Tips & Tricks to Reduce Plastic Reliance

Look no further for some alternative solutions we can choose to practice to lower our reliance on plastic items.

RETHINK, REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, REPURPOSE

Let’s start rethinking if a product is needed and refuse if it’s not! From this step forward, we can reduce our reliance on plastic and lower demand (and thus, lower production) for plastic products. By decreasing our dependence on newly-produced plastics, we can turn to reusing and repurposing the products we already have sitting at home! By prioritizing the refusal and reduction of plastic, as well as repurposing and reusing what we already have, we can slowly, but surely, shrink the amount of pollution entering both our oceans and atmosphere. In addition to these first steps, we can also look for more environmentally-friendly plastic alternatives.

The figure on the right also gives a brief overview of the 7 R’s of sustainability.

Here’s a quick list of plastic alternatives (more details and alternatives):

• Grocery shopping

  • Mesh produce bags

  • Reusable tote bags

• At home

  • Kitchen

    • Food storage

      • Glass tupperware

      • Silicone bags

      • Beeswax wrap

    • Garbage bags

      • Reusable garbage bag

      • Composting container (food waste)

  • Bathroom

    • Products with eco-friendly packaging

      • Cardboard

      • Metal

      • Glass 

    • Shampoo bars

    • Menstrual cups

RECYCLE

We know that recycling plays an important role in reducing our plastic waste problem, but in terms of producing plastics, recycling also emits carbon dioxide. However, studies find that recycling plastics can reduce 30% of business-as-usual carbon emissions, which is most definitely a notable feat. While recycling is a viable solution that we can turn to, it’s not as impactful as we think it might serve. Data reports that in the US, a quarter of plastics that are put into recycling bins is contaminated and 3 million tons, or a recycling rate of 8%, are actually recycled. While we shouldn’t lose hope for recycling, we can learn more about it to ensure that the plastics we want to recycle actually do get recycled.

Quick tips (more on Earth Day):

• Ensure plastic is empty, dry, and clean

  • Contaminated plastics are tossed to landfills

• Avoid contaminating recyclable loads

  • Combined materials

    • Plastic-coated coffee cups, laminated paper & paper-bubble wrap envelopes can’t be separated, thus cannot be recycled

  • Plastic bags

    • While you can recycle bags at drop-off areas, putting plastic bags into your blue bins can contaminate the load, as well as entangle the machineries

    • See where you can drop off your plastic bags instead!

• Know which plastics can be recycled in your city

  • Plastics are coded from 1 to 7

    • The higher the number, the harder it is to recycle

      1. PET/PETE (polyethylene)

      • Water bottles, soda bottles, cooking oil containers

      2. HDPE (high density polyethylene)

      • Milk jugs, shampoo bottles, detergent bottles

      3. PVC (polyvinyl chloride)

      • Plastic tubing, kids toys

      4. LDPE (low density polyethylene)

      • Grocery bags, bread loaf bags

      5. PP (polypropylene)

      • Yogurt/sour cream containers, straws, bottle caps

      6. PS (polystyrene)

      • Coffee cups, packing peanuts, take-out boxes

        Styrofoam is usually made out of PS

      7. Other

      • Any type plastic that doesn’t fit into the other categories

      • Sometimes are a mix of plastics

  • Most recycling centers can easily recycle 1 & 2

    • Depending on your city, other plastics are not allowed to be in your recycling bins

Be sure to also check out UC San Diego’s How to Recycle page for more recycling information and services on campus!

But what about COVID-19 and the surge of single-use take-out boxes and utensils?

As much as we can advocate for locally shopping for groceries, cooking food at home, refusing plastics, and participating in UC San Diego’s Triton2Go reusable takeout container program, we acknowledge that some people might not have the ability to do so, so we’ll also highlight some local San Diego restaurants that are more sustainably-conscious, whether that’s reducing their plastic use or composting their food waste.

Restaurants with Green Restaurant Organization Certification (commitment to four environmental actions per year that range across 11 categories):

• George’s California Modern

• Ranchos Cocina North Park

• Burger Lounge (La Jolla & Kensington locations)

Alternative sustainable restaurants (more info):

• Garden Kitchen

  • Close to zero waste

  • Recyclable materials used in take-out packaging

• Eclipse Chocolate

  • Uses corn- & wheat-based take-out materials

  • Fair trade chocolate ingredients

• Wrench & Rodent / Whet Noodle

  • Paper straws, boxes, bags; bamboo utensils

• Plant Power

  • Foods are 100% plant-based

• Plumeria

  • Vegan and vegetarian foods

• Donna Jean

  • Plant-based foods

• Native Foods

  • 100% plant-based foods

  • Based on environmentally sustainable practices