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Welcome to day number 1 of the plastic reduction challenge!  Are you ready to embark on this 90 day journey with me?  Do you want to lower your impact on the environment while at the same time improve your health?  Well, if so, you’ve come to the right place.  Plastic is everywhere and it can feel daunting to think about getting it out of your life.  I’m going to help you take it one small step at a time so you can seamlessly integrate changes into everyday living.    

I know you are anxious to start eliminating plastic from your life, but it is really important to take the time to first get yourself set up.  If you want a lasting change, then you need to do it in a thoughtful way and prepare yourself and your family.  I will try to take you step by step through a process to make small changes in the way you live and shop. Large, sudden changes are not likely to stick and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself and give up before the real change happens.  I’ve been working on reducing plastic for years, it is not something that you will be able to completely do in just 3 months.  Also realize that zero waste is impossible.  There are so many system problems that make it very difficult for an average family to live without any waste or plastic. 

Over the next 90 days we will be working in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry, and office.  We will also tackle grocery shopping, personal care, babies/kids, pets, and our overall consumption. The first few weeks of this challenge are designed to help you get set up so that everything else later on is easier. This is going to be fun! 

First off, when I do something, I find it helpful to understand the reason behind the action.  Maybe you already know the reason, or maybe you are just here because a friend suggested it.  Either way, it can help to review the why.  So, why is this challenge focused solely on plastic?  The short answer is that our world is drowning in it.  I have written two articles about the plastic problem and you can check out my Green Life Philosophy blog (part 1 and part 2) to find out more.  

Here are some highlights for why we should all reduce our plastic use:

• Plastic has been found in the stomachs of birds, fish, and sea animals.  It is littering our beaches and roadsides.  Plastic is covering just about every inch of the Earth.  It is out of control to the point that it is literally snowing plastic in the arctic! 
• In 2018, China stopped accepting and recycling most discarded plastic from other countries, which has halted plastic recycling around the world.  
• Only 5% of plastic ever produced has been recycled.  And get this – over 8.3 billion metric tons has been produced since the 1950’s!
• The plastic recycling rate in the U.S. was 5% in 2021 and the rate is expected to decrease further in the coming years due the changes in China.  Compare that to glass which has a 31% recapture rate and aluminum is even better at 65% recycled per year according to the EPA. 
• Plastics can only be recycled once or twice, whereas glass and aluminum can be recycled an unlimited number of times.
• Lastly, one big reason to reduce your plastic use is the connection to your health.  The chemicals used to make plastic are not healthy for any of us at any stage of its production.  It also isn’t a coincidence that foods that are not good for us are wrapped in copious amounts of plastic!

Plastic Challenge Rules

Okay, now you know why it is important to reduce plastic, so next let’s lay some ground rules for the challenge:

1. Each day I will give a little background info and then present an actionable item for you to do.  Sometimes the challenge will be to educate yourself about a topic and how you can change.  And sometimes you won’t be able to do the challenge on the spot. 
2. Most of the time the challenge should take no longer than 15 minutes.  If it is, then you are thinking too much and it is time to take a breath! 
3. If you are ever feeling overwhelmed, just take a break.  I want you to have fun with this and jump in where you can.  I don’t expect perfection.  The point is to get lots of people making small changes in whatever way is possible for yourself.  This creates demand for a different system and is how we collectively get corporations to change their bad habits. 
4. Not everyone’s lives are the same, so if you need to tweak a challenge to fit your needs, then by all means do it!  And then share in the comments how you are making a change so that we can all learn. 
5. Any products that I share, I personally use and like OR I have heavily researched so that I can give my best advice.  

Over the next 90 days you are going to need a place to record your progress, make shopping lists, and establish goals. So that brings me to your challenge for the day…

Today’s challenge:   Find a notebook.  You can do this in a physical notebook, or start a Word document on a computer.  Find whatever you can around your home, it does not have to be new.  You could even just staple together a bunch of old papers and write on the backs.  See this for what it is, a challenge, and make it fun!  Now take that notebook and write down why you are participating in this challenge, and then comment and let me know why too!!  It takes guts to discuss this stuff, but if we all join in with support this will make your challenge so much easier.

→ Day 2

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