I am trying to remember when the onslaught of “disposables” joined mainstream society and I’m talking in the U.S., specifically in California, where I grew up. It seems little by little, when I was a kid, more plastic throw away (use once and dump) items from razors to toothpicks and diapers to a ton more in between, spawned and reproduced exponentially. And these items continued to evolve into becoming more and more completely unnecessary luxury items we could easily do without.
Do you realize that these plastic items still exist way after you have tossed them? They do. I won’t get into disposable soiled diapers, but they’re out there on planet Earth.
Consider those plastic floss picks that have a pointy end and floss strewn between like a hack saw. Use once and throw away, seriously? We can’t just master dental floss with our fingers and make it work? Do we really need this extra plastic tool? Are we really that lazy? Learn the floss, you’ll master it. YouTube it. They’ll show you how.
Before the plastic “stop using so much of it!” crisis came to be and the concern that it was seeping into our food, I bought one of those bags of flossers and it still sits under the sink—frankly, I feel too guilty to use them and grimace at the thought of throwing them away. Pointy on one end with little ridges, imagine that thing floating in the ocean, its final destination. And as far as food containers go, I use glass exclusively.
But that is just one item, the floss hack saw thing. There are tons of disposable products: plastic everything, paper everything, to go boxes, fast food utensils, coffee cups, lids, caps on pens, pens, the list would be hundreds and hundreds of pages long.
But not just plastic do we toss in the garbage bin each day, there are oodles of paper products as well as cotton balls, ribbon, just pause for a moment and think about what you use and toss every day. Consider:
First thing in the morning:
Tissue, cotton ball, cotton swab, empty toothpaste tube, toilet paper, toilet paper roll, empty shampoo bottles, for starters.
Breakie (before noon):
Coffee K-Cup pod, or coffee filter, coffee cup, sugar packet, creamer (container), stirrer, napkin, paper towel, old sponge in the kitchen, yogurt container, in the trash it goes.
At the office (or wherever you go for the day):
More potential coffee cup waste, paper at your desk, junk mail, old email printed out, the box your supplies came in, paper clip box, it goes on and on.
Lunchies:
Food containers, food packages, more napkins, straws, cup, foil, plastics bags, plastic wrap, paper plate.
Dinner:
Take out containers, more napkins, food packages, plastic utensils.
And then, throughout the day, toilet paper, laundry soap containers, pet food cans, junk mail, envelops your bills come in that you pay online now.
You see where I am going here? We throw things out ALL DAY LONG.
So, here is the ask: when you can—when it works for you—exchange the throw away item with a permanent one, wash and reuse. Refuse the paper coffee cups at work and use a mug and wash afterward. Bring your utensils to work with your lunch, with a cloth napkin. It’s not that hard. Clean recyclable containers before your throw them in the recycle bin. If you don’t, the recycling center likely won’t either and they’ll just be tossed into the garbage.
Bring your shopping bags without fail. Get one of those compact ones you can stuff into that little crazy sack with the draw string and carry it around in our purse. You’ll forget to use it half the time, but you’ll probably remember more and more, the more you use it.
Use baby wash cloths (I love these things) to take the place of cotton balls for cleaning your face, ears, remove make up (use Jojoba oil for that). Replace sponges with washcloths with that net fabric on the flip side and wash/reuse.
Treat old glass jars (your salsa came in) like food containers. Just rinse it out, slap on some masking tape, and identify the contents with a Sharpie. So easy! And the masking tape comes right off.
You don’t have to go to places that make you crazy, just do more. Remember those plastic items live for 100s of years and are used for a matter of seconds in some cases.
You’ll feel good reducing and you’ll save money on all of those items you don’t have to buy anymore.
—SBM
Single Busy Mommy 