Imperfect is perfectly fine as far as the environment is concerned and some progress is better than no progress at all! So join us in committing to Plastic Free July to do our small part in reducing our environmental impact.

Local, Fairfax County stream burdened with single-use plastics such as water bottles and plastic bags (both produce and shopping bags). Photo credit: Emily Foppe

Eliminating single-use plastics in your daily life can be as simple as utilizing a reusable water bottle and grocery bags. But, as this 2019 article discusses, banishing ALL plastics from your life can be a challenge. So many products ingrained in our routines are wrapped up in plastic.  Looking at the extent of plastic pollution worldwide, we know that this problem didn’t arise overnight and is decades in the making. I find it interesting to reflect on how plastic became the status quo for products to situate our understanding of the past and future of plastic use.

Before World War Two and the Great Depression, plastic products were not ingrained so deeply in day to day life and reusable products were just regular products. Plastic was initially necessary during these eras as it substituted for scarce natural resources during the war and plastic production assisted the economy in it’s recovery by providing a inexpensive, safe, and sanitary material. It was dire need that invented and implemented this material and we have not revisited its widespread use in decades. From history, we find evidence that it is possible to reduce the use of these products and more efficiently utilize continuous cycles of use with modern technology. 

What’s important to consider, as we participate in this month of plastic pollution awareness, is that we aren’t the one ones producing this plastic in the first place. This article discusses how just a handful of companies are the ones contributing the majority (55%) of the world’s plastic waste. This means, even if every person was perfectly prohibiting plastic from their lives, our actions wouldn’t be enough to completely address plastic pollution.

Plastic Free July is not only about reducing single-use plastics in our daily life, but also a time for us to reflect on how we can pressure systems to reduce the production of these problematic plastics in the first place.