Tag Archives: change

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.  

 

The Life Cycle of a Shirt

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Four months ago, if you asked me about the life cycle of any plastic product, let alone any product, I would have no clue. Something that has always interested me is fashion, and it is crazy how the production of clothes affects the environment. Fun fact fashion is the second-largest polluter!!! Any garment of clothing goes through at least five significant stages: material, production, shipping, use, and finally the disposal. A shirt usually starts on a farm in either America, China, or India, where cotton is made by farming. This means that things like fertilizing, harvesting, and irrigating are involved. Cotton uses more pesticides than other crops, and the pollutants are carcinogenic, which can affect the workers. Crazy, I know!

After the cotton is picked up, it is shipped to a facility where it is spun, knitted, bleached, dyed, cut, and sewed. This stage uses many dyes and bleaches, which contain toxic pollutants that can affect our water system. Once it turns into cloth, it then goes to factories where the shirt is sewn. These people go through horrible working conditions. They barely get paid anything and work long hours. Once the shirt is made, it gets transported to warehouses and retailers. This transportation causes a big carbon footprint which takes up 10% of carbon emissions.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – March 2010.
Garment factory in Dhaka Bangladesh in the Mohakhali area.
Dhaka counts more than 4000 factories producing for export only.
This factory produced garments for the dutch company Hans Textiel.

Once the shirt gets purchased and has a home, it is worn over and over. This means it was washed and dried over and over, and the average person does up to 400 loads of laundry each year. Think about that…lots of water is used. Last but certainly not least of a shirt’s life cycle is when it gets thrown away. Cotton takes years to break down in a landfill, which means harmful emissions are released into the air.

Luckily, you can do many things—starting with not throwing away your clothes and donating them or selling them. Buying second-hand is an excellent way to reduce your impact. Even just after writing this, I am thinking about every shirt that I have purchased, and now I feel guilty. Starting now, I will start buying from companies that aim towards sustainability and buy second-hand (which I already do sometimes), and If I were you, I would too! Recently, I also started selling and donating my clothes instead of throwing them away, so that’s a start.

 

Plastikophobia

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While scrolling through images of plastic litter being turned into art, I came across this sculpture. I immediately clicked on it and began to read about it. I was drawn to the brightness of it and was curious about what materials it was made of. The sculpture was created by Von Wong and Joshua Got and is named “Plastikophobia”. The name comes from the fear the artist’s felt while creating this sculpture. The sculpture is made from over 18,000 single use plastic cups. With the help of  around three dozen volunteers, the cups were collected from local food centers across Singapore. The collection process took about roughly a day and half. The cups were then cleaned off and  assembled to form a shiny crystal cave. They installed fairy lights throughout the cups to finish it off. The sculpture itself took around seven days to complete.

The picture above shows Max Pagel, one of the volunteers, dressed up as a scuba diver posing in the sculpture. The picture below shows contemporary dancer Jialin Neo posing  in the sculpture.  The sculpture is currently on display in the Sustainable Singapore galleries in the Marina Barrage.

The beauty of the sculpture attracts tourists to come take pictures with it while also spreading awareness on the dangers of single use plastic cups. The goal of the sculpture was to show how the plastic we consume on land can end eventually end up in the ocean. It’s crazy to think that all of the cups used in the sculpture were gathered in a day and a half, strictly from local food centers in Singapore. There needs to be more sustainable or reusable options. The term “Plastikophobia”, created by Von Wong,  has already started to gain popularity and is being used by local artists and photographers to start the conversation around the problem with plastics.

Making Art with Plastic Waste

 

Change Starting With Me

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I have been through a lot of change recently and upon so I forgot to take a minute and think about what I can do too change my lifestyle to better the environment. So on the first of October I was asked to think about one thing I would change about my life to live more plastic free. I ignored this question for a few day because It was a particularly hard question to answer. Also because I didn’t know I was supposed to answer this question until today. We all make mistakes we have busy lives and recently I have been so engrossed in my work that I forget to take a minute to think about my impact on the environment. To start off I began thinking about my daily activities that I would like to change in my life. On thing I would like to change is the amount of times I go out to eat me and my partner like to try new foods and by doing this we produce a lot of waste and costing a lot of money. Although the dinning halls are not pleasant I need be using them more often they have biodegradable products and are free.

GMO free food container

“GMO free food container” by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Living in a city such as Charleston it is often hard to cut down on waste but there are places that have plastics that are better for the environment. For example I work at a restaurant that have biodegradable packages but behind closed doors we clump the trash and recycling together when throwing it away which doesn’t allow the biodegradable packages to decompose the way they are supposed to. When I take out the trash I make sure to keep the bags separate so that everything is disposed of properly. We are probably one of few that do this when throwing away products. So why do I still decide to spend my money at places where they use products that are not good for the environment? The more I think about it the more I realize I was not thinking about how the packaging would impact the environment but more focused on the food rather than the impact and knowing so know I am encouraged to change. There are many things that have just become habit and buying foods that come in packaging that isn’t biodegradable and tossing the waste without thinking.

