Don't Buy Plastic & 62 Other Planet-Saving Tips
Consumers say "no" to plastic straws, while Corporate America packages 1000s of products in sturdy plastic bags and bottles. How can we save the planet like this?
When the rainforest caught on fire, all of the animals ran to safety, watched it burn and lamented the loss of their homes. Only the little hummingbird flew to the forest’s rescue and dropped one drop of water at a time from her tiny beak onto the fire. The bigger animals watched her fly back and forth delivering drop after drop on the fire. They told her that she should just give up because she was too small and insignificant to stop the roaring fire. The little hummingbird told the elephant, the giraffe and the big cats, “I’m doing the best I can,” and continued to drop water on the fire. — Story for Ages at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson (UUCT), September 24, 2023.
In the battle to save our planet, we must be the hummingbirds.
Doing the “best we can” in midst of climate chaos was the theme for Rev. Bethany Russell-Lowe’s recent Sunday service at UUCT. (Streaming video below.) She challenged everyone to identify what we love that we might lose to climate change and to identify what we can do in our daily lives to fight back against climate chaos — even if it’s as small as a drop of water from a tiny hummingbird’s beak.
What to you love? What do you not want to lose to climate change? What sacrifices are you willing to make to slow the effects of climate change?
To make the biggest impact on climate change, Rev. Bethany suggested we focus on the biggest polluters — corporations. YES! That’s my kind of preachin’.
During the sermon and the coffee hour chitchat, there were many discussions about individual climate change mitigation behaviors people could adopt like buying an electric car, not owning a car, picking up trash while walking, not waiting in line at drive-throughs1, having fewer children, avoiding single use plastic and a lot more. The sermon, the discussions, the little hummingbird and recent trips to the grocery store inspired this article.
THE TIPS: Planet-Saving Lifestyle Choices
I had a plastic epiphany at the grocery store: Corporate America is working against us on our quest to reduce our plastic footprints.
If we want to reduce waste in our lives, we have to knock Corporate America off of its addiction to plastic and the fuel used along the delivery supply chain. In many ways, due to the continued profitability and popularity of delivery, there is more plastic packaging now, not less.
A recent trip to the Midtown Whole Foods in Tucson underscored the trend toward more plastic. Traditionally, as Reay’s Ranch Market and later Wild Oats Market, the entire front of that store was fresh fruits and vegetables and bulk foods. The quality of the organic food was excellent, and you could pick and buy what you wanted. As Whole Foods, that model was maintained until COVID and the increased importance of food delivery to the Amazon business model.
Now, most of the Midtown Whole Foods bulk foods section has been replaced with hundreds of heavy-duty plastic bags of brand-name snacks and stacks of clear plastic containers of formerly bulk foods. Across the aisle, where an impressive array of fresh unpackaged food used to be, a large section of large clear plastic containers and plastic bags of unfrozen2 fruits, vegetables and salad fixings occupies two-thirds of the section. I used to buy Organic Girl Super Greens for my lunch salads when I was a Legislator, but after accumulating a few of the large plastic containers — and not finding any real use for them — I stopped buying that product. It’s not enough to say “no” to plastic straws, in my opinion.
It does consumers no good to bring net bags or reusable plastic bags to the grocery store if everything is already encased in single-use plastic.
Consumers have the power of the purse. There are alternatives to plastic and other polluting products, particularly those made with fossil fuels. In my opinion, we can and should take steps to save energy and reduce waste in our lives, but we also must convince Corporate America to do their share to save the planet, instead of focusing solely on profit.
I created the following 63 item list of energy-saving, waste-reducing, creativity-inspiring, anti-pollution ideas that you, dear readers, could choose from to reduce your carbon footprint and ways you can encourage corporations to reduce theirs.
Some of these suggestions are expensive — like buying an electric car or installing solar panels — but many cost nothing at all and may even save you money — like consolidating errands, learning to sew, turning off the lights when you leave a room and not running water while you brush your teeth or wash dishes3. My goal was to publish a list with enough variety of ideas that anyone, regardless of age, ability or finances, could try one tip — or a few.
The Tips are organized into seven sections: Food/Shopping Tips, Travel Tips, Home Tips, Outdoor Tips, Bedroom Tips, Maker Tips, and Corporate Fixes.
Planet-Saving Food & Shopping Tips
1 Don’t buy items packaged in plastic. I know this is practically impossible now, but like the hummingbird, we have to start somewhere. In my opinion, plastic packaging is even more of a scourge on the Earth than the usual single-use plastic targets like straws, lids and to-go boxes because it’s ubiquitous.
