http://www.care2.com/greenliving/green-girl-purges-plastic-for-the-holidays.html
Green Girl Takes the No Plastic Holiday Challenge
Last Saturday was my family’s annual holiday shopping day. No, we do not go on Black Friday–we’re not intense enough for that. Plus, with that Wal-Mart store employee getting killed in a stampede this year, it just seems dangerous! Instead, we take a day to relax and digest the Thanksgiving meal and then head out with a smaller (but still quite large) mass of shoppers on Saturday.
It’s always a fun time for us–especially since I’ve grown up and we don’t have to head directly for the mall, which is always littered with impossible hordes of people. Instead, we go for the more intriguing places. Woodstock and Great Barrington are two of our favorites. These towns have wonderful stores to find interesting gifts in–and not the normal gifts that come suffocated in plastic and are handed to you in a plastic bag. No, most of the stores have unique merchandise that is not pre-packaged, and the sellers (who, given, are usually more green than those in the mall) would never dream of using plastic bags.
The reason I bring this up is because this year, my parents and I are on the No Plastic Holiday Challenge. Amy Gates, the developer of this challenge, urges people to avoid plastic as much as possible this holiday season. Though it may well be impossible to fully eliminate plastic from your shopping regime, try your hardest to remove most of it. Amy lists lots of scary facts about plastic production and recycling at the above link–I suggest reading it. It really opens your eyes. The fact that stood out for me stated that of the 200 million tons of plastic produced each year, 96 percent of it isn’t recycled. That’s 192 million tons of plastic that isn’t recycled every year! And plastic that isn’t recycled can last in the environment anywhere from 400-1000 years. That is BAD.
So this year, really think about your plastic purchasing. To avoid being handed plastic bags at the store, bring your own bags! Keep some in your car so you don’t forget to bring them when you leave the house. Try to think of creative gifts that wouldn’t be pre-packaged in plastic, or go to lesser-known stores. Shopping in small towns can be great fun! And, if you do have to buy plastic, figure out first which kinds of plastic are most easily recycled and gravitate towards buying those types.
Note to self: Happy sans-plastic shopping!
Lily Berthold-Bond grew up in a chemical-free zone and has struggled her whole life to understand and accept this non-commercial lifestyle. Now a sophomore at Tufts University, she has embraced her green life and hopes to share its possibilities with the rest of her generation.
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12 comments
add your comment »Im really trying not to use so much plastic, so guess what I dont use nowadays? straws. We dont need them 95% of the time.
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This is a really good challenge. J. and I were already going to try and avoid plastic this holiday. For my parents I want to give donations in their names and J. wants to make cutting blocks for his now we just need to convince them to give us stuff with little to no plastic.
r4 dsi
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I think it's great to bring awareness to shoppers on how they can "de-plastic" their shopping. There is another area to eliminate plastic and that's dry cleaning. You should check out www.drygreening.com. It sells cute reusable dry cleaning bags to eliminate plastic. Yeah!
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Hey amila would love to hear more about what you learned in the power point.
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I myself have been trying to use less plastic bags since a few months. I rceived a powerpoint slide about the harms of plastic to the environment especially to animals and that made me think of it just like this article. Unfortunately, people use plastic bags while shopping in the place where I live, but hey I have got my cloth bag :)
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I'm trying as well. I'm wrapping families presents in old newspaper ads. I've tried to use reusable shopping bags as well. Keep in mind though that some retail stores have a policy of having to take one of their plastic bags. *sigh* Its unfortunate and unnecessary.
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Yes, taking your own cloth shopping bags is a great way to cut down on plastic. I have taken mine to the grocery store for years and have even had people stop me to ask where I had purchased them at. This year for Christmas, I am going to wrap some gifts in cloth bags. I am hoping that the recipient will use the bag for shopping. Meg, I like the fabric wrapping ideal. A few gifts may get this.
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Great article, got me to thinking, that's good!
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I love this article
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I agree Meg M that wrap the gift is a waste, I begin to wrap the gift without paper for many years ago. When going to supermarket and the shop, I always buy the things have no plastic bag. I encourage my friends to buy things with no plastic bag.
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