Greenpoint: Any small steps welcome in this season of waste

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Washington Post

A decomposing sperm whale that washed ashore in Indonesia contained hundreds of plastic items.

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A friend of mine recently took a survey about waste and went into a panic.

“There has to be something more I can do,” he thought. On his desk was the plastic sandwich bag he was about to throw away, and he started calculating the number of single-use bags he tosses after his daily peanut butter sandwich.

That evening, he talked it over with his wife and they ordered washable, zippered, reusable sandwich bags. Now he brings his bag home every evening, and can either turn it inside out to wipe it clean or put it in his dishwasher.

It’s one small step, to be sure.

On a larger scale, the European Union just voted to ban 10 different single-use plastic items by 2021, including straws, plates, cutlery, the plastic sticks that hold up balloons and the kind of cotton ear swabs that have plastic sticks. The action also requires EU member states to recycle 90 percent of plastic bottles by 2025, up from about 25 percent today.

“Europe has to come to terms with the fact that we cannot just put it on someone else’s shoulders,” Frans Timmermans, the EU Commission’s first vice president, said in an article by Reuters reporter Alissa de Carbonel. “If we don’t move now, if we don’t move swiftly … you will have more plastic in the oceans than fish.”

The EU ban still needs to be ratified by member states, so it’s not a done deal. It’s a step.

The amount of plastic in the ocean is alarming, but it often takes an emotional event to bring that problem home to people. The turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, for instance, brought to light the problem of single-use plastic straws.

Maybe the new poster child for reducing all plastics will be the dead sperm whale that was found last week in a park in Indonesia with 13 pounds of plastic — including 115 cups, four bottles, 25 bags, two flip-flops and a mess of string — in its stomach, according to the BBC.

I think it will take large agreements — like an EU ban — to really make a difference in the amount of waste we produce. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take any steps we can while we are waiting — or pushing — for governments to take action.

We can reduce our own reliance on plastic bags and straws and plates and cutlery. Pick up some cheap cutlery in a thrift store for your lunch bag, and pack your lunches in reusable containers — or get some reusable sandwich bags like my friend.

If you’re overwhelmed by holiday guests and need to use disposable tableware, look for recyclable or biodegradable wares made of corn or pressed fiber or bamboo. Skip the plastic tablecloth. Be aware of packaging, wrapping, the number of plastic bags you’re putting into your reusable shopping bag. Is there another way?

We’ve officially entered the season of waste that comes with the holidays. With a little thought and a little effort, we can change that. A small step? Maybe. But a step in the right direction.

Greenpoint appears every other Sunday. Look for it next on Dec. 9. Reach Margaret Hartley at [email protected] or @Hartley_Maggie on Twitter. Opinions expressed in Greenpoint are hers and not necessarily the newspaper’s.