Why Single-Use Doesn’t Mean “Only One Use”
Single-use plastic is one of the biggest problems we face when it comes to sustainability in our modern earth. Other than being good for convenience, single-use plastic can severly damage the earth by pollution and garbage dumping in our ocean waters. Today on Inspired by Diane, I wanted to discuss why single-use doesn’t mean “only one use.” You can use some single-use items more than once - therefore delaying the amount of time that single use item is spent in a landfill.
Let’s shed some light on some single-use items that can be used more than once.
Let’s learn a little bit about what single-use is
I found a great article on Nature's Path about what single-use plastic items are, the most common plastic items found in our environment, and what can we do about curbing this issue with single-use plastic.
Most single-use items are plastic, and plastic is damaging to our environment because it is not biodegradable - meaning the earth cannot break it down naturally. According to the Nature's Path article, ‘ A 2018 U.N. Environment report on single-use plastics defines them as plastic “items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.” ’
Examples of single-use plastic include: plastic forks and knives, plastic shopping bags, plastic coffee cup lids, plastic water bottles, Styrofoam and plastic take out containers, and, of course, plastic straws.
According to the U.N. Environment, the most common single-use plastics found in the environment (in order of magnitude) are: cigarette butts, plastic drinking bottles, plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic lids, traws and stirrers, other types of plastic bags, foam take-away containers
Also according to the Nature's Path article…
The Government of Canada reports that, each year, about eight million tons of plastic waste enters our oceans. That is like dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute. If this continues, plastics could outweigh fish in our oceans by 2050. Unless we take drastic action now, it’s expected that the amount of plastic littering the world’s oceans will triple within a decade.
Examples of single-use items that can be re-used
Plastic drinking bottles
Plastic grocery bags
Plastic ice cream containers (such as Talenti)
Plastic cutlery (when washed appropriately)
Plastic take-out containers (when washed appropriately)
Now you might be thinking to yourself…
Diane, what can I do about using less single-use items? Well - there are a couple of things you can do to minimize your single usage on items typically deemed as “single-use.” Some of the things you can do include:
going plastic-free
re-using plastic drinking bottles, grocery bags, cutlery, etc.
purchasing portable cutlery to keep handy
purchasing non-plastic shopping bags and drinking bottles to constantly re-use
researching ways to minimize your environmental impact
The long story short is…
The longer you can keep plastic out of our landfills and oceans, the better it will be for us and our environment. By making a conscious effort to minimize the amount of single-use plastic you incorporate into your daily life, you can truly make a difference for yourself & the planet in the long-term. By keeping our environment clean & keeping plastic out of our waters, we can sustain our Planet Earth for longer.
What’s your perspective on single-use plastic?
Do you think it is all hot air, or do you think it is actually a serious issue? Let me know in the comments!
And as always - tag me on social media using the hashtag #InspiredByDiane so I can feature you on my social media!
