In reply to ‘Say No to plastic using the S.T.O.P. Technique’.

I applaud the Elephant Journal in it’s recent focus on plastic, however I just can’t seem to eliminate it from my life. Actually I can’t even seem to really reduce it in my life, much to my frustration.

So I decided to write an article of my own, raising the points that come to mind with every plastic-related article I read. 

Please bear in mind that I am based in the U.K. so things may be different here than other countries.

Recycling 

I recently read an Elephant Journal article entitled ‘Say No to plastic using the S.T.O.P. Technique’ and was surprised to see recycling being disregarded despite it’s numerous benefits, because so few people recycle. 

The article states that between 1950 and 2015 only around 9% of plastic was recycled. I found this figure amazing – surely in the past 10 years we have started to recycle more than this?

So I did my own research and discovered that nothing has really changed *since 2012 only 9% of plastic was recycled in the U.S.A.

Here in the U.K., for the past 10 years it has been quite easy to recycle. We put our plastic (not film), cans and paper in the orange wheelie bin and the council takes it away fortnightly. They even reduced the number of non-recycled bin collections to encourage recycling! 

It is hard to give up plastic (for reasons I will go into) but I recycle everything I can. In this case is plastic still bad?

During my research I discovered that there are some striking differences between the U.S.A. and U.K.

For example, **in the U.K. each person produces 76kg (167lb) of plastic waste annually. 

Compare this to the U.S.A. where each person produces 120kg (246lb) of plastic waste annually. That figure is almost double!

Although Britain is far from the best nation at recycling, the U.K. recycles 45% of plastic – 5 times more than the U.S.A..

It has become clear to me why it is imperative that Elephant Journal articles such as ‘Say no to plastic with the S.T.O.P. Technique’ are shared far and wide. 

Despite the message that plastic is forever changing our ecosystem, people continue to use single-use plastic regardless then throw it in the trash. 

Globally we have a huge problem and we must open up a dialogue, share our best practise ideas and, discuss what other nations are doing differently.

There are some questions that must be addressed.

Is recycling more difficult in the U.S.A. than the U.K.?

Perhaps in the U.S.A. recycling is being sent to landfill? 

And why is every person in the U.S.A. using almost double the amount of plastic compared to each of their British cousins? 

If we can answer these questions we may find the key to our solution.

Money

I am on a budget – I am at home raising my baby while my husband works loads of overtime to support us. Yes, I would rather buy my coconut oil and almond butter in glass jars but the plastic ones keep down the cost of my already too expensive weekly shop.

I had a look in my kitchen cupboards and realised that so many products that traditionally came in glass now come in plastic instead. The products at the higher end of the market are still in glass bottles but they are out of my budget eg olive oil, peanut butter, ketchup, tahini, pepper, vinegar and, spices. At the top end of the market each of these products are around double the price. 

Health food staples

Many items come in non-recyclable plastic film bags as standard. 

Perhaps the U.S.A. has big stores with huge bins of nuts, seeds, rice, beans, pasta… but we don’t. As a whole food vegan I need staples that only come in plastic. 

The S.T.O.P. Technique article suggests standing in the shop and mindfully deciding whether the product/wrapper is ethical. Absolutely, this technique is a great idea for people who buy plastic plates or cleaning wipes, or who put their carrots in a plastic bag. 

But if I need walnuts or pinto beans or flaxseeds, and can only buy them in a plastic bag what other choice do I have?

And the list is huge; an array of nuts, seeds and beans, plus green and red lentils, split peas, couscous, pasta, rice and, oat cakes. Then there’s my bags of kale and frozen fruit for smoothies, except for the 3 weeks a year kale is in season I can only buy it in a plastic film bag. These are all daily essentials for the health and well-being of my family so there is no avoiding them.

In summary…

There are still some changes that I can make and big changes that I have already made, and I am grateful to the Elephant Journal for encouraging us all to re-examine our habits.

I will gradually replace my plastic food containers with glass.

I will continue to avoid putting fresh fruit and veg in plastic bags.

I will return any unavoidable plastic bags to my supermarket (they use them to make new plastic bags).

But really I can’t avoid plastic much more than I already am. And the plastic that I can’t avoid gets recycled (if it is recyclable). 

I really don’t know what else I can do.

Don’t get me wrong. I hate plastic!! In an ideal world I would have glass everything in my home. Plastic is toxic, it leaches nasty chemicals, it will never decompose, it is a byproduct of the nasty oil industry. 

But sadIy I don’t see an escape from plastic any time soon.

So I would like to re-examine the recycling discussion.

For many of us who have now eliminated unnecessary plastic, the facts remain:

The cost of living is so high that I, and many others, are forced to buy goods in plastic containers.

Many health food items only come in plastic bags.

So how can we encourage recycling?

Let’s share ideas between countries and help move this discussion forwards.

*https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment

**https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-42703561

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