• Support
  • Advertise
  • Locations
  • Contact
Thursday, February 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTERS
Dana Point Times
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who
No Result
View All Result
Dana Point Times
No Result
View All Result

Citizens’ Climate Education: How My Attempt to Avoid Single-Use Plastic for 1 Month Failed

by Dana Point Times
January 28, 2022 3:15AM
in Opinion Columns, SOAPBOX
Citizens’ Climate Education: How My Attempt to Avoid Single-Use Plastic for 1 Month Failed

Judith Anderson

0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Judith Anderson

By Judith Anderson

My experiential learning began on Dec. 1, with the simple goal of not buying any single-use plastic until Jan. 1, 2022. 

On day 2, Dec. 2, my plan was shot. I visited three stores to collect cleaning supplies for a depleted inventory at home. Heavy duty cleaners with low toxicity led me to consider one-quart or half-gallon jugs coded P.E.T. or PETE, the No. 1 recycling category, denoting the petrochemical industry favorite polyethylene terephthalate.

I validated my purchase by planning to refill and reuse existing squirt bottles. I bought a gallon of reliable Simple Green, a one-liter plastic bottle of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap, and some Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day products in the largest size offered.

Nixing window and glass cleaning solutions for the cheaper DIY method of diluted vinegar, I still felt I needed an abrasive booster for tough jobs. I bought the largest 12-pound sack of Arm & Hammer’s Baking Soda, the standard of purity.

But an unfamiliar symbol appeared on the upper left of the package: a horizontal figure eight-tipped with arrows and the name ‘Terracycle.’ On the backside was the printed tip to recycle this bag through terracycle.com, or alternatively put in the trash. So, I couldn’t just mindlessly toss it into the CR&R brown bin for curbside recycling?

I decided to call to find out more about such contradictory advice, and how Terracycle would collect and process this sack for successful reuse. My brief chat with an Arm & Hammer representative explained this particular bag was made of mixed-plastics; specifically, nylon and polyethylene.

But it was not coded with the decades-old recycling symbols I, a willing consumer, had become reliant on. As I had continued buying goods in plastic (single-use or not), discarding these ubiquitous plastics in curb-side collectors had become a therapeutic act, calming my innate guilt of increased consumption.

Not quite defeated, I also started gathering single–use plastic containers, bags, and film wrapping (previously bought but now finished). After two weeks, my dedicated trash can was overflowing with these items. In spite of my earlier pledge, it still contained take-out food packaging or excess produce wrapping. The family couldn’t seem to avoid it.

I’m admittedly discouraged. It appears we now live with planetary pollution so insidious it is increasingly choking us out of existence. Falling into the rabbit hole of this plastic pollution pandemic, and with renewed urgency for innovative solutions for world-changing impact, 2022 is only eight years away from sustainability goals for 2030.

Tackling the source of the problem with plastic reduction policies, and bans of single-use products, is essential. But they take time. At least in California, the legislature passed SB 270, the plastic-bag ban in 2016, and at least eight other states have similar laws enacted.

By becoming “plastic clever,” I’ve made an oath to refuse and reject single-use products, primarily by ditching the big four single–use plastic polluters: straws, bags, cups, and utensils. Although each one of us is a mere droplet in the rising tide of an ocean filled with more microplastic than fish, I feel a minimal sense of accomplishment with daily action.

So, walk softly, my friends, and carry your own bag, cup and fork.

For further research, citizen action support and practical resources check out How to Give Up Plastic by Will McCallum, or Plastic Wars, a Frontline documentary released in March 2020, available on YouTube. You can also visit: esrag.org; terracycle.org; and how2recycle.com.

Judith Anderson has lived in San Juan Capistrano for 31 years, is a portrait and culture photographer, an architectural assistant and architectural tour guide for the SJC Historical Society and the Friends of the Library of SJC, as well as a member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby/Education of South Orange County.

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
Tags: Citizens’ Climate EducationDana PointEnvironmentOrange Countyplastic wasteplasticssingle use plastics
ShareTweetPin

Dana Point Times

Related Posts

Sheriff’s Blotter: Caller Reports Hearing “Some Sort of Explosion”

Cyclist Dead After Traffic Collision at PCH and Crown Valley

February 1, 2023
GALLERY: Dana Point Celebrates 51st Annual Festival of Whales

Festival of Whales to Partner with Laguna Cliffs Marriott

February 1, 2023
Back to School is Back Again

RH Dana Elementary Students Spread Kindness

February 2, 2023
City Council Candidate Filing Period Official Opens

City Seeks to Fill Open Traffic Improvement Subcommittee, Planning Commission Seats

January 30, 2023
Next Post
Editor’s Pick: Whale of a Kid’s Art & Literature Contest

Editor’s Pick: Whale of a Kid’s Art & Literature Contest

Discussion about this post

No Result
View All Result

DP Times Daily
Get important news and updates delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

Subscriptions
Don’t get the DP Times delivered to your home? Subscribe today.

Advertising
Get new customers and drive traffic to your business. Advertise with us.

Support Local Journalism
For less than the cost of a couple of cups of coffee a month, become an “Insider” member and continue to get “Local News You Can Use” from the only independently owned, dedicated local news organization in South Orange County.

Contribute today.

Picket Fence Media is a proud member of the SoCal Media Network.

  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Dana Point Times
  • San Clemente Times
  • The Capistrano Dispatch
  • DP Chamber Directory

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

No Result
View All Result
  • Calendar
    • Event Calendar
    • Submit an Event
  • Sections
    • Eye On DP
    • Soapbox
      • Submit A Letter
    • Getting Out
    • DP Living
    • Sports & Outdoors
    • DP Surf
    • San Clemente Times
    • Capistrano Dispatch
  • Digital Edition
  • Best of DP
  • Legals & Classifieds
    • Locals Only Business Directory
    • Classified
    • Submit a Classified
    • Obituaries
    • Announcements
    • Legal & Public Notice Advertising
    • Legal Notices
  • Special Publications
    • A New You
    • Aging Well
    • Best of Dana Point
    • Crib to College
    • Dana Point Trolley Information & Route Map
    • Dolphin Football Preview
    • Festival of Whales Event Guide
    • Go See Do
    • Holiday Happenings & Gift Guide
    • Home Improvement Guide
    • Money Matters
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • The Green Issue
    • Turkey Trot Event Guide
  • DP Guide
  • Real Estate
    • South County Real Estate Guide
    • Real Estate – Who’s Who

© 2023 Picket Fence Media

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.