by Candice Keast
Canadians use between 9 and 15 billion plastic bags a year - that's enough to
circle the globe a whopping 55 times. And that's a lot of oil being used to make single-use bags that are
discarded a few minutes after use. Going plastic-free can be a challenge - and that's no joke. Plastic is
everywhere.
In July, thousands of Torontonians, including staff here at the City of
Toronto, took the Plastic-Free July Pledge. As you could probably guess, this was
no easy feat. Our struggle was seriously real but we did our best – and ended
up making quite a difference. Gold stars for all!
Over 200 City of Toronto staff took the pledge and in the process became
more conscious about just how ubiquitous plastic is. While it's relatively easy
to find reusable shopping bags, water bottles, and coffee tumblers, other
reusable items were a bit harder to come by. Fortunately there are many participating
Live Green
Perks businesses who sell these products and offer exclusive deals
for members. We listed some of these in a previous blog post.
In a follow-up survey with staff, we learned that plastic (including Styrofoam
trays) at the supermarket were the hardest to avoid. I personally found that it
was easy to get tripped up by the little things, like that time I was in the
checkout line and did a triple take at
the little plastic window in my cardboard box of pasta, all the time with a
sinking feeling that there would be no pasta for dinner (there wasn't).
In the table below (after the jump), I've summarized feedback from City staff, including
some of challenges they faced. Additionally, you'll see some tips on where
these items should go when you are finished with them.
Plastic Item
|
What We Switched to
|
Challenges
|
Important Tips
|
Plastic Shopping
Bags
|
Backpacks, reusable canvas, cloth, and nylon bags
Reused plastic bags multiple times then recycled them
|
Remembering to keep reusable bags accessible at all times
Couldn't find an alternative for pet waste
|
Compostable (and biodegradable) bags and items are not accepted in Toronto's blue
bin
|
Plastic Straws
|
Refused straws and drank from cups instead
Used cups with built- in straws, glass, and stainless steel straws
|
Had to get used to drinking directly from the cup
|
Paper straws go in Toronto's green bin (they're too
small to be separated at Toronto's recycling facility); glass and metal
straws go in the garbage
|
Styrofoam
|
Used glass containers, reusable cups, Tupperware, paper plates (these go in Toronto's green bin program)
Stopped ordering takeout
|
Meat in supermarkets always on Styrofoam trays
Most takeout meals are in Styrofoam; remembering to bring own
container for 'doggy bag' meals
|
Styrofoam food takeout containers should be rinsed off
before being placed in the blue bin
Food goes in the green bin (never in the blue bin)
|
Plastic Cutlery
|
Used own reusable, cutlery, or washed and reused plastic.
|
No option but to use them when eating in fast food places while on the
road
|
Plastic cutlery should be rinsed before being placed in
Toronto's blue bin; no black plastic
is accepted in Toronto's blue bin
|
Shrink Wrap
|
Used cardboard,
made beeswax covers, asked butchers for paper, went to Farmers markets
where shrink wrap is not used
|
Very difficult because supermarkets use shrink wrap for vegetables and
fruit; it's unavoidable
|
Shrink wrap is
not accepted in Toronto's blue bin; it goes in the garbage
|
Coffee Pods
|
Stopped using pods, changed to drip coffee, used a French press, paper
filters (these go in the green bin), used refillable, reusable pods and
grinds
|
No alternatives available when visiting other offices
|
Despite saying biodegradable or plastic free, all coffee
pods should go in the garbage.
|
We appreciate their support in this cause and expect this challenge
provided insight into how much plastic we use, often without a second thought. Remember:
being plastic free isn't exclusive to July, let's do our best to go
plastic-free - year round!
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