STOP THE PLASTIC INSANITY!
– By Suzanne Soto-Davies
Fact: If you’re STILL buying plastic water
bottles and plastic/produce bags,
you are the cause for our issues.
Only 9% of the plastic waste generated in Canada is actually
recycled. We just don’t have the capacity to do anything with
this huge amount of plastic anymore. And water bottles are
only the beginning.
YOU can make an immediate difference:
• Stop buying and accepting plastic bags. This is for much more
than at the market too – it’s every time you buy a fast food
item, a pair of pants, or soap at the grocery store. Nobody
should EVER be accepting plastic bags, and walking out
of a store with one is an embarrassment. Stop now!
• Bring your own bags, baskets, bins. Crumple one up inside
a purse or a jacket pocket, this way you can’t “forget them
every time”.
People continue to buy plastic bags at the grocery store,
pick up on average 6 produce plastic bags per shopping trip,
and buy plastic bottles filled with water, iced tea, and pop.
This plastic insanity has become a global issue and if you’re
participating in it – YOU are the problem. • Use the brown paper bags at the grocery store for smaller
items like mushrooms, green beans and limes. They’re free,
and YES they are reusable.
Plastic production is projected to increase 3 fold by 2050.
If recycling efforts can’t keep up with today’s plastic over-
production, imagine where we’ll be in 30 years. • Place larger produce items directly inside your cart – oranges
don’t need a bag to be weighed at the cash register (and
you’ll be washing items at home anyway, yes?)
RECYCLING IS NOT THE SOLUTION, as
plastic can only be recycled so many times anyway, then what?
The Blue Box program has been going for 30 years in Canada,
and yet we can’t handle the amount of plastics produced.
We’ve been now told we can recycle our plastic bags, but
THIS IS JUST NOT TRUE, as we can’t handle the capacity for
actually recycling anything anymore. This was a big mistake,
as people are picking up plastic bags thinking they will later
recycle them anyway! DO NOT buy into this, you can’t buy
anything that’s in plastic thinking it will be eventually recycled! • If you managed carrying clothing inside the store, you can
manage carrying it to the car. No plastic bag needed!
Watch!
• The best way to cut down on resources? Don’t buy or use
unnecessary items in the first place: Remember, it reduces
first, then reuse, and recycle last!
• Sew the neck and sleeve holes in a few old t-shirts to make
washable, reusable shopping bags – plus you’ll be saving
old clothing from going into landfill! (See our website for
step-by-step instructions on how to make a sew-free one!)
• Remember to say “NO” to a straw, every single time
you visit a restaurant and order your drinks. Every time.
Many restaurants haven’t got the drift yet, and they’re still
automatically giving patrons a straw... even for water! If you
have an issue with the glass being dirty then you shouldn’t
be eating at that establishment anyway. •
“The Story of
Bottled Water”
on YouTube.
Link through our
website!
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• Ladies: Get a larger purse. It comes in handy for everything
you need – from trips to the drug store to buy makeup, to
dollar store visits.
The water inside plastic bottles is
not healthier than tap water. In fact,
municipalities must adhere to strict
guidelines to ensure the quality and safety
of our tap water –more so than private
industry (ie: water bottle manufacturers).
If you’re buying water bottles, you’re NOT
drinking healthier water. Municipal water
is checked 4 times each and every day.
“Commercial water bottling plants are
Lots more online! www.silvergoldmagazine.ca
generally only inspected every 3 years
and maintain their own unregulated
quality control process there have
been 29 recalls of 49 bottled water
products since 2000 although only
5 were made public; the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency (CIFA) found
bacteria and chemical contaminants
in these products.”
– BurlingtonGreen Environmental Group