I hate to say it... but we are an average American family when it comes to consuming. Sure, we recycle. But isn’t recycling just what you do? It’s not the exception any longer, it’s the rule.
We want to be better stewards to this planet. We are constantly self critiquing our shopping habits to find ways to improve. One of the ways we do this, is to ask ourselves the question, “what if 7.6 billion people did it?”
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Our latest question involves single use plastic. Plastic straws specifically. Who doesn’t love drinking their favorite beverage from a straw? I love the curly➿straws! Unfortunately, plastic straws are getting a lot of bad press, and for good reason.
According to www.ecocycle.org, the U.S. uses, and disposes of, 500 million straws/day, and that’s a low end estimate. Yikes! To put that into perspective, that’s 127 school buses full of straws, EVERYDAY!
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What if 7.6 billion people used one plastic straw everyday? My brilliant homeschool kiddos mathed it out for us, with a little help from me. Here are the highlights:
• 7.6 billion straws = 1,930 buses/day
• 1,930 buses = approx. 32 acres of land/day. 11,644 acres/year.
• 11,644 acres = 8,625 football fields/year.
Holy cow! So, we obviously came to the conclusion that using single use plastic straws is a terrible idea. Now, we must take action! I have a bag of straws in my kitchen (pictured above). Do I just throw them away now? I vote no. Either way, they have been produced, bought and will end up in a bus somewhere! 😆 So I believe it’s best to at least use them. I have promised myself and my planet that I will not purchase any more straws. No more straws for Jeff either!
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I love how this question puts things into perspective. My one or two straws/day seems like no big deal... until you see what it looks like magnified for the entire planet! Obviously, not every human is using straws. Many humans on this planet don’t even know where their next meal is coming from. We have much progress to make. Start where you can. All our tiny deeds add up to big change!
”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead
Thank you for reading along with my Pretty Dorky perspective.
I’m off to drink my protein shake like a big girl... with no straw.
