Pitching Plastics Around the House
The holiday decor is all put away, and the tree has been composted, so this might be the perfect time to try a few new products around the house to help Pitch Plastics out of your everyday routine.
As a disclaimer, the products mentioned in this column have been tried and liked by the authors of this newsletter article. We are not, however, endorsing them. We just want you to know there are alternatives available to you!
Let’s talk cleaning. While single-use wipes and floor mops are handy, they come packaged in plastic containers, are expensive and, yep, are made of plastic that cannot be recycled. Diluted white vinegar, Borax or simple dish soap used with Swedish cloths can be just as effective to clean most surfaces, are almost as handy and are a lot less expensive. If you still want to use a commercial cleaner, look for a concentrate. And yes, vinegar and dish soap come in plastic containers, but you need to use such a small amount each time you clean that a container will last for months. The containers themselves also are usually recyclable. Remember: reduction is what we are going for, not perfection!
For the laundry, we found these cool plastic-free, waterless laundry detergent sheets (Earth Breeze, Sheets Laundry Club). No more lugging those big plastic bottles of detergent that are mainly water! There are plastic-free dryer sheets out there, but no one we know has tried them yet. Another alternative to a softener is white vinegar in the rinse cycle and three wool dryer balls in the dryer for static-free, fresh-smelling laundry.
Now, something near and dear to our, well…bums! Toilet paper in plastic-free and recycled-paper packaging! There are lots of recycled paper and bamboo TP out there, but many ship their product in shrink wrap plastic. Who Gives a Crap? wraps each roll in paper, no plastic involved.
As an added benefit, you can get many of these products delivered right to your front door (even through Amazon), and some of the companies donate to social justice projects. Doing good abounds!
Lastly, are you drowning in the holiday hangover of unwanted junk mail and catalogs from all that online ordering? Unsubscribe! DMA Choice will help you rid yourself of junk mail and Catalog Choice will help you unsubscribe from catalogs. Your postal worker will thank you, and you will be eliminating all that junk mail plastic wrap.
We encourage you to try the ideas you read in our newsletter 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.
Our new Pitching Plastics page on the LWV Chicago website is in the works. Send us your favorite tips and tricks for Pitching 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 Environmental Action Committee meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month from 4–5 pm.