In honor of World Oceans Day, which takes place every June 8, I am proposing your next challenge is to wage war on plastics and specifically single-use plastics.

I will most definitely be partaking in this challenge with you as I need to do a better job with this myself. Trust me, we will not be alone, as many corporations and countries are heeding the call that we need to do more to protect our oceans and reduce our plastic consumption.

Since 1950, humans have created more than 9.2 billion tons of plastic, 6.3 billion tons of which have been thrown away, unlikely to ever be recycled, according to National Geographic. Plastic can take hundreds of years to decompose, and each year an estimated 8.8 billion tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans. According to Global Citizen, that’s like having five grocery bags filled with plastic sitting on every foot of coastline or dumping a garbage truck filled with plastic into an ocean every minute.

According to National Geographic, more than 700 animal species have been harmed by plastic, including a whale that died from 64 pounds of plastic found in its stomach. Not only does our wildlife ingest it, but it also breaks down and leaches toxins into the water, where we get the seafood that we consume.

Major fast food companies like McDonald’s and Starbucks are developing sustainable packaging, and consumer goods giants like IKEA and HP are working to make packaging more sustainable, according to Global Citizen. We can do our part as well.
A million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the globe and less than half of these are collected for recycling. I encourage you to use reusable bottles as your first challenge. Although I do a good job of this at home, I admit I readily use single-use bottles when we go camping.

Challenge No. 2: The United State uses about 500 million straws every day. According to Global Citizen, there are more than five trillion pieces of plastic already in the ocean, and the world uses more than 300 million tons of plastic every single year. There are more microplastics in the ocean than there are stars in the Milky Way, and by 2050 it is expected that plastic will exceed the amount of fish in the ocean. I admit I have bought straws for my kids and readily accept them at restaurants. I will no longer be buying straws and will ask for drinks without straws when I go out to eat, and I encourage you to do the same. You may see in the near future, some companies such as McDonald’s will be going back to paper straws instead of plastic.

The Vancouver City Council voted recently to ban the distribution of plastic straws and polystyrene foam cups and take-out containers beginning June 1, 2019. According to Global Citizen, Vancouver is one of many cities — and even countries — taking action by banning plastics and Styrofoam in an effort to conserve the environment.

The European Union recently announced that it’s seeking a ban on various types of plastic, including plastic straws, cutlery, plates, cotton buds, and balloon sticks, according to PBS. So here’s challenge #3 – reduce your use of plastic plates and cutlery. I, too, can be guilty of resorting to plastic plates and utensils when we are hosting a large group of people, throwing them into my kids’ lunch boxes and especially when we go camping. It’s so much easier to toss than wash. I will definitely be giving my kids reusable tableware, reusing plastic utensils by washing them or perhaps even purchasing some real cutlery to keep in the camper, and I will try to suck it up and do dishes or at least use paper plates instead of plastic or Styrofoam.

The EU proposal also plans to reduce the production of items such as fishing gear, cigarette butts, beverage containers, food containers, lightweight plastic bags, and wet wipes. Some of these may not have easy alternatives but one does, and that is lightweight plastic bags. This is a no-brainer that we should be bringing reusable bags every time we go shopping, and that is Challenge No. 4. I’m usually pretty good at this when I go grocery shopping, other than recently because I have been fostering four kittens, which are poop machines and then those plastic bags come in handy. (Did I mention they all had diarrhea?) I can, however, do a better job with when I go into other stores. It’s a habit we have to train ourselves to BRING OUR OWN BAGS!

Finally, we should call on governments and business leaders to say no to single-use plastics as well. We should be taking the lead, if not following the lead of other countries to Just Say No to Plastics!

Please feel to comment and let me know how you’re doing on your challenges. Just to recap:
Challenge #1: Use reusable bottles
Challenge #2: Reduce demand for straws buy not buying them and refusing them at restaurants
Challenge #3: Use reusable cutlery and plates or paper instead of plastic or Styrofoam plates
Challenge #4: Bring your reusable bags
Challenge #5: Contact your government officials to take a greater stance on banning single-use plastics

Good Luck! Let me know how you do!