An Idea Has Formed

Most people I know use a tremendous amount of plastic in our everyday lives, and especially disposable "single-use" plastic. I got to thinking about plastic usage this past fall 2019 when I was watching the Netflix series "Rotten." Each episode discusses one aspect of food production in detail, bringing awareness to different things going on. Although I found all of them to be thought-provoking, the episode on bottled water and the consequent scourge of single-use plastic water bottles really got me thinking. A bit later on, I was watching a similar Netflix series called "Rotten", where each episode focuses on a specific industry, how it typically works in various global locations, and the effects on people and the environment. There was an episode on recycling, and how our best efforts as a human race to recycle plastic are extremely inadequate.

What to do?

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take action and reduce my "plastic footprint". But how big is it, really? I but recyclable plastics in the recycle bin, including a plastic bag full of plastic bags. Well, not anymore. As of January 1, 2020, City of Seattle doesn't accept plastic bags for recycling (they gum up and contaminate the works), but you can take bags of bags to the grocery stores, where they have special receptacles for them. The Fred Meyer in Ballard and the Fred Meyer in Greenwood both have them. So I've been doing that. For information about drop-off places in your area, go to https://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/.


This is my organization under the kitchen sink. My plastic bags for recycling could be cleaner...

But what else? There is much more to do. After talking about it with my boyfriend (and housemate) Thom, I proposed that we attempt to minimize our plastic usage for the month of February 2020. He agreed! Since it is impossible to completely eliminate single-use plastic, I am planning to use a special bin to collect all our single-use plastic for the month, and then see where we end up. Wish us luck!