Category Archives: Uncategorized

Seventh Generations Green Features

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Seventh Generation is an American company that sells eco-friendly cleaning supplies and personal care items. Seventh Generation produces plant based products made from sustainably sourced ingredients. Their mission is to “create a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable world for the generations to come.” They have many goals in place in order to maintain this mission. One goal  is for one hundred percent of their products and packaging to use bio-based or post-consumer recycled materials. Right now, their packaging is environmentally friendly and is used from recycled materials. The products are non-toxic and don’t contain chlorine bleach, phosphates, dyes, NTA or EDTA. They’ve also designed their packaging to be completely recyclable. Furthermore,  they recently eliminated synthetics in all fragrances and don’t conduct animal testing. 

In addition to producing sustainable products, Seventh Generation also donates ten percent of profits to non-profit community, environmental, and health business organizations. Right when you get to the Seventh Generation website there are tabs that outline their values, products, and their participation in activism. Under their activism tab they outline all of the issues they care about. One of the biggest issues being addressed right now is Line 3, keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Additionally, they have links at the bottom of the page that lead to other websites about climate justice and equity. They also provide links that allow users to get involved in the activism. 

Furthermore, Seventh Generation has another page on their site that outlines their environmental savings on products. Their savings ticker is based on average daily sales for some products in Canada and the US. It details the amount of trees and petroleum saved when you purchase a seventh generation product. The products for trees saved include; paper towels, bath tissues, and facial tissues. The products for petroleum saved include; Liquid Laundry, Free & Clear and all scents, all sizes, dish liquid, all scents and  All-Purpose Cleaner.

Seventh Generation also supports the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 Campaign. The campaign is an environmental initiative to get cities in the US to commit to one hundred percent clean and renewable energy usage by 2050. They also have a foundation, Seventh Generation Foundation. The foundation supports community activism and also offers grants to non-profit organizations.  

 

Wave of Waste

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This piece of art really stuck out to me.  I think it says so much and it is disgusting but also fascinating to look at.  I read into this piece of art and it amazes me.  This piece was created by beer brand Corona and charity Parley for the Oceans collaborated  to create this  piece.  It’s called Wave Of Waste.  As I continued  to read into this I realized how much work needed to be done to create this.  But, as I continued reading, I saw that all the plastic was collected from one area.  “The plastic wave was made using beach litter collected by The Marine Conservation Society from Holywell beach, East Sussex.” 

This artwork included a picture of a famous Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth.  He is surfing the “Wave of Plastic” as you can see in the background of this art work.  Another critic says how it’s impossible nowadays to go to a beach and surf without seeing plastic.  It’s very upsetting that all these beaches have so much trash on it that you can make a whole sculpture out of it.  “The total weight was 1,200kg of plastic – the amount of marine plastic pollution found on the beach every two miles in the UK.”   That is equivalent to 2645.5 pounds.  That is mindblowing that all that plastic is in one piece of art. Plastic Is Killing Our Oceans - Here's What You Need to Know - The Surfers View

https://sketchevents.co.uk/project/corona-wave-of-waste/

https://eco-age.com/resources/making-art-plastic-waste/

Product Life of Feminine Hygiene

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As a consumer, one of the hardest products for me to find plastic free alternatives is feminine hygiene products. This product is a necessity to me, and many others. Women in the United States alone spend around 2.8 billion dollars on femine products. Firstly, let me explain how tampons were created. It dates all the way back to Cleopatra, using natural products rolled into the tampon shape. Women created their own out of their living rooms, using cloth materials. In 1933, the first applicator was created, made completely out of cardboard. It became a patented product and became a household staple. Soon the tampons and applicators were changed. The cardboard was switched to a plastic material. 

Tampons today are made of a mixture of cotton and rayon. Rayon is a fiber that comes from cellulose, created from wood. Rayon alone takes 250 megajoules to produce 2.2 kilograms. This blend of fibers goes through a rigorous process to create. Outside of the cotton and rayon layer, a lining of synthetic fibers surround the interior. The string is connected inside of the tampon which allows you to take it out. This string is also made of a synthetic material blend. The tampon is then enclosed in a synthetic plastic applicator. Once the tampon is done in production, it is then placed inside of a plastic wrapper. These items are used once and disposed of. 

