The Year of Living Plasticlessly

Just because plastic lasts just about forever doesn't mean it can't die.

For the sake of environmental and human health, the age of plastic needs to end. With a new year getting started, now is as good of a time as any to start phasing out plastics. To get things going, the Natural Resources Defense Council is providing 10 suggestions for reducing the amount of plastic in our lives.

The stainless steel straws are interesting, and so are the bamboo utensils, but my favorite ideas are giving alternative gifts and adopting a "no-buy" goal.

Living without plastic--now, that's something that should last forever. Let's have forever begin in 2014.

Duck, Duck, Plastic

The writers of all those messages in bottles were on to something: If you want to find connections, the ocean is the place.

However,  today's connections are being established through plastics, not bottle messages, and it's not a love story in the making. The following video helps explain how plastics accumulate in the ocean and what some of the consequences of this might be:



Although the video makes some great points, especially those concerning how our actions are interrelated, I disagree with one point: the idea that the only option for dealing with this problem is to make plastics that break down. This may be a good option, but it isn't the only option. A stronger solution would be to cut back on our consumption, decreasing the need for plastics.

I think understanding how we are connected to the plastic problem is a step in the right direction. The video helps with that. Another tool is offered by Adrift.org, which uses a virtual rubber ducky to give people a sense of how their plastics can spread in the ocean. Simply place the duck in an ocean somewhere and watch as the plastic it represents spreads. Click here to check it out.

The masses of plastics floating in our oceans are sending us a message: The accumulations start with a single purchase. It's time we get that message.

Raising the Bar

The trouble with bottled soap is that it comes in bottles, many of which have pumps that can't be recycled.

I can't remember when bottled soap took over my life, but within the last year, I have started making the move back to bar soap. Most of the plastic bottles can be recycled, but making and recycling them still requires resources and energy. Then, there are those pumps and bottle caps that can't be recycled. For these reasons, I began looking for ways to keep bottled soaps out of my life.

To work on eliminating the bottles, I turned to the W.S. Badger Company. I have been using Badger sunscreen and lip balm for two years, and I really like them, so when the company reintroduced its line of soaps, I thought about buying some. However, I waited until my hand soap bottle neared its end and then asked Badger if its body soaps could be used as hand soaps. The representative said the soap made a good hand soap as long as it was placed on a dish that drained (when the soap sits in water it loses its firmness).

I bought the unscented Badger soap and began using it two months ago. It cleans hands well and is gentler on them than the bottled soap I had been using. Also, although it is officially unscented, it does have a bit of that bar soap smell. When I caught a little of that scent, it reminded me how much I liked the smell of bar soap, and by doing so, it brought back some memories.

So far, the experiment with bar soap has been a success. In the future, I may choose to replace my body wash with Badger soap as well.

You can check out the Badger Web site by clicking here. Many of the company's products are certified organic, and Badger does not test its products on animals.

The Skinny on Lunch

For the last three months, I have been making and eating packed lunches without the help of plastic sandwich bags.

In January, I started using reusable sandwich bags from LunchSkins. The bags are made from food-safe fabric that contains no lead or BPA (Bisphenol A). They can be washed in the dishwasher and are good for holding many kinds of food in addition to sandwiches. Also, they are made in the United States.

I really like them, especially when I think about all the plastic I'm not using.

One small issue with the bags is that they do not offer the same kind of airtight seal provided by a plastic bag. As a result, the very top part of the sandwich bread tends to dry out a little after a few hours in the LunchSkin. That's a price I'm willing to pay for chemical-free food and using less plastic.

For more information about LunchSkins, click here.