Although I have been dutifully recycling plastic and glass at the Ward 6 Office for more than a year, I am concerned those efforts mitigate our single-use-plastic guilt more than they mitigate the effects of climate change or reduce waste. Compared to the mountains of plastic packaging being sold at every grocery store, the Ward 6 plastic recycling effort is akin to the hummingbird’s drops of water. My plan is to seek out other types of packaging and make some items — like dog treats and yogurt — to reduce my plastic footprint, while continuing to schlep by recycling.
2 Buy goods with easily reusable packaging. Tins! I love tins as decorative storage containers. Some retailers are onto the popularity of tins and other useful packaging, particularly during the holidays. At stores like Cost Plus, you can find specialty food items, often from Europe, in tins — candy, crackers, cookies, tea, coffee, and gift sets. Good glass jars4 and pottery can be valuable and handy long-term storage containers. The package becomes part of the product — or part of the gift — instead of going to the landfill. (See the Maker Tips for ideas.)
3 Buy goods in bulk with no packaging. The pandemic really put a dent into the availability of bulk foods. Both Whole Foods and Sprouts brought back bulk foods but in a diminished capacity. Both stores have hundreds of clear plastic containers of bulk foods. What happened to bringing your jars5 and bags to the store to fill?
4 Consolidate errands and avoid driving to only one location at a time.
5 Shop with a shopping list. Shopping lists help you organize your shopping trips, consolidate errands, use less energy and get what you need in one trip.
6 Buy biodegradable/compostable diapers. Paper diapers are a major contributor to landfills. Manufacturers should make these useful products widely available. In the meantime, consumers can demand products like this.
7 Buy a personal shopping cart and walk to the store.
8 Add a used bike trailer to your bike and cycle to the store or the park with your children, your pet, your guitar or your stuff on board.
9 Tell Corporate America you want less plastic packaging. Write to the retail chains and product lines that you like and tell them you want alternatives. For example, we can buy milk in returnable glass bottles, cartons or plastic. Why are kefir and yogurt available only in plastic? Yogurt used to come in cartons, and yogurt is not that hard to make. Consumers have alternatives.
Planet-Saving Travel Tips
10 Walk more often, if you are able. Walking is good for the soul and your health. Leave your headphones and smart phone at home for a more relaxing stroll.
11 Try other modes of transportation. Don’t automatically jump in the car when you want to go somewhere. Stop and think before you go. Is this a trip that can be done safely on foot or with a bike, a skateboard, a bus or a carpool buddy?
12 Carpool to work and events. When going to an event, I often ask myself: Is there someone to carpool with? Carpooling to big events is handy and fuel efficient. Carpooling to and from work took a hit in popularity when so many people began working multiple part-time jobs with unpredictable hours, instead of 40-hours-per-week at the same location. Consider carpooling when your lifestyle allows it.
13 Don’t wait in line with your motor running. Avoid drive-throughs, particularly when the lines are long. Is that fancy coffee worth the gasoline, the pollution and the empty calories? The fast-food lifestyle has a price tag that goes beyond the cost of the product.
14 Don’t buy a giant vehicle for daily use, if you’re not a farmer or someone who needs a giant truck to haul big loads around. Even if the giant vehicle is electric, they a waste of steel and other resources for daily use.
15 Pressure carmakers to make smaller, more affordable cars and trucks. The giant new vehicles are absurdly expensive — more than $50,000 in many cases. Consumers have the power of the purse, and $50,000+ is a hefty car loan for most folks, including me. It is not uncommon for expensive vehicles to be totaled by insurance companies before the big loans are paid off. Paying off a loan for anything you no longer own can be financially devastating. In the name of affordability, carmakers also should bring back the stripped down “basic” car models that used to be available.
16 Buy an electric vehicle instead of gas.
17 Buy a hybrid vehicle instead of gas.
18 Buy a smaller or more fuel-efficient vehicle.
19 Replace your vehicle with bike and/or bus travel a couple of days per week.
20 Fly less.
21 Take the train. Train travel takes patience and planning, but it can be relaxing to sit and watch the scenery go by and not worry about speeding drivers or crazy airports.
22 Combine multiple stops into one vacation or business trip. Whether flying or driving, consider consolidating trips to reduce cost and energy consumption. In my professional career, I often combined extra days in interesting cities and side trips for sightseeing or visiting relatives with business trips.6
Planet-Saving Tips for Your Home
22 Use curtains, shutters, vegetation, shade structures and architecture to reduce energy use. Living in Arizona is more comfortable if you take steps to reduce the amount of heat coming into your home.
