As I mentioned in the prior post, this year I decided to start documenting the amount of single use plastic items I use daily. Starting in January 2014, I kept a running log on my cellphone and recorded the date, number and type of items used, it's origin and things I did to avoid the product. Most days I didn't use any items but on days that I did I was most likely out of town, at a fair or bar. Below is a table that I have constructed that displays the information listed above. For the month of January I used 54 single use plastic items. In contrast to global estimates of daily plastic usage, I don't use nearly as much as the average person, but I've estimated that I use 1.8 pieces of plastic roughly per day. However if you take a closer look at the items that I've used most during the month of January, you'll discover that plastic straws are most prevalent. In the words of my good friend Josh Kovach (sup Josh) "Eewwy". Why am I consuming so many straws, 18 this month!! A small number of those straws were drink stirrers that I refused, but the others were used as I guiltily enjoyed frozen beverages. Straws are one of the top ten debris items found on beaches worldwide. Thanks to this log I am able to pin point my single use problem areas and create personal solutions that will lead to national and global ones as well.
My name is Kristal "Ocean" Ambrose and I abused plastic straws during the month of January 2014.
February is here so I will most definitely be curbing my single use plastic appetite even more. To solve the issue I had with straws this past month I will keep my reusable straw in my purse or nearby. Unfortunately my reusable straw is made out of plastic (go figure) but I will invest in some glass straws made by this really cool company called Simply Straws, click on the name to learn more. You can review my single use plastic log below.
You can start a daily log as well! Every little step counts so begin documenting your usage today. What's stopping you?
January
2014 Daily Single Use Plastic Log
|
||||
Date
|
No.
of Plastic Items
|
Type
of Plastic Items
|
Source
|
Avoidance
|
1st
January 2014
|
14
|
cups
(4), lid (1),straws (4), plastic clamshell (1), utensils (1), styrofoam plate
(1), bottles (2)
|
Coffehouse,
Junkanoo event, rib shack
|
N/A
|
2nd
January 2014
|
9
|
cups
(2), lid (1), straw (1), utensils (2), styrofoam clamshells (2), bag (1)
|
Coffehouse,
art gallery, take out restauant
|
N/A |
