Single-Use Plastics Diversion

The TCWAC+ process has included single-use plastic awareness from the beginning: in which one way is advocating how plant-based diets would use fewer plastics from processing and packaging. All meetings have used non-disposable serving ware and have presented information about the dangers of continuing the dependence on single-use plastic. The ubiquitous plastic packaging makes consumer-driven efforts difficult. The Single-Use Plastics working group has been a small number, with concerns focused on institutional SUP use in schools and hospitals.  Efforts to revise procurement practices will entail changes in what are perceived as safety measures during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This has placed a new hurdle in the effort to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics.

There are significant measures individuals can take to address the single-use plastics on a daily basis.  First is to Refuse single-use plastics such as straws, plastic shopping bags, plastic cutlery, and disposable cups.  Choices at the point of purchase also can have a large effect, for example using reusable coffee filters rather than individual disposable pre-packaged units. Avoiding the purchase of items in plastic containers when an alternative is available in paper or cardboard containers, or where the container can be eliminated altogether, as with bulk purchases of vegetables and fruits. For many ideas about individual actions to Refuse and Reduce single-use plastics see https://myplasticfreelife.com as one example.