The Plastic Challenge Pledge

[Krista Harris / Edible Santa Barbara]

During the month of October I will…

Bring my own bags to the store. (If I forget, I could wheel the un-
bagged groceries, after paying, to the trunk of my car and unload them
there. Bet I’ll remember next time.)

Bring reusable cotton or nylon net bags to the grocery or farmers
market for bagging produce and some bulk bin items, or re-use plastic
or paper bags I already have.

Carry a non-plastic to-go cup in the car in case I need to stop for
coffee or tea.

Carry a reusable, non-plastic water bottle. Avoid buying water and all
other beverages in plastic bottles.

Refuse all polystyrene (Styrofoam) containers, which are not
recyclable in our community.

Buy dairy products in returnable glass bottles if possible. If I must
buy in cartons, compost the cartons in my yard.

Buy and use products that are compostable—and then compost them. All
sorts of paper products, even wax paper and deli paper, can be
composted.

Avoid products packaged in plastic that is not recyclable in our
community. In Santa Barbara this includes those heavy plastic bags,
Ziploc or not, that nuts, seeds, dried fruits, granola, cookies, meat,
cheese, etc. are often wrapped in. Buy from bulk bins instead and
bring my own bags to use at the bins.

Avoid using plastic wrap at home, such as Saran, or buying food in
plastic wrap. (Don’t buy products such as cheese that come in plastic
wrap. Ask the deli to cut you a piece of cheese and put it in a
recyclable container or wrap it in deli paper that you can then
compost).

Use non-plastic food storage containers: glass, stainless steel,
ceramic, silicone.

Buy things in non-plastic packaging whenever possible. If I need
something that only comes in plastic, then I will choose reusable or
recyclable containers. I will reuse the containers and recycle them
when I can no longer reuse them.

Take back any plastic bread bags, produce bags, grocery bags or
newspaper bags that I end up with to a grocery store for recycling.

..........

The Plastic Challenge Pledge should give you ideas for how you can
eliminate and reduce the plastic in your life. Start by refusing to
use "single use" plastic (disposable grocery bags, bottled water, food
packaging and containers), and then you may find yourself choosing non-
plastic materials in all sorts of other aspects of your life. It's
probably impossible to get rid of all plastic in our lives, and
actually there are many useful things that are made out of plastic.
But it's the excessive use of plastic, especially for throw away items
and food and beverage containers that we need to be aware of and try
to change.

-Krista