6. Avoiding single use cleaning products
I will eliminate at least three single-use plastic containers used for cleaning products from my home.
Options to use include:
eco friendly laundry detergent (bulk, powder or without plastic container)
eco friendly dishwashing detergent (without plastic container)
bar soap
Bamboo toothbrushes
shampoo and conditioners in aluminum containers or bar form
other
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
As noted by the Endocrine Society and Jodi Flaws, Ph.D., at the University of Illinois: “plastics contain and leach hazardous chemicals, including endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that threaten human health…. Many of the plastics we use every day at home and work are exposing us to a harmful cocktail of endocrine-disrupting chemicals."
Most of our plastic ends up in landfills, our oceans and the environment. Since they do not biodegrade, they slowly break down into smaller pieces. Much of this ends up in the oceans killing approximately 1 million seabirds and hundreds of thousands other animals.
In 2018, the EPA noted that only 8.7 % of plastic containers and packaging in the US were actually successfully recycled. Another 15.8% of our used plastics were burned to generate energy and 75.6% was landfilled. In January 2018, China implemented a policy that severely restricted the importation of 24 types of imported waste including most plastics from the US. As of 2020, it is not economically possible to recycle most plastic packaging even if it is collected by municipalities and has a recycling symbol on the package.
Let’s reduce our plastic container usage!
TAKE ACTION!
Instead of purchasing plastic containers for cleaning products, try finding a similar product in paper or reusable glass, which have smaller carbon footprints and are recycled at much higher rates.
Here are easy and effective steps to reduce plastic container use. Do a quick inventory of plastic containers in your house. Include the kitchen, bathroom, garage and laundry room areas. Most households use the following items often sold in plastic containers. Most can be purchased in glass or paper containers.
Laundry detergent/fabric softeners
Dishwasher detergent/scale remover
Liquid soap dispensers
Shampoo/conditioners
Toothpaste/Dental Floss/Mouthwash
Deodorant
Make some simple changes such as the following:
Use laundry detergent pods that come in a small cardboard box: Dropps, Blueland, Tru Earth, Biokleen, and Meliora. Added benefit: pods are much less messy and take less shelf space than big plastic laundry containers.
Try dishwashing and descaling pods and powders that come in a small cardboard box: LemiShine, Dropps, Blueland, Ecover, & Beyond. Added benefit: these products are much less messy and take less space than big plastic dishwashing containers.
Enjoy using hand soap: Any bar soap that comes wrapped in paper or paperboard and used in a glass tray works
Try shampoos and conditioners that have zero or near zero plastic waste like Humankind and Sustainable Jungle List.
Try toothpaste, dental floss and mouthwash that have zero or near zero plastic waste, like Bite, Humankind, Byrdie Best 2021 and Treehugger Best 2021
Use deodorants with zero or near zero plastic waste, like Shape’s Best Zero Waste Deodorants and Psychologies’ Best eco-friendly & plastic-free Deodorants
Find refillable cleaning solutions as well as bath and body products at The Refill Shoppe in Ventura, CA.
Green Education Foundation has more ways to use less plastic.
ADDITIONAL MOTIVATION THOUGHTS
Manufacturing a 16 oz. plastic bottle creates more than 100 times the toxic emissions to both air and water than producing the same size bottle out of glass, and is much less reusable or recyclable. Unlike glass and paper, plastic containers are recyclable only one or two times. We can recycle paper up to seven times before the fibers become too short and weak and break down. Glass has an unlimited life and can be melted and recycled endlessly to make new glass products with no loss in quality.
The oil industry makes more than $400 billion a year producing plastic, and as demand for oil for cars and trucks declines, the industry is telling shareholders that future profits will increasingly come from plastic. Unless we start reducing our use of plastics, analysts now expect plastic production to triple by 2050. Let’s not allow this to happen. This Commitment is intended to provide simple and inexpensive ways to cut plastics usage without sacrificing convenience or effectiveness of the products.
