7 Days Without Single-Use Plastic
One of the biggest things we teach our students is conservation. We spend a lot of our time on the water in and around DC. Many of our classes are held near Great Falls National Park and on the Potomac River. Both see an incredible amount of visitors, and as a result, an incredible amount of trash. A lot of what we see near our put-ins and on the water are plastic bags, plastic bottles, pieces of plastic, and plastic, plastic, and more plastic.
We do a lot of trash clean up before and between our classes in the summer, and tend to collect trash when we're out for a paddle on our own. Every little bit helps, right? And we always encourage our students to pick up litter if they can do so safely. But, it got us thinking about our own consumption and the type of footprint we're leaving behind.
In an effort to do a little more than our usual trash clean up, we're challenging ourselves to go seven days plastic-free!
When we first decided to take on this challenge it quickly became overwhelming. Where do we even start? So much of our daily lives is surrounded by plastic. The spices we use in our meals? Stored in plastic containers. Our shampoo? Packaged in plastic bottles. The Tupperware we pack our lunches in? Plastic. It seems like there's no escape.
So, we're going to start small. Every little bit helps, right?
For this particular challenge we're saying no to single-use plastic. These disposable plastics are used only once before they're thrown away or recycled (think: plastic bags, straws, coffee stirs, bottled drinks, and food packaging).
Here are the three specific areas where we'll focus:
No purchasing food or beverages that are packaged in plastic;
No using takeaway containers for food or drink storage or transport;
No single-use plastic for food or drink consumption.
Out: K-Cups, straws, plastic utensils, Ziplock baggies, plastic drink bottles, food wrapped or packaged in plastic, etc.
We try incredibly hard to not contribute to food waste. So, we'll continue to use the items in our pantry and refrigerator that we've already purchased, plastic or not, if they're going to spoil within this seven day period. And, we'll probably continue to package our leftovers and pack our lunches in Tupperware containers, since we've been reusing them for years. Is this cheating? Maybe. But since they're not single-use, we're giving ourselves a pass this time around. And, every little bit helps, right?
Want to take the challenge with us? Join us or follow along on our journey to experience how plastic is everywhere in our lives and what steps we can take to reduce our footprints.
We'll post on Instagram daily and will check in with another blog post mid-week. It's not going to be easy, but we know it'll be worthwhile!
