going green

Going Green: Sustainability at Work

Earlier this month, several Ohio State University Extension educators toured the Ohio Stadium (also known as The Shoe) in Columbus. The purpose of the tour was to learn how the fourth-largest stadium in the country continuously ranks #1 when it comes to recycling. In fact, OSU diverts 90% or more of materials from the landfill by recycling, repurposing, and composting after every football game.  

On the drive home from Columbus, I started to reflect on my behavior at work and the sustainability practices in our county Extension office. Although I do a lot at home to be sustainable, I realized I was not being as environmentally conscientious at work. To be “greener”, I am trying these ideas to make my work life more sustainable. 

  • Eliminate single-use plastics. Think about your break room and find ways to replace coffee pods, plastic utensils, straws, soap dispensers, Styrofoam cups, and water bottles. To reduce using these pesky plastics, visit a thrift store and purchase cups, dishes, and cutlery that can be used repeatedly. Plastic-Free July has numerous resources to help you reduce your plastic consumption. 
  • If you pack your meals, try to be as waste-free as possible. Consider purchasing condiments and other food items that can stay in your office so you can skip individualized food items like ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, sugar, and creamer. 
  • Turn off office lights and electronics when you are out of the office. Purchase energy-efficient lighting and appliances to lower your energy consumption at work and save money. 
  • Educate yourself about your local recycling option and limit what gets put in the landfill. Compost food waste and coffee grinds. Take advantage of the Hefty ReNew program currently offered in central Ohio, Greater Cincinnati, and Greater Dayton. 
  • Reduce paper use by limiting how much you print. When you print something, always use both sides of the paper. Have leftover handouts? Use them for scrap paper before putting them in the recycling bin. 
  • Collect pop can tabs to donate to the closest Ronald McDonald House. There are five locations in Ohio, including Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, and Cleveland. 
  • Consider cloth napkins and towels, as well as Swedish dishcloths to reduce paper waste. In the U.S., it’s estimated that one person produces 40 pounds of paper towel waste every year. If paper towels are the only option, adopt a “one or none” mindset to reduce waste.  
  • Purchase eco-friendly products and supplies, and use the services of sustainable suppliers. 

To be more mindful when planning work events, you can download the Ohio State University Extension Sustainable Meeting Guide to think of ways to limit waste at meetings and conferences. In addition, our Sustainability team has created numerous educational resources to help protect the planet and its resources. Visit our website to find tip sheets, videos, and even a home tour to help you be more sustainable. 

Older hand passing the planet to younger hands

Written by: Laura M. Stanton, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Warren County, stanton.60@osu.edu. 

Reviewed by: Susan Zies, Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Wood County, zies.1@osu.edu. 

Go Green This Holiday Season

A "Happy Holidays" gift tag on a naturally wrapped gift

The holidays bring many opportunities to “go green” and think about the impact our traditions and activities can have on our environment. Being green doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, but it often means taking a little extra time to be intentional. Here are four ways to go green over the holidays:

1. Gift Giving
During the holiday season, there is often increased pressure to purchase items that you might normally skip at other times of the year. The social pressure to buy gifts, cards, and miscellaneous “stuff” fuels consumerism and waste. Try to avoid any gifts you purchase from ending up in the landfill. Consider gifting an experience, a homemade consumable product (like bath products or food), a second-hand item, or an eco-friendly product like Swedish dishcloths, reusable water bottles, or glass soap dispensers.

2. Product Packaging
When you purchase an item this holiday season, consider the packaging and challenge yourself to eliminate waste. It turns out, plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally, and much of it is thrown away within just a few minutes of its first use. For example, gift cards are popular, but the plastic cards themselves are difficult to reuse or recycle. Go old-school and give cash or checks as a sustainable alternative.

Pink bath salts in a glass mason jar.

3. Gift Wrap
Did you know that in the United States, an additional five million tons of waste is generated over Christmas, four million of which is wrapping paper and shopping bags? Newspaper, butcher paper, reusable boxes, metal tins, and paper gift bags are creative and sustainable ideas for gift wrap. Choosing these materials helps to keep traditional gift wrap, bows, and ribbons from ending up in the landfill.

4. Holiday Traditions
Holiday cards, party invitations, decorations, hosting, and food can take a serious toll on our environment. Large gatherings can mean single-use plates, utensils, cups, and napkins. Avoid or reduce this waste by choosing reusable products. Uneaten food becomes food waste, so use the interactive guest-imator to plan how much food you really need at your gathering. Finally, if you decorate with a live tree, look for opportunities to reuse or recycle your tree and keep it out of the garbage. Your tree can be used for mulch, to protect fish in lakes, or to provide shelter for birds.

Looking for more green ideas? Visit the OSU Extension Sustainability website to find tip sheets, videos, and a 3-D Sustainable Home Tour.

Written by Laura Stanton, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension, Warren County. Email: stanton.60@osu.edu.

Reviewed by Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension, Franklin County.

