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Many businesses have learned that they can earn community respect and help their customers save money when they take steps to keep the planet healthy. All it takes is a little eco ingenuity and shopper participation.
For example, CVS/pharmacy company officials recently recognized that fewer than one-third of single-use plastic shopping bags used by customers get recycled. As a result, CVS announced a new program called Green Bag Tag to encourage customers to reduce their use of single-use plastic bags.
Good Green Habits for Transporting Treasures
You can help keep plastic bags from littering streets, waterways and out of landfills by using reusable bags at all stores. And, whenever you use your reusable bags at CVS, you can also earn money (store credits) with these steps:
- Sign up for a free CVS Extra Care Card program.
- Purchase a Green Bag Tag for 99 cents. (You’ll get your 99 cents back by using the tag four times.)
- Scan the Green Bag Tag each time you bring reusable bags or when you decline plastic bags at checkout.
- Earn $1 Extra Buck credit (to be used at CVS) on every fourth scan.
Whenever you drink water from a plastic bottle, you could be swallowing more than water. Along with thirst-quenching gulps of water (ahh!) you may be consuming harmful chemicals (ugh!) leached from the plastic bottle.
Single-use bottled water manufacturers often use #1 polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE) to package their water. Although these bottles are considered the safest single-use plastic bottle choice, are they good for your health?
A definitive…not really. The term “safe for single use” just means that the plastic containers shouldn’t melt, crack or fall apart after one use. This safety term is not related to health or to the amount of harmful chemicals that can migrate from the plastic bottles into your water.
Single-use plastic water bottles can leach these chemicals into your drinking water:
- benzyl butyl phthalate, a potential hormone disrupter
- antimony, an elemental metal that can irritate eyes, skin and lungs
Also, because PET plastic is porous and the shapes of the these bottles make them difficult to clean, harmful bacteria can be consumed with repeated use.
Good Green Habits for Water Bottles
Why needlessly risk your good health for the convenience of a plastic bottle? The following eco-friendly options can help protect your health and keep water bottles from piling up in landfills:
- Fill a stainless steel bottle with tap water* for out-and-about use.
- Rely on glass or ceramic containers when at home.
- Recycle plastic bottles if you occasionally use them so the plastic can be made into new products.
*TAP WATER ECO FACT: Most local drinking water supplies are rigorously tested to meet federal and state drinking water regulations. To learn about your area’s water quality, you can visit Environmental Working Group’s National Tap Water Database. When your tap water is safe but you don’t like the taste, you can purchase easy-to-install water filters, such as those made by Brita, or find other types of water purification systems that suit your needs.
Care for a little plastic with your leftover pasta? Probably not, but you may be getting it.
Foods placed in plastic wrap or plastic containers―and then heated in a microwave oven―can end up containing harmful chemicals leached from plastics. Many of the chemicals in plastic have been classified as toxic and unsafe for consumption.
And, plastic containers labeled “microwave safe” or “microwavable” are no better since they can also potentially leach harmful chemicals when heated. The safety labels just mean that the plastic container shouldn’t melt, crack or fall apart when used in microwave ovens―the labels are not related to your health. They simply let you know that the containers can withstand heat. Chemicals from microwave-safe containers can migrate into your food.
Plastic-laced food is probably not what you had in mind when you sat down for a nice, hot meal, eh?
Good Green Habits for Microwaving
Since all plastics potentially leach chemicals into food, water and soil under certain conditions, follow these eco-friendly steps:
- Microwave food in ovenproof glass or ceramic.
- Never allow plastic or plastic wrap to touch heated food.
ECO FACT: Staff at Good Green Habits like to store all food in glass or ceramics, whether it’s hot or cold. We definitely prefer our pasta without plastic.
Whenever you use a shopping bag more than once, you help to keep plastic bags out of the landfill. Here are tips to help you remember to carry a resusable bag along on all your shopping sprees.
Good Green Habits for Reusable Bags
- Store reusable bags in your vehicle’s trunk or on the seat at all times.
- Keep extra reusable bags at your workplace.
- Stash a small reusable bag in your purse or briefcase.
- Keep small resuable produce bags inside bigger resuable bags.
- Place reusable bags in the same area after shopping trips.
Eco Tip: If you purchase only a few items, be ready to say, “I don’t need a plastic bag.”
Ten billion plastic cards (ATM cards, credit cards, video-store cards, drivers’ licenses, library cards, plastic gift cards, etc.) are placed in circulation each year. As they expire or are spent, the unwanted plastic cards usually end up in the trash, since they aren’t accepted in most recycling programs. As a result, about 100 million pounds of PVC plastic (polyvinyl chloride, a toxic substance) from plastic cards land in America’s waste stream each year. You can help reduce the amount of PVC in landfills with these steps:
- Sell, buy or trade unwanted but usable gift cards at—CardAvenue, PlasticJungle, or SwapaGift.
- Request your favorite stores and banks make their cards from earth-friendly recycled PVC—supplied by Earthworks Systems.
- Ask stores to reuse or recycle spent or expired gift cards—instead of tossing them into the trash.
Eco-fact: Stores can contact Earthworks Systems to inquire about recycling their used, expired, unwanted and leftover plastic cards—and making new ones from recycled plastic!
Take the Pledge―Do your best to recycle, reduce waste, reuse, and compost!
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