Earth Day Countdown: Week 4

Each week between now and April 22, we’ll give you powerful facts to share, offer you the chance to win reusable products, and give you discounts to empower you to break wasteful habits.

Facts: The Disposable Plastic Utensil

40 billion disposable plastic utensils are used in the U.S. every year, and this number is predicted to rise as our takeout habit grows. Most throwaway forks, spoons and knives are made of potentially toxic and hard-to-recycle polystyrene #6, adding to the eight million tons of plastic that enters our oceans every year—that’s similar to emptying a garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute.

Think that biodegradable utensils are the answer? These also often end up in our wastestream because they can’t be recycled (they’re not made of plastic) and rarely make it to an industrial facility that’s able to break down compostable products. Most commercial facilities are not able to handle bio-plastics so they are pulled out of the recycling stream, added to the landfill, and as they break down they generate methane gas which contributes to climate change.

The plastic waste problem is overwhelming, and even though ocean cleanup efforts are underway, the sheer scale of the pollution is clearly too large to successfully clean up. That’s why it’s so important to prevent waste from making its way there in the first place. Thankfully, single-use utensils are being included in plastic bans happening all over the world and reusable options are inexpensive and easy to take along.

Giveaway: Four Reusable Bamboo Utensils

Visit our Instagram and enter to win 4 reusable Bamboo Utensils. Good luck!

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