We do not all have the same opportunity to live zero waste. I previously acknowledged this, but I hadn’t fully experienced this dilemma since adopting my lower impact lifestyle.

The Op-Eds are my take on some current issue I’ve had on my mind. They are written in a semi-academic fashion, so below, I will link my sources, often both scholarly articles and popular news outlets. Occasionally I’ll leave some additional resources if you’re interested in learning more. These are my own opinions, and I’m interested in hearing yours in the comments below. If you have a topic you’d like me to research and discuss, please contact me!

 

These last five weeks I have visited cities on both coasts of the U.S., and grocery stores have been an interesting window into community dynamics. For starters, it was significantly easier to minimize my plastic consumption in Los Angeles versus Miami. But, within Los Angeles, stores with package-free choices definitely cluster in a few block radius.

Now, this is probably a no-brainer: poorer communities don’t have grocery stores that only offer organic, GMO-free, whatever. However, decreasing trash is an issue bigger than infiltrating food deserts.

Plastic is political.

Let’s start with my home state of Florida – some of the biggest climate change deniers, even though sea level rise is literally happening right now. Florida legislature has essentially banned cities from enacting bans on plastic bags and Styrofoam; I’m sure the same will come on the hot-topic issue of plastic straws.

I will begin with a controversial opinion with Floridians: Publix is not as great as we think. Besides having a massive, massive issue with food waste, Publix is very pro-plastic bags. In 2015, the Florida Retail Federation (FRF) sued the city of Coral Gables after proposing a plastic bag ban. The argument was based on the premise that customers like plastic bags. Of the five FRF Executive Directors, one of the seats at the time belonged to Publix (they’re now just second-tier Members-at-Large).

At the total opposite end of the spectrum, we have California. California outlawed single-use plastic bags in 2016. Like no plastic bags at grocery stores, malls, pharmacies … zero. Now, correlation is not causation, but it’s fair to infer that forcing consumers to become more conscious of their reusable habits on a daily basis has had some ripple effects. There was 72% less litter found in just a year on Coastal Cleanup Day. Interestingly, the majority of bulk stores in North America are concentrated on the west coast. So I’m not saying that banning plastic bags has definitely encouraged people to reduce waste in other ways … but it’s suggestive. As some supportive precedent, this article links the rise in popularity of French package-free stores to acknowledging their top waste production in the EU as of 2004. Bag bans start the conversation. 

What’s In Your Trash Can?

Besides trashy bags, there are items like plastic straws: liberal cities like Seattle and San Diego have banned them, but can we realistically expect a federal ban to follow? Not with our current administration. Food waste is a huge issue to tackle, since organic material in landfills emits methane. However, composting is easier for homeowners, who can set up backyard systems, versus city renters that trek scraps themselves to a drop-off site. Plenty of cities have compost pick-up systems, but most don’t.

When we think about what is in our trash cans, we think of disposable items, leftovers, empty toiletry bottles … it’s great to pick up on thing and figure out an eco-conscious alternative. However, you can’t do this with every landfill-bound item. A lot of things are waste. Until our society really moves towards a circular economy, we probably won’t every empty every trash can.