Pollution (plastic bag)

“Pollution (plastic bag)” by garrettc is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

In my efforts to change by choosing with my wallet and giving my money to places that have biodegradable options and not spending my money at places that don’t. I also find it hard biodegradable alternatives while shopping recently I went to the store to get more trash bags and now sitting here writing I realize I didn’t have to spend my money I could have used the paper bags we have in our dorm as trash bags for specific trash. But for trash that could easily tear paper and are wet plastic is the only bag that can do the job but by doing this small effort of using less means I wont have to buy as many plastic trash bags. A few items I feel like I can replace such as paper towels by using rags instead. By buying paper towels you also buy plastic it comes in and when using a rag yes it uses water but in all it is less harmful than paper towels.  Another thing I wont be buy anymore are is plastic silverware and plates and or Tupperware from now on I will be using glass wear what keeps food better.

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.

One Small Step At Time

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Plastic is used almost everywhere, making it harder to live completely plastic free. However, there are always ways to limit the amount of plastic one uses in their everyday life. I would change what I buy while grocery shopping as well as how to store and bag things. These changes would encourage sustainability because if I start doing it, others would see and be influenced to do it as well, for example my family.

Just my actions alone are not enough to make the world a better place, but as long as I keep doing it, I would be able to convince other to follow suit. It might not immediately make the world a better place, but it would make mine better. An explanation on how my world would get better is that I would feel better and healthier using things that are non-plastic because plastic can be toxic at times and can be in things you least expect. Although it may be pricer to live plastic-free, it is a healthier and fresh lifestyle.

The first thing I substituted is my shampoo and conditioner, which many others did as well, it makes sense though because it is the easiest to replace. I replaced it with the Lush shampoo bar called Avocado, since it is for my hair type. It is the most expensive option that they have available, but it comes plastic-free and I am able to wash my hair more times then with a regular shampoo and conditioner bottle.

Another thing I can replace is the snacks and sweets, like potato chips and chocolate. Instead of buying that stuff in plastic, I have been making it myself and it has been very delicious so far because I can make it how I like it. I have also substituted the plastic bags in grocery store for vegetables with fabric bags, making it easier to carry around because I put everything in one bag. This allows me to not have to carry multiple bags around which one the end I would throw away.

I have changed many small things so far in order to avoid plastic, but there are challenges. For example instead of getting meat in all the plastic, I tried to get it from a butcher, but every time I went they would be closed since I would not be home in the mornings to get it and would have to wait till late afternoon, when all of them closed. I also wasn’t able to find non-plastic IPad cases or phone cases without them being extremely expensive.

There are a lot of substitutes for plastic, but prices makes it hard to actually accomplish being plastic free as many people, like myself, are not able to afford it. I will be sticking with most of the changes I have do except for the snacks one even though I will be trying to stick with it as much as I can. Sometimes I am not able to cook a snack up and grab some snacks from the store if I am hungry in between classes, but I will be trying to instead avoid getting snacks with plastic and getting fruits.

Advice that I have for others is to take it one step at a time. Slowly replace plastic for non-plastic in order to not overwhelm yourself and empty your pockets, because it can be expensive to become plastic free. You will not be judged for taking your time because you are trying to make a change in the world and are trying to make the world a better place for everyone, which is all anyone can ask for. So go ahead and take that first step, you will be seen as a hero by everyone and future generations.

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.

 

 

 

 

Change is Hard

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Change. Change is one of the biggest factors of our lives. Changing jobs, changing schools, changing majors, but many people overlook one of the most beneficial, but yet possibly most difficult things to change. This change is change in plastic. More of our lives than we realize revolve around plastic. From our toothbrushes to our cars, almost everything used in your daily life is made partially out of plastics. All this plastics makes our lives much easier and convenient, but in the sense of things, 91 percent of these aren’t recycled at all and end up in landfills. This is why we need change in our use of plastics.

You, as the reader, may think this is a tall task to do, but it is much easier than many would think. There are many daily options around us that we can replace with much more sustainable goods. Things like garbage bags, ziplock bags, and plastic grocery bags are the easiest to think of. But there is much more. We can even replace things like makeup, soap, and laundry detergent with much more sustainable, plasticless alternatives. For garbage bags, you can separate your bins. You can use one bin for dry things and another, with a bag, for wet things. For smaller garbage bags, you can reuse old bread bags. All of these goods have sustainable alternatives that are sold in almost all store, you just have to make the switch and go from speed and convenience, to a little more time required to help make the world a better place for future generations to come.

I participated in doing this myself this week. I did two very simple but effective things. The first thing I changed was my bathroom garbage bag. As I said earlier, you can use old bread bags, which is exactly what I did. This change did not affect my life at all. I still have the bag in and it is just like using a regular garbage bag. Its a little nicer though because the bag is longer, allowing me to be able to fit more into it. The second change I did was changing to using powdered laundry detergent. This was a more impactful change to my life, because I was used to just throwing in a tide pod and forgetting about it. Using powdered detergent, I had to measure it out, using a tablespoon and a half, and then pour it into the correct spot of the washing machine. The end result was the same though. Fresh clothes and less plastic used.

Overall, these are minute changes to our lives that, if everyone participated in, would have a big change on the world. Just changing small amounts of our lives to be more sustainable would cut out much of the plastics that are ending up in landfills and our oceans. These changes would also mean we would need less of these plastics, resulting in less toxins being released from production and less natural resources being destroyed. So, living sustainably is a small price to pay for a big reward to the environment.