One can't help but notice how far we as a society had made important steps to reducing our plastic usage in our everyday lives - then the pandemic hit.
The strides that we as individuals have made in modifying our habits in the battle against unneeded plastic production are no longer "acceptable". Now there is more plastic waste than in previous years due to new COVID-19 precautions. One can’t help but notice the global increase of production of single-use face masks, plastic gloves, plastic beverage containers and for ready-to-use disinfectant sprays & cleaners (in plastic bottles of course).
For the safety of ourselves and each other, this pandemic has in some respects reverted us to our old wasteful and unsustainable ways,
Gone are the days where we were able to go to Starbucks and hand them our to-go mug - to save money and our planet. Plastic slushie cups fill garbage cans outside corner convenience stores as people sloppily pour their drink from the mandatory plastic cup into their insulated travel cups within seconds of purchase. Do you remember when we were able to fill our own water bottles? We have all heard of the global problem of pandemic-related trash that is riddling our streets, parking lots and sidewalks.
People enter stores to be handed a disposable face mask, only to wear it once for only a matter of minutes before removing it as they leave the store and then place it directly into the rubbish bin outside. Enter mother nature. It only takes a few minutes of watching these rubbish bins until wind will blow and these items float, twist and twirl into even the most hard-to-reach corners of our communities.
In some communities you can't enter grocery stores with your personal reusable cloth bags and/or totes! Coupled with the increase in online grocery shopping and delivery services which usually don’t offer paper bag alternatives, and everything is provided in single-use plastic bags, it is not hard to see the damage that this pandemic is causing to our planet. Even bulk sections in grocery stores are either closed or all items are prepacked in single-use plastic bags.
However, none of this compares to the amount of plastic bottle waste created from the high consumer demand for ready-to-use hand sanitizers and spray disinfectants. With the rate of use of these items increasing constantly, more and more plastic bottles are entering landfills at an alarming rate which should make anyone cringe.
All of this happening so soon after society had finally acknowledged that our way of life is non-sustainable. We need to be using earth friendly alternatives and changing our daily habits in order to globally reduce the damage we have caused and still are causing. So one has to ask - what can we do now? Here are a few eco-friendly options and changes anyone can make to reduce their plastic consumption and waste.
Image from houzz.com courtesy of hyperdoggie
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Cover image: A disposed mask on a sidewalk in Singapore. /CGTN
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Crysta Hammond
Author
Crysta Hammond first entered the marketing field in 2001 with a diploma in Multimedia Design & Communications. Throughout her career, Crysta has gained invaluable experience in marketing & graphic design with leading brands such as Harley-Davidson and Travel Alberta, and continues her ongoing quest for further education with diploma's in Social Media Marketing and is Google Analytics Certified. Today, Crysta is the VP of Corporate Branding & Design for GardGroup Inc and it's subsidiaries.