Project

Making easy Earth-friendly plastic changes at home

Want to help make a difference for wildlife and habitat from your home? There is an amazing way your family can get started today, through small changes that make a big difference! We are talking about a “plastic swap” — changing out items your family uses or buys for eco-friendly alternatives. WHY SWAPPING PLASTIC IS IMPORTANT

Many commonly used items at home don’t always need to be packaged in plastic. Think about the waste created by 'blind bag' surprise toys for example, there is so much one-time-use plastic there that will last for hundreds and hundreds of years.

Maybe you’re asking yourself, why doesn’t WILD just encourage our friends and readers to recycle? For sure, we definitely do! But certain plastics can’t be reused. And despite everyone’s best efforts, on a windy day when a recycling bin tips over, the contents can blow away without homeowners ever knowing. That can be a one of the ways that plastic and other nondecomposable products end up in our sewers and waterways. That’s why, when you can, it’s just helpful to use less!

HOW TO GET STARTED

There are lots of ways to swap out plastic. Check this out:

Reusable grocery bags: Ask your parents if they are comfortable skipping plastic bags at the checkout and even in the produce aisle. Produce bags are the thin plastic bags you use to gather loose vegetables and fruit like apples, green beans or broccoli. To save these onetime-use plastics from being quickly used and thrown away, ask your parents about getting reusable mesh bags instead of produce bags and some cloth bags instead of plastic carrier bags. Offer to decorate them and make it a crafty afternoon project!

Beeswax reusable food wrap: Instead of wrapping foods in plastic wrap, think about trying a product made of beeswax! Beeswax food wraps are made by coating cloth with beeswax, so they can be molded around food and dishes, then later washed and used again. They are even biodegradable! Beeswax food wraps are often made locally but can also be found online. This could be a good gift idea for a family member, or something the whole family could save up for together as an eco-challenge (see next page for details).

WHY SOMETIMES WE CAN’T

situation when talking It is important to understand everyone’s material in things like the about changes. Plastic is a valuable hospitals, or when people need syringes and IV tubing used in water. We can’t change the use immediate supplies of drinking we can ask about better ways of plastic in cases like these, but to reuse or recycle it after.