Problematic Plastic and the Fatal Footprint: Living Sustainably Day to Day
Hi, friends! My name is Katy, and I’ve had the pleasure of interning with Climate-KIC over the past few weeks. As an earth-conscious, bumble bee-loving, recycling-obsessed human, I fit right in here. Climate-KIC is fantastic at helping to fight climate change on a bigger level. Our startups have the opportunities and abilities to make huge impacts! What’s equally important, however, is change on an individual level. Chances are, you’ve heard about the recent report on climate change, published by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. If you haven’t, stop what you’re doing and go read it right now.
As it indicates, we don’t have a lot of time to save our planet…we have twelve years.
If we don’t make drastic changes, the CO2 levels in the atmosphere will continue to rise, enough to cause our planet’s temperature to increase by two degrees. That may not sound like a lot, but it is the tipping point. If that happens we can expect massive, severe storms, droughts, food shortages, mass extinctions, heightened severity of diseases, and more. Major changes need to be made immediately, on both micro and macro levels. Corporations need to change a whoooole lot. So do we. If you think that your actions don’t matter, think again. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation. How can you, as an individual, make a change? I’m glad you asked.
Problematic Plastic
First off, let’s talk about plastic. Around half of all plastic produced worldwide is used once and then thrown away. The average lifespan of a plastic bag, or time that it is actually used, is twelve minutes. Furthermore, these bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Used for twelve minutes, left for hundreds or thousands to decompose…that doesn’t sound too sustainable. Furthermore, the production of plastic pumps even more CO2 into the atmosphere.
The good news is, this is an easily solvable problem! Say no to single-use plastic bags. Opt for paper, which is compostable, if you have to, but make a habit of keeping reusable grocery bags with you! Check out these affordable bags from Eco Bags. They sell canvas totes and also string bags, which are fantastic for produce. They come in various patterns and colors, and fold up small enough to fit just about anywhere.
Like bags, plastic bottles are also doing major damage.
Around 1 million bottles are purchased every minute. Less than half are recycled.
Ever since I started carrying reusable water bottle with me, it has more or less become an extension of myself. It’s more or less a third arm. My S’well bottle keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12! There are many similar, budget-friendly bottles online too. Decorate it with stickers, add a lanyard to it, do whatever you want to it! No matter what it looks like, it’ll save an average of 156 plastic bottles per year.
Another silent plastic killer is one that’s gained a lot of attention lately — plastic straws. If you’ve seen the video of a turtle with a straw lodged up its nose, you probably have a different opinion of straws then you did before. I’m not going to hyperlink it here. Google it for yourself, and prepare to ban straws forever. Drinking beverages without straws really isn’t a huge change, but if your iced chai latte doesn’t taste quite the same without that hollow plastic tube, fear not. Reusable straws are affordable and come in many shapes in sizes. Plastic? Sure thing. Metal? You got it. As foldable key chains? Yep.
With few exceptions, most every single use plastic can be replaced by something reusable. Ditching disposables doesn’t mean you have to give up anything, though. If you bring a thermos to your favorite coffee shop, chances are, they’ll be happy to put your order in that instead. Some coffee shops even give you a discount for bringing a reusable cup! Going out to eat? Bring a reusable container from home for your leftovers. By making these small changes in your everyday life, you can greatly reduce the waste you produce.
The Fatal Footprint
Saving the planet isn’t just about reducing waste and ditching straws. We all need to reduce our individual carbon footprints in order to curb climate change. Want to see how well you’re living? Take this quiz to find out how many planets worth of resources we would need if everyone lived like you. Use public transportation or ride a bike to get to work. Hang your clothes out to dry them instead of using a dryer. Even skipping your daily cup of coffee instantly saves 25g of CO2. Make tea instead, and don’t heat up more water than you need to. Buy food that is local and in season. The changes that we, as individuals, need to make really aren’t a burden. They’re small and simple lifestyle changes, and they need to happen. In the fight against climate change, we need to think globally but act locally. Changes don’t have to be life-altering. No one is asking you to move to a yurt in the woods and live off the grid for the rest of your days (though if you’re interested, I have some blogs to recommend). We don’t have a whole lot of time to bring a stop to the planet’s increasing temperature. Soon, it will be too late.
We will reach the breaking point. We’re almost there, but not quite yet.
Ditch the straw, buy local, ride your bike to work. These are not burdens. They’re the small steps that make us a little bit closer to saving our planet. Twelve years isn’t a long time. We have the power to make the necessary changes to stop global warming. But will we? Will we take the initiative to make the necessary changes? Will we give our earth a bright future? The choice is yours.
