The "Green" Housewife Of Orange County Shares Convenient Tips To Reduce The Use of Plastic
Hi, I'm one of the GREEN Housewives of Orange County.
Orange County has gotten a reputation for being superficial and pretentious.
What you may not know, is that we are also known for being health conscious and taking an active part in our environment.
As an ordinary housewife and mother of two living in Orange County, I have been trying to take the small steps toward being more environmental.
When it came to using reusable bags at the grocery store, there was no motivation for me to change my habits.
It's already difficult with two kids and a purse.
I'd probably need about 10 of those grocery brand totes and there is no easy way to keep them together.
Why is it so important to bring our own bags anyway!Investigating this has opened my eyes to the excessive amount of plastic we use every day.
So I'd like to take a moment to share with you what I've learned and tips on some convenient ways to making reducing plastic use easy.
The average American walks away from the grocery store carrying 5-10 plastic bags per trip and makes 2 trips per week.
This adds up to 600-1200 plastic bags per year.
Next time you go to the store, count how many you bring home.
Other researchers have sited even higher numbers.
Isn't it true that the bagger seems to put only two or three products in each bag? 100 Billion bags end up in U.
S.
landfills every year taking around 100 years to decompose.
I was really shocked that CA alone spends $25 million every year to put all of that discarded plastic in a landfill.
$300 million is spent in litter cleanup and $1.
7 million to clean trashed waterways.
Some people believe that a paper bag is a better choice, but it actually is worse for the environment to make because it takes more than twice as much energy to produce them.
Al Gore said, "People go from denial to despair without pausing at the intermediate step of actually doing something".
Being green doesn't mean you have to be perfect; you've got to start with easy changes.
The state of CA has a motto to "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle".
Here are some ways I've learned to do this around my house: Let's start with reducing the amount of plastic we use.
*I wash and reuse ziplock bags and try to use plastic containers instead that can be more easily washed.
An example is packing lunches and snacks in reusable packaging.
* Not every purchase requires a bag so be sure and decline one if you can do without.
For instance, I prefer not to bag my milk.
Using Reusable products makes the biggest difference: * Reuse the plastic bags for another purpose such as for trash can liners or for cleaning the cat box or walking the dog.
* The biggest change I've made is bringing my own reusable bags to the grocery store.
I had to find a convenient system for it to work which is why I made my own.
I love not having such a surplus of plastic bags around the house! * I also have a reusable shopping bag that collapses into a pocket that I keep in my purse and use when I'm doing my other shopping.
This is another convenient way to reduce my plastic use and I treat it as another accessory! Now comes recycling: * My city has a recycle container that has specifications on what they will recycle.
I've learned that many cities do not allow plastic bags in this container because the thin plastic film gets caught in the machines they use to separate the garbage.
It actually jams the machinery and adds to the cost of recycling.
* I collect ALL of my plastic bags for recycling.
Most grocery stores now are going to be mandated to provide a recycle bin for these bags.
Wal*Mart has a great program giving money to schools that collect plastic.
They collect almost ALL plastic bags: the bread bags, newspaper bags, plastic packaging around toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
- even dry cleaning plastic.
* Our school also collects cans and plastic bottles for money so I have a separate collection for that.
Those are my tips on how to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Please do what you can and be sure and pass this along.
Orange County has gotten a reputation for being superficial and pretentious.
What you may not know, is that we are also known for being health conscious and taking an active part in our environment.
As an ordinary housewife and mother of two living in Orange County, I have been trying to take the small steps toward being more environmental.
When it came to using reusable bags at the grocery store, there was no motivation for me to change my habits.
It's already difficult with two kids and a purse.
I'd probably need about 10 of those grocery brand totes and there is no easy way to keep them together.
Why is it so important to bring our own bags anyway!Investigating this has opened my eyes to the excessive amount of plastic we use every day.
So I'd like to take a moment to share with you what I've learned and tips on some convenient ways to making reducing plastic use easy.
The average American walks away from the grocery store carrying 5-10 plastic bags per trip and makes 2 trips per week.
This adds up to 600-1200 plastic bags per year.
Next time you go to the store, count how many you bring home.
Other researchers have sited even higher numbers.
Isn't it true that the bagger seems to put only two or three products in each bag? 100 Billion bags end up in U.
S.
landfills every year taking around 100 years to decompose.
I was really shocked that CA alone spends $25 million every year to put all of that discarded plastic in a landfill.
$300 million is spent in litter cleanup and $1.
7 million to clean trashed waterways.
Some people believe that a paper bag is a better choice, but it actually is worse for the environment to make because it takes more than twice as much energy to produce them.
Al Gore said, "People go from denial to despair without pausing at the intermediate step of actually doing something".
Being green doesn't mean you have to be perfect; you've got to start with easy changes.
The state of CA has a motto to "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle".
Here are some ways I've learned to do this around my house: Let's start with reducing the amount of plastic we use.
*I wash and reuse ziplock bags and try to use plastic containers instead that can be more easily washed.
An example is packing lunches and snacks in reusable packaging.
* Not every purchase requires a bag so be sure and decline one if you can do without.
For instance, I prefer not to bag my milk.
Using Reusable products makes the biggest difference: * Reuse the plastic bags for another purpose such as for trash can liners or for cleaning the cat box or walking the dog.
* The biggest change I've made is bringing my own reusable bags to the grocery store.
I had to find a convenient system for it to work which is why I made my own.
I love not having such a surplus of plastic bags around the house! * I also have a reusable shopping bag that collapses into a pocket that I keep in my purse and use when I'm doing my other shopping.
This is another convenient way to reduce my plastic use and I treat it as another accessory! Now comes recycling: * My city has a recycle container that has specifications on what they will recycle.
I've learned that many cities do not allow plastic bags in this container because the thin plastic film gets caught in the machines they use to separate the garbage.
It actually jams the machinery and adds to the cost of recycling.
* I collect ALL of my plastic bags for recycling.
Most grocery stores now are going to be mandated to provide a recycle bin for these bags.
Wal*Mart has a great program giving money to schools that collect plastic.
They collect almost ALL plastic bags: the bread bags, newspaper bags, plastic packaging around toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
- even dry cleaning plastic.
* Our school also collects cans and plastic bottles for money so I have a separate collection for that.
Those are my tips on how to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Please do what you can and be sure and pass this along.
Source...