this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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My mom become an avid anti-plastic person after watching videos and reading things about the damages that microplastics do to the health, nature and the planet. She does everything she can to avoid using plastic things!
When plastics were first introduced to consumers it was sold as indestructible, it will never wear out, never degrade! People were actually concerned at the time, why anyone buy disposable products that never break down, won't they just pile up forever?
After much lobbying the concept of recycling plastics was introduced to help consumers stop worrying about all this indestructible waste and help push the sales of cheap plastic products. Your mom has the right idea, not buying it in the first place is the only way to drive demand down.
I'm not at the point in life where I can really avoid plastic, but I aspire to get there eventually.
Care to elaborate? Always looking for new tips to cut back on my personal plastic use.
Try to stop using disposable plastic as far as possible. No cups, bags, spoons, straws. Use reusable bags when shopping, and when shopping, check how the stuff is packaged. Get as much as possible of your stuff in glass bottles, and recycle them. Use waxcloth instead of plastic wrap. Buy larger packages. If you have a cheese or meat counter, get your stuff there. The might even let you bring your own tupperware.
The problem with waxcloth is you can't clean it well enough, because no hot water. If I can't use it on meat or dairy it's no good for me. Also I can never get it to stay, maybe because I have cold hands. Reusable lidded takeout containers work for most food storage and go in the dishwasher, until they finally fall apart and get recycled. At least it's better than using cling wrap.
Your comment sums up what my mom is doing. So I don't think that I need to reply anymore. Thank you so much!