References:

Garber, M. (2012, December 22). Wrappers’ delight: A brief history of wrapping paper. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/12/wrappers-delight-a-brief-history-of-wrapping-paper/266599

Mansfield, S. (2022, December 22). Green your holiday this season. United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/perspectives/green-your-holiday-season

The National Christmas Tree Association (n.d). How to recycle and give real Christmas trees a second life. https://realchristmastrees.org/all-about-trees/how-to-recycle

Stanton, L. M. (2022, July 19). It’s time to rethink packaging and recycling. Ohio State University Extension. https://livehealthyosu.com/2022/07/19/its-time-to-rethink-packaging-and-recycling

Zee, G. (2022, December 7). Plastic gift cards on climate advocates’ “naughty list” this Christmas. ABC News. https://abc13.com/plastic-gift-cards-christmas-gifts-pvc-toxic/12534016

Photo Credits:
Natural wrapping image by rawpixel.com.
Mason jar with bath salts image by Victoria Emerson, pexels.com

It’s Time to Rethink Packaging and Recycling

Plastic bags overflowing with empty plastic bottles

I used to pride myself on my recycling efforts. I would compare my overflowing recycling bin with my neighbors and wish more people recycled. I felt it was our duty, responsibility, and obligation to protect our planet.

However, my recycling pride was deflated when I read a report from the Department of Energy that showed only 5% of plastics were recycled in 2019. A whopping 86% of plastics end up in landfills and the rest is burned to generate electricity. I finally realized that just because a product has a recycling arrow on it, does not mean it’s being recycled, especially if it is plastic.

So how do we reduce our plastic consumption? Let’s examine four common household purchases and see why plastic should be avoided.

1. Food: Paper Box Rather Than Plastic Cups
Sometimes, there is a hefty economic and environmental cost to convenience, like this example with macaroni and cheese. Turns out mac and cheese from the box is 17 cents/ounce, while the plastic cups cost 61 cents/ounce. Even worse, the consumer is left with four #5 plastic containers, which are one of the least recycled post-consumer plastics, at a rate below 1%. Compare this to paper and paperboard, which have a recycling rate of 68%.

Box of Mac N Cheese next to 4 plastic cups of Mac N Cheese

2. Fruit: Metal Cans Rather Than Plastic Cups
The cost difference between pears in a metal can and in plastic cups is negligible. However, the environmental cost is substantial. As mentioned above, #5 plastic has a recycling rate of less than 1% while the recycling rate for steel cans is 71%. Of course, fresh pears are package free. To have the smallest environmental impact possible, shop with reusable produce and grocery bags, then throw the pear core in a compost bin.

A metal can of pears next to pre-packaged cups of pears

3. Soda Pop: Cans Rather Than Bottles
There is little cost difference between pop cans and bottles. But once again, the environmental difference is noteworthy. Aluminum cans are the most recycled category of aluminum at 50%, compared to the recycling rate of #1 plastics which is 29%.

Aluminum can of Diet Mountain Dew next to a plastic bottle of Diet Mountain Dew

4. Soap: Bar Rather Than Liquid
Again, the cost between bar and liquid soap is minimal, so let’s compare the packaging. Soap bars are often packaged in paper, which have a recycling rate of 68% while liquid soap is often packaged in #2 plastic containers, which have a recycling rate of 29%. This information also applies to laundry detergent. If you are looking to avoid the large, #2 plastic jugs of laundry soap, consider plastic-free laundry powder, bars, tablets, or sheets.

Body wash in a plastic bottle next to 6 bards of soap

Stay Informed
The dos and don’ts of recycling changes frequently. Stay up to date on what you can recycle curbside and look for additional opportunities to recycle in your community, through zero-waste organizations or your solid waste district.

Final Thoughts
As summer winds down, it’s a great time to start planning waste-free lunches for your kids. The goal is similar: reduce waste and reliance on convenient, single-use, hard-to-recycle items. The next time you are at the store, reach for the apple sauce in the glass jar rather than the plastic one. Mother Earth will thank you.

Note: Item descriptions, prices, and photos were retrieved by the author at a local grocery store that is affiliated with a national supermarket chain on 7/18/2022.

For more information about plastic and recycling, visit:

Written by: Laura M. Stanton, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Educator, Warren County. Email: stanton.60@osu.edu

Reviewed by: Courtney Warman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program Specialist, Healthy Finances. Email: warman.44@osu.edu

Photo Credits: Cover image by rawpixel.com. All other photos by Laura M. Stanton, 2022.

References:

Bollas, B. (2021). Reducing your single-use plastic waste. Ohio State University Extension. https://fcs.osu.edu/sites/fcs/files/imce/PDFs/Single_Use_Plastics.pdf

Leblanc, R. (2019, May 9). An overview of polypropylene recycling. The Balance Small Business. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/an-overview-of-polypropylene-recycling-2877863

Milbrandt, A., Coney, K., Badgett, A., and Beckham, G. (2022). Quantification and evaluation of plastic waste in the United States. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Volume 183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106363

Stanton, L. M. (2021). Ten tips for packing waste-free lunches. Ohio State University Extension. https://go.osu.edu/waste-free-lunches

Stanton, L. M. (2021). How to pack waste-free lunches. Ohio State University Extension. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv_zyW-WzZY

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, November 15). Ten ways to unpackage your life. https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/ten-ways-unpackage-your-life

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2022, July 9). Facts and figures about materials, waste, and recycling. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling

Woelfl, C. (2021, June 7). Our plastic problem. Ohio State University Extension. https://livehealthyosu.com/2021/06/07/our-plastic-problem