23 Turn off all lights when you leave a room. [A classic.]
24 Don’t run the water while brushing your teeth or washing the dishes. [More classics but good reminders.]
25 Avoid running the dishwasher when it is not full.
26 Reduce, reuse and recycle whatever you can — plastic bags, boxes, glass jars, scraps of wood, fabric ... whatever looks useful. (See the Maker Tips.)
27 Turn off computers and devices when not in use. This will save energy and maybe get you out of the house for exercise and community.
28 Replace old light bulbs and holiday lights with new energy-saving LEDs. I recently replaced several 2007 vintage CFL bulbs in my home with LEDs. Wow! What a dramatic change in the lighting. (And, wow, those CFLs lasted a long time.)
29 Replace old fluorescent light tubes. The City of Tucson has hazardous waste collection sites where you can turn in CFL and fluorescent tubes. Don’t put them in the trash.
30 Replace old appliances with energy-saving appliances.7
31 Replace gas stovetops, ovens and furnaces with less-polluting alternatives.
Planet-Saving Tips for Your Yard
32 Avoid using pesticides and herbicides. There are alternatives to poison. The Tucson Backyard Garden Group on Facebook has thousands of very helpful members when it comes to these outdoor tips.
33 Plant a garden. Gardening in Arizona is tricky. There is a delicate balance between the benefits of growing your own vegetables and the amount of water that requires. I’ve had luck growing vegetables and herbs in large containers that can be moved when the sun gets harsh.
34 Set up a compost system. Composting is kind of a high bar, which I haven’t scaled in a few years. There is a continuum of complexity on composting. Keep it simple if you’re new to gardening, composting or rainwater harvesting.
35 Add rainwater harvesting features to your yard. Gutters, downspouts, catchment basins, curb cuts and cisterns go a long way to mitigate flooding, capture the rainwater that falls on your property and save water use. Watershed Management Group has videos and workshops to help people get started.
36 Plant native plants, trees, cacti, wildflowers and other low-water-use plants. At some point, water is going to get more expensive in Arizona. It’s best to plant vegetation that can live with a lot of heat and without a lot of water. Delicate decorative plants can be put in pots where you can protect, water and enjoy them.
37 Limit rocks and hardscape that is exposed to the sun to reduce heat.
38 Add solar panels to your residence rooftop, business rooftop and/or parking areas.
39 Invest in socially and environmentally conscious stocks. Yes, this is considered “woke” investing to people like Libertarian Senator Jake “Fake Elector” Hoffman, but why, dear reader, would anyone listen to him? Also, why would anyone who is trying to eliminate single-use plastic from their lives invest their money in fossil fuels on Wall Street? Sorry, Koch Brothers.
Planet-Saving Tips for the Boudoir
40 Be intentional in your parenting choices. People impact the planet. There are shrinking resources, rising temperatures and rising seas. There are already inadequate supplies of food, clean water and shelter across the globe. Climate migration will increase. Corporations and media pundits tell us that workers will be replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. There are dozens of good reasons why the birth rate is down in “developed” countries like the US, where women8 have reproductive choice.
Many people are not having children or having fewer because of climate change. It goes both ways. Some young couples say they are concerned about the impact of more people on the planet. Others are concerned about the state of the planet and what their children will be inheriting after decades of rampant consumerism fueled by corporate greed, deregulation and a dependence upon pollution. (Tips 41-43 are related to intentional parenting. Check out the linked articles below.)
41 End unintended pregnancy by making contraception and abortion readily available. More than 50 percent of the live births in Arizona are to single women.9 How many of these are unintended pregnancies due to lack of access to reproductive healthcare?
42 Don’t have unprotected sexual intercourse if you’re not ready to be a parent. The state of Arizona and many others have forced pregnancy laws. No abortion after six weeks. The responsibility to prevent unintended pregnancy and the consequences of ignoring prevention should be borne by both the father and the mother.
43 Consider voluntary sterilization if you no longer want to have children.
44 Teach medically accurate sex education, respect and consent in school.
Planet-Saving Tips for Makers
45 Use recycled materials in art and daily life. My Grandma Emma Springer was a homemaker with Grandpa and five children to feed, clothe and care for through the 1918 Pandemic, the Great Depression and two World Wars.
Grandma was a paragon of frugality and a powerhouse of creativity with recycled materials, like old clothes, fabric remnants, Christmas cards and anything she thought looked useful. Nothing was thrown away until it was completely spent. Buttons, clips, zippers and decorations were cut off of old garments before the fabric was cut up and made into quilts, rag rugs or just rags. For Christmas one year, Grandma made us each a scrap quilt. My brother and I had fun pointing out all of the clothes that we recognized in her creations — like Grandpa’s plaid cotton shirts and her flowered dresses. You don’t build memories like that with cheap polyester throws from China.
