Welcome to the 4th and final week of Earth Care Month.
This coming Sunday we will be having plant-start give away. We will have many different veggies and some succulents. Plus, the final free compost bins will be available.
And while I have your attention, I would just like to take a moment to talk about plastic. I doubt that anyone is unaware of the fact that we have a plastic problem. The problem isn't just single use plastic that cannot be recycled, it's actually also plastic that we have assumed could be recycled.
Did you know that only about 8% of all plastic is actually recycled into something useful? Some plastic is too contaminated to recycle, some just cannot be recycled, some is incinerated instead of recycled, and a lot just goes into the landfill because there isn't a demand for recycled plastic. Virgin materials needed to make plastic are so cheap that it often doesn't make sense to recycle.
We cannot recycle our way out of the plastic waste problem. Plastic never completely breaks down, it simply breaks into smaller and smaller pieces (microplastics) which have found their way into our drinking water, our food, and our air with unknown health consequences.
July is Plastic Free Month. There are many ways we can break free from some or most of our plastic habit. I will detail out some more facts about plastics and ways we can avoid it in early July, please look for it.
In the meantime, here's a Plastic Monster made from single use plastics, may it inspire you to think twice about plastic!
Eileen Haflich
St Andrew Green Team