 

In the first step of production, cotton is produced. The production of cotton is not sustainable. It takes high amounts of water and energy to farm. Oftentimes, causing the farmers to work in unsafe conditions. The rayon is created using toxic chemicals and is then strung into fibers. The packaging process is extremely harmful to the environment. The plastic is created using raw materials and fossil fuels. These production plants fill the air with high amounts of dangerous emissions. They are then shipped out to different stores. They have different methods of transportation such as trucks, ships, trains, and airplanes. All of these methods damage the environment. 

On average, women use 240 tampons a year. Menstrual products are considered to be medical waste so it is hard to track how much ends in landfills. Experts guess that there are around 20 billion sitting in the landfills. Sadly, the lack of oxygen in landfills makes it extremely difficult for this product to decompose. The fibers are very dense, and while in production, they go through a process that leads to the fibers being bleached. This process of bleaching adds more time in the decomposition process. It takes around 500 years for them to fully decompose, including the applicator and wrapper. 

Unfortunately, it is hard to reduce the impacts of this product. They are not recyclable once they are used due to the fact that they are contaminated. There are many other options if you want to cut down on your plastic waste. Most tampons will still contain an amount of plastic, but cardboard applicators are a great alternative. They are wrapped in a paper wrapper instead of plastic.  

 

These are products that are necessities and most people do not realize just how much plastic, energy, and waste goes into each tampon. I hope that in the future these big companies will come out with more eco-friendly options for the consumers.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/how-tampons-pads-became-unsustainable-story-of-plastic

 

https://www.edana.org/nw-related-industry/nonwovens-in-daily-life/absorbent-hygiene-products/feminine-care

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzLvrgmw-Vk

 

Peachy Sea Co and It’s Impact (or Lack Thereof) on our Earth

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Although we must still focus on the amount of plastic we consume and use to help reduce pollution, when companies do not promote and practice sustainability, consuming sustainability can be hard.  Things necessary to my life are not always sustainable.  Sometimes, I do not have the option to choose between an eco-friendly product and a non-eco-friendly product.  Products such as medicine are not available in eco-friendly packaging, but are necessary to my life.  Areas that I can make a difference by preserving our Earth is choosing sustainable businesses whenever I can.  Peachy Sea Co is a brand I support that chooses sustainability, and promotes their message.

This company was started by one of my good friends and coworker, Hannah Susane.  The company’s tagline is something that stands out to me.  On the website it says, “Made with all (un)natural ingredients”.  When I first read this, it took me a minute to figure out what it meant.  Soon realizing that all the bikinis are made from collected water bottles found on polluted places such as beaches and parks, it clicked.  All though the bikinis are made to reduce the problem of plastic pollution, sadly, so much pollution has already been done that there needs to be ways to reuse what has already been produced and trashed to extend the plastics life cycle.  Instead of generating more plastic for the bikinis to be made, Hannah uses what has already been generated and polluted to make something that can last a lot longer, and have more purpose than just staying a bottle in a landfill. 

 

Beyond the sustainable measures being taken by cleaning up nature and reusing the plastic found, Hannah also makes every bikini to order.  As a small business, she is able to do this so there is no more energy wasted than necessary.  It also ensures that if the bikini style suddenly goes out of style, or the season changes, there are no bikinis that were made to go to waste in another landfill, right back where the products to make it came from.  Hannah also uses her business to promote other ways to be sustainable through social media.      

Because Peachy Sea Co is a brand new company, the global impact is still very small.  This should not be something to deter small businesses from being sustainable.  At the rate plastic is being consumed and discarded, every reduction helps.  One plastic bottle has much more impact than we can imagine.  Reducing that one plastic bottle makes an equal impact for the better.