46 Become a maker. I credit my Mom and Grandma for raising me to be a “maker” and not a “taker”. Since our parents were both workers, my brother and I were raised by our grandparents. To keep her sanity, Grandma kept us busy. The old saying “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” was probably in the back of her head as she taught us how to bake, garden, cross-stitch, embroider, paint furniture and fashion Christmas cards into fancy gift boxes. Mom taught me how to knit and crochet. Home Economics taught me how to use a sewing machine10 and cook the basics.
Being thrifty and making useful, decorative items was valued in my family. I’ve made hundreds of items in my life — hats, scarves, mittens, sweaters, jackets, purses, quilts, bed linens, pajamas, Christmas stockings, gift bags, wall hangings, pillow covers, facemasks, jewelry and dozens of sets of curtains and drapes. Making unique creations is a relaxing, meditative practice for me. Making things can add style while saving money, particularly if you use recycled or leftover materials.
47 Start small with a new craft. There are loads of how-to YouTube videos out there, but before you go to the Internet, perhaps you know someone who could give you some pointers. Making things can connect people in community.
48 Save items that look useful. Makers look at everyday items and say, “Hmmm … what can I do with that?” There are all sorts of handy things that can be made with simple items like hangers, corks, buttons, metal and plastic clips, chain, glass jars, tins, old clothes, fabric remnants, ribbon, pottery, glass, plates, cardboard, old campaign signs, etc. You don’t want to become a hoarder, but a well-organized stash of useful looking raw materials is a good thing.
49 Make gift bags, instead of buying wrapping paper. Pursuant to the above item, anyone who sews and does crafts has fabric remnants, ribbon and do-dads to make clever gift bags.
50 Restyle clothes. If you don’t like the way something fits, restyle it. Some of my most popular videos demonstrate how to restyle a men’s cut t-shirt into a scoop neck shirt or a unisex shirt.
51 Mend clothes. If a piece of clothing that is torn or stained, mend it or add an embellishment. The Victorians were masters at adding decorations to cover up flaws.
52 Teach other people how to sew, knit, crochet and do other handicrafts. I lament that Home Economics and Shop are no longer required classes in schools. These skills will die out if they are not passed on. I would like to see a way to connect people my age who have these handicraft skills with others who want to learn.
53 Teach other people how to fix things and the value of fixing rather than discarding. Corporate America loves the throw-away society because they make money on it. Fight the power and learn how to fix things. Again, it would be good to connect people with the skills to people who want to learn.
CORPORATE FIXES to Save the Planet
54 Hold corporations, governments and the “people in charge” accountable for chronic pollution as well as episodic environmental disasters. Chronic pollution is baked into many business models. When we think about air pollution, smoke stack industries often come to mind. Our online shopping and delivery (OSAD) lifestyle is based upon a chronic pollution business model.
Amazon has armies drivers in Mercedes Sprinter delivery vans that get 14-17 miles per gallon, primarily run on diesel, deliver millions of packages and are responsible for mounds of returned items going to landfills. There is a lot of pollution in that business model, and Amazon is not the only player.
Amazon and Walmart are the power-hitters in this game because they control the products, the prices, the warehouses and the distribution system. The traditional carriers — Fed EX, UPS and USPS — are delivering products from other retailers. There are thousands of delivery trucks out there, polluting the air and feeding our online shopping and delivery habits. The industry wants to push labor out of the market with self-driving cars and semis. (What could go wrong?) With that model, we’d still have pollution and wear and tear on the roads but far fewer jobs.
Smokestack industries and OSAD retailers are not the only business models built on chronic pollution. Drive-through fast-food restaurants, PFAS production and use (forever chemicals), fast fashion and packaging that forces people to buy more than they need — these common corporate practices promote waste and pollution and continue unchecked. Why are they still making and using forever chemicals? Why can’t I buy two eggs and one battery, instead of 12 eggs and four or more batteries?
Can I get an “amen” for some common sense regulations to reduce waste at point of sale or before? Now consumers are forced to buy the waste — single-use packaging and extra food or consumer goods — and deal with it.
Corporations are not paying the price for the chronic pollution their highly profitable business models are dumping on us.
