First, ditch the plastic bags. A single-use plastic bag is used on average for a mere 12 minutes. It’ll take that bag more than 500 years to decompose.
So make an effort to bring reusable totes with you when you shop. If you don’t already have reusable bags, buy some. Just look for bags made from recycled plastic, which have a smaller environmental impact than cotton totes.
While you’re grabbing your reusable bags, grab a thermos or tumbler for coffee and tea.
Bonus: Many local and national coffee shops give you a discount for bringing your own cup. That’s money in your pocket.
On a similar note, avoid buying bottled water. Every single minute the world uses one million plastic water bottles. Ninety-one percent of those never end up the recycling bin. Use a reusable water bottle, and it’ll save you about $200 a year.
It’s all about creating a habit of thinking before using. But once you do, you’ll feel better about the planet and save some money too. Check out the video for more ways to reduce your plastic consumption.
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Tag: reuse
You Won’t Believe the Surprising New Uses for Old Shipping Containers
Excess shipping containers are a big problem — literally. According to Jason Blevins of the Denver Post, there are 34.5 million of them in the world. Shipping companies use each one for a decade or two, then the hulking steel boxes are destined to spend eternity in a landfill.
But more people are starting to rethink what these containers could be used for, including Rhino Cubed, founded by businesswoman Jan Burton and Sam Austin, an architect who specializes in using reclaimed materials. Launched on Earth Day in Louisville, Colorado, Rhino Cubed builds small, artful homes out of discarded shipping containers.
The company offers three models of 160-square foot shipping container homes, including a $60,000 deluxe version that contains art and metalwork and two less expensive styles with added flooring, doors, and walls. Environmentally-friendly aspects of the tiny houses include solar panels that generate energy for a refrigerator and a water tank to catch rainwater.
“We really wanted to create something that would work off-the-grid,” Burton told the Denver Post. “I like to think we can preserve Mother Nature while still living in the middle of it.”
Another Colorado project making use of old shipping containers is the 25th & Larimer building, which opened in Denver last November. The development was created out of 29 repurposed steel shipping containers, and its first tenant was Topo Designs, a company known for its rugged rucksacks and backpacks that are manufactured in the Rocky Mountain state to ensure factory worker safety. Jedd Rose of Topo Designs told Ricardo Baca of the Denver Post, “It fits within our ethos, because it’s simple. Shipping containers are already out there. You can reuse them. They’re modular. It’s such a great idea.”
With shipping container projects recently built everywhere from London to Las Vegas, it sounds like the global backlog of these steel boxes is starting to ease.
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What Does It Take to Be a Zero-Waste Manufacturer? This Company Is Finding Out
Waste-free manufacturing might sound like an oxymoron. But for Tom’s of Maine, the maker of eco-friendly toiletry products, going waste-free is a lofty goal that may soon be within reach. In the company’s annual “Goodness Report” released in summer 2013, Tom’s pledged to reduce the amount of waste the company sends to landfills from 83 kilograms of waste per ton of goods produced (the company’s already low 2012 baseline) to zero kilograms per ton by 2020. To do this, the company is attacking the issue from all angles, expanding its recycling efforts, and thinking of creative ways that consumers can dispose of its packaging. “Unlike a lot of other financial decisions that are made in a business, the financial decisions we make around reducing waste are decisions based on our core values,” CEO Tom O’Brien told Earth911. “One of our core values is environmental responsibility, and to be environmentally responsible you better be focused on reducing waste.”
Tom’s already reuses cardboard boxes and scraps from plastic deodorant containers, but in an effort to reach its 2020 goal, the company has partnered with Terracycle to reclaim other streams of waste. For example, it can now recycle the shrink-wrap that’s used to protect pallets of packaging from contamination. The company has also made their packaging completely recyclable, a bonus for consumers, and is tracking the initiative’s progress online. Imagine what a difference it would make if other companies followed Tom’s lead.
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