It is believed that about 90 percent of all plastic world-wide is not recycled.
Plastics are killing the environment. In one of the first-ever evaluations of greenhouse gas emissions from plastics, released in 2019, Professor Sangwon Suh found that production and post-use of plastics — including composting and recycling — emit a substantial amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Plastics are polluting the world’s oceans and contributing to global climate change, according to a study released by UC Santa Barbara. UCSB researcher Roland Geyer calculated that in 2018, 90.5% of plastic goes un-recycled worldwide.
To start to make a tiny change, Resilient Palisades is initiating a “Choose to Reuse Campaign.” The nonprofit, which was formed in 2020 to address climate change and environmental issues, will sponsor a Reusable Produce Bag Surprise at the Palisades Farmers market this Sunday.
First, the group will give out free cloth produce bags to those who sign the pledge to help the environment. (Visit: resilientpalisades.org.)
Second, for six consecutive weeks, random Pali shoppers at the market who are using their own reusable produce bags, will be presented with a gift card.
“We hope to generate a lot of enthusiasm for this initiative,” said Bonnie Zucker, who is a Resilient Zero Waste Team co-leader. “Our goal is to help change the culture around bag use at the market and grocery stores. People have generally been good about bringing their own tote bags to the markets but still tend to use single-use plastic bags for their produce.”
Zucker also asked if people have something to donate, such as sports season tickets they cannot use, or if a business has a gift card, or if you have gift cards laying around the house, you can’t use, please contact her: bonniez90@gmail.com.
(Editor’s note: Shampoo bottles, cleaning supplies, water bottles – all are plastic and the majority are not recycled. In 2018 UCSB industrial ecologist Roland Geyer was recognized for his calculation that 90.5 % of all plastic waste has never been recycled. According to Geyer, about 12 percent gets incinerated, giving off the most greenhouse gases; 79% ends up in landfills or the natural environment. Maybe its time to go back to glass bottles and tin cans, which were largely used before the 1970s?)
It would be great if CTN could also comment on the huge/excessive use of plastic containers by markets: berries, deli food, etc. are placed in plastic containers. What could be done about these, which seem to amount to much more plastic than the shopping bags. Still, I wish plastic shopping bags were banned from everywhere.