I believe for people to change their purchasing habits from buying the cheapest, most convenient, and harmful product, the alternative should be made high quality and competitive with other brands.  Peachy Sea Co has trendy bikinis, at an extremely affordable price, made very high quality.  It is extremely competitive with unsustainable brands such as Shein and Urban Outfitters.  If you really care about our Earth, every little effort to put an end to the production and consumption of unsustainable materials can make waves (and keep the actual waves clean) on our one Earth.     

 

Life Cycle of a Plastic Water Bottle

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Plastic surrounds us everywhere. Almost all of the products we use everyday are made from a form of plastic. As a consumer, the biggest contributor to my plastic footprint is plastic water bottles. I own a hydro flask that I fill up everyday before class, however there are days where I’m running late and will grab a plastic water bottle from the fridge. Plastic water bottles are convenient when I’m crunched for time and need to grab something on the go. Typically plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate also known as PET. PET is produced from petroleum hydrocarbons. Polyethylene terephthalate is polymerized to create molecular chains. This allows it to produce PET bottles later on. The water bottles are made by melting plastic pellets, and injecting the melted plastic into multiple-cavity molds. They are then shipped to bottling facilities.

The life cycle of a water bottle starts when it is manufactured. After, they are distributed to stores where they are sold. On average a single plastic water bottle lasts me around a few hours. Once it’s empty I try to recycle it, but if that’s not an option I throw it in the trash. If the bottle is recycled it gets shredded down into flakes, and then melted down into pellets. The pellets are then sold to companies that can melt them and turn them into different products. If the bottle doesn’t end up getting recycled it could end up in a few places. The three most common things to happen to the bottles are, they end up in a landfill, the ocean, or they get incinerated. When the bottles end up in a landfill or the ocean, the PET can take up to ten years to break down. When the plastic is in the landfills over time the toxic chemicals leach into the ground, which ultimately could end up in the water we drink. When in the ocean, the plastic affects marine ecosystems and could harm the sea life. Animals mistake the plastic as food and eat it. This is not only harmful for them, but for us too. In addition, when the plastic is incinerated it releases harmful toxins back into the atmosphere.

We are in control of our consumption of plastic. To help prevent the plastic from ending up in landfills or the ocean, it’s important to recycle or refrain from purchasing plastic bottles. There are alternative reusable water bottles that can be used to replace plastic ones.

Citations:

https://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/What_Will_Happen_if_You_Do_Not_Recycle_Plastic

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/materials-handling/plastic-bottle-manufacturing/

Purchasing Plastic Alternatives

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In order for Americans to live a plastic-free lifestyle, they would have to reconstruct multiple aspects of their economy.  Businesses have relied on plastics for storing, transporting, and protecting their products for decades. Plastics are such a huge part of our lives, it seems almost impossible to live a plastic-free lifestyle. Instead of living a completely plastic-free lifestyle, we can start by using plastic-free alternatives here and there and become more conscious altogether. Becoming more aware of the issues surrounding sustainability is the first step in revolutionizing the future.  I don’t think there are many people who purposefully pollute the world, but there are many people who are uneducated about the implications of single-use plastic. By spreading the world and encouraging plastic alternatives, Americans may begin to open their eyes to the issue at hand.

Plastic Bottles, Bottles, Recycling

After reflecting on how much plastic I use as a consumer, I realized that there are several things that could be altered. Personal care items such as shampoo and conditioner could be replaced with bars of soap, which do not use plastic. Toothbrushes can be made of bamboo, rather than plastic as well. Toothpaste has even been converted into solid tabs in glass jars by several companies, which reduces plastic in the long run. Women’s sanitary products are a huge problem regarding sing-use plastics, because they contain several different kinds of plastic within one single product. Tampons have plastic packaging and wrappers, while sanitary pads are also surrounded by endless plastic. There are alternatives such as multi-use menstrual cups by Fair Square and OrganiCup, with many more developing brands and alternatives to single use products.

One plastic item that would be very difficult to replace is medicinal pill bottles. There are millions of orange pill bottles that become distributed throughout the world every year. They are given out by pharmacies, which are highly regulated, so I do not think it would be possible to find an alternative. Pill bottles are made of polypropylene which is recyclable, but difficult to do due to the size of the product. There are several different programs that recycle orange pill bottles, but it would be difficult to get rid of altogether.

