5 Mighty Steps to a Healthier Planet
We've been following the news about the changes in our environment, and like you, it can get overwhelming. One way to feel empowered? We extended Earth Day into Earth Month. We encourage you to make one small, green change each month, and these five "on-the-go" suggestions are as easy as they are impactful:
1. Change disposable coffee cups to sustainable travel mugs: If you buy just one cup of coffee or tea in a disposable cup every day, you’ll end up creating about 23 pounds of waste* in one year. No wonder we welcome Planetary Design adventure travel mugs to the Mighty Nest family. Each one has a durable, double-walled, vacuum insulated, stainless steel body to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. Beautiful new colors with a tapered shape to fit easily in your hand and your cup holder.
2. Change disposable straws to stainless steel straws: In the US alone, 500 million plastic straws* are used every day. Plastic can reduce into smaller pieces, but it doesn't truly break down. We really like RSVP stainless steel straws for their durability, high quality, sustainability and that they're free of BPA, phthalates, PVC and lead. They're super easy to rinse, are dishwasher safe and won't end up in a landfill or the ocean.
3. Change zip-top plastic baggies to reusable lunch bags. Yes, they're convenient, but plastic contains potentially harmful chemicals such as BPA and DEHA. Continuous freezing, microwaving and putting hot foods into plastic baggies enable chemicals to leach into your food. We love LunchSkins fabric lunch bags for their handy sizes, durability, food-safe polyurethane liners and freedom from BPA, phthalates and lead. They're easily washable by hand or in the dishwasher, and can be dried by hand or upright in the dish rack. These colorful lunch bags make sandwiches and snacks easy (and safer) to pack. Just one LunchSkins saves hundreds of plastic zip-top baggies from being tossed into landfills.
4. Change disposable plasticware to bamboo utensils. Those "sporks" really add up: every year, six MILLION TONS of plastic utensils are thrown away,* and end up in landfills and our oceans. We had no problem shifting easily to sustainable, non-toxic, infinitely reusable To-Go Ware bamboo utensils. They're lightweight, biodegradable, durable and fit easily in your car console, purse, gym bag or backpack. To-Go Ware is always ready to be as mobile as you are.
5. Change plastic produce bags to reusable bags. You've mastered the reusable grocery bag. Now let's tackle plastic produce bags. These bags are considered "film" in the food bag world* - they're clear, thin and made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Both consume non-renewable resources and don't biodegrade. We stuff our Flip & Tumble produce bags in our grocery bags so we don't forget them. Transparent, machine-washable mesh and a drawstring closure keep everything spiky, leafy and muddy safe from interacting with everything else in your cart or farmers' market bag.
Thank you for helping to make our planet a better place to live. We hope these small changes will inspire you to keep the Earth Day momentum going.
Sources:
http://www.carryyourcup.org/get-the-facts
https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/straws-why-they-seriously-suck/
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-you-can-stop-single-use-plastic-waste/
https://recyclenation.com/2015/07/how-to-recycle-produce-bags/
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