Plastic-Free Summer: The Story of Plastic

As summer begins, we are going to look at various aspects of plastic pollution throughout the next few months and address at least one type or set of single-use plastic product(s) from which we will attempt to abstain. As a first step in this direction, please watch the video below for a quick introduction to this issue if you have not already seen it. The primary point that is being made is that even though there is much effort to either recycle or break down used plastic products in the hope that we will eventually be able to reduce plastic pollution throughout the globe, this will not come anywhere close to solving the issue at hand. Recycling only considers the end of the life cycle of a plastic product, which does nothing to hold the plastic manufacturers accountable and still allows them to fully profit off of a practice that is very damaging to the planet. In essence, the manufacturer is only concerned with creating demand for plastic, but once it is purchased, disposal becomes someone else’s problem. The only real solution to reducing plastic pollution, therefore, is to focus on the beginning of its life cycle; in other words, as is mentioned in the video, we need to “turn off the tap” on plastic. Reducing plastic consumption (in contrast to recycling) holds the plastics industry accountable. As such, over the next few months we are going to focus on alleviating plastic pollution, not in terms of recycling and reuse, but by increasing awareness and reducing consumption.

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Objective

Begin the process of reducing your plastic consumption by thinking about and writing down the major types of plastic products that you consume on a regular basis. Attempt to prioritize them in terms of reducing or eliminating their consumption.