water

Show Your Thanks - Reduce Plastic Use

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Each year I make the trek home to Michigan to spend time with family and reflect on all I'm thankful for. This year I'm especially grateful to be working for an agency whose mission is to advocate for protection of our urban waters and soils. As part of that effort most of our staff choose to embody individual behaviors that help to achieve our mission.

One of those behaviors is to reduce plastic-use. The amount of plastic in our lives is overwhelming. And many single-use plastics aren't even recyclable in our municipal recycling programs. It can be daunting to think about how to reduce your individual use. In our office we start by using re-useable cutlery instead of plastics. Many in our office use glass dishware for leftovers. And we have a coffee machine and mugs provided.

But what can you do as a consumer in 2017? The answer is plenty! Here's a few behaviors you could consider adopting to show your thanks for our urban waters and soils by keeping plastics out of our landfills and watersheds.

  • Use reusable shopping bags (Be sure to wash them!)
  • Refuse plastic straws
  • Stop using plastic cutlery and bring your own cutlery from home
  • Use a reusable coffee mug
  • Carry a reusable water bottle
  • Store food in glass jars instead of plastic bags
  • Get your milk delivered in glass bottles
  • Buy fruits and veggies loose or use a reusable bag to carry them
  • Take Tupperware with you to markets and restaurants for carry out items
  • Choose products packaged in cardboard over those packaged in plastic

Which of these behaviors have you already adopted? Do you have other ways of reducing plastic use in your household or at your business? Thank you for helping to reduce plastic consumption!

Blog Author: Elizabeth Hiser, Natural Resources Coordinator

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