30 Days 0 Single Use Plastics

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Dr. Sylvia Earle

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17,636,982,400 lbs. of plastic is dumped in the ocean every year.

But we can fix this.

Please comment and let me know what you think. How can we beat plastic pollution, how can I improve?

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#StashTheTrash gives people the tools to clean up the beach just a little bit at a time. As Dr. Sylvia Earle said "Everyone has power. But it doesn't help if you don't use it." #oceanconservation #beachcleanup #marinedebris #pacific #plasticpollution #ocean #beach #ecodesign #ecofriendly #sylviaearle #savethebay #saveouroceans #saltlife #blue (at Ocean Beach, San Francisco)

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We all need to take responsibility for beach trash before it washing back out into the marine environment #StashTheTrash is a project I developed with all #upcycled and #compostable materials sourced from @catahoulacoffee here in the bay area. Let me know what you think of the project! #beachcleanup #oceanbeach #sanfrancisco #california #conservation #marinedebris #floatsam #ocean #pacific #plasticpollution #beach #sanfranciscobay (at Ocean Beach, San Francisco)

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I made a new beach clean up trash bag out of some old burlap and a string! Super easy and this way the sand can still fall through and I don’t have to worry about creating more plastic. It also looks nice :) 

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Think of everytime you've received these useless straws... is there really a need for them? They're all just going to one place, the landfill to sit for countless years.

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Day 13 - Packaging

My professor said the other day about the new Apple Watch “you wanted the watch, and you’re left with the junk”. He’s talking about packaging, and it gave me a though. It’s interesting how much junk we get, when really all we wanted was the thing itself, in this case the Apple Watch. And on top of that, we pay for the the packaging, and we’re the ones who are left to deal with it. Seems like a loose loose on the consumer side. 

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This is encouraging...

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If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Dalai Lama

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When you throw something away, there is no “away”

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This only took 20 minutes to pick up.

This is why I’m not using single use plastics anymore.

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Day 7 - Let’s talk about periods

Periods produce more plastic than anything I’ve encountered in normal daily life. On an average period I can use upwards of 20 tampons, 10 panty liners, and 6 night time pads. Each of these with their own individual plastic wrapping, and the used product itself, about 17,280 products over a lifetime assuming I menstruate for 40 years. That’s a lot of trash, especially when we consider how many women use these products. So I have made the easy decision to buy a menstrual cup -  a silicone reusable cup to catch menstrual blood, and washable cotton panty liners. I’m excited to see how it goes, and bring this practice of sustainable periods beyond my 30 day challenge.

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Useless plastic wrapping - a terrible industry standard. 

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Day 4 - First Screw Up

It’s still the morning and I have the entire day ahead of me. Unfortunately when I went to open my mail, I had a package containing a hard drive I had ordered about a week ago. I open it, and there it is - wrapped in plastic for no good reason. This is not something I chose, and not something I could have even been made aware of before I purchased it, it’s just an industry standard that I had forgotten about and got caught up in. How terrible that consumers don’t even get a choice in a practice that they deem unacceptable, I would have liked to have been aware...

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Everyone has power. But it doesn't help if you don't use it.

-Dr. Sylvia Earle

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Day 2 

You start noticing the little things, like this pen. Is it really necessary for Bic to place a small plastic dot on the tip of each new pen? Plastic is inextricably part of every facet of our lives, I’m coming to accept that if anything.

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Day One

So far so good. I’m eager and excited to start this challenge, and have a couple theories.

1. I will loose weight. Most of the food that is bad for you, is also packaged in plastic wrappers. No more candy bars for me!

2. I’ll save money. Such a large majority of to-go food is packaged in plastics, so now that I’ll be brining my own lunches with me, I’m going to save a lot on those meals and snacks I’d otherwise buy.

3. I’m going to talk about this way too much. That’s just my nature though…

Can’t wait to see what happens