Don’t do it!

New Year’s resolutions tend to be about resolving to do something different in the next year. Most of them relate to working out more, eating better, or spending more time with our families. So we have scoured our blog articles from the past year to come up with a list of things not to do next year. Because, in theory, it’s easier not to do something than do something, right?

1. 1. 1. Don’t:
         Take a plastic bag from the grocery store.
      2. Don’t:
         Buy something you don’t have any use for just because it is cheap.
      3. Don’t:
         Contribute to microplastics in our atmosphere.
      4. Don’t:
         Forget about the plethora of reusable bags available to you!
      5. Don’t:
         Use plastic bags to pick up poo or use them for other tasks when there are other sustainable options.
      6. Don’t:
         Contaminate the single-stream recycling process by placing dirty recyclables or non-recyclable items in your recycling bin.
      7. Don’t:
         Use single-use items when reusable options are available.
      8. Don’t:
         Endanger the great people working to recycle your items by putting things that could harm them in your recycling bin.
      9. Don’t:
         Just trust the recycling symbol or assume that something is recyclable in your local area without asking your hauler or your city.
      10. Don’t:
          Miss an opportunity to upcycle something; it’s fun!
      11. Don’t:
          Put your recyclables in plastic bags before putting them in your recycling bin.
      12. Don’t:
          Support businesses that support planned obsolescence.

   No matter if you were able to put these “don’ts” in place this year or not, it is great to look back at all that we learned over the past year together. The New Year is made for resolutions, so take this opportunity to choose one, two or all of the items from the list above and make a change in 2020. Hey! Even if you turn one of these suggestions into a habit, you can give yourself a pat on the back; and would you really want to refuse yourself an end-of-year pat on the back?

   More and more plastic is being found in places that it doesn’t belong. Overall, we need to start encouraging people to see that the main place plastic doesn’t belong is on our Earth! Cutting out the 3 items above won’t solve our world problems but they are a big step to reducing them. And speaking of reducing, make sure to take another look at the 6Rs. They include some of the tips above as well as others to help eliminate unwanted contaminants, like microplastics, that are endangering our Earth.

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