Q. What inspired you to try to remove as much plastic as possible from your life?
A. In June of 2007, I saw a photo of a dead albatross chick filled with plastic pieces. I realized in that moment that my personal choices could have an impact on creatures thousands of miles away. I decided I had to change my life. Getting plastic out of it seemed like the right thing to do. Recycling is not enough. Recycling doesn't address the toxicity of chemicals that can leach from plastic. And most of our plastic recycling is shipped to other countries where it might be burned for fuel or recycled into more cheap plastic junk and shipped back to us.
Q. What have been the biggest challenges and obstacles?
A. Honestly? Staying up all night working on my blog! Reducing my plastic consumption has been the easy part. Of course, it's challenging to find alternatives for plastic when seemingly none exist. A little thing was learning to make my own chocolate syrup from cocoa I buy from the bulk bin in my own jar, because I never found a brand that didn't come in a plastic squeeze bottle. A more significant challenge was giving up my lifestyle of frozen convenience foods because plastic is what makes that stuff possible. Funny how plastic makes possible all kinds of things that aren't good for us anyway.
Q. Have other people been inspired by your activities?
A. Absolutely! People write me everyday and tell me about the changes they have made in their own lives. And I have a Discussion board on my blog for people to connect around the things they are doing and questions they have.
Q. What other major commitments to environmental sustainability have you made?
A. Well, I don't have a car and I refuse to buy one. In the Bay Area, with great public transportation and walkable neighborhoods (I live in North Oakland) there is absolutely no need for many of us to own our own cars. Especially those of us without children. I walk, bike, or take the bus or BART. For those rare times that I do need a car, I have a Zip Car membership.
We also buy organic, local food from the farmers market and clean with homemade natural cleaners like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice.
Actually, these steps were initially an effort to avoid plastic and have become ends in and of themselves.
Q. What realizations have you come to as a result of your de-plastic process?
A. That plastic is a symptom of our culture of overconsumption. That in order to give up plastic, we can't just substitute other single-use products made from paper or bioplastic. We need to change our throw-away habits and go back to a time when products were made to last and no one died from not having a bottle of water handy 24-hours a day. You know, a time when you could still find a working drinking fountain.
Q. Is this sustainable for the rest of your life?
A. Yes. Because I didn't try to do it all at once and because I have given myself time to develop lasting habits.
Q. What do you recommend the average American to do if they want to start reducing their plastic use?
A. I recommend everyone collect their plastic waste for a week to get an idea of how much they're generating and what those items are. The results could be surprising. Then, pick one item from the collection and either replace it with a plastic-free alternative or give it up.
It's good to start with things that have the biggest impact. For example, saying no to bottled water and carrying your own stainless steel bottle or mug. Or using the aforementioned drinking fountain.
Refusing plastic grocery bags and carrying your own reusable bag.
These are habits that must be developed. I would encourage people to make a minimum of one change a week but not to overdo it. Burnout never helped any cause.
Q. Is there anything you miss?
A. I usually say I miss cheese. But at the moment, Trader Joe's is actually selling small wheels of cheddar cheese that are waxed and wrapped in muslin rather than plastic. Don't know how long that will last. Usually, I have to do without buying cheese because even if you bring your own container to the deli, the cheese block they slice from is already wrapped in plastic.
Q. What was the hardest thing to give up?
A. Cheese.
Q. What was the first thing you gave up?
A. Plastic bags and water bottles. The low-hanging fruit.
Q. Would you like to add anything else?
A. As consumers, we have power. We can vote with our wallets. If the menu doesn't offer what we want, we can ask for it. One of the most important things we can do is ask companies to change. Individual actions are important because they help us to see where we are and where we need to go. But at some point, we have to reach out on a larger scale and take action. I actually just wrote a post about 8 Reasons Why Personal Changes Matter. I would love for everyone to read it.
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