Ask Prof. Cricket: Take the Plastic-free July Challenge

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Take the Plastic-free July Challenge

By Naomi Yaeger

UMC Earthkeeper

I challenge you to make two new changes this month regarding your personal use of one-time-use plastic.

The month of July includes a challenge. It’s named Plastic-free July. The motto for 2022 is ‘Turn the tide on plastic waste, one choice at a time. '' Plastic-Free July is a registered not-for-profit in Australia, but plastic pollution knows no boundaries, especially in the ocean.

I was dismayed when I read that plastic production, consumption, and pollution levels have increased exponentially since the 1950s. I’ve seen that.

If you’ve ever seen those Facebook memes that say “Tell us how old you are without telling us how old you are I could say, “When I was a kid, applesauce, spaghetti sauce, ketchup and mustard, and juices were packaged in glass jars.” Not only that, but my parents' generation purchased meat wrapped in butcher paper.

We can’t recycle our way out of this problem because plastic can be recycled only about one time before it’s no longer useful and we are using plastic packaging exponentially.

Here are some changes I successfully made this year.

I started using toilet paper that isn’t wrapped in a plastic film. It’s called “Who Gives a Crap.”

Use bar shampoos and containers rather than those packaged in plastic bottles.

Use deodorant made by a local cosmetic company where I can return the glass and metal containers.

Rather than take the sample dental floss contained in plastic, I tell my dental hygienist, “Thank you, but I’m going to purchase dental floss packaged in cardboard or glass.”