I attempted to replace my shampoo and conditioner bottles with bar soap. I have previously used the product Ethique, which is a solid bar of shampoo and conditioner. I liked using that before, so I purchased the same one again and I was not disappointed. It is exactly the same as using liquid shampoo and conditioner from a plastic bottle, without the plastic left behind afterwards. This product arrived in a cardboard box with no plastic on it, which categorizes it as a plastic-free alternative. I was happy with the outcome of this mini experiment, and I am willing to try the toothpaste tabs as an alternative in the future.

Starting Small

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Living sustainably. Such a simple way to live, yet would require countless changes in a lifestyle like mine. Most people in the modern day don’t typically think twice about what their food, hygiene products, makeup, etc. comes packaged in. Majority of it is plastic. Not only is it plastic, but all of those things we use for a short amount of time and then straight to the trash it goes. These are some of the simple things that I want to slowly but surely decrease from my lifestyle.

In my last blog post, I talked a lot about the importance of change, but now it’s time to really take action. Incorporating small changes into my life over a long period of time can make a serious difference. So let’s start small. I started thinking about the different areas in my life that are like plastic-central. As I went to shower and used shampoo, conditioner, face wash and body wash all kept in plastic containers, I realized how much of my plastic use was from this one small area of my life. So again, let’s start small. I decided then that I would look for substitutes for my body wash, and then if I found that change to be suitable, we would keep going from there. 

A day later and I had done it. I’d taken one small step towards a more eco-friendly lifestyle. It was such a rewarding feeling that I was actually excited to see what else I could do. I began noticing that the majority of the snack foods I was consuming were packaged in plastic. I want this to be my next goal in this journey because I know how much single-use plastic waste is damaging our environment and I don’t want to be a heavy contributor to that. I plan to try to eat more fresh foods that don’t come prepackaged, which can also contribute to my overall health if I make the right choices. It’s a win win!

Despite wanting to make a change, there are still some plastic items that I don’t think I’ll be giving up anytime soon. Things like shoes, which are a pretty big necessity, tend to be made out of different synthetic materials. I may not be able to get rid of synthetic shoes completely, but I can definitely limit the amount of shoes I’m buying and not buy an abundance. There is a difference in needs and wants and this is definitely one of them. Don’t feel too bad about the things you can’t change, but focus on all of the things you can.

 

Becoming completely plastic free is a very unrealistic goal, but you can always do as much or as little as you’re comfortable with. Do what works for your lifestyle and adjust as needed. So to sum it all up I’ll say it yet again, it is okay to START SMALL. In this case, any change is good change and anyone is capable of it. This is only the beginning!

Plastic Reflection

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“Plastic pollution free world is not a choice, but a commitment to life – a commitment to the next generation.”  Amit Ray was not the first person to iterate this, nor will he be the last one.  We live in a plastic world.  We are constantly touching it, using it, and throwing it away, until the cycle repeats again and again.

 

After reflecting upon my use in plastic, I realized that this issue is bigger than myself and the world right now.  My use and carelessness carries into the next generation of people not even alive yet, incapable of helping themselves.  I reflect on how the generation before me started the problem, and now it’s in my generations hand to do something to solve the problem, or pass it on once again to the next generation.  As a human, I feel empathy.  I feel that if I can do something so easy to help, such as substituting everyday items with more sustainable items, why would I not.

 

Plastics that I have realized would be selfish to not substitute for a sustainable product:

The products listed above are the easiest switches in my life that require no sacrifice.  Why would I not change simple things like plastic bottles to a reusable water bottle, where the reusable water bottle would probably keep my water tasting fresher anyways.

These are simple habits that I can break to live a more sustainable lifestyle to protect the Earth for my generation and the generations to come.

There are still non-sustainable items in my life that I am not willing to replace.  This includes tampons, makeup in plastic packaging, and tennis racket grips.

For one, as a girl, I get periods.  I know there are more sustainable methods such as the diva cup, but when dealing with something unfavorable, I would rather just use tampons at my own convenience. Tampons, pads, and panty liners create more than 200,000 metric tons of waste annually.  This is a ton of waste, pun intended.

