Guilty conscience? 8 ways to reduce your plastic waste

Mary Ann Thomas
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 3:33 p.m. | Wednesday, June 5, 2019 3:33 p.m.

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AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop

In this Sept. 9, 2018 photo plastic waste sits on a freshly cultivated field in Nauen, Germany. Scientists in Austria say they’ve detected tiny bits of plastic in people’s stool for the first time, but experts caution the study is too small and premature to draw any credible conclusion.

Plastic bags, straws, food containers — it all adds up for just one person in just one day.

Plastics pollution is the latest buzz, with numerous reports of wildlife dying after eating or becoming entangled in various plastic trash. Laws are being changed over the situation.

According to an Associated Press story, Australian scientists estimated there are nearly 7.5 million plastic straws lying along America’s shorelines and 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws lining coastlines around the globe.

Generally, more than 35 million tons of plastic pollution is produced around the world and about a quarter of it is found around water, according to AP.

Besides pollution, “at least 700 species of marine animals, including shorebirds, have been entangled by plastic or mistaken it for food,” according to a recent Audubon magazine article. The result is often suffocation or starvation.

By 2050, scientists predict the oceans will stock more plastic than fish, according to the Audubon article.

Here are some tips from Audubon for average people to decrease their use of plastics:

1. Avoid plastic eating utensils when possible, especially when ordering food in.

2. Party plastic-free. Good-bye, red Solo cups. Use a washable glass or metal cup instead.

3. No more balloons; be festive with something else.

4. Drink good, lead-free tap water with a re-usable container instead of bottled water.

5. No plastic straws. Tell your server before straws are brought to you. If you love to sip, check out alternative straws made of pasta, bamboo and paper, stainless steel and titanium.

6. Buy foods such as peanut butter, noodles, rice and beans in bulk to cut down on the amount of plastic containers you have.

7. Get better at recycling and rinse out containers, don’t toss recyclables in used plastic bags and avoid buying plastics with recycling numbers 3 to 7.

8. Actually remember to bring your reusable shopping bag. This is tricky. Audubon advises keeping a bag with you in the car, gym bag and other places so there will always be one handy.