On the other end of the spectrum from the chronic, daily pollution from corporations, there are the acute disastrous events that grab the headlines. Pipeline breaks. Oil rig disasters. Fiery train derailments of toxic chemicals. Fatal missteps in fighting fires. Lead, TCE and other chemicals in municipal water supplies. Toxic chemicals poured into lakes and rivers. Are governments and corporations really held accountable for environmental disasters? Environmentalists warned everyone about potentiality of pipeline breaks, train derailments and toxic chemical spills but were ignored. Episodic environmental disasters keep happening. This leads me to believe that the fines and regulatory consequences aren’t steep enough to change behavior or spark innovation.
We’re like the forest animals watching our homes being destroyed and feeling helpless. We’re not helpless if we stick together. A flock of hummingbirds.
55 Tax and regulate pollution. What about environmental impact fees for choosing polluting strategies vs anti-pollution strategies in running your business? What about a plastic packaging tax?
56 Avoid helping the rich get richer. When people have enough money to buy politicians and shoot giant penis rockets into space, they can afford: 1) to make their businesses environmentally friendly without raising prices; 2) to pay their workers living wages, enabling them to have stable housing and food; 3) to pay more in taxes and contribute to the infrastructure and the common good. Most of the world’s wealth is in the hands of a few men, while millions of people live with water, food and housing insecurity. Planet Earth would be a cleaner, healthier place if resources and opportunities were more equitably distributed, and people’s basic needs were met.
57 Vote for politicians who will work for you and not the billionaire class. Corporations and the wealthy are the beneficiaries of billions of dollars in tax giveaways from all levels of government. Arizona has lead pipes and aging HVAC units in school buildings and diesel school buses. These known environmental problems have been ignored by the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature for years in the name of tax cuts.
58 Use your buying power to tell corporations what you want or don’t want. As mentioned above, we shouldn’t allow corporations to push plastic and other polluting products on us in the name of profit. Use your purse to fight the power, people.
59 Write to the retail chains and product lines and voice your opinion. For example, tell them you want alternative packaging that can be easily reused or recycled, you want to be able to use your own bags and you want bulk food options. All we’re asking for is a return to the not-so-distant past.
60 Advocate for recyclable machinery, replaceable batteries and interchangeable parts. If you’ve ever tried to get rid of an old office printer or a dead laptop, you know the challenges of being forced to continuously upgrade devices in the digital world. I have an office-grade ink jet printer, which was a real workhorse during my political campaigns. Why can’t I take that big plastic machine to a retailer like SWS Electronics and have them to swap out the guts when the printer needs an upgrade? Think of how many printers get tossed every year, but it doesn’t stop there. I recently discarded a great handheld because the battery was hardwired and couldn’t be replaced. Planned obsolescence has got to stop. It’s so wasteful.
61 Lobby the government for “right to fix” laws to curb unnecessary expenses, waste and consumerism.
62 Lobby the government for regulations regarding replacement parts and refills to curb unnecessary expenses, waste and consumerism. It used to be much easier to buy replacement parts and refills and fix things yourself. We should bring back that money-saving, waste-reduction practice.
63 Lobby school districts and state legislatures to bring back home economics and shop.. Learning basic cooking, sewing and woodworking/home repairs in school will improve the lives of younger generations, save them money throughout their lives and make them more resilient and less dependent upon consumerism to fulfill their needs.
WHEW …
Yes, it’s a long list. My intention was to provide a variety of ideas so everyone could find something within their abilities, their skills, their means and their interests that they could choose to do to save the planet.
Be the hummingbird.
I’ve added a group discount for groups as small as two!
Links
The History of Plastic Bottles, Recycle Nation, March 17, 2011
Should You Not Have Kids Because of Climate Change? It’s Complicated, Washington Post, December 2, 2022
Your Kids Are Not Doomed, New York Times, June 5, 2022
Climate Change Has Many Americans Reconsidering Having Children: POLL, ABC News, December 7, 2022
5 Ways to Build Collective Impact through Individual Actions, Rainforest Alliance, June 1, 2021
OK. That was me. I was working on the drive-through restaurant Substack article at the time: Drive-Throughs: Environmental and Architectural Monstrosities.
Often, these bags of vegetables aren’t that fresh, even though they’re in refrigerated cases and plastic bags.
The numbers on the list are for counting only. No priority is attached to the numbers.
A “good glass jar” is one with a relatively wide mouth, a tight-fitting lid and a label that comes off cleanly and easily.
Bringing jars with their “tare weight” already on the bottom to any food co-op to fill was commonplace in the 1970s.
I, of course, paid for any extras out of my own pocket.
Some of these are aspirational.
Women refers to anyone with the anatomy to get pregnant.
There is no judgment about single mothers in this statement. I want to help them.
I was not entrusted with anyone’s sewing machine until after official training in Home Ec.