WWW.ECOLOGYCENTER.ORG | 510.548.2220 X 233 | [email protected] Strategies to Get Plastic Out of Your Life 1. Carry reusable shopping bags. 7. Go plastic-free for parties. Use a canvas tote, backpack, messenger Instead of disposable tableware, use bag...whatever works! ChicoBags are your own dishes and wash them, or buy popular because they stuff into their own compostable ones. Use cloth or recycled attached stuff sack and are easy to re- paper napkins. member. Reuse produce bags and mesh bags that oranges and onions come in. 8. Look for solid or powdered cleaning & personal care products. 2. Give up bottled water. The Ecology Center Store carries bar Tremendous resources are used to soap, solid shampoo bars, powder dish- extract, bottle, and ship it. Many brands washer soap and laundry soap, of bottled water are simply filtered tap soap nuts, and deodorant in plastic-free water. Get a reusable stainless steel packaging. Avoid using disposable bottle or travel mug, fill it with tap water plastic razors or buying lotions and lip before leaving the house, and refill it at balms that come in plastic containers. water fountains. Buy a sparkling Use a wooden-handled hairbrush. water maker to make your own. 9. Skip plastic for take-out & leftovers. 3. Buy from bulk bins. Ask take-out places to use your container Some grocery stores sell unpackaged instead of their disposable one, espe- food in bulk bins. Find them using cially coffee shops. The Ecology Center zerwastehome.com/app/. Bring your Store has many reusable to-go items, own reusable cloth bags, containers, such as stainless steel containers, mugs, or jars to the store to avoid taking new travel utensils, and drinking straws. Use plastic bags. Have your empty contain- what you already have: glass jars, a fork ers weighed when you first arrive, so the from your kitchen wrapped in a cloth cashier can deduct the weight of the con- napkin, etc. Pack your lunch in a reus- tainer when you check out. You can use able lunchbox and use beeswax food your own containers for meats, cheeses, wraps or metal containers. and prepared foods in many stores. Plastic-Free Living 10. Avoid single serving containers. 4. Shop your local farmers’ market. Choose larger sized containers, rather Farmers’ markets are a great way to buy than single serving sizes. For example, fresh, local produce without plastic, as buy a large container of yogurt and long as you remember to bring your own scoop it into individual bowls. Buy a bags. Normally, farmers’ market produce large container of juice rather than single won’t have those tiny plastic stickers on juice boxes. Avoid individually wrapped them. Buy bread at the farmers’ market products like cheese slices. Purchase or bakeries where bread comes in paper from the butcher counter to avoid shrink- bags or no bag. wrapped meats. 5. Request better packaging online. 11. Ditch plastic garbage bags. Do this ahead of time to avoid poly- If you get the wet stuff out of your trash styrene packing peanuts or plastic air by recycling and composting, you won’t pillows. Amazon.com has some products need bin liners. Collect your trash in a packaged in “Frustration-Free Packag- used paper bag, or line waste cans with ing.” Small businesses on Etsy.com old newspapers or compostable trash are often very happy to accommodate bags. Use your City’s curbside green requests for less packaging. cart for food waste or invest in your own backyard or worm compost bin. 6. Refill office supplies. Refill toner cartridges and pens instead 12. Ask your nursery if they take of buying new ones. back plastic plant pots. factsheet Strategies to Get Plastic Out of Your Life (continued) 13. Try to borrow, rent, or buy used first. Strategies sources from Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Use Craigslist and tool lending libraries. Get DVDs from Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry the library or stream movies online. Share stuff through Website: myplasticfreelife.com Freecycle or barter/exchange sites. Buy used clothing, fur- Twitter: @PlasticfreeBeth niture, bikes, and household items. Host a clothing swap. Facebook: facebook.com/myplasticfreelife Connect with Bay Area people working to reduce their 14. Buy in metal, glass, and wood. plastic consumption by joining the Google Group: Buy foods packaged in metal, glass, or ceramic crocks. Plastic-Free SF Bay. Choose long-lasting metal or wood toys, stainless steel ice cube trays, metal or glass food storage containers. Practice mindful consumption. Common Plastics and Reasons to Avoid Them PLASTIC TYPE PRODUCT EXAMPLES ISSUES/DRAWBACKS Soda bottles, water bottles, clear Intended for single use. Heat exposure can #1 PET or PETE bottles, wide-mouth containers for cause chemicals to leach out. Plastic bottles are Polyethylene terephthalate apple sauce, puddings, gelatin, deli commonly found littering beaches or takeout containers, salsa containers. floating in the ocean. Opaque bottles and containers for Intended for single use. Heat exposure can milk, juice, and beverages. Opaque cause chemicals to leach out. Grocery bags are #2 HDPE wide-mouth containers for yogurt, not recyclable; they clog recycling machines. High-density polyethylene sour cream, cottage cheese, ricotta, Bags and container bits make their way into the spreadable cheeses. Detergent sea and the stomachs of marine mammals. bottles and grocery bags. Often contains DEHA and phthalates, which Shrink wrap, plastic squeeze bottles, mimic hormones and disrupt body #3 PVC detergent and window cleaner bottles, processes. DEHA can cause harm to the liver, Polyvinyl chloride some children’s toys, shower curtains. kidneys, and spleen. Can cause cancer, birth defects, and genetic changes. Plastic bags clog recycling machines and can #4 LDPE Produce bags, Ziplock bags, most be carried by wind long distances, harming land Low-density Polyethylene plastic wraps, and trash bags. and marine animals, who mistake them for food. Even camels have been found eating bags. Heat exposure can cause chemicals to leach Straws, plastic cups, margarine tubs, out. Often contain antibacterial chemicals. #5 PP some yogurt tubs, clouded plastic Polypropylene Straws can’t be recycled because of size and containers like baby bottles. are likely to wash into the ocean. Foam takeout containers and coffee Styrene, which leaks from polystyrene, is #6 PS cups. Foam meat trays, foam plates carcinogenic and can cause dizziness, fatigue, Polystyrene and bowls. Plastic utensils. Packing and chromosomal and lymphatic abnormalities. (aka “styrofoam”) peanuts, to-go clamshells, foam egg Bits often found in the stomachs of marine birds. cartons. Solo cups. Hard to recycle. Items made with polycarbonate (PC) are in this category and often contain BPA, an endocrine Tupperware, polycarbonate water disrupter which can stimulate certain cancers. bottles, storage containers, all plastics BPA is especially dangerous to children and is that are not #1-6, unmarked contain- #7 Other often found in baby bottles. Bioplastics can ers and lids. Bioplastics can also fall contaminate typical plastics recycling streams; into this category. they require special recycling processes that are rarely available at the municipal level. Info from: Safe Plastic Numbers Guide (BabyGreenThumb.com), Adverse Health Effects of Plastic (EcologyCenter.org), and Smart Plastics Guide (iatp.org) Please consider supporting the Ecology Center’s free educational resources at www.ecologycenter.org/donate 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702 | 510.548.2220 x 233 [email protected] | www.ecologycenter.org .