over 40 percent of the GHG emissions in the U.S. can be attributed to the life-cycle impacts associated with the manufacture, distribution, sale, use and disposal of the goods and food we consume? Are you interested in identifying strategies for creating more sustainable patterns of consumption? If so, please join us for EPA’s Materials Management through Sustainable Consumption Webinar Series starting on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 at 9:30am PT/12:30pm PT! Participation is free so sign up! To register for the series, click here https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/469476793. Please forward this invitation to others who may be interested in participating.

EPA’s Materials Management through Sustainable Consumption Webinar Series is designed to provide examples of communities around the US and internationally that are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and creating more sustainable patterns of consumption. This webinar series focuses on helping regulators and environmental management experts share information about existing research, programs and practices. It also shares perspectives from citizens and businesses. This information supports communities seeking to reduce their GHG emissions, wastes and other environmental impacts through a focus on sustainable consumption, including source reduction. Source reduction minimizes the quantity and toxicity of materials that later need to be disposed of, and is identified under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) as a key strategy for achieving our long-term environmental goals. Source reduction also helps to reduce GHG emissions, which are regulated pollutants under the Clean Air Act. This series is in follow-up to last year’s Consumption and the Environment Webinar Series. For our webinars we invite guest speakers to share their views on sustainable consumption to get participants thinking and talking about new strategies for achieving our environmental goals. Please note the opinions, ideas or data presented by non-EPA speakers in this series do not represent EPA policy or constitute endorsement by EPA.

In October, we will kick off the series discussing the key challenges and opportunities for sustainable consumption, nationally and internationally. Speakers David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Duke Castle, Natural Step and Castle Group will will explore the barriers to sustainable consumption and the multiple links between climate change and economic growth. For more information and specific session descriptions, please visit EPA’s website through the following link http://bit.ly/sustainableconsumption.