New Year's Resolutions
Happy 2022! It’s a New Dawn, a New Day, a New Year and time for taking stock and setting goals. Leaders of the Environmental Action Committee are using this newsletter article to share their Pitching Plastics goals for 2022 and encourage you to set some too!
Claudia Jackson:
“My first goal is to become more thoughtful and aware in my daily life. I found it easy to tackle the obvious, like plastic bags and single-use water bottles, and completely missed the fact that I was still buying my smoothie spinach pre-washed in a plastic bag and using liquid dishwasher detergent in a plastic container. It was such a simple change for me to start buying bulk spinach and powdered dishwasher detergent in a box. My smoothie is just as good, and my dishes may actually be cleaner!
My second goal is to work on being a more conscious consumer. For instance, I’m filling up my Amazon ‘cart’ before hitting purchase and using the Amazon day delivery option so items come in fewer boxes and deliveries. As I can walk to the grocery store, I’m focusing on only buying the items we need for two–three days and buying more fresh items (getting my steps in too!).”
Julia Utset:
“Last year, I found out that nearly half of all of Chicago's waste in 2020 was from people's homes! So this year my goal is to reduce my single-use plastic. A new city ordinance is going to help me do this: starting mid-January, restaurants may only supply single-use utensils in delivery orders if the customer requests it. At home, when I clean my kitchen, I’m going to try to use fewer disinfectant wipes, since they're made from plastic and come in heavy plastic containers, and I’m going to save my Ziploc® bags for special occasions, like when I’m traveling, and store my things in reusable containers.”
Debby Halpern:
“My resolution is to pay more attention and to increase my awareness of all of the many ways I can reduce the use of plastics in my home and in my lifestyle. I now regularly collect all plastic film and light plastic bags and bring them to my local Target® store. It is easy to bring my net bags to the grocery store for produce and cloth bags for carrying out the groceries. It is fun to purchase products in glass, cans or boxes as opposed to plastic. The key is to be aware, eyes open and to be flexible to change.”
We encourage you to try the ideas you read in our series that easily fit into your routine, then add on as you discover other tips that fit your lifestyle. This is all about lifestyle change, not a to-do list, so allow time for new routines to take hold.
We are beginning work on building our new Pitching Plastics webpage on the new LWV Chicago website. Send us your favorite tips and tricks to Pitch Plastics. We really look forward to adding all of YOUR ideas to our webpage. This is truly a community project. We also invite you to join us for our meetings every other Monday from 4–5pm.
Reminder: Chicago’s tree recycling program runs in 26 parks across the city from January 8–22!
Whatever you do, remember to keep those reusable bags and water bottles at the ready for all your excursions!
The Environmental Action Committee meets regularly via Zoom. Check out our calendar for details.