Stop Sucking on Single-Use Plastics

Recycling is great for renewing our resources, but most single-use plastics never make it to recycling facilities. Instead, single-use plastics – like straws, six-pack rings, or grocery bags – often end up in our natural environments. All organic materials will break down (or biodegrade) in natural environments, but not plastic!

The only place where plastic can biodegrade is in strong sunlight. And the oceans’ surfaces get LOTS of it.

Sunlight biodegrades the plastics floating at the surface into microscopic contents like bisphenol A (BPA) and PS oligomer, which are harmful to humans and many other species. These chemicals make the water toxic for humans to interact with.

The severity of this problem is on its way to getting worse, with 500 million new plastic straws showing up in the ocean EACH DAY. At this rate, by 2050 our oceans will contain more plastic than fish!

This means that the best way to keep our oceans from increasing toxicity from plastics is by ending the consumption of single-use plastics.

Remove single-use plastics from the source

Removing ALL types of single-use plastics in your life can be a long journey. We recommend starting small. Choose one type to focus to remove from your home each month. 

A great place to start is The #StopSucking Challenge. This challenge was started as an effort to raise awareness and lower the use of plastic straws. 

By making the vow to stop using plastic straws, you can decrease the number of straws that might end up in the oceans. Joining the movement can connect you with more people who care about keeping plastic out of our natural habitats.

Let other people know about your efforts to magnify your effect. When you create a challenge through the link above, you can use social media for inspiration and accountability during your challenge.

In the grand scheme, any effort counts.

Cutting out ALL single-use plastics can be quite the commitment, so don’t expect to be able to do so overnight. When you get discouraged, just remember that you’re doing right by the environment just by thinking about it.

Keep recycling, but please stop sucking.