4 minute read
Gallup Away From Plastics
Gallup
By McKinley Citizens’ Recycling Council
One estimate states humans have produced almost 10 billion tons of plastic. If there ever was a time to reduce the plastic in our lives, it’s now. As we all know, plastic production and waste are problems for the environment and for our health. t Litter - If we continue on our current path, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. Straws, bags, fast food containers, etc. litter our landscapes and harm many species. t Petrochemical plants – Refineries and plastic manufacturing plants are dangerous and dirty. The air and water pollution from these sites disproportionately affect the poor and people of color. t Micro-plastic in our bodies – Plastics do not biodegrade; they just form smaller and smaller particles.
Studies show that a person consumes up to the weight of a credit card of plastic every week. The dangers of toxins in plastics are just now being studied, but we know certain of the chemicals are endocrine disruptors. These could cause diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders.
While plastics provide benefits to our modern lives, they come at a huge cost. What can we do about it? Each of us can help ‘green’ our community with respect to plastic.
Decrease the amount of plastic you use when possible.
“Gallup Away” from a throwaway culture by: t Buying products in non-plastic, minimal, or recycled packaging t Buying in bulk t Using refillable containers and reusable shopping bags t Refusing to buy into the oil and gas industry’s invented
“need” for disposable single-use plastics. t Using and re-using, repairing, and buying less. Think circular!
Use your consumer power to support sustainability trends and
local businesses. Gallup is lucky to have businesses promoting eco-friendly buying. Let’s highlight two of these local stores:
The Water Store. Besides providing an economic alternative to individual bottled water, the Water Store carries many products that are not plastic nor in plastic containers. Tru Earth products include Ecostrips laundry detergent, bamboo utensils, and wool dryer balls. The HiBAR line consists of solid shampoo, conditioner, and face wash, all in recycled, compostable cardboard packaging. Solid products eliminate water; why pay for water and for shipping water? Then there are the ‘unpaper’ towels, snack bags, and scrubbers made of fabric from Marley’s Monsters. Here is a chance to try a plastic wrap substitute. Unpasted tooth tabs
Away from Plastic
Check out the following to learn more about what you can do:
are free of plastics and preservatives, and you can purchase a sample of 30 for a few dollars to see if they work for you.
La Montanita Food Coop. This is the local go-to place for buying organic food in bulk; you can even buy bars of soap in bulk. Their If You Care products include unbleached, compostable coffee filters, post-consumer recycled kitchen garbage bags, 100% recycled aluminum foil, and paper snack and sandwich bags. Check out the World Centric plates made of plants, not petroleum, which are compostable and a good replacement for paper plates. To eliminate plastic detergent bottles, you can buy Ecosnext liquidless squares. Using the Ecosnext squares, like the Tru Earth Eco Strips, frees you from being complicit in burning fossil fuels to ship water.
Recycle what you can. Currently, less than 7% of plastic in the US is recycled. All plastics are not the same but consist of different polymers. When you check out those numbers in the triangle of the chasing arrows symbol on a detergent bottle or a yogurt cup, you are identifying the chemical make-up of different plastics. Sorting and recycling these is a major challenge, so less use of plastics is the goal.
Currently in Gallup you can recycle #1 and #2 plastics thanks to the Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority. Plastic #1 is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic widely used for bottles of water, soda, shampoo and spray cleaners and for food containers like berry baskets and lettuce boxes. Plastic #2 is high density polyethylene (HDPE); laundry detergent, milk jugs, and certain packaging are made of HDPE. Take your #1 and #2 plastics to the community recycling stations at Larry Brian Mitchell Recreation Center and Ford Canyon Park. For details, see the recycling page at https://www. gallupnm.gov.
Join MCRC in celebrating America
Recycles Day on November 5, 9am to 3pm, at the Community Service Center, north of the Food Pantry. Learn about the options in our community for reducing plastic use. Enjoy door prize drawings, a free drawing for a composter, entertainment, craft vendors, kids’ activities, a silent auction, and more. The Solving Plastic Issue, Summer 2021 of Yes! Magazine https://www.yesmagazine.org
Sierra Club’s plastic research and advocacy: https://www.sierraclub.org