Some advice I have for changing one’s lifestyle to a more sustainable one is to just try it.  It does not hurt to try out a shampoo bar because if it is not your thing, you can always go back to plastic bottled shampoo.  Try to actively bring reusable bags to the grocery, and maybe it will become a habit, such an easy habit.

 

 

 

 

Overrun with Plastic

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As someone who cares about the environment and the animals in it I tried by best to  buy items that would not hurt the environment. When taking a look around my room I realized I only touch a small amount of objects repeatedly.  In this aspect I think this one trial was not enough to really show really how much plastic I used.  I say this because I fell asleep for a lot of the day and the only Items I touched were due to school and free time I had.

Here's how Indonesia plans to tackle its plastic pollution problem | World Economic Forum

When I looked around my room I noticed some of the items where label as cruelty free and when  thinking about that statement it is not all that true. Yes they may not be testing their products on animals but the packaging they are using to is harmful to the environment.  Since the packaging cant be recycled it ends up in the ocean and birds mistake it for food. Consuming so much plastic and not actual food causes them to starve and eventually die.

On campus there are different places to recycle and they are found right outside of dinning halls. Some are found in education buildings. People don’t ever stop and look at the materials they have in their hands they choose to just throw it away. If they were to actually look most of the dinning wear is actually compostable.

The Terrifying Reality of Plastic

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Sakshi Kaikini

While going through my days, I never actually realize how wasteful I am. I go through my days using plastic utensils and throwing them away later simply because I’m too lazy to to wash reusable utensils. But is my laziness adding to my plastic footprint  and actually making a negatively impacted difference? Yes, yes it is. While I was collecting the disposable items I use throughout one day I was astonished by the amount of plastic I use once and throw away.

A majority of the disposable items are thing I use on the daily. For example:

  • plastic utensils
  • plastic plate and bowl
  • q-tips
  • individual flossers
  • ziploc bags
  • plastic water bottles

Every single one of these items I use on the daily and throw them away when I’m done using them. Some of these items can be reused, but they’re so easy to get and replace, your first instinct is to just throw it away.

I don’t think this one day of seeing all of the plastic materials I use accurately represent my plastic footprint because it’s only one day out fo every single day I’ve lived. Every single day I do something different and use different things and some days I use more plastic materials and some days I use less. This differs from my plastic footprint because my overall plastic footprint is a lot more than what I used in one day and it involves a lot more plastic materials.

As I walk around campus I don’t think there is a certain location dedicated to recycling, which is really unfortunate for our schools. Although throughout various buildings we have small bins saying what to throw where, usually students either don’t know where to throw something or are in a hurry and throw recyclable things into the trash. These eventually end up in landfills and then drift away into our oceans and lakes and whatnot, affecting wild and marine life in a negative way.

The ocean is swimming in plastic and it's getting worse – we need connected global policies now

College of Charleston needs to implicate more recycling centers so we can efficiently recycle our plastics. In our dorm halls there is no place to recycle anything. There are only big trash bins on every floor and even if you have a trash bag full of recyclable stuff you have to throw it away because there’s no where else to dispose of it. As I sit here I am just incredibly disappointed because this is our world, our Earth, and us humans are ultimately limiting out years on Earth. We’re affecting ourselves, animals, our future and everything in between. Although we’re only  a small college on the coast of South Carolina, there’s about 15,000 people here to be accounted for. If every person only used one piece of plastic a day, that would still be 15,000 pieces of plastic going to the trash EVERY DAY. Myself, I used about 35 pieces of plastic in one given day and for me to not be able to recycle it in my dorm room because I don’t have the ability to is incredibly sad and frustrating.

Recycle Bins: Types, Colors and How it Helps the Environment | Conserve Energy Future

When looking Beth Terry’s ‘Guilt is Not Encouraged,’ although we should try and limit our plastic use, comparing ourselves to others is only going to make it worse. All we should focus on is bettering ourselves rather than focusing on how your plastic use is doing compared to someone else.